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| Introduction:
Birders will find it easy to escape the
droves of holiday-makers, who tend to keep close to the major
centres of Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. You can potter about
the restful coastal lake system of the Wilder-ness National
Park, or take refuge in the lush forests protected here and
at Nature’s Valley in the Tsitsikamma National Park,
where a good diversity of forest specials is on offer. Sadly,
only a single elephant still survives in the forests, a remnant
of the great herds that once roamed the area.
This
verdant coastal region is isolated from the interior of the
country by the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains. In their
rain shadow lies the dry Little Karoo, a region made famous
and prosperous by its ostrich farmers, who supplied the demands
of an ephemeral ladies’ fashion a century ago. North
of the Little Karoo lies another great fold in the landscape,
the Swartberg Mountains, traversed by the ambitious bends
of the Swartberg Pass. Here, notably, six of the fynbos endemic
birds may readily be found close to the road. The Swartberg
is also the last outpost of moist landscape before the vast
and arid Great Karoo, which covers much of central South Africa.
Contrary
to the preconceptions of many, the Karoo presents a varied
and exciting landscape offering excellent birding (see also
pp.74 and 86). The mountainous Karoo National Park, near the
regional centre of Beaufort West (five hours’ drive on
the N1 from Cape Town), provides a representative cross-section
of Karoo birding. Besides being a very worthwhile destination
in itself, it serves as an excellent staging post en route
from Cape Town to Johannesburg.
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© Birding Africa 1997-2009 info@capebirdingroute.org
4 Crassula Way, Pinelands, 7405, Cape Town, South Africa
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27/09/09: Dalton
Gibbs reports back from Gough
Island! Read the blog!
26/09/09: New Cape
Town Pelagics trip report from trips of 12 and 19 September
2009.
30/08/09: British
Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water proved very successful,
with sunny weather and over 20,000 visitors. Callan's "Birding
Namibia and the Okavango" was the most highly-attended
lecture on the Saturday, with over 240 people. Congratulations
to the winners of the Birding Africa competition and the
African Bird Club raffle that we helped sponsor!
12/08/09: New Cape
Town Pelagics trip reports from August and July 2009.
Highlights: Little
Shearwater and more!
07/08/09: The
sub-adult Black Sarrowhawk visits our garden again! Read
on about Raptor Research in the Western Cape.
27/07/09: Cape
Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has grown! And its sibling
never had a chance to hatch. See the pictures of the chick,
its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more about the Western
Cape Raptor Research Programme.
27/07/09: To follow modern nomenclature and systematics, we've
adopted the IOC
World Bird List, Version 2.1.
13/07/09: The 8th
African Bird ID Challenge has launched! Win a 50% discount
on a Cape Town Pelagics
trip, a copy of Southern
African Birdfinder, or African
Bird Club membership for 1 year.
6 July 09: Cape
White-eye research in our garden.
2 July 09: Cape
Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has hatched! See the pictures
of the chick, its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more
about the Western Cape Raptor Research Programme.
2 July 09: Campbell
Fleming, a Cape Town scholar, avid birder and photographer,
joined Birding Africa last month as an intern. Click here,
to see what he got up to.
2 July 09: New pelagic
trip reports from the Cape Town Pelagics trips in June
2009. Highlights: Slenderbilled
Prion and Leach's Storm Petrel
30 july 09: Our latest Cape Fynbos and Karoo trip
reports feature Hottentot
Buttonquail, Cinnamon-breasted
Warbler and other fynbos and Karoo endemics...
26 June 09: Tungsten
mining threatens RAMSAR site, South Africa's Verlorenvlei.
Read the Media Release.
22 June 09: Claire
Spottiswoode, one of the Cape Birding Route founders,
was part of the exploratory team at Mount Mabu. The mountain
is part of the newly discovered largest
rainforest in Southern Africa.
11 June 09: A colour-ringed
Black Sparrowhawk visits the Birding Africa office garden.
Read why it's a 10 months old male!
14 June 09:
Wildlife
at the office of The Cape Birding Route, Birding Africa
and Cape Town Pelagics.
31 May 09:
Michel Watelet wins the 7th African Bird Club & Birding Africa
ID Challenge. Test your African birding skills and WIN
a Birding
Africa Cape town day trip or a copy of the Birdfinder!
30 May 09:
A tragedy unfolds at Kommetjie south of Cape town as 44 beached
False
Killer Whales were shot. Click here for more details and
pictures.
14 March 09: Raptor
Watch in Cape Town on 14 March 09
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