MZNP - A Nine-Night Stay in Cloud Cuckoo Land*

[Puff Addy]

Hi all,

I just joined the forum today and by way of introduction would like to offer my wife's trip report (with photos by me) from our time in Mountain Zebra National Park last Nov/Dec. It should provide a nice complement to PJL's excellent report as we were there very soon (I think) after he was.

We visited MZNP for the first time in 2014 and liked it so much we returned last year for a longer stay.

And what a stay it was.

Our five-night stay in 2014 yielded us 80 species of birds. This last visit we racked up 122 and actually saw Cloud Cisticola and most of the possible cuckoos, hence the title of the report.

We went on two night drives with two different guides and had two completely different experiences. We did not do the Cheetah-tracking this trip (despite there being a litter of young cubs in the park) as we didn't think our 2014 experience could be topped.

We were up at 5 and in the sack by 8 (when we weren't out on a night drive). We drove all the loops at least twice. We did a morning walk on the Black Eagle Trail this trip instead of the late-afternoon hike we did on the last trip.

We saw the friendly old faces we remember from our first trip as well as a couple of friendly new ones.

All in all, it was absolutely great. Stay tuned for the trip report and see why we are so attached to this park!

Kind regards,

Adam

[Puff Addy]

@PJL: Amazing!

@Toko: Thank you for the welcome.

@Mel: Nine nights was great for us, and most of our three-week trip to SA was spent entirely in the Eastern Cape Karoo. We like it there very much!

Regarding our Cheetah-tracking in 2014, the date was November 17 and we went out with Charl. At the time there was a mother named Nixi (she subsequently was said to have died from a snake bite) that had four 'teenagers', and we were lucky enough to get quite close to them. Here are a few photos from that excursion:









Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take a trip down Memory Lane.

Kind regards,

Adam

[Puff Addy]

Day 1 - November 26, 2015

After getting groceries in Cradock we drove to the MZNP gate and were welcomed by Mhlabantu, the same friendly attendant who greeted us last year. We officially entered the park at 12:03.

Since check-in time was 2 PM, we decided to drive the Ubejane Loop from marker 1 to 4 (i.e. counter-clockwise) and then get back on the main road and go to reception. Before we got to marker 1, we could add a Common Fiscal, Barn Swallows and an Ant-eating Chat as well as seven Black Wildebeest and one Red Hartebeest to our list. Just after turning off the main road onto the Ubejane Loop, a pair of Rufous-eared Warblers, a Neddicky, more Barn Swallows and three Pied Starlings flew in to greet us.

In what we call the Northern Ground Squirrel Area (NGSA), three Helmeted Guineafowl were foraging in the grass, several Ant-eating Chats were perched waiting for their lunch, and three Ground Squirrels were seen. A small flock of Cape Sparrows was mixed with a few Grey-headed Sparrows, while four Red Hartebeest were resting alongside the road.

Past the NGSA, five female Kudus were browsing the vegetation as we ticked off a Fiscal Flycatcher and a Karoo Prinia. Then we reached the first dam, which we thought would contain some water, only to find that it was dry and hosted only a pair of Ostriches, an African Pipit, two Pin-tailed Whydah males and one female, and a Grey-headed Sparrow flock with some Cape Sparrows mixed in. Dozens and dozens of Barn Swallows were flying above the dry dam and feeding. At 12:32 we saw our first Mountain Zebra of the trip. Just after the dam area, we encountered a mother Red Hartebeest with a ‘teenager’.

As we passed the turn-off for the Link Road (3), we saw another Mountain Zebra, a female Namaqua Dove, three female Kudus, and more Barn Swallows. Three Scaly-feathered Finches were flushed on the side of the road and two Red-eyed Bulbuls were spotted in the vegetation. In the open area towards the end of the loop (known to us as the Southern Ground Squirrel Area or SGSA), we saw three Ground Squirrels, three Mountain Zebras, nine Red Hartebeests, a Fork-tailed Drongo, and a pair of Lark-like Buntings.

When we returned to the main road, we heard Neddickies singing, saw a Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk near a telephone pole, heard a Red-chested Cuckoo calling from the Wilgerboom area, encountered a Vervet Monkey with a little “Vervelet” attached, spied a blue-throated agama at the top of a dead tree near the place we saw a pair of Red-throated Wrynecks last year (none there this year, unfortunately), and saw five Mountain Zebras just before the Wilgerboom bridge. As we neared the reception building, we met a small troop of Vervets.

Adam went to check us in, which took a while as there were a few visitors ahead of him, and half an hour later we were bringing our things from the car into Chalet 20, our old/new home for nine nights. To celebrate our return to MZNP, we had a small Windhoek lager each and later coffee with rusks. The wind picked up at around 5 PM, clouds came in to cover the mountain tops, and it suddenly got very chilly.

