Bush Dikkops - Gaby van Wyk
The Drudging Duo - Rolf Becker
The Peacock Family Team - Faansie Peacock
Mamelodi Sunbirds - Pete Irons

Here's another not so glamorous report
 
Our team is called the Bush Dikkops.  Bush because we do our BBD in the bushveld and Dikkops because that's what we are the morning after a BBD.

It is the second year that we are together and yes we are still amatures at this, but we're fast learners!

Members are:  Gaby - organiser and kicker out of bedder.  Lifelist 383.
Liesel - real organiser, motivator;  Lifelist 365 (Added 8 lifers on BBD, for a total of 373)
Manus - cook, dozer; Lifelist 220 (Added 26 lifers on BBD for a total of 246)
Hansie - Driver , financial manager; Lifelist after 11 years of birding 180+  (Countless excuses about loosing ten lists of which one was eaten by a lion, 3 got into the wash and another fell into his beer ...)

Here's how it started:
20:00   Arrive on the game farm in Warmbaths where we were to overnight.
21:00   Tents pitched, Lights out - It is wet.
22:00   The *&^%$#@ game rangers of Warmbaths Nature reserve are driving around like maniacs up and down the fence right next to our camp, screaming and shouting, trying to get a 4x4 vehicle stuck in mud.  After a lot of #$^% and *&@^ we have peace.

01:30   Coffee - It is Wet.
02:00   We're off.  We notched 7 species within the first hour. It is WET.
03:30   The following conversation is heard:
          Is that a mud pool?
          No, it just a bit of water.
          We're never going to get through that.
          Don't be such a sissie.  We have to get going.
          (Silence as we aim for the mud)
          Oh no.           Oh @#$^&%$!
07:30   The farmer arrives with tracktor to help four mud covered birders out.

After salvage, cleanup and breakfast we're finally off at 10:00.  The rest of the day went without hassles, but our final count is a mere 133 - 65 off our previous total.  So sad.  But we'll be back!

The Drudging Duo - Rolf Becker

After having read the most impressive reports by the Big Guns, I thought I would add our "different approach" to the great
occasion. Firstly, our team consisted of only two members, Alma Moller and  myself, Rolf Becker. We call ourselves "The Drudging Duo". We are both novices, but enjoy our birding very much.

Now our modus operandi: Sat morniong at about 06h00: Reluctantly  rise to make coffeee and look out the window. The sun is shining ! Hear the Pietersburg equivalent of the Weenen - well Trevor Snymans team - also Diederick Cuckoo (really listened to the CD's on Cuckoos on  Wed and Thurs night to learn them for BBD), Redeyed Dove and  Whitebellied Sunbird. He uses our TV arial as perch to inform all and  sundry of his virility. Stick my head out the back-door and see a
Laughing Dove on the telephone wire.

Bath, breakfast and more coffee. Pack the biltong, Coleman with beers (lots) and cold meat (some) and off we go. Arrive Pietersburg Game Reserve at 07h30. See the first of two zillion Whitebrowed Sparrow  Weavers and into the Park. As always we stop and marvel, probably for too long for a serious BBD competitor, at the Crimson Breasted
Shrike.  We spent 4 rewarding hours in the reserve and about 55 marvelous bird species found us. Highlights were a beautiful
sighting of a Black Cuckoo - after we proudly identified it by sound,  a drongo feeding the three youngsters with insatiable apetites and a  family of Burchells Sandgrouse. The latter are apparently not seen  too often in this Reserve.

After quickly restocking at home it was off to the Pietersburg Bird  Sanctuary ( Sewage works). Met at the gate by the always
friendly  gate keeper and were told that entry for the day was Mahala. My compliments to the Authorities!!! Were also greeted with a brand new "Checklist of the bird species recorded within the Pietersburg /Polokwane  Municipal District", dated 1 Nov 1997. More compliments to  the authorities!!! Only item missing is the address to which the completed form can be sent. Derek, can you perhaps help?

Had a great start ticking about ten species within five minutes, but  then it all slowed down. The weather became less than optimal and going was tough. Ended with about 50 species. Highlights: we convinced ourselves that we had identified House Martin and Brownthroated Martin - took us about half an hour at least. And of  course the Fish Eagle!!

During the day dipped, among the other 350 species, on our other favourite - the Lilac Breasted Roller.

Total for the day : 98, 29 more than the 69 of last year (or an improvement of 42.03%)  Two short of the 100 we set out to find this year. That, in our book, will put us first in the Handicap Section  (98% of expected species sighted) and will definately have us in the  running for the most improved outfit.

Also, we had great FUN!!!!!!

