Unearth - Worldwide Birding & Wildlife Safaris

24/06/2022

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Some of the group captured on our latest endemic tour, soaking in the scenery at .

This estuary usually holds good numbers of shorebirds and is regularly home to a substantial tern roost too. This site has produced some local rarities such as Franklin’s Gull, Black Tern, Elegant Tern, Allen’s Gallinule and a pair of Baird’s Sandpiper, so we try pop in as often as we can in the hope of something unusual!

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Macassar, Western Cape, RSA 🇿🇦
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12/12/2019

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The first rains of the season have fallen and the birds have followed. African Pitta's have started displaying and we had great encounters with other specials like White-chested Alethe, East Coast Akalat, Black-headed Apalis, Chestnut-fronted Helmet-shrike, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Black-and-White Flycatcher, Speckle-throated and Green-backed Woodpecker, Southern Hyliota, Red-throated Twinspot, countless Narina Trogon, African Broadbill and many more. Close encounters with two African Wild Dog ( ) were the highlights of the day!

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Inhamitanga, Mozambique 🇲🇿
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11/10/2019

30/09/2019

Also known as the Gerbil Mouse, this tiny rodent can be quite a tough one to track down. A new mammal for the entire group and over the course of our stay we enjoyed this species scurrying across the open plains on three occasions.

Large-eared Mouse - Malacothrix typica
Kimberley, Northern Cape - South Africa 🇿🇦
June 2019


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29/09/2019

Adapted to survive in arid Kalahari conditions, this diurnal is rather common in the area and their inquisitive nature and gregarious habits often allow for great photographic opportunities. Our group enjoyed close up views of this particular individual catching some sun near the entrance to its burrow.

Cape Ground Squirrel - Xerus inauris
Kimberley, Northern Cape - South Africa 🇿🇦
June 2019


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16/09/2019

Another (not so cuddly) one for all those mammal lovers amongst us!

Meet Africa's largest and the worlds largest . Although abundant and widespread, these quirky animals, armoured with quills up to 50cm (20'') in length, are primarily nocturnal and tough to target on typical safaris. Here however, we encountered the species numerous times and enjoyed some satisfying photographic opportunities too.

Cape Porcupine - Hystrix africaeaustralis
Kimberley, Northern Cape - South Africa 🇿🇦
June 2019


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13/09/2019

Are you a mammal enthusiast? Or would just like to experience animals many haven't even heard of? Then this is the ultimate tour for you. Join us as we work the vast Kalahari soils for unique mammals such as Aardvark, Aardwolf, African Wild Cat, Caracal, Cape Fox, Bat-eared Fox, Black-footed Cat, Black-backed Jackal, Cape Porcupine, Yellow Mongoose, Meerkat, South African Springhare and Ground Squirrel, Smith's Red Rock Rabbit, Eastern Rock Elephant Shrew, Large-eared Mouse and many other sought after rodent and antelope species. The surrounding habitats are full of birds adapted to the arid environments too and during the day you'll be saturated with larks, sandgrouse, waxbills, raptors and many more. Contact us at [email protected] for details.

12/09/2019

Contact us at [email protected] for details.

10/09/2019

Unearthing the Moeka Floodplain:

After yesterdays successful twitch of the Greater Sand Plover at Rust de Winter dam, we headed west to follow up on the conditions of this 'hidden' gem. Picking up great Wider Gauteng birds like Yellow-bellied Greenbul and Terrestrial Brownbul along the way in Pienaarsrivier.

The area we've dubbed the 'Moeka Floodplain' is situated within typical thorn veld much like that surrounding Kgomo-Kgomo. Although we haven't covered it thoroughly enough just yet, it has already produced arid and open savanna 'specials' like Barred Wren-Warbler, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Cape Penduline Tit, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Violet-eared and Black-faced Waxbill, Greater Kestrel, Long-tailed Paradise and Shaft-tailed Whydah, Southern Pied Babbler, Great Sparrow, Yellow Canary, Buffy Pipit, Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark and countless Temminck's Coursers.

