Black Crake and even Little Bittern may be seen amongst the reeds from here as well as Lesser Swamp Warbler.
As mentioned, the key habitats in Soetdoring Nature Reserve are grassland, thornveld and the Modder River itself. Time spent in all of these will result in a very good bird list.
Upon entering the main gate, one passes through pristine grassland. Grassland-associated species to look out for include Small (Kurrichane) Buttonquail, Double-banded and Temminck’s Courser, Northern Black Korhaan, Ant-eating Chat, Long-tailed Widowbird, Rufous-naped Lark, Eastern Clapper Lark, Red-capped Lark, Spike-heeled Lark, Pink-billed Lark, and Melodious Lark. Other possibilities include Blue Korhaan, Orange River Francolin, Desert Cisticola, Cloud Cisticola, Greater Striped Swallow (summer), African Quail-finch, and Red-breasted Swallow. Lucky sightings could include Ludwig’s Bustard, Kori Bustard, Secretarybird or even the occasional courting Black Harrier.
A stop at the picnic sites closer to the Modder River with its associated reedbeds as well as a walk in the thornveld areas will add a different suite of birds to the grassland areas.
Thornveld-associated birds along the river include Gabar Goshawk, Natal Spurfowl, Red-chested Cuckoo, White-fronted Bee-eater, Cardinal Woodpecker, Pearl-breasted Swallow (summer), Kalahari Scrub-robin, Chestnut-vented Tit-babbler (Warbler), Pririt Batis, Acacia Pied Barbet, Brown-backed Honeybird, Common Scimitarbill and Brown-crowned Tchagra. Orange River White-eye can also be abundant here. In summers with good rainfall, Common Cuckoo, African Cuckoo and Eurasian Golden Oriole occur. A vagrant Madagascan Cuckoo was also found here causing much excitement amongst birders when it was initially discovered in late 2020 where it remained into 2021, being seen by a happy contingent of twitchers. Wet summers can also produce White-winged Widowbird, Bronze-winged Courser, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Great Spotted Cuckoo, and Klaas’s Cuckoo.
Namaqua Warbler is abundant in the riverine thickets (betrayed by their distinctive calls), while Little Bittern, Green-backed (Striated) Heron and Burchell’s Coucal prefer the reedbeds. Red-billed Firefinch, Black-faced Waxbill and Green-winged Pytilia also favour the thornveld areas as do Village Indigobird (look out for calling males in summer perched atop trees) and displaying Shaft-tailed Whydah. A productive thornveld patch can be accessed here: 28°49’53.9″S, 26°03’01.9″E.
The Krugersdrift Dam part of the reserve on the Kimberley road (R64) is the best spot to observe waterbirds. Waders such as Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Ruff are common summer visitors, while Common Ringed Plover, Kittlitz’s Plover, Pied Avocet, Three-banded Plover, Black-winged Stilt and the occasional Chestnut-banded Plover favour the shoreline. Larger waterbirds may include Yellow-billed Stork (summer), Caspian Tern over the open water, both Greater Flamingo and Lesser Flamingo, and waterfowl such as Cape Shoveler and Yellow-billed Duck. Yellow Wagtail has been observed in wet summers. Vagrants have also included American Golden Plover, (Common) Black-headed Gull, Bar-tailed Godwit, and Ruddy Turnstone.
Soetdoring also has an interesting mix of mammal species to look out for while birding such as Black Wildebeest, Springbok, Red Hartebeest, Eland and Yellow Mongoose.
Key species:
Namaqua Warbler, Melodious Lark, Eastern Clapper Lark, Pearl-breasted Swallow, Rufous-eared Warbler, Northern Black Korhaan, Pririt Batis, Acacia Pied Barbet, Kalahari Scrub Robin, South African Cliff Swallow (summer)
