Western Cape – Touwsberg Area

About the Birding

From a birding perspective a drive along the southern parts of the Touwsberg Mountain Range on the Plathuis to Prinspoort Road running westwards from the R62 as well as through the eastern part of the private nature reserve area is most rewarding.

The roads detailed in this section are all minor gravel district roads that can be travelled with any type if vehicle. The roads can be very dusty and corrugated during dry spells.

To date 186 different bird species have been recorded in the area surrounding Touwsberg Mountain.

Birding in the areas surrounding Touwsberg Mountain is discussed in two different sections hereafter, namely:
• Plathuis Road through Prinspoort (South-westernTouwsberg Route)
• Roads through Touwsberg Private Nature Reserve and Grootrivier Areas

Birding in the diverse habitats along the two sides of the road is very good and provides for excellent opportunities to identify most of the Klein Karoo special bird species as well as most of the endemic bird species that can be identified in the Klein Karoo. A total of 161 different bird species have been identified to date along this road.

Special bird species that can be encountered along this road are species like South African Shelduck, African Spoonbill, Black Stork, Karoo Korhaan, Verreaux’s Eagle, Namaqua Dove, Acacia Pied Barbet, Sombre Greenbul, Bokmakierie, Karoo- & Sickle-winged Chats, Fairy Flycatcher, White-backed Mousebird, Karoo Scrub Robin, Southern Tchagra, Karoo Thrush, Karoo- & Karoo Long-billed Larks, Cape Penduline- & Grey Tits, Long-billed Crombec, Cape- & Pririt Batis, Karoo- & Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Chestnut-vented-, Rufous-eared-, Namaqua- & Layard’s Warblers, Karoo Prinia, Pale-winged Starling, Cape Bunting, as well as Black-headed Canary.

Most of the bird species with a suffix of “Karoo” to the name can all be encountered along this road and in the adjoining area, but some species are obviously much more difficult to locate than others, i.e. Karoo Eremomela. Birders should study the preferred habitat zones and distinct calls for the respective species beforehand to increase the chances of spotting the individual species.

A total of 167 different bird species have been identified to date along this road.

Special bird species that can be encountered along this road are species like South African Shelduck, African Spoonbill, Black-crowned Night Heron, Karoo Korhaan, Verreaux’s Eagle, Namaqua Dove, Acacia Pied Barbet, Sombre Greenbul, Bokmakierie, Karoo- & Sickle-winged Chats, Fairy Flycatcher, White-backed Mousebird, Karoo Scrub Robin, Southern Tchagra, Karoo Thrush, Karoo- & Karoo Long-billed Larks, Cape Penduline- & Grey Tits, Long-billed Crombec, Cape- & Pririt Batis, Karoo- & Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Chestnut-vented-, Rufous-eared-, Namaqua- & Layard’s Warblers, Karoo Prinia, Pale-winged Starling, Cape Bunting, as well as Black-headed Canary.

About the Birding Site

The Klein Karoo is the strip of land that lies between the Groot- and Klein Swartberg Mountain Ranges in the north and the Outeniqua- and Langeberg Mountain Ranges in the south. This strip of land which is called the Klein Karoo is basically split down its centre line that runs west to east through the area by the Anysberg Range in the west, followed by the Touwsberg Mountain, Rooiberg Range, Gamkaberg and finally the Kammanassie Range in the east. Touwsberg, Rooberg, Gamkaberg and Kammanassie are all freestanding mountain ranges along this imagery Klein Karoo centreline. Each one of these freestanding ranges has a unique splendour of its own which varies from mountain range to mountain range.

Touwsberg Mountain is located to the south-west of Ladismith on the western side of the well-known route R62 that links Barrydale to Ladismith. The south facing slopes of the mountain are almost completely included in the privately owned Touwsberg Nature, but the northern part is mostly normal farms.