A report of our BBD follows:

We concentrated on the bushveld and highveld regions around Pretoria this year, and after a tiring day, got 193 species.
Next year, obviously our target will be 200 species. We competed under the family category.

The dawn chorus was unbelievable, although we missed some Owls and Nightjars. In the fist 30 minutes we saw about 40
species. These included Kalahari, Whitethroated and Whitebrowed Robin, Redbacked Shrike, Marico Flycatcher, etc.

A section of good broadleaved woodland yielded typical species such as Yellowthroated Sparrow, Black Cuckooshrike, African Cuckoo, Rock Bunting, Goldenbreasted Bunting, Spotted Flycatcher, etc. as well as Klaas' Cuckoo, Striped Pipit, Familiar Chat.

Waterbirds were quite good, with a beautiful sighting of Little and Black Egrets together. Over the small marsh we located a mixed Swallow/Swift foraging party and saw: Greater Striped, Lesser Striped, Redbreasted, European and Pearlbreasted Swallows, Rock, House, Brownthroated and Sand ( lifer ) Martins and Little, Palm, Black and Whiterumped Swifts! Goliath Heron was also seen, which was our first sighting of this bird near Pretoria.

After good thornveld, broadleaved and waterbirds at our first locality, we headed south to our second locality, which is predominantly a thornveld and riverine area. Here we had some trouble with one muddy patch where we lost some time. At least a Pygmy Kingfisher made an appearance! Seed-eater that were seen at this locality were Steelblue Widowfinch, Purple Widowfinch, Jameson's Firefinch, Redbilled Firefinch, Violeteared Waxbill, Blackcheeked Waxbill, Common Waxbill, Blue Waxbill, Scalyfeathered Finch, Melba Finch, Masked and Lesser Masked Weavers and the three Canaries.

A quick stop en route to our next locality gave us 7 new species including Little Bittern and Ethiopian Snipe, of which we
flushed 6 in 20 m!

Although raptors were very poor ( BSK, Steppe Buzzard ) we managed to get Greater and Lesser Kestrels. The latter was  only a single male in agricultural grassland.

Roodeplaat dam was a little disapointing, only giving us Paradise Flycatcher and Whitebreasted Cormorant.

After 30 minutes at home, where we picked up "supplies" we did our own Moreleta Kloof. The weather was very hot, and it was around 13:00 so birds were sparse, and we dipped on 3 we thought were certainties.

Although we didn't have a specific highveld place, we found many ducks including Whitebacked and Fulvous at a small roadside pan.

Also seen in the highveld were Purple Gallinule, Blackheaded Heron, Greater Kestrel, Ostrich and Capped Wheatear. Unfortunately we spent too much time at one dam, and therefor got to our prime spot too late. We dipped on two Pipits and  a Greater Honeyguide, all of which were there the previous day.

Two more common birds we missed were Cape Wagtail and Kurrichane Thrush.

All in all, our BBD was very successful, and we had a lot of fun. Last year we saw 121 species, so this year we had 72 species improvement. I also saw a lifer ( Sand Martin ) while my father saw several, which was very pleasing.
 
Faansie Peacock 

Mamelodi Sunbirds - Pete Irons

Our day (in northeastern Gauteng) went as follows:

Very cold and windy start: Got a bird an hour for the first three hours! Did some serious dipping on most of our nightbird stakeouts.The dawn chorus and early morning was a bit disappointing, with some staring blank blocks in the list: Hoepoes, orioles, woodpeckers, honeyguides. Midmorning improved, with most of our stakeouts yielding the goods.

By 11 am we were on +-170 species. A 120km-an-hour capped wheatear was an unexpected bonus, as was a Garden Warbler. Our waterbird spots were disappointing, and this is the greatest gap in this year's list. Admittedly, we left out one of our traditional  spots in the interests of making up time for other places. A quick stop for a couple of cisticolas also gave us a totally unexpected bird for our area, Spikeheeled Lark. Our sundown locality was dead to say the least. Only three species  added during almost 2 hours of supposedly prime time. Then the rain and wind came, and we only added one before calling it a day: Spotted Eagle Owl, gave us a great show of swooping down onto the road in front of the car and then sitting back up on his telephone pole, all puffed-up an indignant at the intrusion of his routine.

Total tally: 215 - 19 down on last year, well down on our target.

Bird of the day: Probable Pallid Harrier. A ringtail, not seen at very close quarters, so ID is a problem.

Conclusion: Cold weater hurt us. Other problems were lack of good waterbird spot, and failure of a traditionally very good late afternoon site.

HOWEVER, a great day's birding, very memorable for some good birds
and spots.

Pete Irons
Proud Member of the Mamelodi Sunbirds
(Co-members: Deon Coetzee, Mostert Kriek, Selwyn Rautenbach)