The first chalet birds we could tick off were a ringed White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, a Southern Masked Weaver, a singing Neddicky and a Cape Robin-Chat, and our first chalet mammal was a Rock Hyrax.

[Puff Addy]

Day 2 - November 27, 2015 - Part I

It was decided to do the Rooiplaat Loop as our morning drive. As we loaded the car, we saw a Speckled Mousebird and heard a Black Cuckoo. We left the chalet at 5:56 to get to the rest-camp gate as soon as it opened at 6 AM. Just after turning left onto the main road, we saw a Brown-hooded Kingfisher. As we climbed up to the plateau, we saw an Eland, two Pied Crows, the first Bokmakierie of the trip, a Red-winged Starling, and an African Pipit.

From the first lookout point we heard a Black Cuckoo down in the kloof and saw a Rock Kestrel kiting in the wind which hadn’t abated since the previous evening. After the second lookout point, an Acacia Pied Barbet flew across the road and a pair of Common Fiscals was perched in an acacia tree.

At 6:30 we turned off for the Rooiplaat Loop (marker 9) and saw a few Blesboks and 15 Black Wildebeests, a few of which were running and that were later joined by 15 more. We also saw a pair of Large-billed Larks, one of which was taking a dust bath. At this moment, the designated photographer found out that the rear windows did not go down all the way and had to return to the co-pilot’s seat, angry at the fact that he now only had one side to shoot from.

A singing Cloud Cisticola didn’t want to be seen, a Cape Longclaw was singing from a little acacia, and another pair was seen further down the road. Another Large-billed Lark showed itself to us.

At the beginning of the Rooiplaat Loop (8), we saw three Blesboks and 16 Springboks grazing by the road. We could hear Clapper Larks as Adam was photographing Springboks. There were at least 20 Black Wildebeest on our right, and Adam photographed a Blesbok nursery containing 13 adults and nine young. What a lovely sight!

Springy-dingies up close and personal



Blesboks and their young further away





Two African Pipits, at least two displaying Clapper Larks, two Long-billed Larks, a Cape Longclaw, and Sickle-Winged Chats could be added to our loop list. We saw 17 more Black Wildebeest, 12 Blesboks and three Springboks on either side of the road. We stopped to look at and photograph a couple of pipits which turned out to be African and Plain-backed (a lifer), respectively. During shooting, a Sickle-winged Chat flew in to participate but wasn’t an ideal model. Two Blue Cranes were seen “grazing” in the distance.

African Pipit



Plain-backed Pipit



As we passed the turn-off to the Link Road (7) and stayed on the Rooiplaat Loop, Springboks and Black Wildebeests were there and so were an adult and a young Ant-eating Chat. There were 34 Black Wildebeest with a lone Blesbok as we drove straight towards the Saltpeterkop “triplets”. Further on, 50 Springboks and another lone Blesbok were grazing. A pair of Ostriches was encountered next and one of them got really close to the car. Then we strained our eyes at a large, pale-looking raptor that appeared high in the sky and identified it as an immature Jackal Buzzard. It dwarfed the Steppe Buzzard that appeared near it.

Driving further on, Adam photographed a cooperative Long-billed Lark and we saw a procession of 13 Black Wildebeest (including one still light calf), eight Blesboks and nine more Black Wildebeest making its way across the road en route to a waterhole. Just as we got back to marker 8, we saw a Large-billed Lark pounding at a snack on our right.

A lovely Long-billed Lark



We began our descent back to the main road and past marker 9 saw a Fiscal Flycatcher and a Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler in the same acacia, a Common Fiscal perched in another tree, and an Ostrich in the road. A Rock Kestrel swooped down for breakfast, which turned out to be a small brown bird and which it started eating in the top of a tree on our right. Below to the left of the road we could see 11 Blesboks and at the beginning of the paved section of the road, four Mountain Zebras casually walked by.

On our descent, we saw a singing Fiscal Flycatcher, a Cape Bunting on a rock, two Speckled Mousebirds and a pair of Southern Double-collared Sunbirds in their respective trees, and four White-necked Ravens soaring above us. At the bottom of the descent, we saw a pair of Red-eyed Bulbuls, a singing Neddicky, and two Common Waxbills.

At the junction with the main road we turned right towards the day visitors’ picnic/pool area, which is gated and where one can walk without fear of running into predators. Since it was still a bit chilly, it was absolutely empty, save for a troop of Vervets that included one very fresh baby. We parked the car in the shade, walked around and saw an African Hoopoe, Grey-headed Sparrows, a Fork-tailed Drongo, a Cape Bunting, a Golden-breasted Bunting, a Familiar Chat, Helmeted Guineafowl, a Red-winged Starling, a Karoo Prinia, a singing Neddicky, a singing Willow Warbler, and a Long-billed Pipit, the last of which frustratingly ran just in front of a pursuing Adam and refused to fly and show its outer tail feathers. It eventually gave in.

