For a bird lover, Mkuze Game Reserve feels almost magical. Everywhere I went there was movement, colour and birdsong woven into the atmosphere of the reserve. I watched kingfishers flashing brilliant colour along the water, hornbills moving noisily through the trees, oxpeckers clinging to grazing animals, a Burchell’s coucal slipping through the undergrowth, storks circling above the pans, and glossy starlings shimmering in the sunlight with impossible metallic colours. As an avid twitcher, what stayed with me most was that constant feeling of anticipation — the sense that every road, hide and patch of bush might reveal something extraordinary.
Highlights
- Trumpeter hornbills in the beautiful morning light near the pan.
- Getting photos of Pied kingfishers in flight.
- The stunning glossy starlings, iridescent in the sunlight.
- Getting photos of cormorants flying low over the pan, creating incredible reflections.
- Getting good photos of Burchell's coucal in good light. They have great nostalgic significance for me - one of my favourite birds from my early birding days.
- Close views of Crested Guineafowl. They are so delightfully comical in appearance.
- Getting photos of Oxpeckers on the back of zebra and warthog. Another of my favourite birds.
- A beautiful Yellow-billed Stork that flew in for a drink at the hide and showed us some of its distinctive behaviour.
 |
| Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk |
 |
| Trumpeter Hornbills |
 |
| African Pied Wagtail |
 |
| Cape Glossy Starling |
 |
| Southern Ashy Flycatcher |
 |
| Fork-tailed Drongo |
 |
| Three-banded Plover |
 |
| Pied Kingfisher |
 |
| White-breasted Cormorant |
 |
| Crested Barbet |
 |
| Burchell's coucal |
 |
| Redbilled Oxpecker |
 |
| Crested Guineafowl |
 |
| Three-banded Plover |
 |
| Common Waxbills |
 |
| Yellow-billed Stork |
 |
| Ring-necked dove |
