Leaving De Hoop

A short wander round the rondevals in De Hoop first thing produced much the same as yesterday with the Spotted Eagle Owl again located roosting on the cliff face and a pair of Water Thick-knees by the boathouse and the comical Rock Dassies on the cliff edges.

Rock Dassie

Many hirundines around the campsite area including African Black, Horus and Little Swift and Pearl-breasted and Greater Striped Swallows showing well.

African Black Swift

Little Swift

Pearl-breasted Swallow

Greater Striped Swallow (photographed out of a toilet window!)

1+ African Pipit and several Red and Yellow Bishops and Blue Crane along the road to Bredasdorp and 3 Jackal Buzzards further on.

De Hoop - Paradise refound

An amazing day spent around De Hoop, with much the same as yesterday around the campsite first thing plus Bar-throated Apalis, Sombre Greenbul, Speckled Mousebird and a pair of Spotted Thick-knees.

Spotted Thick-knee

Bar-throated Apalis

Cape Bulbul

Cape Robin-chat

Cape Wagtail

Many waterfowl present on the Viel during the day including Yellow-billed Duck and Red-billed Teal, Cape Shoveler, Southern Pochard, Moccoa Duck and 3 Hottentot Teal. Also many Black-winged Stilts and Red-knobbed Coots, 5 Whiskered Terns, Night Heron and 3 African Darters here a pair of African Fish Eagles gave superb views low overhead.

African Fish Eagle

Southern Pochard

3 Denham’s Bustards present on the grassy flats with the Bontebok late morning but fairly distant.

Denham's Bustard

1 Knysna Woodpecker showed well in the bushes by the shower block at midday along with 3 Southern Boubous, a Fiscal Flycatcher and a Southern Tchagra.

Southern Boubou

Fiscal Flycatcher

Nearby, a Cardinal Woodpecker present in the restaurant garden along with several confiding Cape Francolins and an Ostrich which was obsessed by the quad bikes. 1 Spotted Eagle Owl present roosting on the cliffs but largely obscured.

Cardinal Woodpecker

Cape Francolin

2 Cape Clapper Larks displaying by the track to the dunes and also 4 Cape Mountain Zebras and many Bontebok and Elands here and later Yellow Canary, Bar-throated Apalis, Cape White-eye, Speckled Mousebird and a Levaillant’s Cisticola by the road.

Yellow Canary

Cape White-eye

Speckled Mousebird

Offshore 10+ Southern Right Whales present fairly close in with one youngster breaching a few times.

Southern Right Whales

Southern Right Whale calf breaching

Back to paradise

Much the same as yesterday morning around the beach and pool in Lambert's Bay plus 3 Three-banded Plovers, a pair of Cape Shovelers and 3 Pied Kingfishers here today.

Pied Kingfisher

Several Haviside’s Dolphins offshore but not being acrobatic today in the calmer sea.

Few birds seen on the drive to De Hoop with both Red and Yellow Bishops, several Yellow-billed Kites, Blue Cranes, Spur-winged Geese, Greater Striped Swallows and a probable Verraux’s Eagle of note.

1+ Agulhas Long-billed Larks, Yellow Bishop, Fiscal Flycatcher, Hadeda Ibis and several Blue Cranes along the road into De Hoop park mid afternoon.

Agulhas Long-billed Lark

A short walk around the campsite showed several Horus Swifts, Karoo Prinia, Capped Wheatear and an African Hoopoe.

Horus Swift

Capped Wheatear

African Hoopoe

6+ Southern Right Whales present off the beach early evening but very inactive and also many Bontebok, Eland and 3 Cape Mountain Zebras seen.

Bontebok

Cape Mountain Zebra