[Puff Addy]

So, on to the second part of our first full day in the park:

Day 2 - November 27, 2015 - Part II

We returned to our lodgings and during lunch on the terrace, some visitors arrived. A Southern Boubou was cleaning the braai and circled the table more closely each time. A pair of White-browed Sparrow-Weavers even hopped on the table hoping for some bits, which forced me to go back into the chalet. A Karoo Prinia sang for us from a nearby acacia.

Despite our ‘Housekeeping Not Required’ sign affixed to the outside handle of the front door, our door was knocked on, and when I tried to explain that we had just arrived the day before and therefore did not need anything exchanged/tidied up, our mostly empty garbage bag was exchanged for a new one and an exterminator came in to spray against cockroaches!

This put an end to any napping attempts and we ventured onto the terrace again to see what was happening around us. Adam found a very emaciated Eland out in the veld, a Rock Agama basking in the sun, a pair of Southern Double-collared Sunbirds, a Neddicky, and a small striped lizard that was light yellow with dark stripes and a light red-orange tail.

I spotted a lizard (later identified as a Western Rock Skink – we think!) sunning itself in front of the chalet and Adam went inside to fetch the camera. As I was walking towards him from around the corner of the house, I didn’t realize that I had company. One of the cheeky White-browed Sparrow-Weavers was hopping along right next to me! We had opened two windows to help the cockroach spray dry out faster and my stalker decided to have a look inside the house. I could only hear it flapping its wings in distress when it couldn’t find its way out. Before Adam could rescue it, it flew out the same way it flew in and we closed the windows.

Western Rock Skink – we think!



For the afternoon drive, we decided to do the Ubejane Loop clockwise and left the chalet shortly after 4 PM, knowing that the rest-camp gate would close at 7 PM. A Rock Martin was seen just beyond the reception parking area and when we got past the rest-camp gate, we heard a Black Cuckoo calling very close. We stopped and Adam was frustrated because we couldn’t alight from the vehicle anymore. The only bird we saw in the spot was a Bar-throated Apalis. When we set off again, we encountered some Red Hartebeest grazing near the road. A Steppe Buzzard was perched in a tree near marker 6 and on the other side of the road we saw a Red-backed Shrike on a wire. A Mountain Zebra was standing in 2014’s ‘Springhare field', while a White-browed Sparrow-Weaver was in a tree with a few nests and then there was another in an acacia tree before another tree full of their nests. A Brown-hooded Kingfisher was sitting contently on a wire as we stopped to take a photo of two agamas who were sunning themselves, while a Red-chested Cuckoo was calling behind them and later two Red Hartebeests were walking (one of them in the road). That was probably the closest we’d ever been to one.

Just before marker 4, which was our turn-off for the Ubejane Loop, we saw a Fiscal Shrike, a Fork-tailed Drongo, a Fiscal Flycatcher on a wire, and a low-flying Barn Swallow. An adult Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk was perched on a pole in the company of six Pied Starlings who sat on the wires. At the first dam we saw a Pearl-breasted Swallow, a Familiar Chat, at least two Cape Sparrows, and five more Barn Swallows (one flew by and four were perched in some low shrubs).

As we continued on, half a dozen Scaly-feathered Finches on the left side of the road and one Rufous-eared Warbler on our right were flushed. We saw the goshawk still perched on the pole as we came to the drift. As we entered the Southern Ground Squirrel Area, three Ground Squirrels were eating in the middle of the field together with one Yellow Mongoose. Ant-eating Chats started appearing periodically, and a Spotted Thick-Knee was snoozing on the ground. A Great Spotted Cuckoo (a lifer for me) flew past us low over the field. There were several more Ground Squirrels, with one acting as a sentry. Two Red Hartebeest were spotted, one of them ‘sheltering’ in the shade of a tiny acacia barely higher than its horns.

At least five more Scaly-feathered Finches were seen, one of them quivering its wings, alongside a pair of Ostriches and an African Pipit. There was another munching Ground Squirrel and then a young one was seen sunning itself near its burrow. A pair of Spike-heeled Larks was a nice surprise, one of which was taking a dust bath.

Then came the time for another lifer for the both of us, a completely unexpected Common Scimitarbill. What a great-looking bird, hopping between the trees and going up and down them. What a bill shape! To embellish this sighting, Adam spotted a male Dideric Cuckoo that flew over the road from an acacia with food in its bill. In the distance, we could see six Mountain Zebras, two Red Hartebeests and an Eland.

