Summer is here now and the Highveld storms have arrived in greater Johannesburg, bringing much-needed rain to the city and filling rivers, dams and streams at nature reserves around the metropolis. For birders, this is a wonderful time to be out and about.

On a recent trip to Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, we noticed that the place is definitely greening up and a large amount of game is in evidence, not to mention myriad birds. Every time we visit this reserve, we always have a different and special experience. Once it was the Orange-throated Wrynecks, calling loudly near the picnic area; another time, Bar-throated Apalises filled flowering trees; last time we saw Capped Wheatears and Bokmakieries on the grassland plains. Specials like the Grey-winged Francolin remain, alas, elusive but we have seen a number of Swainsons Francolin on the southern side of the reserve. On our last visit, we took a walk along an interpretive trail, which winds its way into the hills behind the administration area, and were amazed at the birds we encountered. Besides the usual Mountain Wheatears, we also found Greater Striped Swallows, Cape Robin-Chats, Speckled Pigeons, Bar-throated Apalis, Barn Swallows, Horus Swifts – and plenty more. While sitting on benches at the end of the trail and drinking in the tranquillity of a late Sunday afternoon, we were visited by a Familiar Chat. These birds are very “familiar” – they like to hang around at very close quarters, ensuring that you notice them. Interestingly, the Afrikaans colloquial name for this bird is pioneer settlers (the Voortrekkers), who greased their wagon wheels with bacon fat. Familiar Chats being rather opportunistic, they often arrived when the wagons drew up for the night, the better to peck the fat out of the axle joints!

The Acacia karoo trees in the parking and picnic areas at Suikerbosrand are still one of the best places to see birds. The Chestnut-vented Tit-babler is very much in evidence, along with Cinnamon Buntings, Red-eyed Bulbuls, Mocking Cliff-chats, Cape Robin-Chats and Mountain Wheatears. We have also seen the Sentinel and Cape Rock Thrushes here, together with Fork-tailed Drongos, Fiscal Flycatchers, Black-collared Barbets, Cape White-eyes, Red-headed Finches, Red-headed Queleas, Scaly-feathered Finches, Common Waxbill, Blue Waxbill and even the tiny, grey and white Ashy Tit. The Familiar Chats are everywhere, landing with their conspicuous wing-flick, timing their arrival to coincide with the exact moment when you settle down with your picnic basket!

Long-tailed Widowbirds are now in full summer plumage and can be found across the Highveld, together with the smaller Red-shouldered Widowbirds and Shaft-tailed Wydahs. Glossy Ibises appear have taken over many wetland habitats this year – we are seeing far more of them than in previous years. Cape Longclaws are very much in evidence, particularly in short, wet grasslands. Spotted Thick-knees are breeding on local golf courses – our next blog will feature pics of these birds with their young.

We visited a bird sanctuary on the far eastern side of Johannesburg, where a wetland was created from water being pumped out of the local gold mines. We have seen birds there exhibiting some very interesting behaviours lately. The Black Heron is known for creating an umbrella shape out of its wings and standing motionless in the water beneath this canopy. This behaviour is thought to be a mechanism to attract prey and also to prevent the shadow of the heron from falling on the water and being obvious to prey species. We were very fortunate to see a Black Heron doing just that. We watched a Squacco Heron catching and swallowing a large Platanna frog. It was fascinating to watch the entire feeding sequence. An African Spoonbill was also seen feeding, wading in right up to the top of its legs and scooping its large bill through the water. Glossy Ibises were observed feeding on broken reeds after a big storm had washed away large stands of the plants.

Special sightings included the Red-necked Phalarope. This bird occurs mainly along the South African coast but is found in isolated spots south of Johannesburg. We have also seen a Greater Blue-eared Starling in our own garden. This bird is normally found much further north along South Africa’s borders with Zimbabwe and Botswana, and we consider ourselves priviledged to have it visiting our bird feeder.

So, who says that large cities need to be dead areas, home to only ubiquitous pigeons and doves? We’ve got a whole range right here in Johannesburg.