Would you like to tick Blackcrowned Night Heron on your life
list? Or how about Wattled Starling, Ruff, Ringed Plover, Squacco
Heron and a great variety of ducks.
A lot of work has gone into making
the Newcastle Sewerage Works more Bird and Bird breeding friendly. A
more garden-like environment was established, instead of only having
large areas of neatly cut veld. Branches of Willow trees were planted on
the banks of the maturation ponds. The phosphates and nitrates in the
sewerage effluent acted as fertilizer and within three years the trees
were established.
Because of the permanent availability of water and
food the sewerage farm now has breeding pairs of Cape Shoveller,
Egyptian Goose, Dabchick, Coot, Cape Teal, and the Blackcrowned Night
Heron that can regularly be seen towards evening, and early mornings.
Birders that regularly visit the sewerage farm have noticed that most of
the aquatic bird species that occur in Newcastle and the surrounding
areas can, at certain times, be seen at the sewerage farm. Birders are
able to watch the birds at relatively close quarters because of the
outlay of the sewerage works. Although the Newcastle sewerage farm is
not open to the general public, visitors will be gladly accommodated.
Any persons interested to see the birds at the Newcastle sewerage works,
may contact Rina Pretorius 083 327 0789 or Sylva Francis at 0343152273 or 082-823-4298 to arrange
for a visit.
Yellowbilled Egret
Halfcollared Kingfisher (Kobie Raijmakers)
Newcastle Sewerage Works
Vangervlei
Vangervlei
is a declared Important Bird Area as well as a natural heritage site. It
is at the top of Muller’s Pass only a few kilometres from the entrance
to Moorfield. The Vlei is privately owned and access could be organised
through the BLNN offices. The Muller’s Pass road does however afford
good bird watching from the road itself and this is normally sufficient.
Spend sometime at the bridge crossing the Vlei and at the pan adjacent
to the entrance gate. Several pairs of Whitewinged Flufftail have been
recorded in summer and the area is well known for its abundance of Rails
and Harriers and this is one of the best spots to study a variety of
Cisticola and larks. The area is sometimes fairly difficult to reach
during heavy rains.
Bush Blackcap
Blackcrowned Night Heron
The Wakkerstroom vlei
The
Wakkerstroom vlei lies on the edge of the town and excellent bird
viewing is to be had along the two bridges leading to the towns of
Amersfoort and Volksrust. A dirt road going along the railway line on
the western side of the vlei should also not be ignored. Excellent
bird-hides are available – access to which could be organised through
the BLSA Wakkerstroom centre. A whole range of circle routes are
available in the district. These include the circle route, which
includes Clarens pan, and Figland pan. This route is well known for its
sightings of Rudd’s and Botha’s Lark, Blue Korhaan, Stanley’s Bustard,
Great Crested Grebe, most of the Harriers and Whitebacked duck. Several
circle routes are also available towards the east of Wakkerstroom most
of which should include the Slangrivier and Groenvlei areas. The route,
taking visitors from Wakkerstroom passed the Zaaihoek dam and Groenvlei
towards Utrecht is also highly recommended.
The Balele Mountain Reserve at Utrecht
The
Balele Mountain reserve is a must for the birder visiting this region.
There is a whole range of species which are normally not expected in the
grassveld biosphere biome, to be found here. The sightings include
Fiscal Flycatcher, Goldenbreasted Bunting, Blackthroated Canary, most of
the robins, Bush Blackcap and several Kingfishers etc.
Malachite Kingfisher
The Chelmsford Nature Reserve
Ntshingwayo
(Chelmsford) is one of a number of state dams in KwaZulu Natal which had
been set aside to provide outdoor recreation under the administration of
KZN Wildlife. The Dam is situated just to the East of the R23 some 20 km
South of Newcastle. A range of accommodation is available both at
Leeukop and Richgate park. The checklist of birds of Northern KZN
certainly indicates that Chelmsford dam is severely underestimated as a
birdwatching destination. Reservations can be made through KZN Wildlife
at P.O. Box 13053, Cascades, 3202, telephone: (033) 845-1000. The
officer in charge could be contacted at 034 – 3511753.
Black-necked Grebe
Seekoeivlei - Memel
Seekoeivlei is a declared Ramsar site and entrance to the reserve can
be organised through the Memel Getaways, the local tourist information
centre or the Free State Nature Conservation offices in Voortrekker
Street, Memel. Memel Getaways also gladly provides route maps and a
birding guide "Where to watch birds around Memel" by Rick Nuttall.
Checklists of some 240 recorded species, as well as checklists of the 35
"specials" and the 21 Red Data species of the Memel area, are available.
Four BLSA bird guides can also be contacted through Getaways. The Vlei
consists of a floodplain holding numerous seasonally flooded oxbow lakes
which are drained by the Klipriver.
