Sightings In The Subregion

In general, late autumn to midwinter is one of the quieter times for rarities and this year it was exacerbated by the Covid-19 lockdown. Fortunately, later in the review period some of the restrictions were relaxed slightly and people could move a bit further afield and also more often, giving the opportunity for a few good birds to be found and reported.

- Albert McLean

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Perhaps the best new record was that of southern Africa’s 33rd White-rumped Sandpiper, a fine breeding plumage individual that turned up at a rock pool at Kini Bay near Port Elizabeth. The bird showed extremely well for those who were lucky enough to be able to go and see it. It displayed no fear at all and at times came within a few metres of onlookers.

A more frustrating record was that of a Purple Gallinule that was spotted at Miller’s Point near Simon’s Town, outside Cape Town. In a weird set of circumstances, the observers, who were on their morning exercise walk during the 06h00 to 09h00 lockdown slot, saw the bird crossing the road from the sea side into some vegetation, where it went and hid. Subsequent attempts to find the bird failed and it almost certainly moved to more suitable habitat somewhere in the area – and it may well still be enjoying life on the Cape Peninsula, undetected. It is a species that used to be reported far more frequently, but we have had a dry spell of late, with the last record being about 15 years ago.