Simon Thomsett

Category: Raptor Expedition | Date: Jun 29 2009 | By: Laila Bahaa-el-din

We had a long way to drive from the Kalahari to Cape Town so we broke it up by stopping for a night at Augrabies Falls National Park, a place Rob had recommended. The Orange River runs through a gorge and cascades down the 56 meter high waterfall. It would be the perfect setting for photographing raptors, but we had no time. We only had an hour or so before nightfall, so we sat overlooking the river, hoping for a Peregrine or Verreaux’s Eagle fly-by.

We arrived in Cape Town and Simon broke into a sweat. The roads were multi-lane, fast-moving highways and Simon had no idea how to drive on them. We were headed for the University of Cape Town. We made it in one piece and were greeted by Rob Simmons, an expert on harriers and an old friend of Simon’s, and our host. We also met Andrew Jenkins, a falcon expert. In the afternoon, we met with a potential publisher for the coffee-table book and we left much encouraged.

We probably outstayed our welcome with Rob and his lovely family while the car went in for some more repairs which took almost a week. On our first day, we met up with Gustav and Kina, our Swedish friends who had driven from Sweden to Cape Town. They took Simon and I to see the penguins at Boulder’s Beach. We knew of the penguins and were keen to see them, but we weren’t expecting what we saw: lots of penguins just lazing on the beach or splashing in the water. They were so close and clearly just going about their business. As we were walking away, I noticed some splashing far from shore which looked suspiciously like a shark attack on a seal but it was too far away to say for sure.

Penguins at Boulders Beach

The following day, Rob took us to see a pair of Jackal Buzzards near the golf course in the suburbs of Cape Town. The buzzard flew as we arrived so we were quite disappointed. We sat there a few minutes hoping to see the buzzard again, when Simon jokingly said “African Wild Cat” (he always says this when he sees a domestic cat), then, suddenly more excitedly said “Caracal.” That got my attention and I was out through the window in seconds, taking photos of a young caracal walking down the road about 80 metres away. It then disappeared into the vegetation.

Rob drove to where we saw it disappear and I walked into the bush, hoping to get another glimpse. I saw it walking in long grass so I walked a big circle around it, hoping to get above it and be able to take photos of it down the hill. I lost sight of it, so I sat down and started making squeaky mouse noises and waited. I sat for about 10 minutes and was ready to give up when I felt eyes on me. I turned my head to see the caracal just 10 metres away, staring straight at me. Despite it being just outside of Cape Town, it was one of my most exciting wildlife moments. Caracals are elusive and you usually have to work very hard to see one, so this was very special.

The young Caracal

Rob next took us to see the Black Harriers he studies in the Blauberg Reserve just out of Town. Blauberg offers the best view of Table Mountain with beach and sea as foreground. Rob drove and chatted with Simon while I got blown around on the roof in the strong wind. Unfortunately, the harriers turned up just as we were preparing to leave and we had to rush off, but it was great to see them. They are really beautiful birds. Rob set us up with a lady named Ann Koeslang the next day. Ann spends a lot of time observing raptors in Table Mountain National Park and we were there to see the mystery buzzards. These buzzards look different from any local species and most resemble Steppe Buzzards, which are only visitors in Africa and breed in northern Europe. So why are these strange-looking buzzards breeding in Cape Town? Perhaps they are hybrids between Steppe Buzzards and Forest Buzzards? We can’t really comment as we never got to see them, but we did see some Black Sparrowhawks, Jackal Buzzards and my first Forest Buzzard with Ann.

On our last day, Andrew Jenkins took us to see a pair of Peregrine Falcons that live at Cape Point. It was a windy and rainy day but we decided to brave it anyway. Rob came, too, and we all stood near the lighthouse and waited for falcon activity. They zoomed past a couple of times but I struggled to catch focus against the ocean background. But it was beautiful to watch and we even witnessed a brief chase of a Cormorant by the female Peregrine, but she didn’t catch it.

Peregrine over the ocean at Cape Point

I was not looking forward to Cape Town, never imagining it to be a place of natural beauty and biodiversity, but I came away from it with very different ideas. With many unique plants and plenty of wildlife, Cape Town is an example of how we can try to preserve what we have, even within a developed and human-populated area. Ideally, we would have these special areas free of development and people, but in a world with a growing population and constant “improvement,” we need to come up with ways in which wildlife and people are not mutually exclusive. Cities world-wide could start by taking a look at Cape Town.

Tags: cape town, laila spots a caracal, penguins at boulders beach, urbanization and wildlife

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