Seekoeivlei
must certainly be one of the most underestimated birdwatching
destinations in South Africa and the vast majority of water birds
normally associated with the grassland biosphere biome are to be found
here. A circle route around the reserve which is illustrated on the
Memel regional map certainly represents the best short route to watch
birds in this region. On this route, particular note should be taken of
the pan on the northern edge of the reserve. An Eco-tourism development
of R 8,1m should be completed by the end of 2004. Facilities will
include a rest camp with self-catering chalets, a caravan park,
conference centre and a small restaurant. Some of the finest wetland
birding facilities will be provided, which will consist of a number of
birdhides, interlinked by elevated walkways.
The Ncandu Forest
This unknown forest is the second largest indigenous forest in
KwaZulu-Natal, and is situated on the Northern Drakensberg escarpment. It is
a typical high-altitude forest in pristine condition.
The dominating trees in the forest are White Stinkwood [Celtis Africana]
that grow up to 30 meters high and three types of Yellow wood [Podocarpus
facatus, -henkell, and -latifolius]
The
confluence of several small streams form the source of the Ncandu River and
due to a relative pollution free environment, the fast flowing streams are
clear and an ideal habitat for trout.
Being difficult to reach, very little study on birdlife of the Ncandu
forest has been done. However, species known to inhabit the forest include
the Bush Blackcap, Olive Woodpecker, Rameron Pigeon, Heuglin’s Robin and the
African Wood Owl. A positive sighting of a Cape Parrot has also been made
recently.
To date the forest has regularly been threatened by veld fires and
uncontrolled cattle grazing. These threats will soon be something of the
past when the Ncandu River Dam Consortium constructs a dam on the river at
the farm Eikenhof. The dam will form a barrier which will prevent veld
fires, cattle and domestic animals from reaching the forest. Access will
only be possible by boat and boardwalks will be constructed through the
forest and above the canopy of the forest from where visitors can view the
birds and plants without disturbing the environment. Information can be
obtained from the Officer in charge at Ntshingwayo (Chelmsford) Dam at 034
–3511753. (Article sponsored by: Ncandu River Dam Consortium)
Vangervlei
is a declared Important Bird Area as well as a natural heritage site. It
is at the top of Muller’s Pass only a few kilometres from the entrance
to Moorfield. The Vlei is privately owned and access could be organised
through the BLNN offices. The Muller’s Pass road does however afford
good bird watching from the road itself and this is normally sufficient.
Spend sometime at the bridge crossing the Vlei and at the pan adjacent
to the entrance gate. Several pairs of Whitewinged Flufftail have been
recorded in summer and the area is well known for its abundance of Rails
and Harriers and this is one of the best spots to study a variety of
Cisticola and larks. The area is sometimes fairly difficult to reach
during heavy rains. 
The
Wakkerstroom vlei lies on the edge of the town and excellent bird
viewing is to be had along the two bridges leading to the towns of
Amersfoort and Volksrust. A dirt road going along the railway line on
the western side of the vlei should also not be ignored. Excellent
bird-hides are available – access to which could be organised through
the BLSA Wakkerstroom centre. A whole range of circle routes are
available in the district. These include the circle route, which
includes Clarens pan, and Figland pan. This route is well known for its
sightings of Rudd’s and Botha’s Lark, Blue Korhaan, Stanley’s Bustard,
Great Crested Grebe, most of the Harriers and Whitebacked duck. Several
circle routes are also available towards the east of Wakkerstroom most
of which should include the Slangrivier and Groenvlei areas. The route,
taking visitors from Wakkerstroom passed the Zaaihoek dam and Groenvlei
towards Utrecht is also highly recommended.
The
Balele Mountain reserve is a must for the birder visiting this region.
There is a whole range of species which are normally not expected in the
grassveld biosphere biome, to be found here. The sightings include
Fiscal Flycatcher, Goldenbreasted Bunting, Blackthroated Canary, most of
the robins, Bush Blackcap and several Kingfishers etc. 
Ntshingwayo
(Chelmsford) is one of a number of state dams in KwaZulu Natal which had
been set aside to provide outdoor recreation under the administration of
KZN Wildlife. The Dam is situated just to the East of the R23 some 20 km
South of Newcastle. A range of accommodation is available both at
Leeukop and Richgate park. The checklist of birds of Northern KZN
certainly indicates that Chelmsford dam is severely underestimated as a
birdwatching destination. Reservations can be made through KZN Wildlife
at P.O. Box 13053, Cascades, 3202, telephone: (033) 845-1000. The
officer in charge could be contacted at 034 – 3511753.
Seekoeivlei
must certainly be one of the most underestimated birdwatching
destinations in South Africa and the vast majority of water birds
normally associated with the grassland biosphere biome are to be found
here. A circle route around the reserve which is illustrated on the
Memel regional map certainly represents the best short route to watch
birds in this region. On this route, particular note should be taken of
the pan on the northern edge of the reserve. An Eco-tourism development
of R 8,1m should be completed by the end of 2004. Facilities will
include a rest camp with self-catering chalets, a caravan park,
conference centre and a small restaurant. Some of the finest wetland
birding facilities will be provided, which will consist of a number of
birdhides, interlinked by elevated walkways.
The
confluence of several small streams form the source of the Ncandu River and
due to a relative pollution free environment, the fast flowing streams are
clear and an ideal habitat for trout.