As I returned from my week with extended family in Durban I got a call from my wife saying that she really needed to get away from Johannesburg with the kids for the April school holidays. I came up with the wild idea that we could do a round trip from Joburg to Cape Town to Plett to Port Elizabeth to Port Shepstone to Durban to Joburg. A day later we set off at midnight for a 16 hour trip to Cape Point where we had checked in for 3 nights at a family cottage at Table Mountain National Park in Cape Point.

The downside of the trip is that I would fail dismally trying to see some specials along the way: I was a day late to see the Little Crake at Clovelley, it was too windy at Rooi-Els to see the Cape Rock Jumpers, I don't know what happened to all the Cape Siskin that I was hoping to see, I was too late in the day to see the Sooty Falcon at Emily Moon Resort and it was super low tide at Cape Recife and dismal weather so there were no Plovers in sight! HOWEVER, as far as birding goes it was still amazingly a great trip with a good number of lifers picked up along the way (and surprisingly also a great family holiday - never easy balancing the two!

As we made our way into Cape Town we got this glimpse of the Table Mountain - that would be as close as we would come to that side of the mountain - spending all our time on the other side of the city at Cape Point.

A nice Lifer came out of nowhere as we arrived at the beach at Muizenberg and I realised I was not looking at a Grey-hooded Gull but Hautlab's Gull:

We arrived at Table Mountain National Park (The Cape Point section) and while picking up the keys for our cottage at the Buffelsfontein Visitor Center saw a few decent birds:

The next morning was spent exploring the whole of the Cape Point area. Here are some shots that hopefully do some justice to the beauty of the place:

A super lifer appeared briefly, Orange-breasted Sunbird, but I would have to wait for another day to get decent pics of it.

We made our way down to Olifantsbos Bay and I made my way down onto the rock while the family wandered along the beach looking at shells:

I got the fright of my life when I climbed onto a rock and there not more than 4 meters away from me was a seal - just lying there. I was not sure what to do - run, scream or call the family. I opted for the latter option but the wind was blowing in my face and I could not get their attention - plus the seal started moving - so all I could do was snap these shots. I suspect it is a Cape Fur Seal - is that correct?

I continued to make my way along the beach in search of more bird species and got some great sightings along the way - including Ostrich on the beach - not something I have ever seen before. Oh, the fly by of Adult and juvenile Cape Gannets was another Lifer for me! I had worked so hard the week before at Tinley Manor north of Durban to find and photograph African Black Oystercatcher - and here in the cape there were everywhere!

I can't help but include some pics of the rock formations in this area along the coast:

At the end of the road that travels south towards Cape Point I stumbled across an impressive Tern roost - unfortunately there were all Swift Tern which I had seen before:

Oh, and a few more shots of the rocks...

Back on the eastern side of Cape Point I had an awesome encounter with another Lifer - Cape Sugarbird (hey, this is the first time I have really birded in Cape Town - I did spend a weekend in the Elgin Valley at a camp a while back, but it was rather limited) - and was treated to an amazing up close experience as it hovered in the strong wind just in front of my camera.

Leaving the National Park we made our way up along the coast towards Fish Hoek. I was able to get close to a group of Hautlab's Gull that I had seen for the first time yesterday::

I had gotten the sad news on my trip down to Cape Town the day before from SafariRanger that the Little Crake had packed her bags and flown off - but I still needed to see the spot. I got to see the Little Crake - at least on the photos that have been placed on a memorial that had been erected to her:

Our next stop was Boulders Beach so the kids could hang out with some Penguins. It was the windiest day that I had ever experienced and the poor old penguins were certainly not in a very jovial mood. Still it was a special time - especially for my 6 year old - Little Birdman!

