Many bird species have been recorded in Mountainlands, which offers habitats ranging from Afromontane forests to grasslands, savanna, woodlands and wetlands. Currently, the Barberton Bird Club is carrying out a five year birding survey of the birds of Mountainlands and has counted 239 different species to date. The survey was commenced in November 2005 and is done on a coordinated basis on every second Sunday of the month. Interested parties are welcome to participate.

Mountainlands offers great birding and is the perfect place for getting to grips with pipits. African, Long-billed, Plain-backed, Buffy and Striped Pipits are all recorded on a regular basis and the Short-tailed Pipit is a much sought-after possibility. Other grassland species include the Broadtailed Warbler, another sought-after species which has been recorded several times, Cape and Yellow-throated Longclaws and Small Buttonquail. Black-rumped Buttonquail, a ‘mega-tick’ should also occur in the reserve and there was, a reported sighting of this species in November 2007 which requires verification by the Avian Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town. The “Mpumalanga Special” – Red-necked Spurfowl – is recorded regularly, as is the Red-winged Francolin. Raptors include African Crowned, Long-crested and Brown Snake-Eagles. The endemic Jackal Buzzard is easily seen, as is Rock Kestrel, and Cuckoo Hawk, Lanner Falcon and Redbreasted Sparrowhawk have also been recorded. The Cape Eagle Owl was recorded during the November 2007 ‘Big Birding Day’ but has not yet been recorded during the ‘official’ bird counts.

The forests and woodland areas are home to species such as the Knysna and Purple-crested Turacos, Narina Trogons, Eastern Nicators, Gorgeous and Olive Bush-Shrikes, Blue-mantled Crested-Flycatcher and Grey Cuckooshrike, whilst the boulder strewn hillsides are home to the endemic Buffstreaked Chat, which is a common resident. The wooded streams are frequented by Mountain Wagtail and the Half-Collared Kingfisher, another sought-after bird, and the flowering aloes and other plants attract a wide variety of Sunbirds, including Collared, Malachite, Scarlet-chested, Olive, Southern Double-collared and Greater Double-collared.

As Mountainlands lies between Kaapsehoop and Malolotja Nature Reserve (in Swaziland), where the critically endangered Blue Swallows occur, there is a strong possibility of this bird also being found here. With a similar altitude, vast areas of suitable unspoilt montane grasslands and hundreds of hollows and caverns, the possibility is indeed exciting. As such, the Barberton Bird Club is continually on the lookout for this endangered species and is of the opinion that “no Blue Swallow could possibly fly over such a magnificent area without stopping over - so they have to be there in summer”.

Denham’s Bustard, which is now classed as vulnerable, having decreased in numbers and range in most of South Africa due to habitat loss and human disturbance, appears to have made the high lying grasslands of Mountainlands its home as pairs are being recorded on a regular basis. Birders are always thrilled to see this magnificent bird and Wits Bird Club members were delighted to have see them at close range.

Text by Marjorie Nuns – Barberton Bird Club and photographs by Warwick Tarboton

See more information on the birding surveys of the reserve on the website of the Birds In Reserves Project (BIRP) conducted by the Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town in partnership with BirdLife South Africa and South Africa National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

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