AFTER HAVING SPENT a large part of winter inside, wrapped in blankets and longing for warmer days, for birders living in Gauteng the promise of spring brings with it a tangible sense of excitement. They relish the thought of the arrival of summer migrants and more daylight hours in which to enjoy them.
So where best to welcome this change of seasons? Surely Gauteng, the sprawling conurbation that encompasses Johannesburg and Pretoria, can’t be all that exciting as a birding destination? Well, many birders would argue otherwise and the six destinations included here – chosen and rated on a combination of their productivity, quality of birding, levels of safety and accessibility – bear out why the province has six of the best mustvisit spots this spring.
RIETVLEI NATURE RESERVE
Estimated spring species count 80+
Cuckoo Finch anyone? Covering 3870 hectares, the Rietvlei Nature Reserve is probably one of the best sites in Gauteng to connect with this often tricky and elusive summer visitor. Spend your time in the reserve’s extensive swathes of grassland where cisticolas and prinias abound and you should strike it lucky. Cuckoo Finches are a parasitic species and soon after they arrive they begin to focus their energy on breeding, shifting their attention from one another to finding potential hosts to incubate their eggs and raise their chicks.
Other star attractions at Rietvlei include Northern Black Korhaan, Plain-backed Pipit, Red-winged Francolin (on the vlei route) and Dark-capped Yellow Warbler. The skulking and highly sought-after African Finfoot occasionally puts in an appearance along the Grootvlei Spruit.
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