The East Rand Pans hotspots are covered in chapter 16 in Birding Gauteng - and they consist of numerous small dams and wetlands that make for great outings.
1. Korsman Bird Sanctuary
This sanctuary is surrounded by a circle road and a fence limiting access to the water - but provides many spots from where the birds can be viewed as well as a bird hide. Here is a seclection of pics that I have taken at this spot:
2. Bullfrog Pan
This is a great spot that requires a short walk up and over a hill of grassland to reach the pan. Here is the view that greets you as you reach the top (and some other scenery pics of the spot):
We were at the pan for just over an hour and saw 23 bird species - including: Crowned Lapwing, Grey Go-away-bird, Blacksmith Lapwing, Helmeted Guineafowl, Yellow-billed Egret, Egyptian Goose, Red-knobbed Coot, Whiskered Tern, Black-headed Heron, Grey-headed Gull, Reed Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Southern Red Bishop, Common Moorhen, Grey Heron, Glossy Ibis, Speckled Pigeon, Sacred Ibis, Cattle Egret, White-faced Duck, Greater Flamingo, Great Crested Grebe and a Cisticola that I have not been able to identify.
Here are some of the pics of birds that I took:
3. Bonaero Park Pan
On the 26th August 2010 after hearing about prolific bird life on the Bonaero Park Pan I visited the pan and was amazed at what I encountered. Here is a panorama view of the pan from the eastern side:
These pics show just how diverse and prolific the bird life is on the dam:
The abundance of Greater Flamingo on the pan was amazing:
Watching this Flamingo engaged in water sport was a real treat:
The Pan is a major breeding site for Grey-headed Gull:
I spent some time trying to capture flying shots of Grey-headed Gull:
Here is my attempt at portraying Grey-headed Gull in various life stages from the pics that I took (from chick to juvenile to adult):
Some of the other bird life that I saw included: Red-knobbed Coot (in their hundreds), Squacco Heron, Grey Heron, Sacred Ibis, Yellow-billed Duck, Red-billed Teal, Maccoa Duck, Helmeted Guineafowl, Egyptian Goose, African Purple Swamphen, Common Moorhen, Little Grebe, Cape Wagtail, Southern Masked Weaver and Blacksmith Lapwing.
During June 2011 I heard that Red-crested Pochard had been spotted on the pan, so after dropping someone off a the airport I made a quick trip to see if I could spot the Pochard. It did not take too long before I saw the two Red-crested Pochards and was able to get some pics (although it was hard to get close to the birds as the pan is rather large).
Here are some other pics that I took during my brief time at the pan:
On my way back from this pan I spotted a wetland on Altas Road, just before the highway intersection - and on a Golf Driving Range (GPS co-ordinates: 26°06'38.67"S, 28°15'18.23"E). What caught my attention was the hundreds of Grey-headed Gulls that were at the spot - including dozens of juveniles. Here are some pics that I took (starting with some pano pics):
4. Other East Rand Pans
A. Leeupan
To get here you travel on the N12 east past Boksburg and took the Tom Jones road offramp, travelled south on the M45 and turned right onto the R23. A few kilometers down this road we reached robot intersection and turned right as we saw the pan in front of us. We looked for a way to get closer and turned in at the informal settlement where we were told to drive back towards the intersection and look for a dirt track in the third gap in the precast wall. This road led us to the edge of the water and allowed us to drive around the pan (about a half of the way around was easily doable). Here is a panorama shot of the spot:
Here are some scenery pics that we took during the morning:
We immediately realised that the spot was teeming with bird life and started to record species from the entrance through the precast fence. We spent some time birding the closest part of the pan to the main road (here are the GPS co-ordinates I recorded next to the pan itself: 26°13'45.81"S and 28°18'57.67"E) and then followed the dirt tracks around the pan, to the left or east side) to a row of trees visible on the south bank.
In total, during our 2 hours at the pan we saw 49 bird species - including: White-faced Duck, Sacred Ibis, Red-eyed Dove, Long-tailed Widowbird, Blacksmith Lapwing, Klittlitz's Plover, Red-knobbed Coot, Common Moorhen, African Pipit, Pied Avocet, Greater Striped Swallow, Black-winged Stilt, Three-banded Plover, Cape Longclaw, Glossy Ibis, Black-throated Canary, Grey-headed Gull, Southern Red Bishop, Egyptian Goose, White-breasted Cormorant, African Darter, Ruff, Little Stint, Little Egret, Greater Flamingo, Hottentot Teal, Reed Cormorant, Pearl-breasted Swallow, Brown-throated Martin, White-rumped Swift, Spur-winged Goose, Capped Wheatear, Black Heron, African Purple Swamphen, African Wattled Lapwing, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Red-billed Teal, Common Fiscal, Cattle Egret, Southern Masked-Weaver, Laughing Dove, Cape Turtle-Dove, Hadeda Ibis, Fulvous Duck, Common Greenshank, Red-capped Lark, Yellow-billed Duck and Cape Wagtail.