The area covered by the Touwsberg Private Nature Reserve, that lies on the southern side of the mountain range, is dominated by typical Klein Karoo scrubs and vegetation in habitats laying on sandy soils and in places covered with strewn rock. Dense shrubs cover the south sloping steep and extremely rocky mountain sides. The drainage lines on the mountain slopes are predominantly deep incised valleys. These drainage lines along the southern face of the mountain are covered in very dense typical broad leaved Klein Karoo vegetation types. The south facing mountain slopes are much moister than the arid and very hot north facing slopes.

Access to the Plathuis section of the route from the eastern side along the R62 main road between Barrydale and Ladismith is gained at GPS -33.6478˚S, 21.0211˚E whilst the western entrance to the Prinspoort section is gained at GPS -33.4821˚S, 20.9289˚E. The 24km long gravel road section detailed in this file however is the section that runs from the eastern entrance into the Plathuis section up to Junction 1 located at GPS -33.5455˚S, 20.8588˚E. This is the best part of the route along which to conduct birding at.

When entering the area from the north-west (Prinspoort side) please note the two junctions marked as Junctions 1 & 2 on the sketch above. Junction 2 is located at GPS -33.5104˚S, 20.8600˚E. At both these junctions you must make a turn to the left to access the Prinspoort section of the route. If you miss either of these turn-off points you are likely to end up at either Anysberg or at Barrydale!

Expansive natural Klein Karoo habitats have been retained and protected along the northern side of the road. Along the southern side of road farms and agricultural fields have been developed along the banks of the Grootrivier.

The access into this area is via small gravel district roads that serve as connector roads providing access to the farms in the area. The area can be accessed from a number of different points, one in the south-west along the Plathuis to Prinspoort Road at GPS -33.6374˚S, 20.9828˚E, one from the east off the R62 main road between Ladismith and Barrydale located at GPS -33.5979˚S, 21.1373˚E, and two from the north which are respectively located at Buffelspoort at GPS -33.5313˚S, 21.1214˚E and at Vywersrus at GPS -33.5340˚S, 21.1557˚E.

The road that enters the area from the south-west (main Touwsberg Private Nature Reserve entrance) is a gated entrance, but the road is available travel on by the public. Visitors are however requested to respect the privacy of the property owners within the Reserve and not to venture off the main south to north main access road or to drive onto any of the other private roads in the reserve.

This road provides for excellent birding opportunities as the road is very lightly trafficked. The habitats along the road varies from typical Klein Karoo red sandy soils to rock strewn areas on the flatter areas that rapidly changes on the rocky mountain slopes and in the drainage gullies. The southern facing mountain slopes provide for moister conditions than elsewhere in the area. Some of the drainage gullies are densely overgrown with Acacia type species whilst over are covered in broad-leaved shrubs.

Other Related Information

Permits:
No permits are required to visit these areas.

Recommended accommodation nearby:
There are several guesthouses offering farm stays on farms surrounding Ladismith or in the town as well as other accommodation types in the area which are available through the normal accommodation booking sites.

Local guide information:
There are no community bird guides available for this area.

Text prepared by:
Francois Furstenburg

Key species:

Black Stork, South African Shelduck, Little Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, African Spoonbill, Booted Eagle, Black Harrier, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Secretarybird, Ludwig’s Bustard, Karoo Korhaan, Namaqua Dove, Cape Eagle-owl, White-backed Mousebird, Acacia Pied Barbet, Cape Rock Thrush, Karoo Thrush, Karoo Scrub Robin, Karoo-, Large-billed-, Spike-heeled- & Karoo Long-billed Larks, Mountain Wheatear, Karoo-, Sickle-winged- & Tractrac Chats, Yellow-bellied- & Karoo Eremomela, Layard’s-& Chestnut-vented Warblers, Fairy Flycatcher, Grey- & Cape Penduline Tit, Cape & Pririt Batis, as well as Cape Bunting.

Contact details:

Ladismith Tourism Bureau:
Tel: +27 (0)28 050 0158
Email: visitladismith@gmail.com