We offer half day, full day, two-day and longer trips in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area. Please e-mail info@birdwatch.co.za for details of these and longer trips - for example, birdwatching trips into Kruger.

Day Tours

For all tours, the price is inclusive of Hotel/Guest House pick up/drop off (for details, please see our Prices page). In respect of all overnight tours the price is inclusive of entrance fees, meals and accommodation.

The tours listed are an indication of options. They can be customised to meet your specific needs. Tours are run at a pace to suit you.

African Grass Owl, Barrow’s Korhaan, Orange River Francolin, Red-chested Flufftail and others

We take birders to sites for some of these birds that can be found on the doorstep of Johannesburg and Pretoria, IF you know EXACTLY where to go. Most Johannesburg birders have not seen these star birds, and yet they can be seen given less than a full day’s birding.

Please note: this tour includes 1-day trips on weekends.

Although both these localities can be visited in one day, it is far more productive to do them on separate days. Both these localities have so much to offer and one can easily spend many more days in this area. Borakalalo is a large game reserve close to Gauteng and has a wide variety of bushveld, woodland and waterbirds. Over 300 species have been recorded and a day trip in summer can easily produce 120 species. The large Klipvoor dam is a prominent feature of the reserve and it is on the Moreleta River below the dam, that we will be looking for African Finfoot and the occasional White-backed Night Heron. Other specials include Redbilled Oxpecker, Short-toed Rock Trush (Winter), Grey-hooded Kingfisher, Meyer’s Parrot, Purple Roller, Doublebanded Sandgrouse, Bronzewinged Courser and Pied Babbler.

The Vaalkop dam is a large impoundment on the Elands River and has an incredibly rich selection of birds, with a good representation of raptors which include Osprey (summer), African Fish Eagle, Black, Wahlbergs (summer) and African Hawk Eagle. Some of the larger waterbirds present include Goliath, Great White and Purple Heron, Yellowbilled Stork and Spoonbill. In the bushveld we will look for Violet-eared and Blackcheeked Waxbill, Cape Penduline Tit, Crimsonbreasted Shrike and Barred Warbler. Some other specials include Icterine Warbler, Bluecheeked Bee-eater, Woodland and Pygmy Kingfisher.

There are several small dams and watering holes, with the latter being quite productive at times, as well as the larger Mankwe Dam where we will look for some waterbirds. Raptors are well represented and a regular scan of the skies usually produces some of the larger eagles as well as vultures. Specials to look out for include Secretarybird, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Kori Bustard, African Cuckoo, Shafttailed Whydah, Black Eagle, Rock Kestrel, Jackal Buzzard, Blackbreasted Snake Eagle, African Hawk Eagle, Martial Eagle, Pearlspotted Owl and Lappetfaced Vulture.

Ezemvelo Nature Reserve offering excellent grassland habitat, as well as riverine bush and small areas of acaciaveld. This reserve boasts an impressive bird list which can be found in the downloads section of their web page at www.ezemvelo.co.za . We should find birds such as White-bellied Korhaan, Greater Honeyguide, Banded Martin, Redbreasted Swallow, Striped, Buffy and Plainbacked Pipits with relative ease.

Route 2
We will start at the 95 ha Rondebult Bird Sanctuary where we will concentrate mainly on running up a quick list of waterbirds. The sanctuary consists of a number of large ponds originally created as settlement pans for a nearby sewage treatment plant. From here we head to Kloofendal Nature Reserve where we will find some woodland birds including the likes of Black Cuckooshrike, Malachite Sunbird, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Lesser and Greater Honeyguides and many more. A short distance from here we find the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens which is an outstanding birding locality with a bird list of approx. 230 species. On arrival we will enjoy a packed picnic lunch before heading for the nesting Black Eagles near the waterfall. There is some pleasant and well laid out walks, along which we will look for Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Mocking Cliff-chat, Rock Kestrel, African Black Duck and Half-collared Kingfisher to name a few.

Contact Us: