January 2007:

January gave the world a cosmic show never seen before, the passage of Mc Naughts Comet, first discovered in August 2006. This was truly a heavenly show to admire, a plume of white arching through the sky at about 250 deg Mag South. For those on the trail it was spectacular show over the ocean. For a group of old flat friends from their early twenties now celebrating the youngest's 60th, the comet was a perfect close to each days adventure on the trail. It was marvelous to be able to share in their collective memories of the past 40 years and it took little effort to convince them to commemorate the event with their own 'Calendar Girls' portrait. Following on the discoveries of last months nesting observations we managed to record 5 nests with Oyster Catchers brooding this month. While this is within their normal laying season, it is the most nests observed this late in the season. The photo of the Oystercatcher is the male of a pair that has used the same nesting site for the past 3 years. Both displayed great courage while protecting their nest from a poorly managed dog. Close inspection of the bird revels that it has 2 leg bands. Once again it was astounding to see the build up of sand along the route with areas that were exposed rock 2 months ago now covered with up to 1.6m of sand. Despite the dry heat we were fortunate to discover a magnificent Orchid in the sand dunes making us marvel at how it has survived in those conditions. I was fortunate enough to learn alot about the forest Orchids and to see a range of them in bloom while doing a walk in the Diepvalle Forest region. These exquisite plants are host tree and height specific adding an extra dimension to walking through the forest. The still beach has evidence of the trees washed out to sea during the August 2006 flood which are still being washed up onto the beach.Though in difficult to access locations, the stumps and trunks when dry have the potential to make some wonderful garden ornaments. In line with the hot conditions of the season, sea temperatures were a very comfortable 23 Deg C making snorkeling in the clear conditions most enjoyable. For those with an adventurous spirit and a love for the out doors, the Garden route was truly a play ground which could be enjoyed in the long summer daylight.

 

February 2007:

February was a wonderful though hot month. Our trail in the first week had to be the hottest trail we have had since the inception of the trail with temperatures exceeding 30 deg Celsius every day. The advantage is that the sea temperatures were warm and swimming was a pleasure. Along the beach stages the exciting sightings were of three pairs of Black Oyster Catchers with their chicks ranging from a few days old to sub adult . Even more exciting was spotting a pair of Kitlitz Plovers with two chick no more than 5 days old appearing as a bundle of fluff balancing on top of two match sticks. In the forest it was definitely Orchid season.Though this is a new sphere of interest for me, it is exciting to see a spray of delicate colour clinging beneath the forest canopy. The ground Orchid featured in January's journal has form seed pod which I am eagerly awaiting their ripen to collect. Without a doubt February was for birders. We were treated to daily shows of mixed birding parties foraging for insects in the canopies and shrubs. One party offered sightings of Paradise Fly catcher, Dusky Fly Catcher, Blue Mantled Fly Catcher, Black Headed Oriole, Fork Tailed Dronga, Narina Trogan, Forest Canary, Green Wood Hoopoe, Cape Batis and Bar Throated Apalis. Most birding parties lasted for between 15 and 30 minutes and then dispersed as nothing had been there in the beginning. On the Serpentine River we were treated to sightings of 3 African Purple Swamphens. For Fynbos lovers, the Protea,s are coming into bloom. While we do not see many on the trail for day trippers there are some lovely locations to go and view them. There have again been some out of season bloomers namely the Pelleragonium incanum a lovely ground cover which normally flowers from July onwards. Also early with blooming are the Brunsvigia sp, displaying a very deep colour of red this year. Some old timers say that their flowering is indicative of impending autumn - will it be early this year? In the Fynbos the geometricus tortoises are hatching and we were indeed frotunate to see one. These hatchlings are about 7cm long and blend into the vegitation so easily. Absent from the beaches till this month have been the ghost crabs. Their burrows are now scattered along the beach with densities of 5 per square meter. This is a later colonization than the preceding years and it will be interesting to note how long they survive through the year. An exciting moment was snorkeling in the Sedgefield lagoon and being thrilled with numerous double banded butterfly fish. Even more thrilling was swimming with no less than 5 ragged tooth sharks which had taken shelter from rough seas. Since I started the trail it has provided a sense of accomplishment to see the enjoyment that guests get while learning about the environment. This month definitely provided abundant enjoyment for nature lovers.

