BIRDING AT BONTEBOK NATIONAL PARK

(We will be spending two evenings in the Bontebok National Park next week to do some of the preparatory work for the project on the development of birding resources for environmental educational programmes.   We therefore decided to load Tim Jackson's article, "Restcamp Birding: Bontebok National Park" that was taken from from Africa Birds and Birding, vol 5 (6) (Dec/Jan 2000).  It would be interesting to see what impact the new restcamp would have.  - Ed.)

Some 240 kilometres along the busy N2 highway from Cape Town and 540 kilometres from Port Elizabeth lies the Bontebok National Park. It was originally proclaimed in 1931 in an effort to save from extinction the bontebok, whose numbers at one stage had dropped to 17 individuals.

The park boasts the unusual distinction of having been 'moved’ from its original position to its current site in 1961, partly because it was too small for the burgeoning bontebok population and partly because of the poor quality of the soil – mineral deficiencies led to ‘swayback’, a weakness in the animals’ hindquarters. The modern 2 876-hectare site includes an island of coastal renosterveld, one of the most threatened types of Cape fynbos, and borders on to the Breede River. The restcamp itself, situated some 4.5 kilometres along a gravel road from the entrance, nestles on the banks of the river. It was with a degree of trepidation that I visited the park over within the camp. The tchagras, however, kept very much to the thicker vegetation, sometimes hopping out on the edges of the lawns before disappearing into cover again. While they were quite easy to hear rustling around in the undergrowth, most of the rustles I heard emanated from the striped mice and vlei rats found in abundance at the camp and it was a while before I saw my first tchagra. The other shrike that was in evidence was the Southern Boubou, which was certainly much bolder in its movements and would regularly come hopping around my camping spot in the middle of the morning. While it is perhaps better known for its melodious bell-note call, typical of many shrikes, it insisted on vocalising more often with a far less elegant ‘cree-cree-cree-cree-cree-cree-cree’ cry, and it took a while for me to connect the bird with its call. In the distance I could also hear another shrike, the Bokmakierie, calling, though in the spirit of a true campsite-potato birdwatcher (particularly one imbued with the excesses of the Christmas weekend last year, fearing that campers would be pitching their tents on top of one another, as I had seen down at the coast. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that the camp was very spacious, with ample nooks and crannies between the trees in which to camp and with a good deal of privacy; I was never too aware of other campers for the duration of my stay.

The restcamp is well vegetated, with perhaps the sweet thorn and bitter aloe dominating. Disappointingly, the aloes were not in bloom during my stay, though I imagine in winter they would attract a number of Malachite Sunbirds; I was only lucky enough to have a brief look at a Lesser Double-collared Sunbird busy around the yellow cottonwool blooms of the flowering sweet thorns. Look out too for Greater Double-collared and Orangebreasted sunbirds. The camp was well lawned and Cape Wagtails regularly patrolled the grass. The lawns also provided a good hunting ground for Cape Francolins, which wandered through the camp, feeding in the scrub areas as they went.

One of the big pluses of the camp is its position on the bank of the Breede River, which allows people to camp right down to the water’s edge. The camp also boasts three walking trails, so visitors can escape on foot into the riverine bush, rather than being cooped up frustratingly in a vehicle as in many reserves. These are good birding spots, perhaps most notably for the Olive Bush Shrike.

A total of 192 bird species has been recorded at the park, and it is a good area to see both Stanley’s Bustard and the Blue Crane. Given the names of some of the more common bird species within the campsite, it would not take a genius to work out that one was in the southern Cape. Here the Cape White-eye, Cape Turtle Dove, Cape Francolin, Cape Robin, Cape Sparrow, Cape Weaver, Cape Batis, Cape Wagtail and Cape Bulbul rub shoulders with the Southern Boubou and Southern Tchagra. With the exception of the latter, all were quite easy to locate.

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