This past Monday was Youth Day, a national South African
public holiday. I decided to take a birding trip out to Midmar Dam, about a 20
minute drive from Pietermaritzburg. This is an Important Bird Area, with the
dam dominating the landscape. It was a good raptor day with: Black-shouldered
Kite, Long-crested Eagle, Jackal Buzzard, African Fish-Eagle, and Lanner
Falcon. Early in the day I had good views of two Cape Grassbirds. This is an
endemic species that has a really cool song! They also have cute little
mustaches. The grassbird is said to monogamous and has a bowl-shaped nest.
Their breeding season starts in July, but perhaps the pair I saw was gearing
up for the season.
In total, I observed 35 species in
3 hours, and drove around the whole lake. Midmar is so big, it is best to drive
around it. There are no good trails for hiking, but there is a paved road that
can take you through most of the park. In the game reserve section, one can see
zebra, and blesbok. All in all it was a good day off spent at a beautiful place!
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| Cape Grassbird in the hand |
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| Blesbok at Midmar Dam |
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| African Wattled Lapwing at Midmar Dam |
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