Here is a selection of pics that I took of birds on, or over, the pan:
Here is a selection of pics I took of birds in the grassland around the pan:
While birding at Leeupan I noticed on my Nokia Maps program on my phone that there is another pan on the west side of the R23 and we set off to take a closer look. It is a stunning little spot that somewhat reminded me of Marievale, because there is a raised road that drive along the whole pan giving you a great view of the birdlife on the pan. Here are some scenery pics:
In the 30 minutes we spent at the spot we saw 26 bird species - including: African Purple Swamphen, Grey-headed Gull, Levaillant's Cisticola, Sacred Ibis, Southern Red Bishop, Ruff, Southern Masked Weaver, White-faced Duck, Reed Cormorant, Little Egret, Three-banded Plover, Little Grebe, Cape Wagtail, Cape Longclaw, Red-knobbed Coot, African Darter, Fulvous Duck, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Glossy Ibis, Common Moorhen, Three-banded Plover, Red-billed Quelea, Pied Starling, Wood Sandpiper and Common Waxbill.
B. Glenshaft Pan
We then looked for the Glenshaft Pan and nearly decided against visiting the spot because it is almost enclosed by an informal settlement. I decided to risk it and made sure that we were all vigilant and did not hang around in one spot for too long. The people were generally warm and welcoming but we did move on when we saw any signs of danger. The pan is fully enclosed by reeds so it is not a great spot for waders. Here are some scenery pics:
In total, during our 15 minutes at the pan, we saw 15 bird species - including: African Stonechat, Cattle Egret, Cape Sparrow, Common Fiscal, African Pipit, Grey-headed Gull, Black-throated Canary, Red-knobbed Coot, Fulvous Duck, Cape Wagtail, White-rumped Swift, Common Mina, Southern Masked-Weaver and Yellow-billed Duck.
Here are some pics of birds that we took:
C. Stewart's Pan
I am yet to visit this spot that is close to Korsman Bird Sanctuary and adjacent to Korsman Bird Sanctuary.
D. Blaauwpan (Pumula Park Nature Reserve)
I visited Blaauwpan but took a while to figure out that it is no longer accessible from Geldenhuis Road - here are the GPS co-ordinated for the entrance gate (in Mirabel street): 26°07'08.83"S, 28°16'05.94"E.
The site seems to have potential as a birding spot but the fisherman complained about being victims of crime on the southern side of the lake. There was security around while I was there and I felt safe because of the large numbers of people picnicking and fishing. I would advise against birding the spot at dawn or dusk! Here is a list of birds I saw there in the short time I spent at the spot: Laughing Dove, Cape Sparrow, Grey-headed Gull, Southern Masked Weaver, Egyptian Goose, Cape Wagtail, Hadeda Ibis, Red-knobbed Coot, Blacksmith Lapwing, Little Grebe, Sacred Ibis, Common Myna, Cape Turtle-Dove and of course domestic goose.
Here are a few scenery pics from the spot:
I got a few shots on the day but mostly enjoyed watching some Grey-headed Gulls fighting over who would get to roost on a pole:
E. Sandpan
We then headed north of the R23, onto the R45 and then onto Celia Nestadt Road and into President Brand and past Bullfrog Pan which we decided to leave until last in favour of checking out Sandpan which is a few kilometers further east. We entered the gated community in Du Toit road and made our way down to the edge of the pan expecting to see a dry pan (sandpan?) but were surprised to see a little lake. We spent some time exploring this southern side of the pan before making our way around to the east side where we entered another gated community to explore the east and north sides of the pan. This spots has a huge Grey-headed Gull breeding colony.
Here are some scenery pics we took during the hour and a half we spent at this spot:
All in all we saw 28 bird species at this pan - including: Southern Red Bishop, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Red-knobbed Coot, Yellow-billed Duck, Yellow-billed Egret, Greater Flamingo, Egyptian Goose, Grey-headed Gull, Black-headed Heron, Blacksmith Lapwing, Cape Shoveler, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, African Spoonbill, African Purple Swamphen, Red-billed Teal, Whiskered Tern, White-faced Duck, Common Moorhen, Cape Glossy Starling, Common Myna, Glossy Ibis, Sacred Ibis, Helmeted Guineafowl, Hadeda Ibis, Spotted Thick-knee and Dark-capped Bulbul.
Here are some of the pics that we took:
F. Carlos Rolfes Bird Sanctuary
I am yet to visit this spot in Jet Park.