It’s the end of winter in South Africa, spring has definitely “sprung” and the birds are exceptionally active and very much in evidence. 

The country towns of Memel and Wakkerstroom are situated in pristine tawny grasslands, surrounded by rolling, purple-blue hills.  Both regions are home to extremely productive wetland areas, which teem with birdlife and are peaceful havens from the hustle and bustle of city life to boot.  A stream on a private, 6-hectare farm in Wakkerstroom revealed quantities of birds – malachite, pied and giant kingfishers were all in evidence, together with Egyptian geese, yellow-billed ducks and African black duck.  The pied kingfisher appeared to have a territory along the stream as we observed it in the same place on several occasions, catching fish and eating them.  Flowering trees and plants in new leaf revealed dark-capped bulbuls, Cape white-eye, paradise flycatcher, amethyst sunbird, malachite sunbird, red-winged starling and Cape glossy starling, to name but a few.  Overhead, purple herons, spurwing geese, great white egrets and a myriad of other birds flew singly or in formation across blue, open skies.  En route to our next destination we found blue cranes unexpectedly, wandering in a grassy field near the road.

The scenery of northern Zululand makes driving between destinations a pleasure, ranging from pristine bushveld teeming with African game and birdlife to endless vistas of rolling hills dotted with flat-topped Acacia thorn trees.  Emerald sugar cane fields stretch to a horizon bounded by grey mountains.  Chattering rivers and streams carve their way through endless valleys, stands of reeds and grassy floodplains.  And then there is the vast blue expanse of Jozini Dam with mountains draped in cloud forming the perfect backdrop.  The people you will encounter – be they chance-met Afrikaans farmers with sunburned faces and floppy sunhats or Zulu gate guards and lodge staff – will entrance you with their friendliness.

At a private game reserve in northern Zululand we enjoyed a wonderful boat cruise, where African jacanas in particular flocked among flowering water lilies.  Flocks of white-faced ducks, several goliath herons, pied kingfisher, yellow-billed stork, African spoonbill, and various egret species were also seen.  The highlight of the trip was definitely the African open-billed stork, an uncommon summer visitor seldom seen, together with the little bee-eater, a tiny but bright yellow bird, sitting on a dead tree.  Cape vultures soared in thermals overhead.  Fish eagles, their calls the epitomy of the “real” Africa, could be heard as we journeyed down the river.  We decided this is definitely one of Zululand’s “must-do” experiences, providing excellent opportunities to view a quantity of wetland birds.

Weeping boerbean trees are all in flower at present and these enormous trees were attracting prolific birdlife at reserves around Mkuze and also at a game park near the town of Hluhluwe, which has a reputation for being a birding “hot spot”.  Amethyst sunbirds, greater scimitar-bill, green wood-hoepoe and purple-banded sunbird were seen, not to mention the ever-present dark-capped bulbuls.  Other birds seen in these areas included five species of weaver (spectacled, Cape, spotted-backed, southern masked and thick-billed weaver), the brown-hooded kingfisher – a kingfisher that is not associated with water – African pied wagtail, brown-crowned tchagra, red-capped robin chat, Cape robin chat, rufous-naped lark, georgeous bush shrike, barn (European) swallow, yellow-billed hornbill, fiscal shrike and lots, lots more. 

Some specials seen included the yellow-spotted nicator, African open-billed stork, and white-backed night heron.

There’s a very good reason why the Highveld grasslands and northern Zululand feature on this “Birding Hotspots” tour – not only does the average number of recorded birds in each area hover around 400, the scenery is spectacular and the people you will encounter are extremely friendly.