A visit to Bonamanzi Game Reserve

The trip begins...

Early on Monday, 6th March three vehicles with twelve BirdLife KZN Midlands club members on board headed towards Durban and then onwards to Bonamanzi which is situated near Hluhluwe in Zululand. We had an uneventful journey until just north of Richard’s Bay where we encountered the dreaded queue of coal carrier trucks heading towards the Richard’s Bay Coal Terminal. Fortunately, in spite of us travelling for over 7 km, in the opposite direction, the trucks were largely well-behaved in keeping to one lane on the double lane highway, so no hold-ups were experienced. Happily those travelling north, in our direction, were mostly courteous in pulling over to allow for easy overtaking.

Nyala House

Once we had booked in at Bonamanzi we headed to our group accommodation in Nyala House. Eve Hughes, our leader, had already allocated the available rooms so vehicles were quickly off-loaded and everyone was comfortably settled in. The house accommodates 18, with three double en-suite rooms and the remainder being double rooms with two communal showers and separate toilets. The kitchen was large enough for us to prepare meals and a lovely big table on the covered patio enabled us to sit together for chats and meals.

Exploring the reserve

We soon headed out into the game area for a late afternoon drive and to give those who had not previously been there a general idea of the reserve layout. We headed to the new hide at Duke’s Dam and then down to the Hluhluwe River where we saw firsthand evidence of the recent heavy rains and flooding with one of the reserve’s flat-bottomed boats stranded on land at least thirty metres from the river where it had previously been moored!

Once back at the house we quickly prepared our dinners before loadshedding set in. The additional problem with no electricity meant that the water pump did not operate so we had no water either! But once power was restored at 9p.m. there was a rush for showers before heading off to bed.

Up early the next morning for coffee, we took a walk around the nearby area before returning for breakfast. We then took a drive down to the river, stopping first at Tree House Number 14 where there was a hive of bird activity. We headed to Queen’s Pool for our coffee break on the deck where we enjoyed the call of the Burchell’s Coucal, watched Thickbilled Weavers nest-building and various other birds. As parts of the area were still very muddy we had to be cautious where we travelled to avoid getting bogged down! Driving slowly down to the floodplain again we were kept busy with sightings of a number of Senegal Lapwings, Pipits, Yellow-throated Longclaws, and lots of Bee-Eaters.

After lunch and a break, some of us went in search of the Lemon-breasted Canaries along the fence line. After driving for a short way until the Lala Palms started appearing, we then walked and spotted a nest-building pair – a fantastic sighting! That evening we again gathered on the patio whilst Fiery-necked Nightjar called in the distance. We had a surprise visit from a Lesser Spotted Genet who peered at us around the corner of the house.

Up very early the next morning we went in search of the elusive African

Broadbill which the local guide had told us about. Unfortunately, despite quite a long walk, we didn’t find it, but some of us stragglers had good views of Pink-throated Twinspot hopping in and out of the dense foliage. After breakfast, we decided to do a trip to the flood plain on the community land between Bonamanzi and False Bay that Alan Turner had kindly given Peter directions to access. On the way we were fortunate to see a flock of Red-headed Queleas in a reedbed which were flushed by a passing vehicle. After a little confusion in a maze of roads we ended up in the right spot and were delighted to have cracking views of Glossy Ibis, Purple Swamphen, Common Ringed Plovers and a Yellow-billed Egret. Driving further along we found Blue-billed Teal, a Purple Heron, Whiskered Terns, Pink- backed and Great White Pelicans, and a single Ruff.

Back at the house and after a rest we again set out to find the canaries and were able to get some great photographs of them. We later had a communal braai and were joined by a large family of Banded Mon- gooses who explored any and every crumb that had dropped and then made themselves comfortable under the vehicles for the night.

On Thursday morning we explored some of the areas not visited earlier and some of the group were fortunate to spot a Green Malkoha which was calling near campsite 16. We drove down slowly, towards the floodplain seeing a Willow Warbler gleaning insects off the ripening wild figs, and on the way back a lone European Bee-Eater and Redfaced Cisticola were seen with Redbreasted Swallows flying overhead. Sean, in the leading vehicle, alerted us to a raptor that they could see through a small ‘window’ in the bush. On closer investigation, this was identified as a Southern-banded Snake Eagle – a great sighting! After a leisurely lunch and afternoon, we did a final drive around the reserve before sadly packing up for an early start the following morning.

Home again with a St Lucia deviation

Our return trip was surprisingly uneventful with no truck queue or delays along the way. Two vehicles stopped in at St Lucia and after the long walk along the boardwalk and dunes, the younger folk walked to the river mouth to see the specials which had been reported there. They had great sightings of African Skimmers, an adult and Juvenile Palm- nut Vulture, various terns, a damp and scraggly Common Buzzard amongst others. From there it was homeward bound with the Friday afternoon traffic starting to pick up, but never becoming too heavy.

An amazing total bird list

Only the special bird species seen are mentioned but we were delighted to have a group total of about 140 species. Other birds worthy of a mention included Osprey, Eastern Nicator (heard), and Brown- throated Weaver. Commonly encountered species were Yellowbellied Greenbul, Rudd’s Apalis, Gorgeous Bushshrike, Orangebreasted and Olive Bushshrikes, both species of drongo, European, Whitefronted and Blue-cheeked BeeEaters, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Crowned Hornbill, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatchers, Tambourine and Emerald Spotted Wood Doves to name only a few! All-in-all a wonderful and very worthwhile trip! Our thanks to Eve for organizing all the bookings and arrangements, to Peter for sharing his knowledge of the reserve, to Alan Turner for his guidance regarding exploration of the floodplain, and to all who made this a great outing –definitely worth a second visit in the future!