The Trekkie's Forum

There is no way I am driving 370km's this weekend.. forget it.. I still need to eat for two weeks.

On Trevor's report?

What?

Exactly, use those coords (S  27 ° 44' 11.2" E 25 ° 20' 13.7") and you will get to somewhere in Mexico!

Surely it should be given in the right format from the start?

PS. Mr T (that is what I call him cause that is how we roll) please don't ban me from Sa Rarity group..

MEGA ALERT

Sorry that I am sending this out so late, but it’s the first chance that I’ve had to actually sit down and type this since this afternoon.

As you all know, we have a new celebrity in town, a BLACK SKIMMER, which has turned up at Rietvlei near Milnerton this afternoon. Close to 50 people made it through there this afternoon still after the news was broken and I suspect that tomorrow is going to be rather busy there, especially with all the out-of-towners arriving.

Some people are obviously not sure where to go, so here are some directions:

From the City, you can get there by driving out on Table Bay Boulevard towards the northern suburbs, then taking the turnoff to Paarden Eiland and Milnerton (R27). You drive along Marine Drive to Milnerton, where it becomes Otto du Plessis Drive, and keep on towards Table View. In Milnerton you will see the estuarine part of the Rietvlei Wetland Reserve on your left, the road crosses the reserve at the Diep River Bridge; Rietvlei will now be on your right. Drive on to Table View and take a right turn into Blaauwberg Road (at the traffic lights at the Pick 'n Pay and Bayside Shopping Centres); in Blaauwberg Road you must take the first turn to the right into Pentz Drive (at the traffic lights), and carry on along Pentz Drive to the first 4-way stop where it crosses Grey Avenue. Turn right there and carry on to the end - you then enter the reserve through the gate to the Milnerton Aquatic Club. The gate guard from probably be able to explain to you from there where to go for the bird.

This afternoon, it spent quite a bit of time in front of the original hide on an island there with some pelicans, but also flew a number of circuits in front of the hide. Later on, it then settled down to roost a little bit north of this closer to the main gravel road. But effectively, it could be anywhere on the body of water, so some searching may be required in order to locate it.

As mentioned earlier, the reserve manager has agreed to open up the gates earlier than usual tomorrow morning at 6am for those who want to give it a go early on.

Unfortunately, with heavy overcast skies and light rain this afternoon, the photographic opportunities were not great, but just so that you know what to look for, here is one of my shots as a reference taken this afternoon.


Black Skimmer at Rietvlei
© Trevor Hardaker

Good luck if you are planning on chasing it and keep us updated!

Come on SR, you still have time to catch the same outbound flight as me and chase this one.

Leave Nellies now!!!