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"We set off on Saturday 3 December with huge objectives in mind. Firstly ton twitch the hectic rarity that was sighted here in the form of Pectoral Sandpiper and secondly to twitch another less common species in the form of Yellow Wagtail.
After a 2.5 hour drive, a few toilet stops and an unfortunate road kill sighting we arrived at Mkhombo Dam, with 7/8's of cloud cover and what looked to be like some Cumulo Nimbus Clouds Building in the North. We headed straight for the shoreline and stopped every few meters to scan for the elusive wader. With no luck and just a few sightings of Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper we were still Pectoral'less.
As the clouds started to clear up we said a prayer or two and and furthered our searches up to the 4km mark where we entered a large field area where a massive heard of cows were grazing. Perfect Yellow Wagtail habitat we said to one another and lone behold the first cow we scanned produced a single bird fluttering at its feet. Tick!
We then proceeded towards the waters edge yet again as to our right their seemed to be a lot of wader activity. We were having no luck with only sightings of the common waders until all of a sudden to our left we heard an abrupt chhhhrp and a flap and landing right in front of us was a Pectoral Sandpiper. Tick!
The Group was incredibly excited about the sighting and the fact that we had managed to tick both target species for the day was just a bonus.
On our way back we decided to go the Rust De Winter route in the hope to tick off Lesser Kestrel which tend to like this area and are normally seen hunting off the telephone wires. Lone behold, a few kilometers down the road, we had to apply some serious brakes and reverse to admire a magnificent Lesser Kestrel. This was the cherry on the top for the trip as it was also our Junior Head Guides 500th bird on his life list.
So all in all a magnificent day out birding with guests pleased and guides happy.
Regards,
John Kinghorn
J.K Nature Guiding-Head Guide 083 517-5471
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.gif "Africa Birds and Birding Magazine")
