Since late February I’ve been guiding hiking groups and game drives in our local Rietvlei Nature Reserve on a freelance basis. Regular readers of our blog will know that we are rather fond of Rietvlei, so it is especially rewarding to be showcasing this special reserve in this way. I thought I might start doing a monthly round-up of what Rietvlei revealed while I explored it with my guests (assisted by Joubert who accompanied me on several of the trips).

Storm clouds building up over Rietvlei

A quiet corner of Rietvlei Dam

Doll’s Protea is in fact a member of the daisy family, despite its resemblance to protea flowers

An exotic fruit tree with a very pronounced browsing line!

Black Wildebeest, Plains Zebra and Eland share a hillside in Rietvlei

Black Wildebeest, Plains Zebra and Blesbok share a hillside in Rietvlei

Big herd of Eland

Green Milkweed Locust nymphs

Green Milkweed Locust

Red-veined Dropwing Dragonfly

Blue Pansy Butterfly

Broad-bordered Grass Yellow

African Leopard Butterfly

Black-tipped Acraea

Sandman Butterfly

Natal Acraea

Spotted Joker

Sooty Blue / African Grass Blue butterfly

Common Hottentot Skipper (male)

Long-tailed Blue Butterfly

Honey Bee on a Verbena flower

Sharptooth Catfish feeding on duckweed (photo by Joubert)

Nile Monitor

Nile Monitor

Speckled Rock Skink

Baby Speckled Rock Skink

Leopard Tortoise

All counted I managed to see and identify 111 species of birds at Rietvlei in the month of March, including a couple of summer visitors that will soon depart for warmer climes. You can find the complete list at the end of this post.

European Bee-eaters

Red Bishop male

Red Bishop female

Bokmakierie

Dark-capped Bulbul

Zitting Cisticola

Reed Cormorant

Reed Cormorant

Diederik Cuckoo

African Black Duck

Carolina Wood Duck male in eclipse plumage

Carolina Wood Duck female (photo by Joubert)

Yellow-billed Duck

Yellow-billed Ducks

Black-chested Snake Eagle

Long-crested Eagle

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

Peregrine Falcon

Cuckoo Finch

Spotted Flycatcher

Cape Grassbird

Helmeted Guineafowl chick (photo by Joubert)

Black-headed Heron

Green-backed Heron

Giant Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher

Northern Black Korhaan male

Northern Black Korhaan male

Northern Black Korhaan male

Eastern Long-billed Lark

Rufous-naped Lark

Rufous-naped Lark

Blacksmith Lapwing

Crowned Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing

Cape Longclaws

Cape Longclaw

Common Moorhen

Common Moorhen

Speckled Mousebird

Speckled Mousebird

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

Ostrich face

Ostriches

Marsh Owl

Southern Pochard female

Southern Pochards

Southern Pochard (photo by Joubert)

Common Fiscal

Crimson-breasted Shrike

Swainson’s Spurfowl

Pied Starlings pecking flies from the back of a rhino

Pied Starling

African Stonechat female

African Stonechat

African Stonechat

White-throated Swallow

Red-billed Teals

Spotted Thick-knee

Cape Wagtail

Willow Warbler

Common Waxbills

Pin-tailed Whydah

Red-throated Wryneck

A recently independent Black-chested Snake Eagle has put on some amazing displays.

Immature Black-chested Snake Eagle

Immature Black-chested Snake Eagle

Immature Black-chested Snake Eagle

Immature Black-chested Snake Eagle

The males of various kinds of widow-birds were still displaying in their feathery finery early in the month, desperately trying to mate with as many females as possible before the end of the summer breeding season. By the end of the month they were rapidly transitioning into their drabber winter garb.

White-winged Widowbird

White-winged Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird female

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird having lost much of its breeding plumage (photo by Joubert)

The biggest birding highlight of the month for me was my first ever sighting of an Orange River Francolin, taking my tally to 611 species of bird seen in South Africa.

At the end of the summer season Rietvlei’s mammals are in excellent condition and during the month of March I recorded 16 species. The tall grass made it difficult to spot the smaller species though and the list might grow as we progress through autumn and winter.

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed Jackals

Black Wildebeest

Black Wildebeest

Black Wildebeest

Black Wildebeest

Blesbok

Blesbok

Buffalo calf

Buffalo family

Buffalo calf

Buffalo bull

Buffalo bull

Buffalo bull

Buffalo cows and calf

Buffalo bull

Buffalo cow

Buffalo bull

Cheetah

Cheetah

Eland

Eland

Eland

Eland

Eland

Eland

Eland

For their size eland are remarkable jumpers!

Hippopotamus

Red Hartebeest

Red Hartebeest

Red Hartebeest

Waterbuck

Waterbuck

Waterbuck

Waterbuck

Plains Zebra

Plains Zebra

Plains Zebra

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of Rietvlei – on a hike or on an open vehicle drive – you can book through melanie@rietvleicoffee.co.za / +27(0)74-820-9926.

List of birds seen at Rietvlei Nature Reserve during March 2024:

List of mammals seen at Rietvlei Nature Reserve during March 2024: