After a very good breakfast at the Birds of Paradise lodge we started our day’s birding (17 August) at the Dlizna Forest a few kilometres southwest of our hotel.
Dlizna is an impressive reserve with extensive walks through subtropical forest and a overhead boardwalk that gives views into the upper canopy. We spent such of the morning exploring the forest and out time there was very productive, with the highlight being a Spotted Ground-thrush, which is only found in a few well-spaced locations across Southern Africa. But other notable birds were Narima Trogon, Dark-backed Weaver, Cape Batis and White-eared Barbet.
After our morning in Dlizna Forest we had lunch and drove to the Amatikulu Nature Reserve Siyaya Coastal Park, another prime birding site. Along the way we had a chance to enjoy the mammals, including Plains Zebra and Southern Giraffe. In the forest we saw the beautiful Scarlet-chested Sunbird, although it was distant, along with Africa Stonechart and plenty of birds flying over, including Black Sawwing, Egyptian Goose and Lesser-striped Swallow.
