Magnificent landscapes at Pilanesberg National Park

It rained heavily on the way and we wondered whether our trip would be a wash-out but, miraculously, the weather cleared as we neared the entrance gate.  It was not long before we were enjoying the awesome unusual landscapes within the reserve – a mixture of bushveld and open savannas bisected by long rivers and blue dams complete with huge game and bird-viewing hides, all surrounded by green, bush-covered hills.  Birds fluttered and twitered all around us and there were a fair number of animals (many with young in tow) to boot.

We were in Pilanesberg National Park, a fabulous 55 000-hectare game reserve situated in the North-west Province and stocked with a variety of general game species as well as the Big Five.  The place - as we discovered – offers amazing birding opportunities with around 400 recorded species.  We had an awesome experience during our recent visit.  We are now offering day trips to the Park for birders and non-birders alike. 

Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills

We started off with a drive around a loop and saw our first birds – Red-backed Shrikes, which turned out to be everywhere – soon followed by our first animal sighting – a squirrel.  We stopped at a picnic site and found it to be filled with Red-billed and Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills, not to mention several more squirrels, which vanished as soon as we appeared!  Not so the hornbills, which chattered among themselves and posed obligingly for photographs.  These large, rather ungainly looking birds are full of personality and quite commical to boot.  We drove on, along a road following the reserve boundary, and were rewarded with numerous sightings including Black-crowed Tchagra, Spotted and Chat Flycatcher, Cape Bunting (my first lifer of the trip), Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Familiar Chat and numerous others.  As the road swung away from the boundary, we were rewarded with the sight of a Black-breasted Snake Eagle sitting atop a tall tree.  The landscape changed and we found ourselves driving through a valley surrounded by hills formed by the actions of an ancient volcano (Pilanesberg is situated within the long-dead crater of that volcano.)

We soon saw both zebra and wildebeest, the former with several foals in tow.  The rare Leopard Tortoise appeared in the road in front of us and we moved it out of the path of on-coming traffic.  More birds appeared – a Long-tailed Paradise Wydah flew out of a distant thorn tree.  A Burchells Coucal proved very elusive and impossible to photograph as it hid in the dense grass and Jock surprised a Jacobin Cuckoo right next to the door of the vehicle on his side.  Several European Bee-eaters also made an appearance.  Further along the road, a group of falcons suddenly appeared flying over a ridge, too high and fast to identify accurately. 

We stopped at a hide at Malatse Dam where trees and shrubs in the car park revealed Black-backed Puffback, Blue Waxbill, Common Waxbill, more flycatchers and, the surprise of the day, a White-browed Scrub Robin hiding in thick foliage.  By contrast, the dam itself proved very quiet, apart from a few Southern Masked Weavers at their nests.  We left the hide, to continue driving through a lovely, well-watered valley.  Elephant dung was much in evidence but we did not see these gentle giants.

Kudu with Red-billed Oxpeckers

We eventually found ourselves driving around Mankwe Dam, the largest in the Park.  Here we encountered large herds of zebra with foals, some wildebeest and a beautiful yellow-green chameleon.  We visited a beautiful picnic site overlooking the dam, where we ate our lunch, before driving on.  We stopped at the large hide on the dam.  From the wooden walkway leading to it, we spotted Egyptian Goose, Black-headed Heron, Pin-tailed Wydah, Southern Masked Weaver, Red Bishop, Golden Bishop and Yellow-billed Stork.  We found a large number of Pied Kingfishers perched on dead trees in and around the dam and Jock was able to take a series of wonderful photographs of these birds as they dived for fish, squabbled and flew around one another.  But our day was not over yet.

