Woodlands to Wetlands
Mkhuze Game Reserve boasts a bird list of more than 450 species and a wide range of habitats, from woodlands to wetlands. The well-marked roads cover much of the reserve, though you can go exploring on foot with a game guide.
Visiting the sand forest hides, you’re likely to encounter bearded robin, Rudd’s apalis, Neergaard’s sunbird and pink-throated twinspot. Nsumu Pan supports staggering numbers of water birds, including breeding colonies of pink-backed pelican and yellow-billed stork as well as breeding red-winged pratincole.
When the forest figs are in fruit, there’s avian pandemonium, punctuated by the croaking of broad-billed rollers and wailing of trumpeter hornbills. Also look out for Pel’s fishing owls, green coucals and narina trogons. Other challenging ticks include the southern banded snake eagle, cuckoo hawk and wattle-eyed flycatcher. © Justin Fox
Best Birding in the Country
On many twitcher’s ultimate wish list is the Pel's fishing owl, a friendly looking ginger creature that reminds you of a well-fed cat called Garfield. They are occasionally seen at Mkhuze and Ndumo game reserves in northern KwaZulu-Natal. After Ndumo, uMkhuze, which falls within iSimangaliso Wetland Park, is reputed to have the best birding in the country.
But it must be a tough call between here and the St Lucia estuary, with its extensive wetland, grassland and forest habitats. The one thing in uMkhuze's favour is that if you locate yourself at either Nhlonhlela or Nsumo pans, you'll be in a great position, perhaps the best in the world, to see black rhino.
Some of the birding specials here include broad-billed roller, Pel's fishing-owl, African cuckoo-hawk, southern banded snake-eagle, African broadbill, bearded scrub-robin, eastern nicator, Rudd's apalis and various types of bush-shrike. © David Bristow