July 2007

The elements of July were a combination of perfect weather punctuated with two brief spells of strong winds as cold fronts passed by, adventure sport overload and astounding Birding. It is many locals contention that the months of June and July are some of the best in the Garden Route. Clear sky's, warm days tempered with cool nights. And July this year was no exception, providing more than 25 sunny days. In the second week the region took on a buzz of sporting activity as the Knysna Oyster Festival kicked off with cycling, night rides and runs, canoeing and a half marathon. With no hike during this time we got involved in marshaling a number of events, of which the Waterfront Rush was the main spectators event. Despite the perfect weather condition in July we had no trails on, but were busy with various day hikes and Birding outings. Birding was rewarding and provided a number of unusual observations : Forktailed Dronga's feeding on nectar from Krans Aloes, a Malachite Kingfisher regurgitating a pellet, a Red Knobbed Coot eating a fingerling at Langvlei. Exciting was seeing fledgling Giant Crested Grebes on their parents backs and then 2 weeks later seeing them swimming on their own. Klaas's Cuckoo has been in full song and at the end of the month the Red Chested Cuckoo was heard on and outing in the Karatara region - traditionally their call indicates the start of summer, we shall have to wait and see. For something different, Amanda and myself were asked to act on a travel documentary in the region and we had three days of action, from abseiling, cheese sampling, quad biking, wine tasting, golfing (do divot's count?), canoeing and paragliding. It was a wonderful way to experience the Garden Route and to introduce Amanda to my playground. The huge seas caused by the cold front which battered the coast at the end of the month eroded the primary dunes, particularly along Myoli Beach in Sedgefield. The dry spell the region has been experiencing has resulted in the river flows to reduce and as a result Kingfisher Creek, the lagoon opening of Swartvlei closed for the first time in over two years. This is interesting because the Greater Flamingo's which arrived towards the end of June were the first to arrive for the same period of time. The last Flamingo's left when the mouth was last opened, compelling one to wonder how they knew it was going to close. So despite no trails, July transpired to be a full month of action and nature watching, a perfect balance.

August 2007:

August slid through the Garden Route with hardly a ripple. Everyone was awaiting the blustery cold and wet conditions normally associated with the month. Despite the cyclical barometric conditions, all but one of the predicted cold fronts bypassed the region leaving a month of warm days and cool nights. Even nature was confused, though it took advantage of the wonderful weather. The Coral Trees, Erythina spp, growing in the region came out in magnificent bloom. This was following on from the wonderful bloom of Aloe spp July. For bird lovers it was an ideal opportunity to watch species not associated with nectar feeding, feasting on the nectar. The rich red hues of the blossoms augmented the the iridescent plumage of the Southern Double Collared, Amethyst and Malachite sunbirds as they flitted through the unleafed branches. Along the coast, the follow on impact of the the storms in early and late July was that sand eroded from primary dunes was shifted to different sections of beach, covering some rock pools and exposing others. The two of the best swimming beaches, namely Buffalo Bay and Swartvlei beaches benefited in August with lovely level beaches producing perfect surfing conditions. While there were no 5 day trails in August we did have some wonderful day outings focusing on enviro education. I was encouraged at the number of corporate's that are now investigating the inclusion of nature walks into their team building and conference programs in the region. An exciting Birding opportunity was watching the final days of a male Cardinal Woodpecker fledgling in it's nest being fed by a female adult. I managed to get a few video cuts of it being fed only days before vacating the nest (view the video at by clicking here). Scaley Throated Honeyguide males had established their calling stations and had continual calling for prospective mates, especialy in the cooler riverways. Without a doubt the noisiest nester of the month had to be the Cape Weaver. They are entertaining to watch, but you definately do not want them building in your garden if you want to sleep in.

