Endurance Birding with the Kerstens

On Thursday 8th of January we (Di and I and Fred and Sharon) embarked on a trip to find a new bird (a lifer!) for Sharon and 2 lifers for us. Sharon has determination and endurance in spades or whatever the metaphor is (never understood that one!). The most dangerous part of the journey was the pie shop in Riviersonderend. Fred and I had the lard and kidney pie with extra greasey pastry and an unleaded coke each.

The first real birding stop was for the very rare Aghulas Long Billed Lark supposedly only a few breeding pairs to be found in the fields alongside a 5km stretch of dirt road on the way from Swellendam to Bredasdorp via Malgas Ferry. Sharon found a pair, or rather Fred spotted them just as we were about to give up. This is the little devil- a lifer for Sharon and for us.

I lifted this picture from the web as my camera was unable to pick out the lark from the chaff. Fred got some shots though.

So, Sharon suitably happy, we gapped it to Bredasdorp by the man powered ferry at Malgas. Yes the ferry which can carry 6 cars at a time across the Breede river is in deed man powered. Fred managed to persuade the crew to take the ferry halfway for a photo-opportunity and then back for him (how does he do it?). I

felt obliged to play the white man and do a bit of powering of the ferry. It is the new South Africa afterall.

After the compulsory Kapula candle stop we lunched/high tea’d at Julian’s (misread by me as Italian’s) and then another 50km of dirt to get to Die Mond and the search for the Damara Tern – again 6 breeding pairs restricted, so it seems to a 200 metre stretch of beach between Die Mond and Struissbai.

Here’s the intrepid Di, Fred Sharon intent on spotting the ‘diminuitive’ Tern. Spot it they did and me too (a lifer for me and Di).

 

 

 

Look really close and you can see it flying in the picture to the right…. in the sky in the middle somewhere ‘onist.

 

The beach is superb and we’ve promised to go back next week to see the Rays at Struissbai.

It was getting dark and we were tired. 120 kms later we got back home there was a superb sunset near Riviersonderend Fred and Sharon’s car was still safe in the layby.