Lifers
I hoped that the fact that I would be birding with experts would help me in getting a few lifers. I was not disappointed. On the Friday evening I added two Nightjar species to my life list – European and Square-tailed. Unfortunately, I only got some bad photos of the Square-tailed nightjar.
On Saturday morning we stopped at the Balule camp and with the help of the expert guides I added Olive Tree Warbler and Icterine Warbler to my life list. But I can’t say they are my favourite birds. I managed an awful record shot of the Olive Tree Warbler and no photo of the Icterine warbler because these guys just don’t sit still! But I had some decent views of both through the binoculars, so at least I saw the key features quite clearly. And then I actually managed to find two lifers all on my own. On the way to Letaba I saw a cuckoo fly past. It was fast but I was able to see that it would have been a lifer as it was not a Red-chested or Great Spotted Cuckoo. I was disappointed that it did not sit still for an ID. A little while later I saw another Cuckoo fly into a tree. I carefully stalked the bird until I could get a clear photo without spooking it. A quick look in my book confirmed that it was a Common Cuckoo. I was very happy with this lifer.
On my birthday I managed no less than two lifers! The morning started with a bang when a yellow rocket flew past my car. It landed in a tree near by just long enough to see that it was a bright yellow Oriole with yellow head and black wings. A Eurasian Oriole! I was so excited! I would see these birds twice more, but it was only with the third sighting that I got this bad photo!
I decided to ask Rodger at Tsendze camp for a favour. I stopped there on the way to Mopani and asked if he would be willing to show me the African Barred Owlets. Being the wonderful person that he is, he was more than willing. After a bit of searching we found the male.
The female was sitting in another tree close by. Unfortunately, she did not want to look in my direction.
I think 7 lifers in such a short trip was not bad at all!
Larks
I saw five Lark species on the trip. As can be expected, there were lots of Sabota Larks around. I also had a few sightings of Rufous-naped Larks. I managed to spot the slightly rare Red-capped Lark somewhere between Letaba and Mopani. On our Saturday morning drive we saw a Monotonous Lark a little distance away from the road. I was happy with this sighting as I had not seen one of these birds since for a few years.
At the same spot where I saw the Red-capped Lark, I also saw a Dusky Lark. I think we can all agree that this is one of the most striking looking Larks. It has such beautiful patterns, and unlike some of the other larks I saw this one was not quite as skittish when it came to photos!
Red-backed Sparrow-larks are not technically classified as part of the Lark family, but I will include them here. We saw a decent size flock on our Saturday morning drive, but photo opportunities arose when I stopped at their usual hangout at the Mooiplaas waterhole. 
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