September 2007: September brought the essence of spring to the Garden Route. Insects and birds filled the air and the vegetation flourished despite having had little rain to date. Without a doubt the highlight of September was a potentially lethal encounter with a Puffadder in Goukamma Nature Reserve. Leading a group through the reserve on the fourth day of our five day trail Craig was struck at by a large, newly moulted puffadder. We were on a single track section with low shrub on either side of us. The snake struck out with an explosive hiss from the top of a bush as Craig, third in procession, passed by. Fortunately his reflexes were fast enough for him to avoid the full impact of the strike, though the snake did 'bump' his hip. Reflecting on the attack at our lunch break it seemed likely that because the snake had a glistening skin it had most likely moulted recently, adding to it's low tolerance of us walking past and a possible explanation why it was on top of the shrub. A corporate day walk for staff of a national bank demonstrated the lengths that some staff members have to go to to 'keep up with the boss'. The route chosen was the beautiful and secluded beach section from Kleinkrans to Swartvlei beach with the luxury of lunch with the accompaniment of a foot massage at Gerikes Point. The song of Diderick's Cuckoo has now joined those of The Red Chested and Klaas' Cuckoo, though some of the most rewarding bird songs in the forest were the White Starred Robin and the Narina Trogon heard on a day walk in the Diepvalle Forest. A humorous moment while doing the walk was when Enoch, after admitting that he can not swim and was apprehensive about the river crossing on the route. With images of having to wade neck deep through a raging torrent he seemed disappointed that all that was required was to hop over a gentle stream. On all our beach walks we were treated to sightings of both whales and dolphins and were delighted with the antics of the Humpbacked Dolphins in Swartvlei Bay. A personal birding highlight was a lifer sighting of the ruddy form of an Olive Bush Shrike. I first heard this bird last August in Goukamma Nature Reserve but never had a definite sighting. After a year's searching I had no less than 5 sightings in September this year, the first while canoeing up the Touw River on the day 1 of our 5 day trail. Another lifer was a Marsh Sanderling while investigating the potential of the Keurbooms River. Once again the extent of the beach erosion along the length of the route was astounding Craig would not believe that in sections up to 3m of sand had eroded, exposing the previously covered litholized sand. It was only when shown the weathering lines of the former sand levels which exceeded his head height that he accepted the fact. Currently it is the Wilderness, Oysterbank and sections of the Kleinkrans route that are most affected. But the winds have changed and we can expect the sand to start building up again making for wide gentle sloping beaches for the summer season. Need it be said that the warmth of September made regular river and sea swims a refreshing way to cool down on the trail.

October 2007: BBC, Elephants and Cape Chestnuts in bloom. Just some of the memories of October. We started off with a couple from the BBC who are touring the world to capture the essence of 'Unforgettable walks to do before you die'. Now theirs is an enviable job, to travel the world and walk through some of the most spectacular scenery of the world. Were can I sign up? For the past 5 months all the estuary mouths along the route of our five day trail have been closed. This is a combined result of the lowered river flow due to the low rainfall and the prevailing winds building up sand bars across the mouths of the the rivers. Without the flow the normal dark brown colour of the rivers have cleared up creating a wonderful golden glow to submerged pebbles and swimmers alike. Offshore, the lack of discharge from the rivers has allowed the sea to clear up with perfect conditions for snorkeling or just simply gazing into rock pools. While the rock pools appear empty, careful observation will provide colourful glimpses of sponges and Plum Anemones. The seasonal shifting of sand has covered some rock pools and exposed others. Yet in all this flux, it has become noticeable that the rockpools are looking depleted. In conjunction with the shifting sand, this situation could be developing from over exploitation of the bait species, especially octopus. By removing the top predator in the rock pools, herbivore mollusks numbers increase to levels that the marine plants growth is insufficient to balance the grazing pressure, with the resultant barren look to the rock shelf and pools. Birding again has been rewarding. At Gerikes point two gulls were observed allopreening. On closer study of a photo of them, it would appear that they are two different species, the Cape Gull and the Kelp Gull, distinguished by the differing colour of their eyes. This raises the question of inter species grooming. In the vlei system the new growth of the reedbeds has provided amble cover for both the Lesser Swamp and the Little Rush Warblers to put on some bold displays as they court prospective mates and fend off competing males. The recent clearing of the fence lines of Wilderness National Park has opened up the area to Cape Longclaws which can be seen displaying on the fence posts. An exciting viewing was of a pair of Bokmakieries in the same area. The forest has a few species coming into bloom, but the intense display of the Cape Chestnuts was the undisputed winner of the month as it frosts sections of the canopy with iliac. Further east, in a birding outing to Addo, we were fortunate enough to witness adult elephants rescue a baby which had fallen into the Harpoor Dam while drinking. The rescue took over 5 minutes giving amble opportunity to admire these noble giants as they rallied around the youngster to secure it's safety.

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