We headed back into the National Park and made one more turn past the beach at Olifantsbos and got some decent shots of Karoo Prinia:

The next morning we headed off for Rooi-Els - sadly you can only exit the main gate of the National Park at 7am so there was no way that we could get an early start. As we followed the road past Muizenberg my wife saw some Pelicans coming in to land on the other side of some thickets - let just say that it probably was a good day to be wearing jean-pants (something I had chosen not to do for once) and my legs took quick a pounding from all the prickly thickets. I guess it was worthwhile for a couple shots of the Pelicans:

We arrived at Rooi-Els and spotted a large group from the Hermanus Bird club who were out birding the spot. Sadly all of us would be disappointed because the Cape Rock-jumpers were nowhere to be found. I have NEVER experienced wind that literally pushes me backwards for a dozen steps or more. No wonder the Rock-jumpers stayed in the shelter higher up the mountain. However, dozens of Sunbirds kept me entertained, especially the Orange-breasted variety (a Peregrine Falcon was great too):

We pressed on to Betty's Bay and did some birding in the Norman Porter Botanical Gardens (Swee Waxbill, African Black Duck and Cape Batis were the highlights sadly), before making our way to the Penguin colony at Stony Point where I would be rewarded with lifers of both Bank and Crowned Cormorants.

We stopped off again at Rooi-els on the way back but the wind was still howling and the Rock-jumpers were a no-show. Still, the bird life at the spot was incredible as was the scenery (I have never been able to get close to Cape Grassbird in Gauteng or KZN, but in the Cape you can almost stroke them as they sit in the fynbos thickets):

Keeping an eye on the clock (you have to be back at the gate of the National Park at a ridiculous time in the afternoon) I headed for the Tokai Pine plantation to try and spot the Common Chaffinch - we sad down at the tea room, ordered a coke each (the electricity was out so our options were limited), played the call to familiarise myself with the sound to listen out for - and immediately my wife said: "Hey, that must be your bird!" It has to go down as the easiest twitch ever!

On the way back to the park (after doing some shopping at a Pick 'n Pay) I spotted a uniquely speckled bird in a tree in the parking lot and recalled seeing a pic of a juvenile Common Starling somewhere and realised that's what it was - truly adorable:

Oh, I messed up the time to be back, thought it was 6pm, turns out it is 5pm, and had to sweet talk my way out of a R350 (yes, three hundred and fifty rand) fine! Sho, that was close!!! Please National Park - your times are not conducive to birding! You can't even leave the guest cottage in the reserve before 6:45 as the road out is locked with a boom. Weird!!!

Anyway, that was the end of our 3 night stay at the park and we set out early the next morning (yeah right - at 7am) for Port Elizabeth. We planned to take some pics of the Sooty Falcon in Plett, then the Golden Pacific Plover at Cape Recife - ha ha - what a joke. It was great to meet up with RustyJusty at the Emily Moon Resort in Plett - he had seen the Falcon early that morning and had returned for some shots but were stood up! The Falcon was out hunting!

Oh well, some shots of Brimstone Canary - a first for 2012 - talk about a consolation prize - and also a parrot that we saw in a tree (I doubt it will make it's way onto our lists given that it's cage was under the tree):

Justin had warned me to check on the tides because I needed to be at Cape Recife as the tide came in - but did I listen to the boy from Grahamstown University? No! And did we go to the beach in the morning at high tide? No, spring low tide - so there were very few Terns around at all.

There is this one little Gull that I am trying to identify. Any ideas?

It was not a total loss of an hours birding before driving to Port Shepstone - there were at least 3 Ruddy Turnstone that I got fairly close to (the impending storm was not helping my photography!), plenty Oystercatchers, a group of breeding Kelp Gull and a few dozen Swift Tern:

Oh, and I got to see a Cape Gannet up close - sadly it appeared to have been washed up onto the shore over night! Sad really!!!

The rest of our trip to Port Shepstone was exhausting - what a terrible road - so many small towns, so many stop and go's! More tiring than driving all the way from Joburg to Cape Town. We over-nighted with my brother in law in Port Shepstone that night before continuing to Durban to spend the day with my parents before heading back to Joburg that afternoon. A round trip of nearly 5000 kilometers, 7 Lifers, some decent bird photos for my website, and breathtaking scenery all along the coast. I wish we could have birded around Knysna or Cape St. Francis or Cape Agulhas or ..... - Oh, well, I will just have to do it all again one day!!! :)