St. Lucia & iSimagaliso Wetland Park 10/13-10/15--PINK-BACKED PELICAN, SPOTTED THICK-KNEE, COMMON SANDPIPER, COLLARED PRATINCOLE, AFRICAN PYGMY KINGFISHER, BROWN-HOODED KINGFISHER, RED-CAPPED ROBIN-CHAT, AFRICAN PIED WAGTAIL, SOUTHERN BROWN-THROATED WEAVER + 59 More Life Birds

PINK-BACKED  PELICANS

We arrived in St. Lucia late in the afternoon, with just enough time to stop at the bridge over the estuary to gather up a few more lifers for the day.

AFRICAN PIED WAGTAIL on roof of visitor's center

SOUTHERN BROWN-THROATED WEAVER 

St. Lucia looks like a typical seaside town on the Jersey shore, with an abundance of seafood restaurants and little places to stay; the major difference is that Wildwood doesn't have hippos roaming the streets at night. (The other difference: not nearly as much barbed wire in Wildwood.)We stayed two nights at the Ndiza Lodge. After checking in, we took a quick walk around the area and came up with the first of Robin-chats of the trip.

RED-CAPPED ROBIN-CHAT

Kim really kept us hopping. The next day we started with a walk on some trails near the estuary, then after breakfast drove over to the iSimagaliso Wetland Park for a long birding drive (with stops at blinds) to Cape Vidal and back. It can be frustrating birding from a car especially since you can't get out of the vehicle due to larger mammals in the park. Makes photography difficult. But the life birds kept coming at a rapid pace. The first true highlight for me was seeing a COLLARED PRATINCOLE, which is in a family of waders I've never encountered.

COLLARED PRATINCOLE showing why its alternate name is
"Red-winged Pratincole"

We also saw our first of many beautiful kingfishers sitting along the utility wires. Unlike the kingfishers we're familiar with, many of the South African birds don't hunt near water, belying their name.

AFRICAN PYGMY KINGFISHER
photo: Shari Zirlin

BROWN-HOODED KINGFISHER

At Cape Vidal we stopped for a rest and to take a look at the Indian Ocean. The only gull we saw, Gray-hooded Gull, was not a life bird. Shari & I saw one in the most unlikely of places, Coney Island, about 6 years ago. 

Gray-hooded Gull

With the Indian Ocean behind us.
Photo: Mike Mandracchia

After retracing our drive with some route variations we took a brief break then gathered again for the short ride to the estuary bridge, where we took a boat to view the hippopotami. The hippos spend their days submerged in the water because their skin is sensitive to sunlight and wind (hard to believe these huge creatures are so delicate), then emerge at night forage for grasses. Which means they wander the streets of St. Lucia late at night, creating a hazard that makes our deer crossings look laughable. No one has to mow their lawn in St. Lucia. However, droppings removal, I imagine, can be quite costly.

We didn't see many birds on the two hour trip up the estuary, but did add one lifer: a COMMON SANDPIPER (about as generic a name for a bird as you can get), which "replaces" our Spotted Sandpiper and acts very much like one, bobbing its tail as it walks.

COMMON SANDPIPER

SPOTTED THICK-KNEE
Photo: Shari Zirlin

After the boat ride, we ate dinner at one of the seafood restaurants, then were picked up at 8 by a pick-up truck outfitted with 9 seats in the back. We'd become very familiar with this kind of vehicle at Kruger. The driver gave Kim one spotlight, he held the other, and we drove back into iSimagaliso for a night drive. On these night drives, of which there were 5, we'd have to emphasize to the driver/guide that, while we were interested in mammals we really wanted to see birds. If we didn't make this point, the drivers would like just breeze by owls, nightjars and other nocturnal birds. On this drive we added 3 birds to the life list: WATER THICK-KNEE, SPOTTED THICK-KNEE (nocturnal waders) and FIERY-NECKED NIGHTJAR whose call resembles to a minor degree, that of our Whippoorwill. 

We returned to our lodge after 10, having started the day at around 5:30 AM. And I was out the door again the next morning with Kim and Mike, where we went down to the estuary for some shorebirding, though there the highlight for me was the big PINK-BACKED PELICANS out on a sandbar. 

We packed up after breakfast, the group birded the estuary again, then it was back inland and north to our next big stop.