After crossing another drift, we saw four Mountain Zebras, one of them dust-bathing, and three female Kudus. As we were watching them, a Karoo Bush Rat was foraging under an enormous bush. Just before the Link Road turn-off (3), we saw an Acacia Pied Barbet. A Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk was perched in a dead tree, while a Neddicky was singing nearby.

Before we turned towards the second dam, three Mountain Zebras came from the left and had a drink. In the dry dam was the resident male Ostrich, while two Barn Swallows, a Laughing Dove, and a Pin-tailed Whydah flew by. Somewhere close by we heard calling Hadeda Ibises and closer to us saw a pair of Cape Sparrows.

At the dam drift, we saw four Scaly-feathered Finches and a not-quite-adult Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk perched in a tree. Further on, we stopped by a tree when Adam heard a bird singing and were happy to have found a Chinspot Batis (a species we missed in 2014). In the Northern Ground Squirrel Area, we saw a pair of Crowned Lapwings, followed by three more later on, and a Yellow Mongoose with a baby who was falling asleep as Adam photographed it. Before turning onto the main road, we saw two female and one male Kudu, two Mountain Zebras and two Red Hartebeest.

A Yellow Mongoose is never very far...



... from its drowsy mongosling (okay, pup!)



From the main road, we saw three female (all with young) and one male Mountain Zebra with another ‘teenage’ zebra on our left and Adam photographed them in the beautiful light. What a pity that we were pressed for time as the rest-camp gate would close in 20 minutes. We made it with time to spare and as we got out of the car at the chalet, Adam heard an African Rock Pipit singing from the rocky slopes above.

Mountain Zebra and foal in the evening light

[Puff Addy]

Okay, where were we? Oh, yeah:

Day 3 - November 28, 2015 - Part I

We left the chalet at 6:02 with a Cape Robin-Chat singing in the top of a nearby tree and an Eastern Clapper Lark clapping in the distance. When we got to the gate, we saw two vehicles in front of us and a closed gate. The drivers of the vehicles were trying to get the gate open by fiddling with the box, while we were thinking that their ‘heroics’ would keep us locked in the rest camp for the day. Luckily, a park officer arrived and after a few attempts managed to open the gate and keep it open. Our first bird after leaving the rest-camp premises was a Familiar Chat perched on a wire.

Our morning drive was to be the Kranskop Loop and just past marker 15 we heard a Black Cuckoo calling. Before we made it to the Doornhoek Dam, we encountered two Common Fiscals (an adult and a juvenile) and one male and seven female Kudu. We drove into the dam pull-off and observed two Little Grebes, three White-breasted Cormorants (two perched and one swimming), two Greater Striped Swallows and three Pied Starlings, and heard a Red-chested Cuckoo. A Green Wood-Hoopoe flew by, a Red-eyed Bulbul was spotted, a Willow Warbler was heard singing, and a not-yet-adult African Fish Eagle was perched on a branch. A Cape Wagtail flew closer to us and struggled with a long stem of grass that eventually fell from its bill into the water. A Pin-tailed Whydah flew over as we spied a swimming Red-knobbed Coot.

We drove a bit further to a pull-over from where we added two Yellow-billed Ducks into our notepad and another Red-knobbed Coot with a chick. We continued on and met three Helmeted Guineafowl before the Wilgerboom drift. At the turn-off for the Doornhoek Guesthouse, a Neddicky was singing. A stop below a rocky hillside only yielded a Fork-tailed Drongo, a Familiar Chat and a singing Karoo Prinia.

Before we got to the Weltevrede picnic spot turn-off, we saw a Pied Starling and a Bar-throated Apalis and heard some calls and songs here and there. Two Hadeda Ibises were calling and a Cape Turtle-Dove was foraging in the road. Five Pied Starlings were seen in a dead tree. Just after the Berghofkloof we saw two Eland from quite close.

Shortly after marker 10 we saw a female Kudu browsing, a Black Cuckoo was doing its ‘crazy call’ and a Red-chested Cuckoo was heard. In the top of one tall tree we saw two Yellow Canaries, and a pair each of Golden-breasted Buntings and Red-winged Starlings was spotted as well. Three Kudu crossed the road in front of us, a pair of Neddickies was raising at least one young, a Cape Bunting was singing in a tree, and a Karoo Prinia was heard singing.

At the beginning of the first ascent on a paved section of the road we encountered a female and male Kudu, a pair of Familiar Chats, two fly-by Pied Starlings, a Neddicky, and a Cape Turtle-Dove. Between the stream and the road we saw a Streaky-headed Seedeater, a Neddicky, a Bokmakierie, a pair of Cape Robin-Chats, three Eland and two Mountain Zebras.

