Birds and Beyond

Birds and Beyond Birding tours up Sani Pass and surrounding area, bushman rock art hikes and botanical tours - with Stuart Mclean - Southern Drakensberg.

(Page Editor - Glen Mclean)

The iconic Drakensberg Rockjumper, seems with all the tourists and vechiles they've gotten a bit too comfortable around ...
05/08/2026

The iconic Drakensberg Rockjumper, seems with all the tourists and vechiles they've gotten a bit too comfortable around people, makes for interesting pictures when your guests have massive lenses, luckily on this day they where mostly on the smaller side, so one could still focus near the feet. The snow added to the scenic views and most birds showed themsleves rather nicely for the group as well.

Another dry winters day up the Sani Pass, winter birding is not as great as summer time as almost half the birds have mi...
06/07/2026

Another dry winters day up the Sani Pass, winter birding is not as great as summer time as almost half the birds have migrated either altitudinaly or to other areas entirely. But the local Drakensberg Rockjumper and Drakensberg Siskin handle the cold snow dusted mornings in the windy and harsh mountain tops and the Gurneys Sugarbirds look for any flowers on the lower and slightly warmer elevations. This day was warm and not to windy so this photography group got some great sightings, good lifers and some very close up shots.

Started the day nice and early. On the look out for Kingfishers. Honeybirds and anything else like the bush black cap wh...
05/10/2025

Started the day nice and early. On the look out for Kingfishers. Honeybirds and anything else like the bush black cap which needs to return(havent seen the seasons first "returnies " yet), breakfast along the way, meant good views for all again, and then up and into Lesotho, along the way looking for all the specials, some being Drakensberg siskin, Drakensberg rockjumper and sometimes the bearded vulture, rock pipit and mountain pipit. The wind on this trip unfortunately wasn't being at all friendly, causing alot of the birds to sit or hide away from it. Did have good sightings of most of the species, but in the case of the bearded vulture it was fast and fleeting thanks to those wind speeds.

A good morning down in the forests looking for Cape Parrot and Orange Ground Thrush. The weather was warm and a touch wi...
09/09/2025

A good morning down in the forests looking for Cape Parrot and Orange Ground Thrush. The weather was warm and a touch windy but the couples targets were ticked and photographed. With the highlight for them: the orange ground thrush signing away from a "window" in the canopy, thankfully it was visible, as once they leave the ground (in the morning, in these forests) they tend to be very hard to find high up in the canopy, where they sit till dusk arrives.

With the bit of rain we have had over the last week the plants (and the birds) will be enjoying it. We had a good number...
22/07/2025

With the bit of rain we have had over the last week the plants (and the birds) will be enjoying it. We had a good number of Gurneys sugarbirds and a couple Malachite sunbirds in the chilly weather today being active and enjoying the flowering Hallerias.

The migrants may have mostly left, but our local little legend the Drakensberg Rockjumper still enjoys the area, as do t...
29/04/2025

The migrants may have mostly left, but our local little legend the Drakensberg Rockjumper still enjoys the area, as do the guests when he decides to get really really close up.

Easter is upon us, which unfortunately means the migrants, if not already on their way north, are planning to leave in t...
01/04/2025

Easter is upon us, which unfortunately means the migrants, if not already on their way north, are planning to leave in the next few days, there may be the few bird brained ones that stay behind to brave the cold but in the next week or so most the remaining ones will have moved on for the "warmer" climates.

Supposed to be a cloudy day, but as per the normal weather, one can never tell for certain, so it was sunny by 7:40 with...
12/03/2025

Supposed to be a cloudy day, but as per the normal weather, one can never tell for certain, so it was sunny by 7:40 with Temps thankfully only climbing into the low 20s.

Mondays trip was great along with the weather, yesterday's trip was something else entirely with the weather, still got ...
20/02/2025

Mondays trip was great along with the weather, yesterday's trip was something else entirely with the weather, still got all the specials onto the list even though some guests did not join the walk in the rain, and on the way down the pass even had to pull a car out that stuck its self right on its belly. (As one guest said: A wee little duster trying to climb boulders at 2 in the afternoon that's some rocky relationship goals there). In this picture from Mondays trip had every one getting some real close ups of a very brave cape bunting that was hopping around their feet.

An overcast day up the pass, got the guests some good birds with some flowers and frogs along the way even with it being...
07/01/2025

An overcast day up the pass, got the guests some good birds with some flowers and frogs along the way even with it being a bit rainy.

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