OLIFANTS, TAMBOTI, TALAMATI & SATARA

Olifants camp is an excellent place to see Southern Yellow-billed and Southern Red-billed Hornbills, Bennett’s Woodpecker, African Hoopoe, Grey-headed and Orange-breasted Bushshrikes, Red-headed Weaver, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Burchell’s Starling, Mourning Collared Dove and Brown-headed Parrot, amongst many others.

To the south of Olifants, the rich bushveld and grasslands are particularly productive for several special species. These include Kori Bustard – the world’s heaviest flying bird, the magnificent Martial Eagle, Bateleur, Common Ostrich, Marabou Stork and the impressive Secretarybird – a monotypic family and one of the world’s great avian gems. Further specialities that we will search for in the woodland areas include the lovely Orange-breasted and Grey-headed Bushshrikes, African Grey Hornbill, Lesser Grey, Red-backed, Southern White-crowned and Magpie Shrikes, Red-billed Oxpecker riding on the backs of big game, Red-crested Korhaan, Southern Black Tit, noisy Green Wood Hoopoe, Common Scimitarbill, Greater and Lesser Honeyguides, Acacia Pied Barbet, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Sabota Lark, Mosque Swallow, Black Cuckooshrike, Kurrichane and Groundscraper Thrushes, eye-catching White-throated Robin-Chat, melodic White-browed Scrub Robin, Burnt-necked and Yellow-bellied Eremomelas, Black-crowned and Brown-crowned Tchagras, Brubru, dazzling Violet-backed Starling, White-winged Widowbird and Golden-breasted Bunting.

The sweet grasses in the Satara area are, of course, also excellent for large herds of grazing mammals, such as Common Wildebeest, Plains Zebra and Impala. These huge herds, in turn, support a healthy population of predators, and Satara is particularly well-known for this. In fact, we have an excellent chance of finding Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Spotted Hyena and the very scarce and highly threatened African Wild Dog in this area. High densities of other game include Southern Giraffe, Greater Kudu, Klipspringer, Bushbuck, Warthog, Chacma Baboon, Vervet and Dwarf and Banded Mongooses, to name just a few.

To the north of Olifants camp are the Letaba River and its associated camp (Letaba), which also offers some excellent birding opportunities. Like many other Kruger camps, it is also situated right on the river, which ensures fabulous access to quality habitat. Letaba camp can be a good place to look for African Barred Owlet, African Scops Owl and Pearl-spotted Owlet; while the river itself is one of the best locations in the park for Grey-rumped Swallow. Other good species include White-crowned Lapwing, Red-capped Robin-Chat and Green-capped Eremomela.

SHINGWEDZI, BATELEUR & SIRHENI

All three camps are in the northern region of Kruger which is justly famous for birding. Shingwedzi camp is fairly large while both Bateleur and Sirheni are smaller bushveld camps that have been included on the exclusive routes. Like many of the camps we stay at during the challenge, Shingwedzi is also situated on a river – the beautiful Shingwedzi, which is often one of the first rivers in the park to stop flowing during drought years. During wet seasons, however, the river can flow strongly and can be quite a site. It also offers good access to excellent riverine woodland and thickets with an extensive road network comprising many loops and a hide (blind) with wonderful views over the river. Mopane dominates the drier areas away from the river to the north and south. North of Shingwedzi towards Sirheni is a river road that follows the Mphongolo River and can offer some good birding opportunities. Further north, towards Babalala, the woodlands give way to more open habitat, with dotted low bushes and grassland, and this area can be extremely productive as well, particularly during the mid to late summer months.

Given time in the area Shingwedzi camp itself is certainly worth exploring, especially during the summer months when migrant warblers are often about, as this is often a good place to look for Thrush Nightingale. The camp has also famously produced Collared Palm Thrush in the past – a mega record for the park and South Africa. Other regular species include Red-headed Weaver, Bennett’s Woodpecker and Mourning Collared Dove.

Near to Shingwedzi is the Kanniedood Dam, which provides further opportunities to boost the waterbird list. As with most Kruger dams, the volume of species is water level dependent; however, Kanniedood can often hold a fair variety of waders, including Marsh Sandpiper and occasionally even White-fronted Plover. To the south of Shingwedzi is some excellent grassland and scattered bush habitat, which is generally very good for species such as Red-crested Korhaan, Black-bellied Bustard, Southern Carmine and European Bee-eaters, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Zitting and Desert Cisticolas and even species such as Dusky and Monotonous Larks, when conditions are right.

