And then there was Eloise…
The Birds and Flowers field trip led by Susan Abell and Geoff Lockwood was a great success, but the second day had to be cancelled owing to heavy rain. By James van den Heever The two-day field trip focusing on … Read more
Successful birding and wildflower field trip
Some interesting sightings over two days in late December 2019. At the end of December, Susan Abell and Geoff Lockwood co-led an enthusiastic group on a guided visit to explore the diversity of this little-known gem of a reserve. Saturday … Read more
Cranes rising
Why the crane breeding project at Verloren Valei was terminated, and some good news about growth in the numbers of Wattled Cranes. By James van den Heever In an earlier article, “The crane conundrum”, I explored some of the issues … Read more
Birding Workshop at Verloren Valei
Escarpment Bird Club visits us. Over the weekend of 2-4 March 2018, two groups of approximately 20 birders visited the Reserve, as well as other birding areas in the area. They were joined by Bongani and Thulani, the two Verloren … Read more
Verloren Valei guides go on birding training
The Friends help two of our guides improve their skills. Guides make a critical contribution to anyone’s enjoyment of a visit to a nature reserve. This is particularly true of a closed reserve like Verloren Valei, where visitors must be … Read more
The Crane conundrum
Some headway has been made in protecting the three species of cranes present in the area, but the battle is far from won. Cranes are not ordinary birds. Around the world, their spectacular mating dances have made them important symbols: … Read more
Verloren Valei francolin population surveyed by SAFTC
By Mike Zingel On a cold, wet yet bracing autumn morning recently, a dozen bird dogs, accompanied by their handlers from the South African Field Trial Club (SAFTC), reserve guides and keen observers, set out across the slopes of the Verloren Valei … Read more
New light on the Cisticola
A recent paper suggests that the Pale-Crowned Cisticola is not quite as rare as previously supposed. The Pale-Crowned Cisticola is part of a large group of small brown birds that inhabit grasslands in both the high- and lowvelds—the classic LBJ … Read more
Escarpment Bird Club turns Verloren Valei green
During the course of winter 2016, a team from the Escarpment Bird Club scoped the Verloren Valei area for bird species as part of an ongoing project to create an atlas of Southern Africa’s birds. By Alan Hatton, Escarpment Bird … Read more