Birding Milestones and Misses – A Few Outings Worth Remembering
Since our recent trip up to Beaufort West, we’ve both been inspired to get out there and chase some new birds. Over the past few weeks, Milli even reached a major milestone,…
Bryn De Kocks
Bryn is a passionate and opinionated antinatalist and naturalist with a love for nature, the ocean, photography, severe weather and music. He spends most of his time looking for new birds within the Western Cape, taking landscape photographs or behind his computer being a nerd.
Twitching The Dusky Lark in Beaufort West
The Return of Another Twitch Bus Adventure For context, the SA Rare Bird News Report announced on the 7th of April that the province’s first Dusky Lark had been found the day…
Dipping The White-Headed Vulture On The R27
After weeks of waking up early, we decided to sleep in, only for me to wake up, check my phone, and see that a White-Headed Vulture was seen and photographed about an…
Chasing Dusk: A Guide To Predicting and Photographing Sunsets
Nothing brings a landscape to life quite like phenomenal lighting. Sunset photography is popular, and sometimes just being in the right place at the right time will give you the biggest advantage…
A Little Yellow Surprise: Western Yellow Wagtail At Macassar Sewage Works
Our Saturday started early. The plan was to drive through Van der Stel Pass near Botrivier, then head to Hawston to search for the Red-Breasted Swallow again. Things didn’t go quite as…
Twitching The Long-Crested Eagles & Red-Breasted Swallow
I mentioned recently in my blog about birding at Strandfontein, that Milli and I had gone after the Long-Crested Eagle that was seen near Klapmuts, outside Stellenbosch, where we didn’t manage to…
Incredible Bird Interactions At Spier, Stellenbosch
On Saturday, March 15th, 2025, we set out on a mission to try and get some good bird photographs rather than going after one bird in particular. The idea was to travel…
Strandfontein Birding Trip – 09 March 2025
After an unsuccessful chase of the Long-Crested Eagle that was seen near Klapmuts, Milli and I woke up to morning load shedding, a good time to go out and do some birding!…
Holy Macaroni Penguin
I’m certainly not complaining, but what’s up with all the rarities the last two or three weeks. It’s not uncommon for rare birds to pop up around the Western Cape in February…
European Nightjar At Helderberg Nature Reserve
Several weeks ago, a European Nightjar was reported at the Helderberg Nature Reserve in Somerset West, no more than 5 minutes from where I stay. I went to the reserve the day…
A Black Tern Adventure Near Fisherhaven
A week after we got the Wattled Lapwing at Paardevlei we set off to chase another rarity, a Black Tern that was found around the coast near Fisherhaven. The trip is relatively…
Twitching The Wattled Lapwing At Paardevlei
It’s been a busy last few weeks in the Cape with rarities, and with several provincial lifers for me all found relatively close, Milli and I found the time to get outside…