Summer has arrived, bringing migratory birds to the Garden Route. Reports on birding groups mentioned a Red Knot sighted at Hartenbos near Mossel Bay. I’m not much of a twitcher, having seen one before, but friends invited me to join them, and scanning the area for migrants is always a treat. It’s about an hour’s drive, and we needed to be back by 2:00 PM. We reached the coordinates posted on the rarity group and scrambled down steep, sandy slopes to the estuary no proper path in sight. The estuary is a wide, shallow, marshy area dotted with small islands, 2 to 5 meters in diameter. We scanned the water’s edge and islands, spotting Grey-headed Gulls, Kelp Gulls, Sanderlings, and, to my surprise, a few Curlew Sandpipers, but no Red Knot. We drove closer to the estuary mouth and walked about 500 meters along the water’s edge still no Red Knot. Finally, we headed back up, found a parking spot, and walked to the train bridge. There, we got lucky. The Red Knot was farther than expected but close enough to identify. It was “knot” so easy, but it was a rewarding morning of birding overall.

From the train bridge, while spotting the Red Knot, we also observed a female Mallard with eight ducklings swimming nearby, along with Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper, Blacksmith Lapwings, and more. The estuary’s diverse birdlife, with its mix of migrants and residents, made the morning’s birding even more rewarding.
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