Birding Big Day 1997 - The "Four Gauls" Northern Kruger National Park - Pafuri - Shingwedzi
The Team
Contrary to the beliefs held by some people, this name has nothing to do with the number of birds we expect to record on BBD! The name is linked to the "Asterix" comics. The team is:
"Asterix": Don English - birder extraordinaire - has an ear for birdcalls like nobody else that I have ever met. Ranger at Tshokwane in the KNP.
"Obelix": Johann Oelofse: Anyone who has met Johann will understand the conotation - he is huge with the physical strength to go with it. Ranger at Mooiplaas (near Mopani).
"Vitalstatistix": Ian Whyte: Record keeper, scribe, fundraiser, admin clerk etc. Scientist (on large herbivores) with Dept Scientific Services in the KNP.
"Megatix": Kobus Wentzel. Ranger at Pafuri.
We have this little bottle of "magic potion" concocted by our local Druid at Skukuza which gives us superhuman strength to keep going for 24 hours! This magic potion needs to be carefully played off against the other bottles of magic potion which tend to put you to sleep. These are taken at any time of day or night.
This will be our 11th concecutive bash at BBD with the team unchanged, and have managed to exceed 200 every time. Have never won the event but have been 2nd twice, though the emphasis is on having a fun day.
The Day
We have a "Four Gauls" tradition which stipulates that BBD runs from midnight to midnight and thou shalt participate for the full period!! And so at the stroke of 00h00 we kicked off in Kobus' garden at Pafuri with Cut-throat Finches in the Redheaded Weaver nests in the baobab at his front door. Other ticks in the garden were Redheaded Weavers, Lesser Masked Weavers and Scarletchested Sunbird. The weather was overcast, without rain but a bit breezy.
We then headed off into the dark looking for nightbirds. Almost our first sighting is a magnificent leopard who glares at us from only two metres from the vehicle. The Threebanded Coursers we had hoped for eluded us but we managed a few nightjars (Rufouscheeked, Mozambique and European) caught by hand in the spotlight and Freckled (by call). A few owls also rewarded us - Giant Eagle, Scops, Pearlspotted and Pels (by call) and a beautiful Whitefaced Owl very close in the spotlight. A few other diurnal species were seen in the spotlights and by 04h00 we had 30 on the list.
Dawn chorus is conducted on the Luvuvhu River and is the best part of the day. This is always an experience to remember. The list rockets upwards: 05h00 - 60 species 06h00 - 86 " 07h00 - 121 " 08h00 - 141 " This included species like Broadbilled Roller, Trumpeter Hornbills, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Crested Guineafowl, African Goshawk, Black Eagle, Whitecrowned Plover. A short walk is included which yielded such goodies as Wattle-eyed Flycatcher, Pygmy Kingfisher and an agitated buffalo bull who gets the adrenalin going. Tradition also says that the first fizzy brown brew must be taken at 100 species! We always miss this as we are busy with dawn chorus away from the vehicle, but it is taken at the first opportunity. The mood is thus set for the rest of the day!!
We then take to the road to the Mopani woodland for Arnot's Chat and whatever else presents itself and by 09h00 we have 150 and another brown brew. Other Pafuri specials ticked were Mottled and Bohm's Spinetail, Longtailed Starling, Tropical Boubou, Lemonbreasted Canary. Working our way down towards Crook's Corner we miss both Narina Trogon and Thickbilled Cuckoo which were seen by others. At Crook's Corner we get a Gymnogene who has a nest in the Borassus Palms there. We leave Pafuri at midday with 181 species on the list and head for the grasslands and Nwambiya Sandveld. The grasslands let us down badly as there had been quite a bit of recent rain and the roads on the clay soils were not to be trusted! The many fires caused by Mozambiquan illegal immigrants were also a problem as they had not had a chance to sprout after the rains and were very dead, but the 200 mark was achieved at 14h00 (more of Charles Glass' fizzy brown brews).
The Nwambiya delivered its usual specials - Rudd's Apalis, Southern Boubou, Gorgeous Bush Shrike and Fawncoloured Lark. Also a stray Steppe Buzzard which is a Kruger rarity! No sign of the Pinkthroated Twinspots however!
On to Langtoon Dam for waterbirds. Some unusual birds were ticked - Caspian Plover, Sanderling and Redbilled Teal (which we would have missed if the "Counting Crows" team had not pointed it out to us!). Generally the waterbirds were also a disappointment as all the dams in the area were rather low. This meant that the water that there was was a bit muddy at the edges resulting in very few waders and others.
We then headed back to Punda Maria finishing there at dusk with a tally of 232. At this stage the "Gauls" were all in a rather bad way and the Druid's magic potion was broached and distributed with magical effect! All thoughts of sleep are immediately banished and we get back to the task in hand. In spite of this we fail to add to the list for a while and it is past 20h00 before we can add to the list again. Working our way slowly back towards Pafuri, the nightbirds treat us well and we finish with all possible owls except Marsh Owl (which is usually a certainty for us). Grass Owl was seen sitting on a stump close to the road providing what was probably the highlight of the day. One of the last birds we tick is a beautiful African Hawk Eagle (with its crop bulging) right next to the road in a small shrub only about a metre off the ground! We miss Pennantwinged Nightjar which has been seen in a few localities in Kruger this year. The last addition to the list (No 240) was a Spotted Dikkop and we finish at midnight on the tarred road to Pafuri trying to call up Bronzewinged Coursers without success. As tradition again has it, we have another brown brew sitting on the road. This was interupted by an inquisitive hyaena who got an earful of bad language for his inconsiderate attitude.
Other notable sightings for the day were Serval and Selous' Mongoose (a lifer for me).
This was BBD number 11 for us and as usual was a resounding success! BBD lag ( the ornithological equivalent of jet lag) then set in resulting in this delayed response.
We look forward now to next year and hope all the other teams enjoyed their day as much as we did in spite of the miserable weather experienced in much of the country. Our commiserations to those who were affected by it. Our weather was almost perfect being overcast and cool for the whole day with not even enough rain to drive us off the back of the bakkie.
We would like to thank our generous sponsors who were: Your Life Health Products (R5000) Mr Rolf Gerke (R500) H L Hall & Sons (R300)
Ian Whyte - Four Gauls
Four Gauls Statistician, Ian whyte has compiled a database of all records for the last 11 BBD's. Because of its size this is split into several web pages.
Four Gauls Data - 1987 - 1997. Because of the amount of data it has
been divided into several pages for easy viewing.