From the Swartberg to the Swartvlei ... it’s all about birds

I am converted ... from now on I am going to assume the attitude of an unofficial “twitcher” (meaning somebody who is completely nuts about watching birds) and I am going to go on “twitches” (which means a dedicated birdwatching trip).

This state of being has come upon me since being on an extensive media tour around the Garden Route and Klein Karoo to promote avitourism or what is simply called birding tourism.

On this trip, we have seen a staggering 150 bird species in a very impressive weeklong trip that started in George, meandered through the Garden Route, traversed the Klein Karoo, took us to places like Prince Alfred’s Pass, Meiringspoort, up the Swartberg Pass, the Rooiberg Pass, Riversdale, Stillbaai and even Boggomsbaai.

Our last “twitch” was at Voëlvlei, a low-lying area near Vleesbaai.

Until now I have steered away from these serious birding types because they can appear snobby with their massive cameras that make the sound of small machine guns.

I once visited a bird-hide on the Garden Route and accidentally dropped my backpack which made a loud crash.

The looks I got from the birders in that hide were unforgettably hostile.

But now I understand they had probably been parking off there all day to wait for one particular bird — and it’s more than possible I chased it away.

There is a psychiatrist in SA who has made it is hobby to find birds and because he has seen 900 of them is considered to be a top “lister”.

He’s also a character in the birding world and apparently fires up what is known as his “Twitch Bus” and invites other birders to join him.

It’s nothing for him to drive all night or hop on a plane to see a rare bird.

It’s a true story that one of these very serious birders left his groomsman at the altar on his wedding day because there was a bird he had to go find ... immediately.

Birders choose their holiday destinations based around the ornithological finds they are likely to experience rather than the beach they will sit on.

On this trip we are taught how this birding thing works.

It’s all about getting into a zone where you just listen. Very often you hear the call before you see the bird.

Leading the brigade of 11 media folk is our host and raconteur Andrew de Blocq.

Andrew is the Avitourism Project manager for BirdLife SA, a conservation NGO dedicated to protecting SA’s birds and their habitats, which has been the authority on birds and conservation for more than  25 years.

The Avitourism Project falls under their Empowering People Programme and aims to use this niche of birding tourism as a tool to support people and communities while also growing the conservation supporter base by connecting people with birds and the natural environment.

Andrew has an MSc degree from the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at UCT and has worked as a professional bird guide across SA.

The Garden Route is very special and unique as there are very few places in the world where one could spend the morning at sea photographing Albatrosses, return to land and watch Turacos in the treetops over lunch, and by mid-afternoon be scrutinising endemic larks in the semi-desert.

Add the Klein Karoo to this mix and it’s nothing short of a birding paradise — adding another dimension to the already beautiful scenery this whole area is famous for,  Andrew said.

“What most people don’t know is that from forest to fynbos from marine to montane, this area has up until now not been seriously tapped into by the birding fraternity — making it one of the country’s leading gems.”

The Garden Route and Klein Karoo area hosts more than 450 species which is just over half of SA’s bird species.

The district’s natural bounty of unique indigenous habitat and its location along the southern coastal belt mean that it is also rich in endemic and near-endemic birds (species that are found nowhere else in the world).

“Just under 50 of the country’s 69 endemics have been recorded here making it one of the country’s epicentres of natural heritage,” Andrew said.

Some of the endemics you can hope to see in the coastal forest belt include Warbler, Woodpecker and Turaco, while the Karoo’s collection of characters include the Chat, Eremomela and Lark.

Sugarbird, Rockjumper and Siskin are to be found where there is fynbos.

BirdLife SA has launched this new project to promote avitourism in the area.

Funding is coming from the Western Cape department of economic development and tourism, with co-funding from the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve and it’s being spearheaded by Andrew in cahoots with local project manager Roland Vorwerk who owns In Toto Retreat in Sedgefield and is a specialist in destination marketing.

The aim is to raise the profile of avitourism by engaging and upskilling local tourism service providers, training local guides and updating information on the GoBirding website.

So far, an introductory roadshow of workshops across the area has been attended by more than 160 people — proving there is indeed an interest in niche birding tourism and the potential for this to attract millions of rand in tourism into the area.

“There are also several local birding initiatives that have given us a handy head start.

“From the Ladismith Endemic Bird Bash to the Wittedrift Birding Festival, this area has already shown the appetite for development,” Andrew said.

There has also been enthusiastic buy-in from birding clubs in the area.

Andrew’s bucket-list bird is a Shoebill which lives in Rwanda/Uganda to add to his list of 1,300 birds worldwide.

Side-bar:

A dip is the official word birders use when they hurtle somewhere at high speed, or spend hours upon hours, waiting for just that one little bird and they don’t show themselves. It’s birding lingo for disappointed.

A stringer is a person who fibs about the birds they have seen — a mortal sin in the birding world.

Suppressors are the dudes who don’t share their finds with the birding fraternity.

A person who starts watching birds seriously is called a lister and can record their finds officially on the SA Listers’ Club webpage of GoBirding (www.gobirding.co.za).

Chickens, budgies and even peacocks, which aren’t indigenous (unless you see the peacocks on Robben Island where they supposedly colonised themselves) don’t count.

Entry level birders are those who already have about 300 birds on their list.

Serious birders have 500 while the obsessive kind might have 700.

Only two people have seen more than 800 birds in SA. Andrew has 743 on his list putting him in an elite category.

BirdLife SA is a membership-based organisation with more than  5,000 official members.

Should you want to join the Listers’ Club, explore birding sites and specialist accommodations, official birding sites go to the GoBirding website www.gobirding.co.za

Even better become a member of BirdLife SA, which includes a subscription to their lovely African Birdlife magazine.

Those interested in joining can contact membership@birdlife.org.za