Chapter 68 in Birding Gauteng covers the Marievale Bird Sanctuary. I have made numerous trips to this amazing wetland and always find something special to marvel at!
Trip 1: May 2010
On Monday morning with a gloomy weather report I left home at 4:30am with Little Birdman (my 5 year-old son who is crazy about birding) and arrived at Marievale around 6am - a little early for sunrise - it was pitch dark. We drove towards the picnic site and parked on one of the jetty's. We sat in the car drinking coffee and mistakenly opened the windows to hear the birds in the darkness - the sight of fresh blood was too much for the mosquitoes and we were soon being bitten quite badly. We decided to take a walk along the road hoping to keep moving to avoid the pests. It worked and it soon began to lighten up (although there was mist and clouds all around). It looked like we had made a serious mistake coming!
But we made the best of our time, visiting all the hides and even making out way to the Shellduck hide - the water was deep from the weekend rains and the mud made it rather tricky to make it through. Fortunately we were in my wife's Toytota Avanza which is higher off the ground than my Corolla - if we was in my car we would have gotten stuck just past the gate to the first hide!
A giant highlight for me was finally seeing the African Rail - after three months of listing it as something to look for at each of the sites we have visited in Gauteng. And no sooner had we seen it once, than we started to have repeated sightings - around five or so. The light was shocking, so none of the pics are going to win National Geographic prizes.
We had a good time in the vacinity of the Bus Stop as there was a lot of birds to be seen: Cormorant, Swamphen, Herons (Squacco, Grey, Purple), Lapwing, Wagtail, African Rail, etc.
Last Tuesday at Nylsvley I saw African Spoonbill for the first time, and I was pleasantly surprised to see one digging in the reeds in the water on the left side of the road on the way to the picnic site. It is a fascinating creature:
A special sighting was an adult Little Bittern in the reeds not far from the Otter Hide (it allowed me to snap two quick pics before disappearing for the rest of the morning):
The open waters next to the Otter Hide also yielded a sighting of Great Crested Grebe which I had previously only seen down by the Shellduck Hide, as well as Teal (both Red-billed and Hottentot) and Little Grebe:
A Three-banded Plover was dancing on the road near the picnic site early in the morning:
We had many sightings of Malachite Kingfisher around the Otter Hide as well:
An interesting sighting was an African Darter which was obviously mistakenly sitting on the nest of a Red-Knobbed Coot - it eventually flew off when the Coot protested loudly - no big showdown unfortunately. For a moment I was wondering whether it was a case of cross-species-breeding, but I doubt that was the case - unless we witnessed a lover's spat!
The sight of Lesser Swamp Warbler in the reeds around the Otter Hide was special, as was it's amazing singing ability:
A couple of other birds were spotted, but the pics would seriously embarrass me if I post them due to the poor quality - Facebook maybe, but GBT, I don't think so!!!
Another awesome day (only 1 lifer but great experiences along the way), despite the inclement weather which descended on Marievale around 12:30 - turning the roads into butter. Clearly the two most rewarding spots at Marievale this week were the Otter Hide and the Bus Stop.
In the same month, on the way home from the Devon Birding route, I paid a quick visit to Marievale and spent an hour or two at the main dams. I did not venture to the hides though the gate that is kept closed because the water levels in Marievale were higher than I have ever seen them and the mud looked just as bad as it did around Devon earlier that day. I got some great pics of a Grey Heron and two Goliath Heron.
I also got to photograph, mostly from a distance however, a large flocks of birds - including Spur-winged Goose, Coot, Teal and Yellow-billed ducks. Here are a couple of those pics:
Here are some of the other pics that I took at Marievale:
Trip 2: July 2010
On Monday the 12th of July, my 5 year old son, Little Birdman, and Justin (from the Global Bird Trekkers Forum) and I headed out to Marievale at 6am from Johannesburg. I did not have much expectations for the day as I had "done" Marievale four times in the last six months and thought I may be one or two better pics, but was not expecting many Lifers - not during Winter anyway! But we would be surprised and rewarded during the outing!