There is plenty of suitable habitat, come summer and the rain, for some interesting birds and we expect it to be good for rallids, a variety of warblers, cuckoos, wagtails and harriers, and rare waders for example.

The waterlogged areas, which are yet to flood from rainfall, are already holding large numbers of waterbirds and waders at the moment, and with Kgomo-Kgomo and Mkhombo currently dry, this could be a great season to bird this area frequently. Yesterday we picked up a trio of Greater Painted Snipe and over 250 waterfowl covering a variety of species.

Estimated wader counts for this early in the season were already looking good:

Ruff: 100+
Little Stint: 50+
Wood Sandpiper: 150+
Common Greenshank: 20+
Marsh Sandpiper: 5
African Snipe: 50+
Greater Painted Snipe: 3
Pied Avocet: 20+
Black-winged Stilt: 30+

See attached a few habitat photos and a rough guide on how to access the various areas we've managed to cover so far. A scope and gumboots are recommended as well as vehicles capable of travelling off-road to access the better parts of the floodplain (3 & 4).

10/09/2019

As with most good birds, the news seems to trickle in just as the weekend draws to a close. So at first light on Monday morning, with LOA in hand, we set off to try to relocate one of the first confirmed records of this stunning for both the Wider Gauteng listing region as well as the province as a whole (thanks to Etienne, for picking it up).

It didn't take long and we had added another successful local twitch to the tally and had a great time catching up with the other eager who had made the journey. May this just be the start of a bumper rarity season this summer? We sure hope so!

Greater Sand Plover - Charadrius leschenaultii
Rust de Winter Dam, Limpopo - South Africa 🇿🇦
September 2019


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28/08/2019

Traveling to Johannesburg on business? Looking for a days birding close to home? With over 500 species on offer in the wider Gauteng region, there are some exceptional endemics and near-endemics to target on the doorstep of the ''City of Gold''. Contact us at [email protected] for details.

26/08/2019

Contact us at [email protected] for details.

26/08/2019

I'm sure we can all agree, few birding experiences can top the and this was certainly one of those moments. A casual walk along the stream yesterday produced a familiar, but rather out of place call. It took a little work, but we were later rewarded with great confirmation views of this little skulker. Seemingly, a new species for the heavily birded botanical gardens and a rather unique record for the Gauteng province as a whole.

Terrestrial Brownbul - Phyllastrephus terrestris
Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens, South Africa 🇿🇦
August 2019


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02/07/2019

GAUTENG HALF-DAY TRIP 🇿🇦
29 June 2019
Species: 95+

HIGHLIGHTS:
Red-chested Flufftail [2]
African Grass Owl
Marsh Owl [4]
Orange-breasted Waxbill
African Quailfinch
African Rail [4]
Sentinel Rock-thrush
Eastern Long-billed Lark
Fairy Flycatcher
Ashy Tit

MAMMALS:
Water (Marsh) Mongoose

Another wonderful trip out of this weekend where we had a few key targets for the afternoon. Things were off to a good start, with the first hour in the wetlands producing Black, Goliath, Squacco, Grey and Black-headed Herons, Malachite, Pied and Giant Kingfishers, good numbers of African Swamphen, Black Crake and a handful of African Rail. The key target here took some work, but we eventually got lucky with a male Red-chested Flufftail darting out of the reeds, with a large Water Mongoose following its trail. It didn't seem like an active pursuit, but exciting to see these two skulkers in quick succession. With another more obliging Red-chested Flufftail down the road, we looped back and headed off to work some different habitat.

The nearby grasslands and rocky ridges held numerous species but more so the key targets like Ashy Tit, Fairy Flycatcher, Eastern Long-billed Lark and good numbers of Sentinel Rock-thrush. We then set up camp at dusk in the search of and got lucky with four Marsh Owls on the wing and a single African Grass Owl before heading back off in the direction of the glowing city lights.