The area around Sirheni and further north is another fabulous area of open grassland and scattered bush, which again can produce a variety of excellent species. During the summer months, species such as European Roller and Red-backed Shrike are commonly found; while during times of good rainfall, birds that pull in include Harlequin Quail and African and Corn Crakes. Pallid and Montagu’s Harriers, Monotonous and Dusky Larks, Amur and Red-footed Falcons and Lesser Kestrel should all be looked for carefully. Further north towards the junction of the H1-8 and the H13-1, there have even been records of Black Coucal and Rufous-winged Cisticola – both rare birds in Kruger.

PUNDA MARIA & PAFURI AREA (MAKULEKE CONCESSION)

The far northern Punda Maria and Pafuri areas, bordering Zimbabwe and Mozambique, offer up the best birding in all of Kruger, and many species that are typically only found further north are recorded from this section of the park. Punda is situated around a small hill/kopje and even the camp offers up some fabulous birding. The surrounding woodland, which includes the Mahonie Loop, offers up wonderful mixed woodland; while some excellent tall mopane, that holds a variety of specials, can be found between Punda Maria and Klopperfontein and also on the main tar road that leads east along the H13-1 to the junction of the main north-south route from Pafuri to Shingwedzi. The area around Klopperfontein can be extremely productive, as the taller woodlands give way to more open country, with several small wetlands that usually fill up during the rains. One of the major target zones will also be the stunning riverine woodland that flanks the Luvhuvhu River. There is a superb road network in this area, which allows for extensive exploration of this incredible habitat that teams with birds.

The area around the Mahonie Loop and Punda Maria camp offer up a feast of specials in addition to many of Kruger’s more widespread species, and good birds to keep a watch out for include Brown-necked (Grey-headed) Parrot, Eastern Nicator, Narina Trogon, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Mosque Swallow, Common House Martin, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Stierling’s Wren-Warbler, Broad-billed Roller, Eurasian Golden Oriole, River Warbler, White Stork, Steppe and Lesser Spotted Eagles, Eurasian Hobby, African Barred Owlet, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Red-collared Widowbird, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, Bronze-winged Courser, Double-banded Sandgrouse and Kurrichane (Small) Buttonquail; while numerous rarities have been reported from this loop before, such as Southern Hyliota, African Golden Oriole, Orange-winged Pytilia and Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah. The area also hosts an incredible variety of cuckoos; however, these do become more difficult to find post-breeding once they have stopped calling. Species to look out for include African, Common, Red-chested, Black, Levaillant’s, Jacobin, Great Spotted, Diederik, Klaas’s and Thick-billed.

MOPANI & SHIMUWENI

Shimuweni, one of the smaller bushveld camps on our exclusive routes and Mopani, as the name suggests, is situated in the mopane dominated woodland. In general, this area does not hold as great a variety of species as elsewhere in the park but there are some interesting areas and both camps are good locations to break up otherwise long drives between the north of the reserve and camps located further south. The nearby areas of open habitat around Nshawu, for example, give access to some different habitat, which in turn often delivers some interesting birds for the park.

Mopani Camp overlooks the Pioneer Dam, and this water feature often attracts a good variety of waterbirds, including Collared Pratincole, which is a scarce species in Kruger. Recently, the dam has also played host to African Skimmer, a significant record for Kruger and indeed South Africa. The dam also occasionally turns up an interesting duck or two (most duck species are generally scarce in Kruger) or African Sacred Ibis (very uncommon in Kruger). Otherwise, many of the region’s more widespread egrets, herons, storks and waders can be seen at the dam.

The Nshawu area, including the Nshawu Dam, offers some interesting birding, and the area regularly holds Temminck’s Courser, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Kittlitz’s Plover, Collared Pratincole, Caspian Plover, and even Rufous-winged Cisticola has been seen here. During times when conditions are wet, species such as Harlequin Quail move into the area; while severe droughts have produced rarities for the park like Grey-backed Sparrow-Lark and Lark-like Bunting.