The last
day, and no reason to spoil the run of very early rises, to search the
camp outhouses for interesting moths and other insects, whilst keeping
an ear and eye open for any vertebrates around in the first light. The
outbuildings produced less than
the previous evening.
As had become the norm, we met by the guides accom’ for coffee and
rusks at 5am and set about exploring the camp site on foot. In the
immediate vicinity of their room we located a number of new species, as
well as some familiar faces. New up were an African
Dusky Flycatcher, a Yellow-throated Petronia and ….. whilst
Black-collared Barbets and Purple-crested Turaco’s were always welcome
resightings. Further on, a new Sunbird made it onto the list in the form
of a Purple-banded Sunbird. This species is very similar
to the more common Murcio Sunbird but noticeably smaller. The
Purple-banded is not listed as being in this area, but a small number
have been seen around the camp fairly regularly. Fortunately we had
really good views of a male of both species perched in the
open only a few centimetres apart, with a male White-bellied Sunbird
also joining them, allowing great comparison between these two
lookalikes.
We then took a short drive around some of the tracks surrounding
the camp, struggling to find much of note. A bull Cape Buffalo feeding
on grass on a narrow ledge well up one of the Kopi’s (a hillock of
usually, large boulders) was something of a surprise.
The second bus picked up a Lazy Cisticola whilst we made do with brief
views of a male Shaft-tailed Whyda, before returning for breakfast.
It was then a case of loading up the safari trucks for the last
time, and off on our last drive round the Kruger before the transfer
back to minibuses for the journey back to the airport.
The first visit was to the Panic Waterhole. The track in produced
our first Golden-breasted Bunting, but the waterhole provided little
other than good views of an African Jacana. Moving on we picked up some
birds flying across in front of us. They took
a bit of pinning down but eventually I managed to get enough on them to
call them as Retz’s Helmetshires (Cyclehelmets?), these were quickly
followed by a party of White-crested Helmetshrikes., giving better views
than the ones we saw yesterday.
Accipiters had been notable by their virtual absence, throughout
the trip, with only brief views of a Shikra (I think only I saw this)
and a African Goshawk, which I missed. Eventually, a Dark Chanting
Goshawk decided to play ball and perched up close
to the road, for us to enjoy.
Scrutiny of a group of small passerines moving through the scrub
brought two more ticks in the shape of Green-crowned and Yellow-bellied
Eremorella’s .
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before we arrived at the Pheben Gate,
to end our visit to Kruger, and it was with some sadness we transferred
to the minibuses for the long transfer to Jo’berg.
We weren’t finished yet, however, as we noted a pair of Trumpeter
Hornbill’s as we drove along. They were initially flying alongside us
before flying over. We were able to pull over to locate these as they
fed in a fruiting fig trees. We Also broke the
journey with a quick stop at VV pans, were 2 Lesser Flamingo’s and
Red-billed Teal were the final additions to the trips list.
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