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01/07/2019

Escaping the central escarpment's cold , these birds often move into in large numbers between May and August, where they favour the upland grasslands and scattered rocky outcrops and ridges found within .

A key winter special and one we were happy to successfully target, with more than a dozen performing for us during the course of the morning this time around.

Sentinel Rock Thrush - Turdus explorator
Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, South Africa 🇿🇦
May 2019


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28/06/2019

KIMBERLEY BIRDING & MAMMAL TRIP 🇿🇦
21-23 June 2019
Species: 100+

HIGHLIGHTS:
Dusky Sunbird
Double-banded Courser
Fawn-coloured Lark
Stark's Lark [50+]
Eastern Clapper Lark
Grey-backed Sparrowlawk
Blue Crane
Sickle-winged Chat
Rufous-eared Warbler
Namaqua Sandgrouse
Ludwig's Bustard

MAMMALS:
Black-footed Cat
Aardwolf [5+]
Bat-eared Fox [15+]
African Wild Cat [2]
Cape Porcupine [7+]
Springhare [50+]
Smith's Red Rock Rabbit [2]
Meerkat
Long-eared Mouse
Bushveld Gerbil
Eastern Rock Elephant-shrew [5+]
West-central South African Grass Mouse

REPTILES:
Western Rock Skink
Montane Speckled Skink

OTHER:
Uroplectes carinatus

Occasionally, it's not all about the birds. So with a few gaping holes in our mammal lists, we made a move and targeted some of the more difficult species over the weekend. Winter temperatures were not to be taken lightly, but the night drives were still productive and the mammals seemingly unphased.

We started things off by tackling the resident Eastern Rock Elephant Shrew ( ) on the first afternoon, with great views all around. Our night drives yielded some good nocturnal creatures with countless Springhare, Bat-eared Fox, Black-backed Jackal, Common Duiker, Steenbok, Greater Kudu, a pair of African Wild Cat, a couple of stunning Aardwolf, a trio of Cape Porcupines, Smith's Red Rock Rabbit, Bushveld Gerbil, the strikingly patterned Long-eared Mouse (aka: Gerbil Mouse) and the insanely long named West-central South African Grass Mouse amongst others. Of course, all of this pales into insignificance when compared to the star of the show and our key target, the miniature and rarely encountered Black-footed Cat, which gave us a most memorable performance.

Daylight hours were spent birding the area, where we picked up some arid karoo type specials like that of Fawn-coloured, Stark's and Eastern Clapper Larks, Grey-backed Sparrowlarks, Ludwig's Bustard, Blue Crane, Rufous-eared Warbler, Sickle-winged Chat, Chat Flycatcher, Double-banded Courser, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Dusky Sunbird, and countless other more widespread species. Diurnal mammals were not in short supply either and we enjoyed Meerkat, Yellow Mongoose, South African Ground Squirrel, Gemsbok, Springbok, Red Hartebeest, Warthog and some introduced species such as Impala, Bontebok, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe, Sable, Roan, Bontebok, and Nyala as well.

This was a great focused trip with well over 25 species of mammals and one we highly recommend to those of you with a broader interest in South Africa's fauna and certainly makes for an easy long weekend family-friendly and hands-on trip out of town.

Looking forward to our next visit around the corner, let me know if you're interested in joining in and tracking down that elusive Aardvark too!


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14/06/2019

Fond of rallids and other tough wetland specials? Then the Nyl River Floodplain is a must-visit destination. This protected RAMSAR wetland is situated only 2hrs out of Johannesburg on well-tarred freeways and regularly turns up impressive daily lists. A great place to photograph tough mammals such as Roan Antelope and Tsessebe. Target birds include Striped, Spotted, African and Corn Crakes, while Dwarf Bittern, Pallid and Montagu's Harrier, Harlequin Quail and countless other summer migrants call it home. Bushveld specials abound in the surrounding broadleaf woodland and thornveld and the area plays host to some fantastic reptiles, amphibians and a long list of Odonata. A real biodiversity mecca. For more information on our one day and weekend trips to the area, contact [email protected]