| | Western Cape birding News
This page is a resource from Birding Africa, but unfortunately we don't have time to keep it updated at the moment. We hope you find some useful information here. Contact us on info@birdingafrica.com
6 July: New Cape Town Pelagics trip report and photographs. Click here to see photographs and read about the sightings of Wandering Albatross, Humpback Whale and more.
5 July: Trip report, Western Cape: Guide Tertius Gous reports back about magnificent snow-capped scenery with specials such as Karoo Eremomela and Protea Canary. Read more, click here.
31 July: Last two places: Cape Town Pelagics trip 4 on July. Join leader Barrrie Rose while you support seabird conservation. Exceptional last minute discount: R795. Click here to book.
22 July: Cuckoo Finch research: Cape Birding Route co-founder Dr Claire Spottiswoode, and Dr Martin Stevens, discover how hosts can tell their own eggs from those of brood parasites! Read on here. | Special Announcement! February 2010: Birdwatch magazine voted Birding Africa, which includes Cape Town Pelagics and Cape Birding route, as one of the top 5 most recommended bird tour companies in the world. (See www.birdingafrica.com for more survey details.) Cape Town Pelagics  See up to 10000 seabirds of 25 species on Cape Town Pelagics' non-profit seabirding trips from Cape Town and Durban.
We donate all profits to Albatross and other seabird conservation projects (over R60,000 to date), so join us and make a difference to the birds you will see. See trip calendar and trip reports on our website and blog. | | Welcome to the Cape Birding Route! Choose western South Africa: over 610 bird species recorded, including 220 species in a single day. A biodiversity hotspot at the south-westernmost tip of Africa, it offers over 70% of Southern Africa's endemic birds and world-famous pelagic birding. This region is best explored from Cape Town.
The Cape Birding Route website presents almost the entire printed book "Essential Birding: western South Africa - Key Routes from Cape Town to the Kalahari" (by Callan Cohen and Claire Spottiswoode and published by Struik in 2000). This book has been completely updated in 2006 within the framework of the "Southern African Birdfinder: where to find 1400 bird species in Southern Afria and Madagascar".
The authors have created this website to integrate bird-finding and trip planning information for the western cape, offering:
* 9 birding routes in western South Africa.
* a full section on pelagic birding and bookings.
* birder's accommodation along the routes.
* recommended bird guides.
The Cape Birding Route assists birders who have only a few days in Cape Town, those who are looking for a diversity of African birds or those in search of exactly where to find that Cinnamon-breasted Warbler in the Karoo! |
Blue Crane © Callan Cohen | | 
| Reviews on our book "Essential Birding"
"...this really is an essential guide for any birder visiting the Cape... a real delight to read... not only clear and easy to follow, but spot-on for locating the specialties... I recommend that you [obtain] a copy, you may well be tempted to make plans to visit this outstanding region"
Ron Johns, BIRDING WORLD, on Essential Birding: western South Africa. Read more book reviews | |  | Reviews on our book "Southern African Birdfinder: where to find 1400 bird species in Southern Afria and Madagascar"
"Southern African Birdfinder. We believe that this is the most useful book you will buy this year."
Netbook Times
"Perhaps a better title for this book would be “How to see 1400 bird species in Southern Africa in the least possible time!”. The first thing you think when picking up this book is “How on earth did they gather all this material?”. This really is a tour de force and packs an enormous amount of information into a very compact book and any previous site guide for the region is now truly redundant. Covering 335 birding sites in South Africa (193), Namibia (27), Botswana (14), Zimbabwe (27), Mozambique (21), Malawi (16), Zambia (18), Angola (5) and Madagascar (13). A helpful aspect is that these sites are divided up into 38 birding routes that allow the reader to plan trips that may last several days or a week. Each site is described and in many cases a map is included. Key target species for each are highlighted in red and are supported by a cast of commoner species. Many of these are illustrated. For a number of sites the description is very detailed with step-by-step guidance around the area. Some 150 species are selected for special treatment in a separate chapter where tips are given on where and when to find them. A full checklist list of the 1400 species covered indicates each bird’s status and a list of sites where they may be found, cross-referenced back to the main text. Other introductory chapters include useful information about the region including a section on pelagic birding with a helpful month-by-month species list. This is a great book that really does justice to a fantastic part of Africa and its birds. "
Keith Betton
Read more book reviews | |
This website is maintained by Birding Africa.
Please do not use any text, images or content from this site without permission.
© Birding Africa 1997-2010 info@capebirdingroute.org
|  6/7/2010: New Cape Town Pelagics trip report and photographs. Click here to see photographs and read about the sightings of Wandering Albatross, Humpback Whale and more.
5/7/2010: Trip report, Western Cape: Guide Tertius Gous reports back about magnificent snow-capped scenery with specials such as Karoo Eremomela and Protea Canary. Read more, click here.
31/6/10: Last two places: Cape Town Pelagics trip 4 on July. Join leader Barrrie Rose while you support seabird conservation. Exceptional last minute discount: R795. Click here to book.
