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Yesterday I received a message on a birding group saying that there was a Slaty Egret seen at Gnu Valley Farm, which is located 22km away from my house in Johannesburg. I was so happy that it wasn’t too far and it is a very rare bird in South Africa, so I had to twitch it. On the morning we left home at about 9:15am to get to the location. Let’s just say the drive was worth it, as the moment we drove in, standing on the green grass was a magnificent medium sized blackish blue egret.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I felt that the trip was already complete. Moreover, we did a little more birding at this wonderful place. We crossed a river and sitting there was a huge water monitor lying peacefully on the grass. He seemed a bit nervous about something so quickly moved into the reeds.
Now onto the birding. We saw 27 species during this short trip including the Slaty Egret. Another highlight was a Whiskered Tern flying non-stop much like a swallow does.
Some other decent ones were a Pin-tailed Whydah as well as an African Pipit. And last but not least, the beautiful Malachite Kingfisher which had been flying from reed to reed.
Unfortunately I didn’t get any good pictures of the Malachite Kingfisher, African pipit and Pin-tailed Whydah but I’m determined to get decent ones next time.
Overall, it was a really great trip and I had fun spending time with my family and obviously the birding was great. I would definitely recommend birding at this awesome place and I would definitely visit Gnu Valley again. See you next trip!
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