Twenty enthusiastic members descended upon Berg-en-Dal rest camp in the Kruger National Park on the 25 November 2010 to begin our inaugural BLNG Birding Big Day Bash. We settled into our luxury accommodation in the Rhino and J Le Roux lodges which were perfectly situated in a secluded spot overlooking the Berg-en-Dal dam and river frontage. The first lifer for many was the very vocal family of Red-faced Cisticola in the reeds right in front of the lodges.

We were joined by Raymond Khosa, Head Guide of Berg-en-Dal,  who led us on the afternoon walk around the camp. The air was resonating with bird calls and song  confirming what a wonderful camp for birding Berg-en-Dal is. Our group enjoyed close-up views of a pair of confiding Brown-headed Parrots, nesting Black-collared Barbets, a Bennett’s Woodpecker engrossed in its characteristic terrestrial hunt for food, as well as a very relaxed Ashy Flycatcher which preened and posed for all to see. A large tusker right up against the fence added to the excitement of the walk.

After a short presentation based on some excellent photographs taken by Clive Kaplan of the Birds of the Kruger National Park, we settled down to a delicious braai prepared by our hostess for the weekend, Jackey Deacon of Mpumalanga Promotions.

The following day was spent honing our ID skills for Saturday’s main event. We had hired a twenty seater vehicle from the Park which allowed us to bird altogether. In addition to being our official guide, Raymond also assumed the role of driver which demanded a huge amount of patience on his part as we inched slowly out of camp with continuous shouts of “Stooop” , “Waait” , “What’s thaaat” and “Look over there, where?, there, where?”

We were soon racking up the birds with everyone contributing their little bit. Highlights included a party of Retz’s Helmet-Shrike, Lesser Spotted Eagle,  a Flappet Lark displaying overhead and the striking Yellow-throated Longclaw. We stopped at the Magnolia Hide and even though the bird life was pretty ordinary, had a most exciting time as a breeding herd of elephant came down to drink while we were inside.

After a short lunch and siesta , we headed out for our late afternoon drive to the top of Matjulu where Raymond allowed us off the vehicle so that we could enjoy the beautiful vistas over the Park. We were fortunate to see a perched Eurasian Hobby during the ascent.

After sunset we continued  our drive along the Timfenheni  Loop flushing an endless amount of Nightjars off the gravel as we went along. None of us were brave enough to claim the identification of any specific species! A Spotted Eagle-Owl also added some excitement to the occasion.

Having the use of our own vehicle, as well as the services of an armed guide in the form of Raymond, meant that we were not restricted to official gate times. This proved to be a magnificent bonus with sightings of a lioness with four cubs and a huge male leopard patrolling the tar road and scent-marking his territory, while all the other visitors were already in camp.

Birding Big Day started off overcast and drizzly. After a rather ordinary dawn chorus and a quick breakfast we climbed aboard our vehicle and headed out. The sky had cleared and we were soon ticking off the species. Thanks to Charles and his PDA, the frenzied activity was being accurately recorded. We had set ourselves a target of 150 species for the day and the first fifty was reached within the first hour. A quick stop at the Malelane Gate bridge allowed us to add a number of water birds to our burgeoning list. In the meantime, Jackey had headed off towards Afsaal Picnic spot (which was our selected focal point for the 50km radius restriction) where a filling and tasty brunch awaited us, in addition to the resident African Scops-Owl.

Back onto the vehicle, we headed off towards Skukuza which was our lunch time target. By this time the temperature, that had been  rising steadily, was already well over the 30 degrees mark. Monotonous Lark, White-headed Vulture, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, European Roller, Yellow-throated Petronia (creeping along the branch) and Pale Flycatcher were some of the birds recorded en route.

By the time we hit Skukuza, the temperature had reached debilitating levels requiring some shut-eye for a few of the group. The rest of us trudged manfully along the river frontage being rewarded with Purple-crested Turaco, Collared Sunbird and both White-throated and White-browed Robin-chat.

The heat was also taking its toll on the birdlife and even though we were by now  over the 140 mark, our total was only inching along as we turned back for Berg-en-Dal. We decided to deviate along the Biyamiti Loop which provided us with a few new species and nudged us over the 150 mark with much backslapping and rejoicing. Just before sunset, we came across what looked like a small kill and were able to add the last remaining vulture species to our list. As we headed back to camp, exhaustion and a touch of sunburn were showing on many faces and it was evident that there would be few takers for the night drive. By now we had clocked 157 species and viewing this as a job well done, settled down to some ice cold beers and wine as Jackey finalised preparations for the evening meal.

While enjoying our champagne breakfast the next morning we had the opportunity of rechecking our official list and discovered that we had in fact recorded 159 species on the day and a total of 177 for the weekend. We had also raised over R2300 for BLSA’s conservation efforts thanks to our two sponsors, Transparent Financial Services and Grant Thornton Pretoria.

I would like to thank all the BLNG participants for putting their bodies on the line for a good cause and having lots of fun to boot. Thanks also to Sadie Halbhuber of BLSA, Standard Bank, Nedbank, ABSA Bank, Grant Thornton and Transparent for providing gifts for all the participants. A special thank you to Jackey Deacon of Mpumalanga Promotions, Raymond Khosa and Stephen Nel of SANPARKS (Berg en Dal Camp), who made this outing possible.