March 2007

It is said that the more you look the more you see, and in March this expression was epitomized to the fullest. We had a treat of seeing Osprey regularly and on one occasion seeing one fly a captured fish torpedo style for over 2km before it disappeared from sight. The treat was definitely from the Fish Eagles. With a number of young adults in the area, parents are ousting them from territories and established pairs are protecting their own territories providing some incredible aerial displays. Added to this, one of the pair established at Lake Pleasant delighted a group by swooping down and catching a large fish directly in front of them as they were preparing for their birdwatching canoeing trip on the lake. The highlight for me was during an optional beach horse ride in Goukamma Nature Reserve seeing a Fish Eagle initially on the primary sand dune and then on the beach allowing us to pass within 15m of it without flying off. The highlight of small predators had to be a close up sighting of a Caracul, the African Lynx, pounce on and catch a Dassie (Rock rabbit) on the edge of the Touws River while canoeing. The event was too fast to capture on film but was vivid enough to remain in the groups memory. Another rare highlight was the discovery of a Loggerhead turtle hatchling on the beach. This is not the normal range for turtle breeding, however this past season a female Loggerhead Turtle laid eggs near the Goukamma River and this may have been a survivor of the batch. Unwittingly, as it appeared weak, we picked it up and got it to an aquarium to recover before it was taken out to sea to be liberated. Hopefully it survives and finds it's way back to the beach in the future. I have made mention of Ghost Crabs in the past and how they are a global warming indicator species since their recent colonization of the Garden Route beaches five seasons ago. This season they were late in arriving but in March they had reestablished themselves very noticeably on the beaches traversed by the trail. It is with personal interest that I will be monitoring their survival through winter. Without a doubt the remote beaches are what surprises everyone doing the trail. That you can spend two hours a day on the beach and only see the members of the group adds a memorable ambiance to the experince. The region was fortunate enough to have a brief spell of rain which nourished the vegetation and swelled the rivers. In the forest the fungi flourished and for the more adventurous the Parasol Mushrooms were appreciated sautéed in butter with garlic. The rise in river levels triggered the 1.8m management level for the river mouths of the Touw River to be mechanically opened on the 6th though it had reclosed one week later. For the Serpentine canoeing stage the higher water levels were most welcome. Combined with some clearing of the reeds and higher levels the canoeing was a gentle paddle through the winding channel. In the dunes the Fynbos has begun what looks to be a spectacular winter floral display. Fynbos has evolved to flower in the cooler and wetter winter months adding a warm texture to the landscape with blooms of the red and orange light spectrums.

 

April 2007:

Pleasant and calm walking conditions best describe the month of April. Comfortable days for walking without the sweltering heat made it a perfect month to enjoy the region. Novel to the area was a week of fog which shrouded the coastal region cutting down visibility to less than 300m giving the appearance of walking in a cocoon. After relating to the groups the wonderful vista's to be seen on the fourth day's walk through the dunes of Goukamma Nature Reserve, we were fortunate to see the bends in the path most of the time. It did however allow focus on the fynbos in bloom and to protect us from over heating on the initial climb from Lake Pleasant to the highest point of 155m. Our birding opportunities where perfect, particularly in the forest section with in excess of 35 species sighted on the first day and a full house of the five kingfisher species for the region sighted in one day. Sightings of the Purple Swamphen exceeded all previous recordings accompanied by the African Real and the Little Bitten betraying their presence vocally. The vleis offered some spectacular water fowl birding, though the dragonflies could not be ignored as they hawked flies while patrolling their territories. Sea conditions calmed down, though temperatures where still refreshing with only the hardiest Britons deciding to use the crystal clear rock pools to cool off after exiting the dunes.At this time of year the floral display in the fynbos demonstrates gradual transitions of blooming from different species. The Erica's spp are finishing off while the Agathosma flourishes and the Geranium incanum had sporadic early flushes of indigo. As always the transformation of the beach remains a constant for us. Sand movement is apparent within a fortnight, altering the landscape of the beaches and rock pools dramatically. The resilience of the intertidal fauna and flora and their survival strategies continue to amaze me as our groups pass a rock pool that has recently been uncovered allowing the re-colonization to occour. Despite reading about the process of succession, it is wonderful to see it in action every fortnight. On the beaches the ghost crabs are well established and in the rock pools some tropical fish are still lingering despite the drop in sea temperatures at the start of April. For those with less time available, sitting in the bird hides at Langvlei and Rondevlei made for extremely rewarding birding with close sightings of Purple Swamphen, Little Bittern and African Real.. April was definitely one of the many months which nature makes so rewarding to be in the Garden Route.