22/6/10: Cuckoo Finch research: Cape Birding Route co-founder Dr Claire Spottiswoode, and Dr Martin Stevens, discover how hosts can tell their own eggs from those of brood parasites! Read on here.
4/6/10: Pelagics Trip Report from the Cape Town Pelagics on 29 May 2010 led by guide Dalton Gibbs.
4/6/2010: Trip report, Cape Town: Guide Otto Schmidt went out to see 100 species on 21 April. 'Top drawer' service, wrote Jay. 'Efficient service and excellent guide' said Nigel & Chris.
3/6/2010: Birders spotted another rare Cape leopard! For the second time in May, now thanks to watching Verreaux's Eagles!
1/6/2010: Trip Report, Western Cape: Cape Eagle Owl, Protea Seedeater and more. Dalton, Michael and Otto report about 197 lifers - click here.
27/5/10: A new bird hide opened at Rooisand Nature Reserve - Marje Hemp attended the inauguration and reports about alien timber, Osprey and the Biodiversity Festival: click here.
25/5/10: Cape leopard, mobbed by Pied Crows, seen with Birding Africa! Our guide and the Cape Leopard Trust report back: click here.
24/5/10: Grey-headed Albatross and Black-bellied Storm Petrel, unusual sightings on 15 May with Cape Town Pelagics.
5/3/2010: Trip report: summer birding in February: the Cape Peninsula and Hottentot's Holland with guide Otto Schmidt.
4/3/2010: African Openbills on our Cape Town birding trips. 2010 brought the first ever record of these storks in Cape Town!
15/2/10: Booted Eagle, Sooty Blue butterfly and Marbled Leaf-Toed Gecko seen at the Birding Africa office garden today.
2/2/10: Grey-backed Storm Petrel, the 2nd record for southern Africa! See the pictures taken on our 27 December Cape Town Pelagic trip.
2/2/10: Soccer & Birding: combine the FIFA World Cup with Cape endemics and Karoo specials. Please e-mail info@birdingafrica.com or phone +27 21 531 9148
22/12/09:Help find Frodo, Cape Town's juvenile Black Eagle. He left Noordhoek Peak and carries yellow wingtags "Y006". Please contact Lucia Rodrigues.
8/10/09: Take part in the 350-24-24 Bird Photo Challenge. Read more on www.birdingafrica.com!
27/09/09: Dalton Gibbs reports back from Gough Island! Read the blog!
26/09/09: New Cape Town Pelagics trip report from trips of 12 and 19 September 2009.
30/08/09: British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water proved very successful, with sunny weather and over 20,000 visitors. Callan's "Birding Namibia and the Okavango" was the most highly-attended lecture on the Saturday, with over 240 people. Congratulations to the winners of the Birding Africa competition and the African Bird Club raffle that we helped sponsor!
12/08/09: New Cape Town Pelagics trip reports from August and July 2009. Highlights: Little Shearwater and more!
07/08/09: The sub-adult Black Sarrowhawk visits our garden again! Read on about Raptor Research in the Western Cape.
27/07/09: Cape Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has grown! And its sibling never had a chance to hatch. See the pictures of the chick, its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more about the Western Cape Raptor Research Programme.
27/07/09: To follow modern nomenclature and systematics, we've adopted the IOC World Bird List, Version 2.1.
13/07/09: The 8th African Bird ID Challenge has launched! Win a 50% discount on a Cape Town Pelagics trip, a copy of Southern African Birdfinder, or African Bird Club membership for 1 year.
6 July 09: Cape White-eye research in our garden.
2 July 09: Cape Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has hatched! See the pictures of the chick, its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more about the Western Cape Raptor Research Programme.
2 July 09: Campbell Fleming, a Cape Town scholar, avid birder and photographer, joined Birding Africa last month as an intern. Click here, to see what he got up to.
2 July 09: New pelagic trip reports from the Cape Town Pelagics trips in June 2009. Highlights: Slenderbilled Prion and Leach's Storm Petrel
30 july 09: Our latest Cape Fynbos and Karoo trip reports feature Hottentot Buttonquail, Cinnamon-breasted Warbler and other fynbos and Karoo endemics...
26 June 09: Tungsten mining threatens RAMSAR site, South Africa's Verlorenvlei. Read the Media Release.
22 June 09: Claire Spottiswoode, one of the Cape Birding Route founders, was part of the exploratory team at Mount Mabu. The mountain is part of the newly discovered largest rainforest in Southern Africa.
11 June 09: A colour-ringed Black Sparrowhawk visits the Birding Africa office garden. Read why it's a 10 months old male!
14 June 09:
Wildlife at the office of The Cape Birding Route, Birding Africa and Cape Town Pelagics.
31 May 09:
Michel Watelet wins the 7th African Bird Club & Birding Africa ID Challenge. Test your African birding skills and WIN a Birding Africa Cape town day trip or a copy of the Birdfinder!
30 May 09: A tragedy unfolds at Kommetjie south of Cape town as 44 beached False Killer Whales were shot. Click here for more details and pictures.
14 March 09: Raptor Watch in Cape Town on 14 March 09 | |
