Birding around Nelspruit | Lourens Grobler

Lourens Grobler grew up in Nelspruit and after studying in Pretoria and working in the US for a while returned to the birding paradise of the Lowveld where he feels most at home.

Together with a partner Lourens owns Credo Accounting in Nelspruit but when he’s not busy making magic with numbers you’ll most probably find him behind his binoculars looking at birds.  He and a couple of friends started bird watching in grade 8 and according to him, “It was the cool thing at the time,” he laughs. To this day he still enjoys the hobby and never goes anywhere without his trusty set of binos.

“I’ve always been a nature lover and I also grow orchids as a hobby. I enjoy being outdoors and birding, and taking pictures of birds gives me the chance to do something. Many of my old school friends also enjoy the hobby which is great since according to me birding should be a social thing and is a fun way to spend time with friends and family.”

Birding Big Day

The Birding Big Day is an annual fund raiser event held every last Saturday of November by Birdlife SA. The aim is to see how many birds your team can identify in a 50km radius from any chosen spot within 24 hours.

Last year Lourens and his three team mates, Johan Eksteen, Erik Eksteen and Duncan McKenzie, won the competition by successfully identifying a staggering 315 species. This is amazing if you consider that South Africa is home to only about 900 species and this is also great testament to the amazing biodiversity we have in the Lowveld.

Funds are raised by getting sponsors to donate a certain amount of money for every bird identified. Birds are identified by means of sighting and identification of calls. Lourens has been taking part in the competition from when he was 13 years old. His team’s central geographical point is at Kaapmuiden and the area they cover includes Komatipoort, a section of Kruger National Park, Nelspruit and Barberton.

“We literally start at 12h00 with a night game drive in Kruger where we mostly identify nocturnal birds by their calls and sightings if we are lucky. We are quite serious about it so every tick on the list is a step closer to a big total.”

“From there we take the car and chase from one predetermined point to the next to try and see and hear as many birds as possible at each site. We’ve been doing the same route for about ten years now so we have a pretty good idea of what to expect at each site. But there are always some surprises and some let downs and sometimes you don’t manage to get even the most common species.”

“If you want to be competitive it’s really important to be proficient in identifying birds by their calls. Sometimes you go into a forest and hear 20 different calls without ever seeing one bird. Just before sunrise most birds start calling before it is light enough for us to see them. During this time it is also invaluable to know your bird calls.”

According to Lourens the competition is also a great way for Birdlife SA to get some data on what birds can be found where, and has assisted greatly with establishing habitat of some of the rarer species.

Birding Gear

Lourens simply uses a high quality set of Nikon binoculars which is always in his car. “I used to have a large scope but these days comfort is more important to me.” To assist with identification he relies on Roberts Birds of South Africa Multimedia App on his iPhone. “What’s great about the app is all the bird calls are on it so you can sometimes call a bird by playing the recording.”

Favourite Spotting Spots

Lourens feels that Kruger National Park is probably the biggest birding spoil of the Lowveld and especially Lake Panic is an awesome spot for watching and photographing birds. Saddle Back Pass at the top of the Bolembo Pass towards Swaziland is also one of his favourites and is a very unique destination where you could see some rare forest birds.

Tips for new Twitchers

According to Lourens, when thinking about starting birding as a hobby, one should start at home by identifying all the birds around your house and garden. “The great advantage of birding is that you can really do it anywhere. It can however be overwhelming when you get somewhere and there are a lot of birds and you don’t know any of them.”

Also consider joining a club. It’s an easy way to get helpful tips and get to unique spots where you probably wouldn’t have access on your own. The Lowveld branch of Birdlife SA is one of the most active and you’ll be sure to enjoy some great outings with them and learn a lot from other members. Also get some friends to join so that it becomes a social hobby instead of something you always do on your own.