We made our way to the Visitors center entrance and braved the icy morning air to view the vlei from the Lookout Platform. In the parking lot a Black-chested Prinia greeting us from a bush and as we approached the viewing platform an African Snipe took off from the shoreline and moved out to the left (not a bad start to the day - in fact, I did not think I had gotten a picture until I zoomed into one of my pics of a Black-headed Heron and spotted the Snipe in the left hand top corner), Grey-headed Gull, Yellow-billed Duck, African Purple Swamphen, Glossy Ibis, Spur-winged Goose and Red-billed Teal. There were dozens of duck out on the water - clearly the duck population is doing really well.
A Black-shouldered kite was sitting on a telephone line and Little Birdman went off on his own to get some pics of it (here is his pic of the raptor). On our way back to the car, desperate for a cup of hot coffee we saw a Mountain Wheatear near the car.
We headed off to the Hadeda Hide where the resident Reed Cormorant ignored our presence, the Red-knobbed Coot hurried around building nests, the Common Moorhen drifted by, the Egyptian Geese exploded out of the water and the Cape Shoveler did what Shovelers do...and suddenly it got interesting - a black and white wader with a super long bill flew in and landed off to our right. What is that??? Pied Avocet! Man, how I have wanted to see that!!! A lifer for me and Justin! I fire off some shots but the bird is clearly out of my range and then it flies off towards the Causeway or Old Entrance road. A Whiskered Tern or two fly up and down hunting for breakfast and we hope to get a shot before the day is over. We decide nothing else is happening at the hide and head off in that direction hoping for the best. There are no pics really worth showing at this point!
On the Causeway we spotted Southern Masked Weaver, Levaillants Cisticola and on the right hand side of the road two Goliath Heron sit a while and then fly off. An African Purple Swamphen walks down the reeds and onto the water where Cape Shoveler is floating by peacefully.
At the Otto Hide we catch another sight of the Pied Avocet but it does not come close enough and I am still left wondering if I will get anything more than a really hazy and out of range shot. We do see Yellow-billed Duck, Reed Cormorant, Black Crake, Hottentot Teal, Little Grebe, Common Moorhen, Little Swamp Warbler, Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbill, and later in the day on a return visit we see African Darter and Squacco Heron.
On our way to the Flamingo Hide nothing much manifests that is worth mentioning or photographing - not a good sign but we press on towards the Duiker Hide hoping for the best. Here we have a frustrating time trying to get decent shows of the Whiskered Tern flying around but they are just so quick and a hide is not ideal location to photograph birds in flight. Maybe later in the day...? In and around the Duiker Hide we see Little Grebe, Whiskered Tern, Common Moorhen and Red-knobbed Coot.
As we make our way towards the Bus Stop Hide we have a distant but good sighting of African Marsh Harrier, not a Lifer but always a great sight. It is a little far off so my pic is embarrassing. A close shot of a Malachite Kingfisher is a nice addition to this part of the trip.
At the Bus Stop Hide we saw African Spoonbill, Cape Longclaw, Hottentot Teal, Whiskered Tern and Yellow-billed Duck. The Otter put in an appearance as well which gets all the birds flying off in all directions:
I have always wanted to explore the far northern section of the sanctuary but normally the roads are so bad in this area that even getting to the Shellduck Hide is a mission. But it is super dry and we head off on the roads around Point 8 in Birding Gauteng (Chapter 68) towards Point 9. Here is a pic of what this part of the sanctuary looks like:
A Capped Wheatear stays out of our range - just to thwart my photography collection for the day:
We are rewarded for getting this far into the Sanctuary as we walk towards the open water in this area by a much closer sighting of Pied Avocet and a Black-winged Stilt that joins the party:
Our trip to Shellduck Hide is largely unrewarding as all we see there is Little Grebe and a lonely Common Fiscal. But we spend the next hour or more hanging around the Bus Stop where we practise our birds in flight skills on the Whiskered Tern that seem oblivious to our presence. Excuse the self-indulgence but here are a few pics that I took (out of the hundreds) as I try to get that one shot that will make the day all worthwhile!
