St Lucia Birding update: Feb '23

A pair of Saddle-billed storks on the Eastern shores, Isimangaliso.

To summarise February in St Lucia- rain, rain and more rain! A cut-off low related to an offshore cyclone bought us 300mm of rain in the space of a day (and over 450mm for the month). This has changed the landscape dramatically. Wetlands are full to the brim and almost every depression in the grasslands has filled with water. The lake and estuary are also full.

The Umfolozi river has been flooding and has scoured a deep direct channel to the ocean at the estuary mouth. Freshwater fish such as barbel and tilapia, unable to swim against the current, are being swept out to sea and are then ‘beaching’ themselves providing a feast for birds such as Yellow-billed stork, Black-headed and Grey herons, African fish-eagle, Palm-nut vulture, Grey-headed and Kelp gull and the ever-present Yellow-billed kites.

This fish feast has also attracted a large number of Caspian tern which have joined the Greater crested, Little, Common, Sandwich and Lesser crested tern at the roost. Excellent news is that the 3 African skimmer have remained throughout the month. Other birds at/around the mouth have included Ruddy turnstone, African Black oystercatcher, Curlew sandpiper, Sanderling, Common ringed plover, Little stint, Eurasian whimbrel and Common sandpiper.

Dune scrub and reedbeds to the North of the mouth have been delivering Sand Martin, African pipit, Brimstone canary, Southern brown-throated weaver and Rufous-winged cisticola to name a few.

In the forest, action has been happening around fruiting Fig, Cape Ash and Tasselberry trees. We have enjoyed good sightings of Narina trogon, Black-throated wattle-eye, Green malkoha, Woodward’s batis, African goshawk, Rudd's apalis, Buff-spotted flufftail, Blue-mantled crested flycatcher and Livingstone’s turaco throughout the month.

Because the wetlands are so full after the rains much of the water lilies and emergent vegetation is now submerged so most of the activity has been happening at wetland fringes and newly flooded grassland where ‘drowned’ invertebrates have been providing a feast for herons, egrets, Sandpipers and the like. The amphibian life (Platanna's, Painted reed-frog, Red-legged kassina, Argus reed-frog, Waterlilly reed frog) has flourished in the Wetlands also attracting Malachite, Pied and Giant kingfisher, Hamerkop, Great white, Cattle and Intermediate egret. The sound of the frogs at night is deafening! Other birds regularly seen in the Wetlands over the course of the month include Red-billed teal, White-faced whistling duck, Spurwinged goose, African pygmy-goose, White-backed duck, Little grebe, African jacana, Lesser moorhen and the odd Collared pratincole (at wetland edge).

On the Eastern shores, a pair of Saddle-billed stork have been seen regularly throughout the month as well as a pair of Secretary bird. Raptor-viewing has been fantastic with African cuckoo-hawk, Southern-banded, Brown and Black-chested snake-eagle, African crowned eagle, Martial eagle, African harrier-hawk, African goshawk, European honey-buzzard, Black sparrowhawk, Long-crested eagle, Common buzzard, African fish-eagle, Amur falcon, African marsh-harrier and Yellow-billed kite all seen throughout the month.
Another noteworthy sighting on the Eastern shores this month was a Common cuckoo!

The grasslands and Umdoni savanna are teeming with Blue-cheeked bee-eater, European bee-eater, European roller, Fan-tailed widowbird and the odd Striped kingfisher. 

Lastly, the Sooty falcon has continued to show erratically throughout the month in it's tree 16km West of St Lucia on the R618. 

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Flooding on the Eastern shores, Isimangaliso