We decided to take a southern loop back to our campsite, which was near the Park’s main gate.  The road wound through grassy hills and we observed several animals including white rhino, zebra, wildebeest and giraffe.  One of our personal highlights, though, was the sighting of a pair of Crested Francolin with young in tow.  This is most unusual to see as they usually hide in the long grass when they have young, so we made the most of the opportunity.  Further on, we found a group of kudu sporting several Red-billed Oxpeckers on their backs.  These birds service animals by eating ticks and other parasites.  They are quite blood-thirsty, though; sometimes they will peck the hide of the animals to make them bleed so they can drink the blood.  These fascinating birds are unfortunately becoming quite rare and are only seen inside reserves.  After watching the kudu and the oxpeckers interacting, we realized that time was marching on and we would need to hurry to reach the gate before it closed.  That night, while we barbecued our meat and got on with the business of camping, we heard jackals and owls calling – thrilling bushveld sounds.

Pied Kingfisher

The following morning, we rose early to the sounds of numerous birds including a group of Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills which had made the tree above our tent their early-morning meeting place.  We entered the reserve shortly after sunrise and soon found ourselves surrounded by birds.  Greater and Lesser Striped Swallows preened themselves as they woke up and numerous Cinnamon-breasted Buntings lined the road, while the trees were filled with Red-backed Shrike, Dark-capped Bulbul and Spotted Flycatchers.  We drove to Mankwe Dam, where we found several hippo basking in the water.  Nearby, herds of wildebeest and zebra displayed their young to tourists on a game drive.  The dam was quiet this morning with only a Great Egret displaying itself, while a large crocodile lurked in the waters below.  On the banks, we saw more Red Bishops and Pied Kingfishers.  In the car park, we saw Red-winged Starling and Cape Glossy Starling while several European Bee-eaters flew around catching insects.

Violet-eared Waxbill

We had decided to visit the western areas of the Park that day and we hurried on as, like Thursday’s child, we had rather far to go.  This part of the reserve was much quieter, although we found several White-winged Widowbirds.  We noticed that Pilanesberg did not appear to have any Long-tailed or Red-collared Widowbirds that are so common in the Highveld grassland regions.  We saw the Long-tailed Paradise Wydah at much closer quarters and Jock had an opportunity to photograph it.  We also found one of those places where a myriad of birds seem to congregate for some unknown reason – one Acacia karoo tree was home to the brilliantly-coloured Violet-eared Waxbill and Crimson-breasted Shrike, as well as Lemon-breasted Canary, Lesser Masked Weaver (another of my lifers) and Dark-capped Bulbul.  We also stopped off at a few hides in the area.

The Makorwane Dam was full and the hide very beautifully situated – but we saw no birds or animals there.  However, the nearby river revealed Green-backed Heron, Common Waxbill, Pied Kingfishers - and a terrapin.  The following hide at Ruighoek Dam was also very quiet, with a few hippo revealing their heads and a lone Yellow-billed Duck disturbing the flat surface of the water.  Several terrapins swam beneath the hide.  Grey-headed Bush Shrikes and Red-chested Cuckoos could be heard but we did not see them.  Far away, a Martial Eagle flew above distant hills.

We decided it was time to head back but the bushveld was quiet.  A fellow traveller reported seeing rhino but we saw only a herd of impala in the grasslands.  We stopped at Pilanesberg Centre and were delighted to find a Hamerkop and Little Egret in the shallows of a nearby river.  We were also very excited to see both an adult and juvenile Grey Heron as these birds have proved rather elusive lately and we have only been seeing the very similar Black-headed Heron.  We stopped off at Mankwe Dam again, to find a Fish Eagle perching on the far side, much too far away to photograph.  Zebras came down to the dam to drink and we saw various other animals on the slopes around the water.  We eventually dragged ourselves away as time, again, was marching on and we had to return to Johannesburg that afternoon.  En route, we stopped at the river near Pilanesberg Centre and found Pied and Malachite Kingfishers.  We observed an adult Pied Kingfisher feeding a young one with fish, which was wonderful to see.  We also saw a rare Brown Hyena as it sloped silently into the bush.

As we drove home, we reflected that we had enjoyed an awesome visit and Pilanesberg was definitely on our list of places to visit regularly.  You can also visit Pilanesberg National Park on one of our day tours.  A combination with Sun City is also offered for those who simply must see the “bright lights” while they are in the area.