Upstream from the reedy Langkloof drift, we saw three Eland and two Mountain Zebras and then four more zebras on a ridge to our left. Two more Eland, a pair of Cape Longclaws, a male Malachite Sunbird and a pair of Red-eyed Bulbuls were seen before the Wilgerboom hairpin. This is also where we saw a striking male Yellow Bishop, a new bird for us. We stopped the car in the river for a while and saw two Rock Martins, a Southern Tchagra, a Bokmakierie, a Cape Bunting, and a Yellow Canary.

We started our ascent from the Wilgerboom River following the contours of the mountain and observed a pair of Greater Striped Swallows, a male Malachite Sunbird, and a lone Mountain Zebra above us on the grassy slopes. Along our 30-minute climb to the lookout point at the top of the mountain, we encountered another Streaky-headed Seedeater, a Karoo Scrub Robin, a Neddicky, a soaring dark-morph Booted Eagle, a Rock Kestrel, and a Familiar Chat on the steep paved section.

At the lookout point we got out of the car and shared a PB&J sandwich and after we made a picture of ourselves we looked up into the sky to see a Black Stork (!) soaring above us. An African Rock Pipit was heard singing below us, while two pipits landed in front of us and a Cape Bunting was singing nearby.

We started descending and saw a pair of Ostriches, a Common Fiscal, a pair of beautiful Grey Rheboks on the grassy slopes to our left, a Barn Swallow, a pair of Familiar Chats, and a Blesbok below us. As we got to the area of acacias and the false plateau, we met a Cape Turtle-Dove and heard a Neddicky singing. Two Bokmakieries were singing shortly after each other and a Rock Kestrel was flying near the viewpoint where we saw a small covey of Grey Francolins on our previous trip.

In the boulder section of the paved descent road, we saw three Rock Hyraxes, a Red-eyed Bulbul, a Mountain Zebra, a Familiar Chat, a singing Southern Double-collared Sunbird, a Barn Swallow, a Rock Martin, and another Neddicky. At the end of the boulder section, ten Vervet Monkeys were alongside the road or in the trees next to the road. Already in the rest-camp area, we saw a Pin-tailed Whydah.

We stopped at the camping area to see whether the token-operated washing machine was free and were happy to see that it was. Adam thought about the last time he did laundry ‘American-style’ as both the washer and the dryer were made in the United States. Our load of whites was now set to do the twist for 45 minutes as we headed home for a cup of coffee and our second PB&J sandwich. We then took our amassed glass and plastic to the camp’s recycling station and waited for a few minutes in the laundry room for the washing machine to finish. The wet items were transferred to the dryer and we ventured to reception to enquire how long the drying cycle was (45 minutes) and to buy two more tokens to do a load of darks later during our stay. We also got the first souvenirs of the trip, a locally knit zebra he-doll in red overalls and a super-cute zebra scarf.

As we were waiting in the camping area and then in the reception parking area, we saw five White-rumped Swifts, a pair of Cape White-eyes, a singing Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler, a Red-winged Starling, a Cape Turtle-Dove, a Neddicky, a pair of Greater Striped Swallows, a Pied Starling, a Laughing Dove, two Yellow-throated Petronias eating seed pods in front of the reception building, a Karoo Scrub Robin, and a pair of White-browed Sparrow-Weavers, and we heard an African Hoopoe.

Some 30 minutes into the drying cycle, Adam was dispatched to check on the laundry and before he got to the laundry room he discovered an active Rock Martin nest. Since our load wasn’t big, he came back with it done and we went home to relax before our afternoon drive.

[Puff Addy]

So, sporting fresh drawers, we continue with the day's travels:

Day 3 - November 28, 2015 - Part II

Shortly after 4 PM we were off to visit the Ubejane Loop again, this time in a counter-clockwise direction. At the reception building we spotted a Familiar Chat and a Common Fiscal flew across the road shortly after turning on the main road from the rest camp. A lone Mountain Zebra was grazing just past marker 6. Five Mountain Zebras were feeding in the ‘Springhare field’ with a female Kudu for a company closer to the road. A small troop of Vervet Monkeys decided the road was their playfield for a while, causing a rare traffic jam (of three vehicles) on the main road. A Red Hartebeest walked near the edge of the road, an adult Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk was perched in a tree on our left, and a Steppe Buzzard was seen soaring just before marker 5.

Still on the main road before our Ubejane turn-off for the day (marker 1), we saw a pair of Ostriches and a Common Fiscal, a Barn Swallow, five Mountain Zebra with two young on our right together with a Black Wildebeest and two Black Wildebeests on our left. A lone Gemsbok with really long horns was spotted further on to our right, while two Scaly-feathered Finches and a Rufous-eared Warbler were seen in a small dead tree.

