Margaret and I headed up the west coast early this morning with the main objective being to locate and photograph the Red-necked Phalaropes that had been reported from Veldrif. This was of a petty significance to me as I wanted to say that I had been able to see and photograph all 3 species of phalarope in one year within 150km of my house and, as they are all considered rarities in Southern Africa, this was a reasonable feat which I did not think I would ever be able to achieve again...

Our first stop was at Geelbek in the West Coast National Park where we caught the receding tide just right. There were good numbers of waders present, but despite intensive scouring through the flocks, the best I could come up with were 2 Terek Sandpipers which were just way too far to even attempt a photo. After having a confiding immature Black-shouldered Kite right next to the road, our next stop was at Seeberg View Point where I went scratching around for a few reptiles. With the overcast skies and low temperatures (relative to recent days), I thought I might be lucky, but a single Karoo Girdled Lizard was all I could muster up. A party of Cape Penduline Tits here were very interested in my "spishing" and presented themselves quite nicely for photos. Just wish I had had better light...

We then left the park and headed north to Veldrif where we visited a friend of ours' farm on the banks of the Berg River. He has a large set of salt pans on a portion of his property and it was here where we located 3 Red-necked Phalaropes. Target achieved!! Surprisingly, the Lesser Flamingos that we photographed here were also new for the photographic yearlist - hard to believe that I have only managed to photograph them so late in the year, but I am glad I snuck that one in.

I had noticed several pieces of "sinkplaat" lying around when we drove into the farm and I could not resist going back to go and turn them over and see what was hiding under them. Unfortunately, it was already quite late and had warmed up a bit, so all I could find were 2 Striped Dwarf Leaf-toed Geckos. I must get back there sometime and turn them over in the early morning. Who knows what I could find there?!!