Obviously, I had already been to see the Golden Pipit, but Margaret could not join me on Wednesday due to work commitments, so when I received news at 5:30am on Saturday morning that it was still there, we made hugely quick arrangements and, by 8:30am, we were taking off from Cape Town again on our way to Durban. Arriving in Durban at 10:30am, we hired a car and began the long drive up to the reserve again.
After a lunch stop, we got to the reserve mid afternoon and there were already a number of twitchers gathered there looking at the bird, so it was once again a very easy tick for Margaret and became her 800th bird on her SA list - a pretty good bird for such a big milestone! Unfortunately, the weather took a distinct turn for the worse and, before we knew it, we had gusting winds and rain, so beat a hasty retreat to our accommodation just outside the reserve at the Sodwana Fishing Camp.
Up early the next morning, we headed back into the reserve and found the pipit at its usual spot again along with a whole host of admirers who had arrived overnight from all over the country. After spending quite a bit of time with the bird again (in equally dismal light conditions, so again no great photos!) and also socialising with many of the twitchers who we had not seen for a long time, we then did another drive around the reserve before starting the long drive back to Durban to catch our flight. Once again, it was good to catch up with a few species that we had not seen in a long time.
