Bird watching at Stonecutters Lodge is most rewarding. Spot the Gurney’s Sugarbird flying amongst the protea bushes or the Buff-streaked Chat boulder hopping on the mountainside. The river banks are home to a variety of Kingfishers and the elusive African Finfoot has been seen a few lucky times on the river. In Spring the reeds in the wetland are ablaze of scarlet when the Red Bishops come into breeding plumage. Yellow-billed & Black ducks, cormorants (reed and white-breasted), Moorhen, crakes, herons have all been spotted here. The Bird-hide offers perfect cover to observe the river, wetland, grasses and the trees that surround the area. The planting around the hide attracts the insects that attract the birds including the Wrynecks – patience is key so sit back and relax with a cup of coffee and twitch!
The pied and half-collared kingfisher fish off the jetty and Dabchicks and Egyptian geese breed in the vegetation surrounding the dams. The fish eagle is another regular visitor, calling beautifully as he flies over the trout dams. The wood owl is often heard on the property and the fiery-necked nightjar calls at night and has been spotted with regularity on the farm roads. The red-chested cuckoo arrives in the summer breeding season along with many other migrants that return to this area year after year.
Grasslands:
A self-drive tour of the area takes one into the Highlands Meander covering the “change-over zone” between Highveld and Escarpment grasslands and low-lying river valleys offer migration routes from the Bushveld into the Escarpment.
The nearby Steenkampsberg Mountains and Slaaihoek area are important refuges for a number of scarce grassland birds including Wattled Crane, Stanley’s Bustard, Ground Woodpecker, Rudds Lark, Yellow-Breasted Pipit and Bald Ibis.
The high altitude wetland habitat is one of the most threatened habitats in South Africa and is home to the Wattled Crane, the Crowned Crane and the White-Winged Flufftail. The fast flowing mountain streams of the escarpment should be searched for African Black Duck, Half-collared Kingfisher and Long-tailed Wagtail. In secluded kloofs some stunning birds can be seen – Crowned Eagle, Cinnamon Dove, Nerina Trogon, Olive Woodpecker and many more.
Birding Hot Spots Nearby Stonecutters Lodge
- Verloren Vallei Nature Reserve
- Lakenvlei / Middelpunt, Machado
- Ohrigstad Dam Nature Reserve
- Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve
- Kwena Basin and Elands Valley