Beginning the Ubejane Loop with the Northern Ground Squirrel Area, we saw two resident Ground Squirrels, an Acacia Pied Barbet, three Ant-eating Chats, two Crowned Lapwings, a Fiscal Flycatcher, a Barn Swallow, another Crowned Lapwing, and two young Ground Squirrels and another adult one who sprinted towards the car. A low-flying Pearl-breasted Swallow escorted us from the area into some acacias. There we encountered a Cape Turtle-Dove, a small flock of Cape Sparrows and a Fiscal Flycatcher in a dead tree.

When we reached the first dam, we spotted three male and two female Ostriches, a Cattle Egret, a Pied Crow, and a Gemsbok walking for a drink, while a Steppe Buzzard was seen flying over. A pair of Pin-tailed Whydahs, Cape and Grey-headed sparrows and a pair of Yellow Canaries all occupied one acacia tree. After the dam it was back into some more acacias, where we saw a Karoo Bush Rat, a singing Neddicky, a Fiscal Flycatcher and a pair of Yellow-bellied Eremomelas. After coming out into the open again we saw six Mountain Zebras.

Past the Link Road turn-off (3), we saw a sub-adult Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk (the same one as the previous day), three White-browed Sparrow-Weavers and a Common Fiscal. In a more open area we saw at least a dozen Scaly-feathered Finches, a roadside African Pipit, a female Ostrich, and a perched Ant-eating Chat. We stopped at the spot where we saw the Common Scimitarbill and Dideric Cuckoo the day before, but had no luck. We only sighted two Pied Crows.

Ant-eating Chat



We entered the Southern Ground Squirrel Area and a male Pin-tailed Whydah flew by, while a flock of Cape and Grey-headed sparrows and an Ant-eating Chat were feeding on the ground. A baby Ground Squirrel couldn’t decide whether it wanted to stay on its side of the road or cross it, causing a few tense moments for the car crew – all ended well with it crossing safely. Seven adult Ground Squirrels were out and about, a Black-headed Heron flew by, two Crowned Lapwings were walking on the ground, an Ant-eating Chat was waiting to find something to eat, and 14 Helmeted Guineafowl ran away from the car. An African Hoopoe’s call escorted us from the area.

Crowned Lapwing



We were back out in the open and saw four Eland under the power/telephone lines, passed another dam, and saw only a Familiar Chat before we got to the main-road junction. As we joined the main road, four Mountain Zebras were crossing the road, followed by two more later on, as they made their way up into the hills to spend the night. Two Red Hartebeest and a Common Fiscal were seen and seven Mountain Zebras were foraging in the ‘Springhare field’. Just before the Wilgerboom drift, two female Kudu were grazing at the edge of the road alongside one Mountain Zebra. We flushed an African Hoopoe as we entered the reception parking area and saw two Laughing Doves there as well.

The night was pleasantly warm and we could sleep with the sliding bedroom door open. The stars shined brightly in a sky not affected by light pollution.

[Puff Addy]

Day 4 - November 29, 2015 - Part I

Our Sunday plans were grand. In the morning we wanted to do a loop consisting of part of the Rooiplaat Loop, the Link Road and part of the Ubejane Loop. We had a reservation for the buffet lunch at the rest-camp restaurant and for a night drive.

So it was out of the chalet at 5:58 and a pair of Cape Wagtails was sitting on the wall above the recycling station near reception. We were out of the rest-camp gate and turned right at marker 15. During our ascent through the boulder section, we saw a Mountain Zebra and three female Kudu. After reaching the false plateau, we saw a Long-billed Lark singing from a shrub, another one from a small acacia, and five adult and one young Mountain Zebra. A Barn Swallow and a Familiar Chat flew over the road, while a Common Fiscal was perched roadside. Between the second lookout point and marker 9, our totals were increased by three Mountain Zebra, seven Red Hartebeest with two young, two Red-winged Starlings, two Common Fiscals, and a pair of Bokmakieries.

Once we turned right at marker 9, we saw an African Pipit, a Cape Longclaw perched and calling, five Springboks, seven Blesboks with three young on one side of the road and three more with one young on the other side, while there were eight more further on, together with one Black Wildebeest and two Mountain Zebras. Two Crowned Lapwings flew low past us, while three more were walking through the grass alongside the road. A pair of Spike-heeled Larks was spotted on the ground, while a Large-billed Lark was feeding and another one was perched and singing. Cloud Cisticolas were singing as well. Before the beginning of the actual Rooiplaat Loop, we saw a pair of Rufous-eared Warblers.

