A Royal Treat at Nylsvley Nature Reserve *

[Sharifa]

We were wondering where to go for the long weekend of the 21 March 2013, also we were looking for a birding weekend. Nylsvley came up and so I phoned to find out if they had any accommodation. I was told they only had the presidential suite left, if I wanted it.

Oh dear, that sounded pretty expensive but anyway I asked, "How much did it cost?"

R750 came the reply I thought, now what could be wrong with the Presidential suite to be so cheap. Anyway crossing my fingers, I said, "Alright I will take it."

What a pleasant surprise when we got there

That is the presidential suite from the outside


As you can see it has a bamboo fence so completely private

The living room with antique furniture




Four poster bed


Bathroom


Kitchen


Outdoor Shower




Jacuzi


All this for R750 plus an impressive bird list

[Sharifa]

Flutterby, Dewi, Amoli, Bushcraft, Mel, nan

Just sitting on the Porch and in the jacuzi area will reveal the following birds

Go away Bird


Crested Barbet


Speckled Mousebirds


Double Collared Sunbird - greater or lesser




Black-headed Oriole


Paradise fly catcher


Female Amerthyst Sunbird


Black-capped Bulbul

[Dewi]

Great selection of birds and wonderful pics Sharifa.

The Sunbird is a Marico. Stunning pics of it.

[Sharifa]

Flutterby, Pumbaa, Bushcraft, pooky and Lisbeth

Pumbaa I think you being a birder will appreciate Nylsvley much more. I am sure I missed a lot by not recognising the bird calls

Lisbeth -O the birds waited till I was in the jacuzzi before they would sit in the open and then there was no way to get pics and when I came out they disappeared

A map of the Reserve which will put everything in perspective. The Lodge was close to the entrance and there are a few roads and the Jacana Bird Hide overlooking the floodplain. For the hides at Vogelfontein you have to exit the park and drive for about 10 minutes. You will get the combination for the locks to the gate to enter to get to the Dabchick, Crake and Kingfisher hides.

We went to the Jacana one first. On the way we saw wildebeest, giraffe andTsessebe. Roan and sable are lsited as are caracal, leopard, aarvark and aardwolf.



First the beautiful sunrise


On the drive we saw

Red-billed Hornbill


Spotted Flycatcher - I think A little help please Dewi


European Bee-eaters


Crested Francolin


Barn Swallow


Woodlands Kingfisher


African Stonechat


Little Bee-eater


Starling

[Dewi]

Great bird pics again Sharifa. Looks like a great place.

Spot on with the Flycatcher.

The Starling is a Burchell's.

More of the same please, I'm enjoying seeing your photos.

[Sharifa]

At the Jacana Hide we found, well a Jacana


a Lesser masked weaver?


A little Bittern


On the way to/from the Vogelfontein Hide for the two days

we got a woodie


and a black shouldered kite










also a male amur falcon


and a female lesser kestrel

[Dewi]

Stunning bird pics Sharifa.

You can even see the distinctive white talons on the Lesser Kestrel.

[Sharifa]

There are 3 hides on the Vogelfontein side and like I said you get a combination for the locks to the gates. We found the Dabchick Hide to be thye most productive. There are aslo walking trails and we did a few short ones and saw the same birds as from the hides. There were many Amur Falcons and lesser Kestrels flying around. Some birds we saw from the Dabchick Hide

Female Amur Falcon



Spur Winged Geese regularly flew past









A Black Headed Heron



A Cattle Egret???

[Sharifa]

Thank You nan, Toko, Lisbeth, Flutterby, Mel

White faced ducks


African Purple Swamphen


African Marsh Harrier, I think??????




African Stone Chat


White winged widow bird


And that was our Nylsvlei Birding weekend

[Dewi]

Missed out on your previous post here. Great shots of the Amur & Geese in flight.

Superb pics of the Harrier in flight. You got the ID correct as well.

Must make a point of visiting here next time I'm in SA.

Thanks for posting this Sharifa.