Before we leave the Bus Stop Hide area we tick off Brown-throated Martin, African Fish-Eagle, African Purple Swamphen, African Rail, Glossy Ibis, Black-shouldered Kite, Goliath Heron, African Marsh Harrier, Spur-winged Goose (large flocks fly overhead), Black Crake, Purple Heron and another African Snipe that first hides from us and then flies off to a better hiding place.
On our way back to the main hides we see Long-tailed Widowbird and Black-throated Canary:
Suddenly Justin spots a Lanner Falcon in the agricultural fields above the road to the exit gate, not far from the Power Pylons - it has just caught a pigeon and is snacking on it. We get a few shots before it flies off to finish it's meal a little further away from the fence and we are not able to get any closer. Another lifer - this is a great day!
Do you know that feeling when you leave the field and head home, but you are not finished birding? Even though we have seen at least 54 bird species at Marievale on the day. Well we have that feeling as we make our way back through Nigel and onto the R550 towards the N3 highway. At a little dam not far from the T-Junction where we turn onto the R550 we see a good amount of birds and make a hasty turn off the road where we enjoy the sight of Great Crested Grebe (which we did not see at Marievale at all today), African Spoonbill, Little Grebe, White-breasted Cormorant and Grey-headed Gull on the dam and on the shore we see Red-capped Lark, Long-tailed Widowbird and Cape Longclaw.
As I pull back onto the R550 we still don't feel done yet! As we travel a little further on we spot some white birds on another dam - this time a little bigger than the previous one. It turns into an amazing spot that will leave us breathless. We see dozens of birds on the dam but get side tracked by a Marsh Owl and Rock Kestrel for a few minutes:
We then approach the dam and on the dam we see 29 Greater Flamingo; 6 Pied Avocet; 25 Hottentot Teal; 16 Black-crowned Night-Heron; 5 Black-headed Heron; Cattle Egret; Little Grebe; Sacred Ibis; Southern Pochard; Cape Shoveler; Red-knobbed Coot; Red-billed Teal; Hadeda Ibis; Black Crake; Glossy Ibis; Common Moorhen and another Lifer for me - White-backed Duck.
Around the dam on the burnt land we see White-winged Widowbird; Crowned Lapwing; Brown-throated Martin; African Pipit; Capped Wheatear and Cape Longclaw but the light is low and the images are not great!
[NOTE: To find the spot you would travel from Johannesburg on the N3, take the turnoff to Nigel (also the Suikerbosrand offramp) and turn left towards Nigel on the R550. When you pass the R23 road intersection (a 4-way stop) reset your odometer and travel for 2.3 kilometers when you will see a tar road leading off to the right - and you will see the large dam on the right hand side of the road.]
By now it is getting really late and we need to make our way back to Johannesburg - now we feel like we have had an amazing day! We saw 54 bird species at Marievale and with these two dams that number rises to 65. And 3 Lifers for me! A great day!!!
Trip 3: October 2010
On Saturday the 9th October 2010, I decided to head back to Marievale for a laid back birding outing with my 5 year old son, Little Birdman. We packed breakfast, coffee, sandwiches for lunch and lots of cold water and hit the road "early" at 5:45 - only to find that the sun was already up. Clearly winter is over and we will have to start adjusting our departure time if we want to be in the field before the sun comes up.
As we drove through the main gate we noticed that there were dozens of Flamingoes off to the left - there is a dirt track that we should have taken but when we did it later in the day the sun was in a horrid position to get any decent pics. Here is the pic I took in the morning from the parking area:
I was blown away by the number of waders present at Marievale. There were hundreds of Ruff all over the place. In fact, I nearly mis-identified some Ruff as Common Redshank due to the red bill colouring that many were sporting! The Uncommon White-form Ruff were also quite prevalent:
I also got pics of other waders such as: Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint - and even a Common Ringed Plover (an unexpected Lifer on the day!).
A Squacco Heron (they too were out in full force today) gave a neat display for my camera:
The other bird surprisingly common on the day was African Snipe - out in the open on many occasions:
The Warblers were not be be outdone by the Snipes and they came and posed giving me time to actually focus for a change (first African Reed Warbler and then Lesser Swamp Warbler):
The Bus Stop hide has been rebuilt - in fact it is a portable-trailer-type hide that have been moved into position on a leveled section next to the road. There was also work going on by presumably volunteers at the hide at the main picnic spot.
