Birding features – Country Life

Birding in Kimberley

Exploring Dronfield Nature Reserve and Kamfers Dam near Kimberley is the next best thing to a safari in the Serengeti… We stop to check bird activity from the hide at the vulture restaurant. Fifty White-backed, two Cape and one Lappet-faced vulture are engaged in kickboxing and tug-of-war at the carcass… An immature African Fish Eagle startles a flock of flamingos into flight as it swoops down and fails to grab a flamingo.

In search of the Green Barbet

“I live and breathe birding, it’s my passion,” says Sakhamuzi Mhlongo as we follow a winding road shaded by tall trees into Ngoye Forest. We are on our way to see some endangered and very localised birds. Ngoye Forest is not what you would imagine a forest to be like if you have only visited the Knysna Forest. 

Dream birding in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve

Many birders are not aware of what awaits them in the Korannaberg hills that run through the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve – a jewel of the Northern Cape. Here conservation is foremost, and the management team and staff are busy returning this section of the Kalahari to its historical diversity, by restoring degraded areas, re-establishing biological diversity, and maintaining the natural ecological processes of the Kalahari.

One of SA’s top birding tour companies

“South Africa is quite simply one of the most pleasurable birding destinations, offering unrivaled wildlife viewing, world-class infrastructure and unbeatable value for money” says Adam Riley. One immediately realises why he is the leading bird tour company owner.