 

May 2007:

May in the minds of South African's will be recalled for it's records of the coldest conditions across the country in recorded history - apparently no less than 51 winter records where shattered in the third week. Needless to say the Garden Route could also claim some low temperature extremes and unique weather features. Between the 18th and 22nd a cold front of note passed through the region, not the desired conditions to walk through let alone to celebrate a 10th anniversary. By the fourth day of the trail the group valiantly refused my offers to transport them to the evening venue. As a bonus extra we were dealt no less than 4 bouts of hail between gale force wind which threatened to whisk the poncho clad group down the beach like tumble weeds. And yet it is rare to have a group that was so invigorated by the experience. Nicky and Andrew will always recall their tenth anniversary, hopefully with fondness. Another extreme during May was that of age - the record for the oldest person on the trail was comfortably claimed by Tony v Ryneveld. At 81 he demonstrated that age need not be an obstacle for the trail. Indeed the group's average age was sufficient to exceed the former oldest age with the youngest member 3 weeks shy of her 70th. The rest of the weather in May was wonderful with light offshore breezes flattening the waves and dispersing the sea mist resulting in extremely clear shore conditions allowing clear views along the beaches. Another advantage of the weather at this time of year is for birding. With the later sunrise, birds were often found sunning themselves in the dappled beams of morning sunshine, totally unperturbed by our presence. Unfortunately in the Serpentine River there was a chemical or agricultural build up 2km before Island Lake with floating mats of matter and an overpowering smell. Despite this the birding along the Serpentine River was wonderful with in excess of 20 Purple Swamphens and approximately 12 African March Harriers sighted while canoeing. For a month I had been wanting a sighting of an African Real. Ironically, while resting at Lake Pleasant I took a photo of a group member resting. Only later when reviewing the photo did I realize that behind him I had captured an African Real. In the forested sections of the Wilderness National Park, dying leaves from the few deciduous trees made wonderful cameos of brightness. We had the good fortune to see a healthy Cape Fur Seal on the beach in the Goukamma Nature Reserve. The population of the Ghost Crabs has increased though they remain a small size. It was with great sadness that we learnt that Cecil Salt, the wonderful gent who rowed groups across Kingfisher Creek passed away in the first week of May. An avid fisherman, he had just had a wonderful week of fishing and passed away at his home on the weekend. We extend our condolences to his wife and family.

 

June 2007:

Three main events made June 2007 memorable: Berg Winds, the first sightings of Southern Right Whales and the arrival of Flamingoes to Rondevlei. The first week of June saw the arrival of Southern Right Whales initially sighted off Buffalo Bay. Later sightings of these wonderful giants of the deep extended from Plett to Wilderness with their activities revolving around their reproductive cycle. The main purpose of their visit to our coast is to calve and then mate before returning to their feeding grounds. They could be seen pairing up with vigor, especially off the beaches of Wilderness. Weather wise, locals of the Garden Route knowingly refer to June and July as the hidden season due to the wonderful warm sunny days that we experience during this time. It is also a time for Berg Winds, a northerly wind rushing down the southern slopes of the Quteniqua Mountains, warming up to 35 degrees Celsius as it descends to the coast. These are hot balmy days and warm nights though at times the winds can be overpowering. Barometrically there is a range of pressure from 992mb shooting up to between 1026 and 1034mb. To put this range of 41mb into context, it equates to over 200m altitude variation.The northerly wind helps produce optically clear air and calm seas as the sea mist is whisked out to sea and the breakers are leveled. Photography in June produces wonderfully clear beach photo's, which combined with the rich warm tones makes for some magnificent images. Birding in June proved to be rewarding. A flock of 30 Greater Flamingoes arrived at Rondevlei during the last week of the month after an absence of more than 2 years. With the mouth of the Touw River closed, the water level in Rondevlei is high forcing the Flamingoes to swim instead of their normal wading. They can be seen up to their bellies in the the water and most of the time their heads and necks are totally submerged. With tourism quieter at this time of the year we have had a wonderful time exploring the area for Birding locations. On the Rondevlei heights we had some perfect sightings of the rare Black-winged Lapwing and the large Denham's Bustard. Other unusual visitors to the region have been the Black Bellied and the Wattled Starlings. Florally, June was the 'RED' month with the Aloe's and Erythrina's in full bloom. These nectar rich flowers are fed on by a host of sunbirds making a rich and rewarding sight. The cool mornings and the rich morning sun make for wonderful Birding when most species perch in the sun till after 09h00 gathering morning warmth before taking up their daily activities.

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