On Monday the 29th November 2010 after visiting Vaalkop Dam Nature Reserve I decided to spend the afternoon around the Hartbeespoort Dam exploring some of the sites mentioned in chapter 72 of Birding Gauteng. I started at the dam wall crossing where there is a tunnel to the town of Hartbeespoort. Here are some scenery pics of the spot:

From the dam wall I saw White-breasted Cormorant, Reed Cormorant, African Darter, Red-winged Starling, Lesser Striped swallow, Little Swift, Southern Masked Weaver, Cattle Egret, Black-headed Heron, Cape Wagtail and Dark-capped Bulbul.

I then headed to the bridge over the Krokodil River on the R560 and spent a few minutes there - not seeing many birds, but the scenery was great:

The other thing I discovered while I was on the bridge was a resort right next to the river called Mount Amanzi. The security Officer, Wimpie, allowed me to spend time atlassing the property and was most gracious. It is a gem of a resort - there is a farmyard area that kids would just love, three little dams, awesome swimming pools - plus it is along the river that leads from Haartbeespoort Dam (what more could you ask for!).

I saw 27 tickable bird species at Mount Amanzi, excluding Black Swan and Wood Duck. Here are a selection of pics (The Dark-capped Bulbul seems to be displaying and the Thick-billed Weaver is feeding her nearly fully-grown chick):

I then made my way along the R512 and stopped off near the Leopard Lodge to see if I could spot any of the Cape Vulture circling above the mountain. One of my pics shows at least 30 Cape Vulture circling - apparently there are more than 280 breeding pairs here! One day I will visit the Vergenoeg resort and climb the mountain to take a closer look! I also saw Black-shouldered Kite in this area:

My next stop was the long bridge over the R512 where I saw Red-chested Cuckoo, Cattle Egret, Diderick Cuckoo, Yellow-billed Duck, African Darter, Little Egret and African Grey Hornbill.

On a previous outing to the Dam I visited the Oberon Resort on the south-east corner of the dam - where I saw White-breasted Cormorant and Grey-headed Gull. It is most definitely a site worth exploring when time allows!