The birding at Jonkershoek Nature Reserve in Stellenbosch is not earth shattering at the moment because of a recent fire, however the indigenous forests are still intact and harbour the usual species – see below for details. I visited the reserve last week – not birding, but mountain biking – and was pleasantly surpised to hear Long-billed Pipit calling from the burnt mountain slopes in the valley. Long-billed Pipit is not a rare bird in the Western Cape, but one doesn’t encounter them that often.
There’s a nice tea garden at the entrance to the reserve where Paradise Flycatcher is breeding at the moment. This female (photo below) had built her nest just above our table!
Other species notched up on our ride included Steppe Buzzard, Peregrine Falcon, Redchested Cuckoo, Malachite Sunbird, Familiar Chat, Bar-throated Apalis, Cape Robin-chat, Olive Thrush, African Black Swift and Cape White-eye. Verreaux Eagle and Cape Rockjumper apparently also occur in the reserve, but I imagine the latter is more easily seen at Rooi Els.
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