Between the Legs: Cape Town Birding
- pmh0606617
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
With a two night stopover in Cape Town, it provided us with three days to explore the various National Parks, Nature Reserves and Botanical Gardens. Guided by Birding Africa, we were able to connect with many of the endemic birds and enjoy some excellent birding.
Kirstenbosch and the Strandfontein Birding Area, 31st March 2025
With Vince of Birding Africa we were early arrivers at Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens which, blessed by tropical climate and at the base of Table Mountain, is a truly spectacular setting. The visitor centre, sculptures and restaurant are high quality but the majestic trees and presentation of native and introduced plants take first prize, simply world class beginning immediately after entering the park for a very reasonable fee with the mature Camphor tree avenue near the entrance and the boomslang tree canopy walkway, presentation of Fynbos plants including Proteas, simply stunning as are the views of Cape Town in early morning blue light haze in its mountain fringed basin.

Cape Bulbul; Orange-bellied Sunbird; Malachite Sunbird; Southern Double-banded Sunbird; Swee Waxbill; Forest Canary
After a successful stop to look for Western Leopard Toad we were away to Strandfontein which sits within the wider False Bay Nature Area, Globally Important Bird Area (IBA), and RAMSAR site so highly attractive to birds fair to say it’s a less aesthetically pleasing setting than Kirstenbosch being set by an active landfill and the back of a sewage works. A perfect birders spot really. We weren’t able to see the escaped Hippopotamus and fortunately it didn’t see us but there was a great assemblage of waders, waterfowl, terns, gulls, ibises, egrets, Spoonbill and heron species and many of the 500 or so Great White PeIican population of the Cape (odd to see then feeding on landfill).
Cape Shoveler; Yellow-billed Duck and Cape Teal; Great White Pelican; African Spoonbill, African Sacred Ibis; Three-banded Plover.
Day Two
Kogelberg, Harold Porter Botanic Gardens Stoney Point and Betty’s Bay, 1st April 2025
Vince met us just after breakfast and we headed for Kogelberg and more Cape Town Endemics. We started our day along the coast, scouring the boulders and scrub for the Cape Rockjumper. Although me managed to see the Rockjumper, it was amongst the boulder at the base of the scree slopes and coastal mountains. Other endemics seen included Orange-breasted Sunbird and Cape Rock Thrush.

Coastal Cliffs at Kogelberg.
Orange-breasted Sunbird; Cape Rock Thrush, Cape Bunting; Karoo Prinia; Familiar Chat
After the coastal cliffs we headed towards Betty's Bay - a coastal reserve with African Penguin and four species of Cormorant. Not as popular as Boulder's Beach, Betty's Bay was relatively quiet and allowed close encounters with African Penguin and Rock Hyrax.

