Crocodile Bridge 23 to 26 October

Paul & Sally Bartho

Three days were spent in the area around Crocodile Bridge. The weather was very overcast with rain in the evenings. The vegetation was dry so visibility into the park was good. Now all we had to do was find the birds.

The first day was spent on the S28 from Croc Bridge to Lower Sabie via the Ntandanyahti Hide. The hide was productive but few birds were seen on the S28. On exit from the hide a rather large elephant stood guard over our car. Appropriate action was taken and we returned to the hide until it was safe to leave. Not long as it happened.

A visit to Sunset Dam and then to Mlondozi Dam (looking for the reported Collared flycatcher – no luck) were also productive.

The second day we took the S25 and S26 to Mpondo Dam – again very quiet along the way. However on a detour off the S25 to Hippo Pool we were fortunate to see 3 Verreaux’s Eagle-Owls together. They flew over the road and stopped in nearby trees.

Mpondo Dam was disappointing. Onward we went back along the S26 to the S114 turned south to the  then S119 and S25 returning to the camp. Along the S114 Sally called for me to stop. She had heard a Coqui Francolin – her bogie bird. It called several times but we never had a sighting.

Despite what appeared to be a paucity of birds we did manage to record 144 different species during our time there.

Satara was our next venue for 4 nights.  See Part 3