MOSSEL BAY NEWS - If bird watching is your hobby, Mossel Bay and surrounds offer many perfect spots.
Knowledgeable local bird watchers say all the estuaries from the Blinde River at Dana Bay to Great Brak River offer ideal birding sites, especially for enthusiasts seeking wader sites.
Other birding spots include:
- The Hartenbos sewerage works. Access is allowed with permission. Cormorants, ducks, egrets and herons can be seen here. There are two ponds that are good for spotting waders in summer.
- For marine wader enthusiasts, the Twee Kuilen bird hide provides hours of bird watching joy.
- Little Stone Cottage can be reached from the Robinson Pass on the R328 and is regarded as one of the best sites in the region for forest bird species.
- In Little Brak River, the rocks on the beach at the lagoon mouth and the rail bridge are good for spotting waders in summer. The sandbanks along the river are frequented by a variety of waterfowl.
- Great Brak River is the home of a number of waterfowl species and the area along the river is perfect for bird photography. Most of the region’s ducks can be seen, with numerous white-faced ducks and Cape teals.
Look out for oystercatchers
The African black oystercatcher is an endangered species found along our coast. Oystercatchers, locally known as Tobies, breed at the height of the summer holiday season, laying one to three stone-coloured
eggs in a simple nest in the sand, which is often no more than a scrape in the ground. Be careful not to damage the nests, because only four out of every 36 chicks are estimated to reach adulthood.
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