St Lucia Birding Update: July '24

African emerald cuckoo in St Lucia

It has been an exceptional birding month in St Lucia with fantastic sightings in all the different habitats.

At this time of year in the forests most of the White stinkwood trees and Large leaved fig trees have shed their leaves allowing more light to infiltrate through the canopy meaning the forest is less gloomy, affording better photographic opportunities. 

Action in the forest has been centred around the fruiting fig trees, Wild plum trees, Sand apricot vines and Pigeonwood trees which have been attracting large numbers of frugivores including Trumpeter hornbill, Black-bellied starling, White-eared barbet, Yellow-bellied greenbul, Livingstone's turaco and Crowned hornbill. 

Crowned hornbill feasting on figs

On the forest floor we have enjoyed regular sightings of Winter-visiting Spotted ground-thrush, Chorister robin-chat and White-starred robin as well as resident Brown scrub-robin, Buff-spotted flufftail, Lemon dove, Red-capped robin-chat and Terrestrial brownbul.

Spotted ground-thrush in St Lucia

Roving bird parties have been quite spectacular in the forest this month with sometimes overwhelming numbers of species. Regular species present in the bird parties have included Olive bush-shrike, Orange-breasted bush-shrike, Green malkoha, Dark-backed weaver, Black-backed puffback, Rudds apalis, Yellow-breasted apalis, Black cuckooshrike, Green-backed camaroptera, Black-throated wattle-eye, Blue-mantled crested flycatcher, Square-tailed drongo, African paradise flycatcher and the odd Narina trogon.

Narina trogon in St Lucia.

Flowering Coral trees, Tree fuschia and Cape honeysuckle have continued to attract good numbers of Purple-banded, Grey, Eastern olive and Collared sunbirds.
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Seed-eaters have been concentrated around seeding Casuarina (Beefwood) trees this month with nice mixed flocks of Green twinspot, Red-backed mannikin, Bronze mannikin, Yellow-fronted canary and Grey waxbill often present in the vicinity.
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With a relatively dry Winter thus far the wetlands have receded around St Lucia and in the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park. The smaller, shallower wetlands are providing easier pickings for herons (Grey, Black-headed, Squacco, Rufous-bellied), little bittern, Egrets (Great white, Intermediate, Little), African spoonbill, Hamerkop and Sacred Ibises as aquatic organisms are more concentrated and easier to hunt, attracting good numbers of these birds.

Rufous-bellied heron on the Eastern shores, isimangaliso

Highlights in the wetlands have included regular sightings of a pair of Rufous-bellied heron as well as regular open views of the normally secretive Little bittern.

Little bittern hunting out in the open

The last-remaining deeper wetlands are also holding more concentrated numbers of waterfowl such as African pygmy-goose, White-backed duck, White-faced whistling duck, Yellow-billed duck, Red-billed & Blue-billed teal and the odd Lesser moorhen.

Lesser moorhen in the wetlands close to St Lucia

Other highlights on the Eastern shores during the month have included Collared pratincole which are visible at wetland edges or on the road if one is lucky,  Saddle-billed stork, African cuckoo-hawk, Southern-banded snake eagle and African crowned eagle. 

Collared pratincole on the Eastern shores, Isimangaliso.

Huge baitballs of sardine have been lingering around Cape Vidal throughout the month attracting good numbers of Cape cormorant, Cape gannet and Greater crested tern. 

Cape cormorant and Greater crested terns at Cape Vidal

A Parasitic jaeger (not a bird often seen perched ashore in KZN) has been harassing terns and gulls at Cape Vidal for their food- typical behaviour from this kleptoparasitic bird. Amazingly it has also been perching ashore (often seperate to the tern roost because it gets mobbed by them if it ventures too close). Other interesting sightings from shore at Cape Vidal included Indian Yellow-nosed albatross and  Brown booby. Also of interest, in St Lucia, a Wilson's storm-petrel was seen flying in the channel between the beach and backline- a bird usually seen much further off shore. 

Parasitic jaeger perched on Cape Vidal beach

The Lake St Lucia estuary mouth and narrows have produced some great sightings during the course of the month with regular sightings of the Eurasian oystercatcher which is often in the company of African (Black) oystercatchers. 

Eurasian oystercatcher with African (Black) oystercatchers

Lastly, in the narrows section of the Lake St Lucia estuary we enjoyed multiple sightings of African finfoot during the course of the month as well as some great Mangrove kingfisher sightings.

Mangrove kingfisher in St Lucia

African finfoot, St Lucia Narrows