At marker 8 we veered off right and heard yet another airborne Cloud Cisticola – not all was lost, however, as we did actually manage to see it shortly afterwards when it landed on a shrub. A Cape Longclaw was calling from a bush, while three Mountain Zebras flanked the road in the company of a Rufous-eared Warbler. There were three Black Wildebeest in the distance on our left, while eight Blesboks and one young were grazing to our left. Further on, there were 19 Black Wildebeest and two Blesboks on our right. At least 10 White-rumped Swifts were flying above us when we spotted eight Mountain Zebra on our right.

An adult Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk was perched in a tree on our left, while a White-necked Raven flew by from our right. While we stopped for Adam to photograph two Black Wildebeest before the Link Road turn, we heard Blue Cranes calling but didn’t see them. A Mountain Zebra pair were having a dust bath in the distance to our right, sending the dust flying quite high up. Other animals on that side of the road included nine Springboks, 3 Blesboks, 22 Black Wildebeest, and one more Mountain Zebra. Close to the road, we saw a Sickle-winged Chat, heard another Cloud Cisticola, and spotted two pairs of African Pipits. There were also four Mountain Zebras, 14 Black Wildebeest and another group of 11 of them.

Black Wildebeest



As we turned right at marker 7 onto the Link Road, we saw 19 Blesboks, 11 Springboks and a lone Black Wildebeest to our left. Near the small, almost dry dam, five Blesboks and one young, 10 Black Wildebeest and seven Springboks had congregated, while a Rock Kestrel was sitting on a post. Driving on, there was a male Ostrich and a Barn Swallow, and we could hear another Cloud Cisticola. We stopped at the wind pump to share a PB&J sandwich and were rewarded with the sight of 11 Black Wildebeest and 11 Blesboks with one young.

We started moving again and saw two Blesboks with one young, heard a Cloud Cisticola, spotted a male Ostrich and nine Mountain Zebras on our right, and saw a perched Common Fiscal and a walking African Pipit. There were 10 more Mountain Zebras on our right and we heard an Eastern Clapper Lark and a Neddicky and saw a female Ostrich.

We then descended on a short paved section of road and crossed a drift before we were back on gravel and in an area with acacias. Just before another drift we saw two Chestnut-vented Tit-Babblers singing in acacias on either side of the road and three Mountain Zebras on the left. There was a little bit of mud and some water in a dam with a new pull-off adjacent to it from which we observed a Common Fiscal in a tree, three Three-banded Plovers (two adults and a juvenile), two Cape Wagtails, a Vervet Monkey coming for a drink, a Familiar Chat flicking its wings, four weaver nests and one Southern Masked Weaver hard at work on one of them, three Red-faced Mousebirds, and a pair of Greater Striped Swallows scooping and gathering mud.

We left the dam area, saw an African Hoopoe in an acacia tree, drove through another drift, saw a Red Hartebeest, passed another wind pump, and a Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler saw us off from the area of acacias. We were now in the open at Graham’s Corner where we encountered a total of 24 Mountain Zebras in four separate groups. A pair of Ant-eating Chats was perched in an ‘olive’ and in an acacia. There were seven more Mountain Zebras in the distance.

Closer to us, just at the edge of the road, we discovered a family of Spike-heeled Larks with four young and saw four more Mountain Zebras. We drove through a drift in an acacia thicket and then were out in the open again. A Red-eyed Bulbul was calling while an Eastern Clapper lark was displaying and perched on a shrub for us, with another one doing the same thing on the other side of the road. A Rufous-eared Warbler was singing from a shrub and a Rock Kestrel was hovering to our left and then flew further and landed in a nearby tree.

We began the first steep descent into the valley on a paved section of the road and saw another Rock Kestrel. At the bottom, we saw one perched, singing Bokmakierie and a Red-winged Starling flew by. We were back on the gravel road and saw a Red-eyed Bulbul in an acacia tree. The second steep descent came up in an area of many flowering acacias and we saw another Bokmakierie. Back on the regular gravel road, we saw an Acacia Pied Barbet, a Common Fiscal, a Red Hartebeest, eight Gemsboks in the shade, and a singing Bokmakierie. An area full of termite mounds yielded us a Karoo Scrub Robin.

At marker 3 we turned right onto the Ubejane Loop and enjoyed a view of six Chacma Baboons and at least 15 Scaly-feathered Finches. A Common Fiscal and another Chacma Baboon were spotted near an earthen dam, while a Bokmakierie and three Common Fiscals were encountered at another drift. A pair of Pied Crows flew by, while two Laughing Doves were seen at the ‘Scimitarbill’ spot.

