by Déwald Swanepoel

Introduction:
The Zaagkuildrift road is a gravel road north of Pretoria known to be good for bird watching. It connects the old Pretoria-Warmbaths road (R101) to the Pienaarsriver floodplain near the village of Kgomo-Kgomo.

Background:
The Zaagkuildrift road starts with some grasslands on either side but this soon changes to typical Acacia bushveld which dominates the length of the road. Towards the end of the road the bushveld becomes more sparse and eventually tapers of again into grasslands as you reach Kgomo-Kgomo.

Kgomo-Kgomo is dominated by grassland and has an extensive floodplain which, depending on how wet the season is, can inundate large parts of the grasslands.

Specials:
Zaagkuildrift hosts some very good bushveld species such as Cardinal and Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Acacia Pied Barbet, Red-billed, Southern Yellow-billed and African Grey Hornbill, Common Scimitarbill, Lilac-breasted and Purple Roller, Southern Carmine Bee-eater, Jacobin, Levaillant's and Black Cuckoo, Namaqua Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Red-crested and Northern Black Korhaan, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Black Cuckooshrike, Brubru, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Kurrichane Thrush, Marico Flycatcher, Burchell's and Wattled Starling, Red-billed Oxpecker, Ashy Tit, Sabota Lark, a good collection of Swallows and Swifts, Yellow-bellied and Burnt-necked Eremomela, Southern Pied Babbler, Marico Sunbird, Great Sparrow, Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, numerous seedeater including Violet-eared, Black-faced and Orange-breasted Waxbill, Pin-tailed, Shaft-tailed and Broad-tailed Paradise Whydah.

The Zaagkuildrift road is specifically renowned for the good warblers that can be found including Barred Wren, Olive-tree, Marsh, Great Reed and Icterine Warbler as well as Common Whitethroat and even Thrush Nightingale.

Kgomo-Kgomo again has an entirely different set of specials including Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Kittlitz's Plover, Red-breasted Swallow, Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark, Red-capped Lark, Cuckoo Finch, African Quailfinch, Red-headed and Cut-throat Finch, a spectacular collection of Egrons including Black, Goliath, Purple and Squacco Heron and all four of the white Egrets. More specials of the floodplain include African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed, Abdim's and White Stork and, in good years, Allen's Gallinule and Lesser Moorhen. African, Baillon's and Striped Crake has also been recorded.

Birding:
One would typically start birding from the eastern end of the Zaagkuildrift road and work your way towards Kgomo-Kgomo. Birding can be done from the vehicle for the most part. Immediately after turning off the R101 onto the Zaagkuildrift road you cross a railroad line which will serve as the zero point for all distance measurements in this report.

In the grasslands on either side of the first stretch of road, look for Northern Black Korhaan and Harriers quartering over the grasslands. In the second half of summer the telephone wires around this area usually carries Southern Carmine Bee-eater.

Driving along and entering the bushveld habitat, one of the first points of interest is the Roets' Farm area. Unfortunately the best habitat is on private land and is not to be entered into unless permission was obtained. Within the immediate vicinity of the road, however, often offers some good birds such as Olive-tree, Icterine and Great Reed Warbler. One corner of the dam on Roets' Farm can be seen from the road and African Fish-Eagle is often present.

As you continue along the road, keep an eye and an ear out for Common Whitethroat, Olive-tree Warbler and some bushveld birds like Southern Pied Babbler, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver and all the little Seed-eaters. Wherever you see cattle, also look out for Red-billed Oxpecker and around the small settlements are good areas to look for Great Sparrow.

About 12km along the Zaagkuildrift road there is a T junction where a road turns off to the right. This area seems to be good for Marsh Warbler and Brubru and you can also start looking for Burnt-necked Eremomela.

A couple of kilometres further you will see a large green gate on your right which is the access gate to Wolfhuiskraal. From around here Thrush Nightingale has been reported.

Anywhere along the road one can expect to find Pearl-spotted Owlet and when called out usually also provides scores of Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler, Chinspot Batis, Burnt-necked Eremomela, Willow Warbler, Brubru, Rattling Cisticola etc.

Towards the end of the road and approaching Kgomo-Kgomo there are some grass on either side of the road where, in very wet seasons, Greater Painted-Snipe and Baillon's Crake have been reported.

As you reach Kgomo-Kgomo, scan the grasslands for Red-capped Lark, Kittlitz's Plover, Capped Wheatear and Temminck's Courser. African Quailfinch is also reasonably common here but as always hard to pick out so listen for their call. As you get to the village of Kgomo-Kgomo you will reach a tarred road to the left which leads to Makapanstad. Around here Chestnut-backed Sparrowlarks are often to be found.

Turn left onto the tarred road and search the grasslands on either side for Red-headed and Cut-throat Finches. Where there's enough water, look for Crakes and subtropical water birds such as Lesser Moorhen and Allen's Gallinule.

The telephone wires along the right of the road has Blue-cheeked Bee-eater more often than not and as you cross the Pienaarsriver large numbers of Storks, Herons and Egrets can often be found.

Directions:
From the N1 north, take the Rust de Winter / Pienaarsriver off-ramp and turn west. Drive until the road terminates in a T-junction with the R101 after about 2km where you turn right again. Drive another 1km and you will find the turnoff to the left for Zaagkuildrift.

Access:
No access fee is payable to either of Zaagkuildrift or Kgomo-Kgomo as both are simply public roads. However, virtually all of the land surrounding the Zaagkuildrift road is privately owned and it is very important to obtain permission before entering onto any of this land.

Facilities:
Lodging is available at Wolfhuiskraal. For more information, contact Danie Opperman on 082 927 0325.