Ethan Kistler reports from Eastern South Africa
Steve Rooke and I recently finished the 19-day Eastern South Africa tour. Our route provided us with the opportunity to experience a variety of habitats and bird communities from sea level, along the Indian Ocean coast, to over 9400’ along Sani Pass in the Drakensberg escarpment. We tallied nearly 440 species of birds with some of the highlights being Striped Flufftail, three species of cranes, 47 species of raptors (eagles, owls, falcons, etc.), Cape Parrot, Drakensberg Rockjumper, around a dozen species of larks, the critically endangered Montane Blue Swallow, and a bonus Whinchat. The latter was a vagrant and only the 14th record for the country.
Mammals didn’t disappoint either. We successfully tracked down the “Big Five”: buffalo, rhino, lion, elephant, and Leopard, in addition to finding African Wild Cat, Meerkat, Spotted-necked Otter, and an unprecedented two Aardvarks! It’s not every day you see an Aardvark, let alone two, certainly not in the Kruger National Park on the same day! The 2024 Eastern South Africa tour is well anticipated!
Martial Eagle was one of 47 raptors recorded on this tour. One of the largest eagles in the world, they have been known to take large pray including Impala and even lion cubs!
This Bearded Scrub-Robin posed nicely for us as it serenaded us in Kruger National Park.
One of many species of larks in South Africa, the distinctive Spike-heeled Lark has a very short tail, and was seen close to where we had the endangered Rudd’s Lark.
One of our mammal highlights, this mating Leopard couple clearly shows the remarkable size difference between male and female.
A once in a lifetime experience, we had this young Aardvark in the morning near Lower Saber Camp in Kruger National Park. We then found an adult on our night drive out of Skukuza Camp that same evening!