We entered the Southern Ground Squirrel Area and saw three Ant-eating Chats, a pair of Ostriches and one more male, two Ground Squirrels in a mad chase, a few more Ground Squirrels foraging on the ground, a Rufous-eared Warbler, and three Mountain Zebras on the ridge on our right. A pair of Spotted Thick-knees was on our right, one of them sitting and giving us a dirty look and the other standing with its eyes closed. A pair and a few more Cape Sparrows were flushed as we drove on.

Since there was no possibility of disembarking from the car to make a pit stop, I started to feel my bladder filling up (Adam has the advantage of using a lidded cup for relief in the car) and we continued back to the chalet without stopping for birds, but still managed to see a Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler, another Chacma Baboon and an adult Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk.

We got home, had a coffee, took a shower, and left on foot to the rest-camp restaurant for our buffet lunch. On our way we saw a Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler and a Chinspot Batis. At the restaurant there was a choice of three main courses – chicken thighs, beef stew or fish – with sides of spiced rice, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, fruit salad and Greek salad with feta and black and green olives. While we were lunching and enjoying a break from our pasta-with-tomato-sauce monotony, we saw a Rock Martin and a White-browed Sparrow-Weaver.

After lunch we dropped off our indemnity forms for the night drive and paid for it and walked back home, spotting a Bar-throated Apalis near the turnoff for the swimming pool, four White-browed Sparrow-Weavers (one ringed) in the driveway of one of the chalets, and a Southern Boubou. An agama visited us on the terrace as we were having coffee with rusks at home.

A very hot afternoon was spent in bed (Adam) and catching up on our trip report (me). As soon as the sun disappeared behind the western mountain ridge, it got cooler and the wind picked up.

[Puff Addy]

Lisbeth, here is a Cape Longclaw on the Rooiplaat Loop from our first trip to MZNP

[Puff Addy]

So, back to the current report and the first of two night drives we did.

Day 4 - November 29, 2015 - Part II

We took the car to the reception parking area and positioned ourselves strategically near the front row of the jeep. There were two more couples joining us for the night drive, a younger English-speaking one from South Africa and an older European one with limited English.

Our guide was ranger Dan who had an introductory speech reminiscent of a drill sergeant and we left at 7:20 in pleasant conditions. Dan mentioned the wind as a factor for probably not seeing too many active animals as wind carries too many scents and too much noise which makes the animals a bit uncomfortable. It was getting dark quickly as Dan entered the code for the rest-camp gate and turned right onto the main road. He soon took out a powerful torch to sweep the landscape and pick up the animals’ reflective eye membranes. We saw a female Kudu, a Hadeda Ibis and Mountain Zebras and heard a Black Cuckoo. And then further on, Dan spotted an animal in front of the thicket to our right – I couldn’t believe we were seeing a Black Rhino! It just stood there, facing us, and we could see that the larger of its two horns was darker than the skin colour. When it got bored with being in the spotlight, it moved right and vanished into thin air.

We moved on and spotted a Common Duiker, two Black-backed Jackals, an enormous Eland, Red Hartebeest, Kudu, and Mountain Zebras, all settling in for the night. We saw another Black-backed Jackal before another highlight ensued. Dan stopped the vehicle and pointed his torch at the top of a telephone pole to our left – hello, impressive Spotted Eagle Owl!

We turned off the main road at marker 1 to do the Ubejane Loop. We started seeing hopping eye reflections all over the place as the Springhares ventured out for the evening around 8:30 PM. These animals are really cute with their long hind legs and shortened front ones and a long, balance-aiding tail that has a dark tip. Other animals illuminated by the torch included Gemsboks and Springboks, and then we saw a Crowned Lapwing in the middle of the road that looked like its wing was broken. It was just a mechanism to distract our attention from the fact that there were four very young chicks with it! The other parent was called for help and we didn’t disturb them for much longer, as Dan said they could be pretty aggressive when it came to chick protection.

Then came highlight number three of the night drive – Dan found us a Fiery-necked Nightjar in the thicket, perched on a low, dead tree. We heard it regularly while at the Matyholweni rest camp in Addo (it was our bedtime lullaby) in 2014, but up until now we hadn’t seen one. As we completed the Ubejane Loop, we picked up a Scrub Hare as a new mammal species and drove through a Springhare-o-rama in the Southern Ground Squirrel Area. After joining the main road at marker 4, we saw a Gemsbok, a Kudu, a Porcupine, and a casual Black-backed Jackal.

We got back to the reception parking area around 9:40 and went straight to our chalet and the terrace to admire the star-studded sky, especially the constellation of Orion which was upside down to the orientation we know from the Northern Hemisphere. The night was pleasantly warm and we slept with the sliding door open.