One of the themes of the day was fighting - two African Darters had a go at each other in front of one of the hides:
The other fighting on the day involved two Ruff who lived up to their scientific name (Philomachus pugnax - which means "Love of Battle" or "Fond of fighting"). The fight was refereed by an African Snipe (who lost interest before the final blow was delivered and wandered off for a snack) and ended when one of the contestants assumed the surrender position!
A Little Grebe took a dive and came up with a fairly large sized fish which he proceeded to swallow with little effort - notice how proud he looks in the last pic:
This African Pipit acted strangely in that it almost never shut it's mouth - it was not making any sound - just enjoying the fresh air - maybe hoping to catch an insect of two that flew into it's mouth by mistake. It also flew off to a fence to pose for a few extra pics which seemed somewhat unusual!
Here are some of the other pics that I took during the morning:
Another amazing day of birding!!! Roll on Summer!
Trip 4: February 2011
On the 7th February 2011 I made a brief trip out to Marievale and took the following pics:
Trip 5: March 2011
On the 21st of March 2011 my son and I visited Marievale and parked near the bustop hide for about an hour and a half and were treated to amazing sightings of African Rail. I also got to see and photograph Sedge Warbler for the first time as well as a close up view of Water Mongoose. Here are the pics that I took on the day:
Trip 6: May 2011
On the 9th of March 2011 I spent 2 hours at Marievale before heading off to bird the Kuilfontein Farm. Here are some photo highlights from my time at Marievale:
Trip 7: August 2011
On Monday the 22nd August I headed off to Marievale to stake out the Hadeda Hide hoping to see the Red-chested Flufftail that has been showing over recent weeks (I have been once before but came away without a sighting). Oh, to be honest, I cheated a little - I said a lot of prayers the night before and on the way to Nigel for a successful stakeout! I arrived at the hide at about 6:45 and waited and waited....and drank some coffee...and waited some more and drank some more coffee...and had to run off to the loo (and was sure it would appear while I was tinkling)...and at 8:07 with my flask in my one hand and my coffee mug in the other I glanced up and there staring at me in broad sunlight was Mrs Flufftail! I seriously considered throwing the flask and my mug over my shoulder as I reached for my camera and fired off some shots. She moved like lightning towards the reeds in front of me and skulked about 2 meters away from me - keeping a watchful eye on me through the thick reed covering before disappearing for good! Here are a few shots that I managed to get:
I was absolutely blown away by how small the Flufftail is. I was expecting a bird around 25-30cm, but as it turns out it is only 16cm. No wonder it has taken me a year and a half to see a Flufftail! I have merged a pic of the Flufftail and a Black Crake in the same spot - the Crake is actually bending down - so the Flufftail is a good few centimetres smaller than the Crake:
What a stunning experience it was! I will never forget it!
Oh, the other good news is that the place was pumping with birds - lots of Little Bittern, dozens of Ruff, Purple Heron like trash birds, etc.
A little brownish duck was swimming with some Yellow-billed Duck - I am unsure of it's identity!
I enjoyed watching a Purple Heron patiently waiting for the right moment to grab a frog out of the water:
Squacco Heron were plentiful on the day - and they also seemed to enjoy snacking on frogs:
As I walked along the dirt track underneath the power lines I noticed that White-breasted Cormorant were nesting in the Pylons:
A group of Yellow-billed Duck were less than impressed with a mongoose swimming near them:
The Marievale Warblers were out in full force - and if my id's are correct here are some pics of African Reed Warbler and Lesser Swamp Warbler:
Here are some of the other photos that I managed to get:
Trip 8: September 2011
Early in September I headed back to Marievale hoping to see the male Red-chested Flufftail. Sadly it did not show but in it's place I was visited at the Hadeda Hide by an African Rail right out in the open. A special sighting. Here are some of the highlights of the morning in which I saw 60 different species, despite the terrible misty and cold weather.