Betty's Bay
African Penguin and Rock Hyrax
White-breasted, Crowned, Bank and Cape Cormorants all nest of the shore at Betty's Bay along with African Oystercatcher. Reptiles basking on the rocks were represented by Southern Rock Agama and Girdled Lizard
Southern Rock Agama; Girdled Lizard, Bank Cormorant; Bank Cormorants; Great (White-breasted) Cormorant; African Oystercatcher.
Our next stop was at the Botanical Gardens at Betty's Bay, where we encountered several Chacma Baboon - these primates have a habit of raiding the local houses for food (and just for fun) so teams of "Baboon Wardens" follow them and deter the baboons from breaking into residences.
As with Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the mature, well watered gardens support several bird species. The ponds though also held several species of dragonfly and damselfly along with amphibians.
Cape River Frog; Epaulet Skimmer; "Water Lily"; Chacma Baboon; Red-veined Droplet; Emperor.
Birds seen included Fiscal Flycatcher; Orange-breasted Sunbird and Malachite Sunbird.
Orange-breasted Sunbird; Malachite Sunbird: Fiscal Flycatcher
At the end of the day we returned to the Bolette, where we watched Cape Fur Seal, Great Crested Tern and Hartlaub's Gull in the port.
Cape Fur Seal; Great Crested Tern.
Day Three
Our third and final day in Cape Tern was spent at the West Coast National Park - an area of coastal scrub, grassland and wetlands. A very different landscape typology which at the right time of year sees the Strandveld become a riot of colour from annual desert flowers, but not today. However, the Brunsvigia bosmaniiae was the exception, with many impossibly large bright pink blooms erupting from the sand. Karoo Scrub Robin were confiding and in the dry scrubby habitat that shares their name. African Black Oystercatcher were bringing food for to their young on a beach where several species of Cormorant basked on nearby rocks. Probably the least photogenic day of our time in South Africa
Karoo Scrub Robin; Spotted Knick-knee; Southern Black Korhaan; Common Ostrich; White-fronted Plover, African Oystercatcher
The three days we spent in Cape Town were bird-filled and very enjoyable, and would not have been achieved without the guidance of Vincent Ward from Birding Africa. We saw a total of 123 species of bird (listed below), five species of dragonfly and several mammal species.
ENGLISH NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME |
Common Ostrich | Struthio camelus |
White-faced Whistling-Duck | Dendrocygna viduata |
Fulvous Whistling-Duck | Dendrocygna bicolor |
Egyptian Goose | Alopochen aegyptiaca |
Spur-winged Goose | Plectropterus gambensis |
Blue-billed Teal | Spatula hottentota |
Cape Shoveler | Spatula smithii |
Yellow-billed Duck | Anas undulata |
Cape Teal | Anas capensis |
Red-billed Duck | Anas erythrorhyncha |
Southern Pochard | Netta erythrophthalma |
Maccoa Duck | Oxyura maccoa |
Helmeted Guineafowl | Numida meleagris |
Gray-winged Francolin | Scleroptila afra |
Cape Spurfowl | Pternistis capensis |
Speckled Pigeon | Columba guinea |
Red-eyed Dove | Streptopelia semitorquata |
Ring-necked Dove | Streptopelia capicola |
Laughing Dove | Spilopelia senegalensis |
Black Bustard | Afrotis afra |
Eurasian Moorhen | Gallinula chloropus |
Red-knobbed Coot | Fulica cristata |
African Swamphen | Porphyrio madagascariensis |
Black Crake | Zapornia flavirostra |
Spotted Thick-knee | Burhinus capensis |
Water Thick-knee | Burhinus vermiculatus |
Black-winged Stilt | Himantopus himantopus |
Pied Avocet | Recurvirostra avosetta |
African Oystercatcher | Haematopus moquini |
Three-banded Plover | Thinornis tricollaris |
Blacksmith Lapwing | Vanellus armatus |
White-fronted Plover | Anarhynchus marginatus |
Sanderling | Calidris alba |
Parasitic Jaeger | Stercorarius parasiticus |
Gray-hooded Gull | Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus |
Hartlaub's Gull | Chroicocephalus hartlaubii |
Kelp Gull | Larus dominicanus |
Caspian Tern | Hydroprogne caspia |
Arctic Tern | Sterna paradisaea |
Common Tern | Sterna hirundo |
Sandwich Tern | Thalasseus sandvicensis |
Great Crested Tern | Thalasseus bergii |
Little Grebe | Tachybaptus ruficollis |
African Penguin | Spheniscus demersus |
White-chinned Petrel | Procellaria aequinoctialis |
Sooty Shearwater | Ardenna grisea |
Cape Gannet | Morus capensis |
African Darter | Anhinga rufa |
Reed Cormorant | Microcarbo africanus |
Crowned Cormorant | Microcarbo coronatus |
Bank Cormorant | Phalacrocorax neglectus |
Cape Cormorant | Phalacrocorax capensis |
Great Cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo |
Glossy Ibis | Plegadis falcinellus |
African Sacred Ibis | Threskiornis aethiopicus |
Hadada Ibis | Bostrychia hagedash |
African Spoonbill | Platalea alba |
Little Egret | Egretta garzetta |
Western Cattle-Egret | Ardea ibis |
Black-headed Heron | Ardea melanocephala |
Great White Pelican | Pelecanus onocrotalus |
Black-winged Kite | Elanus caeruleus |
Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk | Accipiter rufiventris |
Black Goshawk | Astur melanoleucus |
African Marsh Harrier | Circus ranivorus |
Jackal Buzzard | Buteo rufofuscus |
Speckled Mousebird | Colius striatus |
White-backed Mousebird | Colius colius |
Eurasian Hoopoe | Upupa epops |
Olive Woodpecker | Dendropicos griseocephalus |
Rock Kestrel | Falco rupicolus |
Lanner Falcon | Falco biarmicus |
Peregrine Falcon | Falco peregrinus |
Cape Batis | Batis capensis |
Bokmakierie | Telophorus zeylonus |
Southern Fiscal | Lanius collaris |
Pied Crow | Corvus albus |
White-necked Raven | Corvus albicollis |
Drakensberg Rockjumper | Chaetops aurantius |
Long-billed Crombec | Sylvietta rufescens |
Bar-throated Apalis | Apalis thoracica |
Karoo Prinia | Prinia maculosa |
Gray-backed Cisticola | Cisticola subruficapilla |
Levaillant's Cisticola | Cisticola tinniens |
Lesser Swamp Warbler | Acrocephalus gracilirostris |
Black Sawwing | Psalidoprocne pristoptera |
Banded Martin | Neophedina cincta |
Plain Martin | Riparia paludicola |
Bank Swallow | Riparia riparia |
Southern Crag-Martin | Ptyonoprogne fuligula |
Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica |
White-throated Swallow | Hirundo albigularis |
Sombre Greenbul | Andropadus importunus |
Cape Bulbul | Pycnonotus capensis |
Chestnut-vented Warbler | Curruca subcoerulea |
Cape White-eye | Zosterops virens |
European Starling | Sturnus vulgaris |
Red-winged Starling | Onychognathus morio |
African Pied Starling | Lamprotornis bicolor |
Olive Thrush | Turdus olivaceus |
African Dusky Flycatcher | Muscicapa adusta |
Fiscal Flycatcher | Sigelus silens |
Karoo Scrub-Robin | Tychaedon coryphoeus |
Cape Robin-Chat | Dessonornis caffer |
Cape Rock-Thrush | Monticola rupestris |
Familiar Chat | Oenanthe familiaris |
Cape Sugarbird | Promerops cafer |
Orange-breasted Sunbird | Anthobaphes violacea |
Amethyst Sunbird | Chalcomitra amethystina |
Malachite Sunbird | Nectarinia famosa |
Southern Double-collared Sunbird | Cinnyris chalybeus |
Cape Weaver | Ploceus capensis |
Bronze Mannikin | Spermestes cucullata |
Swee Waxbill | Coccopygia melanotis |
Common Waxbill | Estrilda astrild |
House Sparrow | Passer domesticus |
Cape Sparrow | Passer melanurus |
Cape Wagtail | Motacilla capensis |
Forest Canary | Crithagra scotops |
Yellow Canary | Crithagra flaviventris |
Streaky-headed Seedeater | Crithagra gularis |
Cape Canary | Serinus canicollis |
Cape Bunting | Emberiza capensis |
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