1-day Dinokeng / Zaagkuilsdrift Birding Tour

After an early collection at your hotel in Johannesburg or Pretoria, we’ll head north into prime “bushveld” habitat north of Pretoria. A summer outing here offers over 100 species in a few hours in a morning.

Birds include greater Kalahari specials such as Southern Pied Babbler, Ashy Tit, Chestnut-vented Warbler, White-throated Robin-Chat, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Shaft-tailed Whydah, Violet-eared Waxbill, and Barred Wren-Warbler. Other common birds we’ll probably find are White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill and two other hornbill species, Burchell’s Starling, and several beautiful bee-eater and roller species. In summer we may find a number of migrants including Abdim’s Stork, Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers, Amur Falcon, Lesser Kestrel, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Blue-cheeked and Southern Carmine Bee-eaters and Eurasian Golden Oriole. Towards the end of summer the place comes alive with calling warblers such as River, Icterine, Marsh and Olive-tree as well as Thrush Nightingale and Common Whitethroat.

We have good chances of finding the stunning Crimson-breasted Shrike on this day tour.

After heavy rains the floodplain and adjoining grassland harbours large numbers of birds move into the area including Black Heron, Dwarf Bittern, Lesser Moorhen, Allen’s Gallinule, Striped, African, Baillon’s and Corn Crake, Harlequin Quail, Greater Painted-snipe, Caspian Plover, Black-winged Pratincole and Temminck’s Courser. In the adjoining scrub and grasslands we are also likely to find Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Western Yellow Wagtail, Great Sparrow, Scaly-feathered Weaver, Red-headed Finch, Yellow-crowned Bishop and Red-breasted Swallow.

The beautiful Shaft-tailed Whydah can be seen in breeding plumage in the summer months.

After lunch (unless you only want to do a half-day trip), we can travel southwards to visit diverse areas of woodland, wetland, and rocky outcrop. We can visit the Seringveld Conservancy, where Kurrichane Thrush, Striped Kingfisher, and Southern Black Flycatcher are likely. Local specials here include Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Bushveld Pipit, Pale Flycatcher, White-throated Robin-Chat, Green-capped Eremomela, and Tinkling Cisticola.

The guide for day trips is allocated only after you have booked, as all of them are run as private trips. But we always use the country’s top birding guides.