The Marievale Warblers were out in full force:
Trip 9: October 2011
In October 2011 my wife suggested that we give an outing to Marievale with a picnic breakfast to a close friend. Of course I was delighted at the chance to bird Marievale again. Here are some of the highlights of the morning:
Trip 10: January 2012
I am totally stoked. My wife and my daughter joined me for an outing to Marievale Bird Sanctuary this morning and as we drove down the road towards the Bus Stop (600 meters before you get to the bird hide at the Bus Stop and bridge over the Blesbok River) we spotted a little Crake-like bird flush and fly into some reeds on the left hand side of the road. I stopped and within a few seconds was looking at a Baillon's Crake right next to the side of the road in the shallow water (pic 9 shows that area). The bird that flushed (also Baillon's) appeared a bit later. We spent about 40 minutes in the area before moving on! Here are some pics - including some wider shots of one of the birds walking along the road to show just how tiny it is!
Trip 11: February 2012
On a Monday off in February I headed back to Marievale hoping to see the Spotted Crake that had been seen at the spot - and even though the bird gave me 5 different sightings they were all in the shadows and too far for my camera to do justice to - here is the best I managed with another pic of the Baillon's Crake that has also been hanging around the spot:
At least these Crakes were closer and I had the Hadeda Hide to hide in and something to lean against:
And to prove that given a bit of light and proximity I can almost take a decent pic, here is a sequence illustrating the art of snacking - a long and slow process - with a bit of scratching of the odd itch along the way:
What about a few more less than perfect shots (not a great day in the photography department):
And finally, a shot of a mystery bird that I flushed in the dry grass (if it is Common Quail then what is that red around the eye or is light just playing tricks with me - it definitely was not the size of a Swainson's Spurfowl!):
And finally finally, a couple shots of the sunrise at Marievale - I think I actually got there a little too early - before 5am:
Oh, as I arrived back at the N3 I spotted this flock of White Stork hanging out with a flock of Sacred Ibis:
Trip 12: February 2012
Took a visitor from the US on a birding outing to Marievale this morning and was delighted to get a photo of the pair of Baillon's Crake chicks that were around. On a previous trip I spotted a little bundle of black feathers running in the reeds but was not quick enough to snap a pic - at last I have proof of their presence. The first photo is amusing (for me, sad for some) - a whole group of birders out looking for Crakes are in the top right hand corner looking in the wrong direction while adult Baillon's and two chicks are walking in the road in front of me (I did call them to move but by then it was too late):
Another great highlight was seeing these incredible young Helmeted Guineafowl Chicks:
Also got to see a Swamphen snacking on fresh roots:
Trip 13: May 2012
I visited Marievale with my wife and daughter on the 19th of May (just before my 50th birthday on the 21st of May) and had some great sightings. The highlight was a Marsh Owl that was hunting in the grass below the power lines (and amazingly it gave us a few really close fly by's!):
Some sightings at the Hadeda Hide:
Some other warter bird sight at various hides:
The African Snipes seemed to be missing from the area approaching the Bus Stop but I located them in the wetland past the Shelduck Hide:
On two visits now I have spotted an Red-throated Wryneck in a tree on the left hand side of the road travelling from the closed gate - before you make the right hand turn to arrive at the first bird hide:
And finally a few other sightings on the day:
Trip 14: June 2012
On Monday the 4th June 2012 I headed off to Marievale at the crack of dawn - before the real freeze of winter arrived - and spent a few hours to start off at the Hadeda Hide - hoping to catch sight of a Flufftail. I had to be content with African Rail, Black Crake, Red-billed Teal, Cape Shoveler, Malachite Kingfisher, African Purple Swamphen, Little Grebe, Reed Cormorant, Red-knobbed Coot - among other waterfowl. Here are a few photographic highlights:
I spent some time at the Otter Hide and got great views of Hottentot Teal, Swamphen and a Little Bittern who had caught a great looking fish for lunch!
I managed to photograph two of the Marievale Warblers on the day - African Reed and Lesser Swamp:
Oh, and the resident Mountain Wheatear - near the Mine Dump close to the Shelduck Hide were rather keen to pose for me (as was a Levaillant's Cisticola at the Hadeda Hide):
