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We spent three nights at the very nice Le
Vendome Hotel in Cape Town, not far from the lively Victoria
& Alfred Waterfront. Walking around its shops and seaside bars we
saw our first Hartlaub's and Kelp gulls, and a few very
tame Cape Fur Seals sunning themselves on the docks.My intention was to
take a pelagic birding boat trip, but last minute date changes made it
impossible (again; during my previous visit to SA, I had to cancel another
pelagic due to bad weather).
Our first visit in the area was to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, at the foot of Table Mountain. Its gates opened at 8:00 am, by
which time temperatures were at least 30ºC, so birding wasn't very productive. Protea
plants weren't in flower, and Sunbirds and Sugarbirds were totally absent, in
contrast with my last winter visit. We enjoyed the very scenic trails for a
couple of hours and saw Cape Canary, Helmeted Guineafowl with
chicks, Dusky Flycatcher and not much more, then headed west to the Stellenbosch winelands.
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| Hartlaub’s Gull |
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Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town |
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A male Martial Eagle |
Lanner Falcon |
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The other nearby spot we visited was Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, commonly known as
Cape Point, situated at the tip of the Cape Peninsula past the scenic coastal
village of Simon's Town. A taxi took us there
at 6:00 am, when the park opens its gates.
 Cape Point
A small herd of the endangered Bontebok
offered great views in their beautiful coastal sand dune habitat, and we saw a
number of Cape Sugarbird and Grassbird displaying
in the rainy weather. Black Girdled Lizards (Cordylus niger) were
common on the rocky cliffs along Cape of Good Hope, their colour helping them
to maximize heat in the cool overcast weather. These lizards have a very
restricted distribution, limited to the tip of the Cape peninsula.
Black Girdled Lizard
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| Cape Grassbird |
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| Cape Point |
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| Chacma Baboon |
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Bontebok |
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Although our taxi driver was very obliging
and we tried to locate some of the spots I visited last time, we weren't able
to find Ground Woodpecker or Mountain Zebra, both of which I saw here in 2006.
Near the entrance of the park we saw our first and only Cape Francolin.
Small groups of Chacma Baboon were seen along the roads.
Warning sign
Also near Simon's Town, the famous African
Penguin colony at Boulder's Beach is a
must to anyone visiting the area. Started in 1985 with the arrival of a few pairs
to the pristine white-sand beach, today no less than 2,000 pairs breed here
year-round. As during my 2006 visit, a lone African Black Oystercatcher
shared the beach with the penguins.
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| African Black Oystercatcher |
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African Penguins, Boulder’s Beach |
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