Stanford Lake Lodge

Amidst the exquisite high country of Haenertsburg in the Limpopo Province, land of mountains, lakes, waterfalls and forests, stands the elegant Stanford Lake Lodge, a tribute to those seeking the ultimate in idyllic privacy...

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“Birder-friendly” Establishment
Stanford Lake Lodge is a registered “Birder-friendly” Establishment with BirdLife South Africa. The membership criteria is the following:
- - Catering to the specific needs of birders
- - Being Responsible Tourism operators
- - Supporting BirdLife South Africa’s strategic objective of conserving wild birds and their habitats

Birds to be seen at Stanford Lake Lodge
A. The area with bracken
The area with the ferns and low bushes that is found on the slopes that border Stanford Lake will offer the following birds:
- 1. Tawny-flanked Prinia
- 2. Drakensberg Prinia
- 3. Dark-capped Yellow Warbler
- 4. Barrat’s Warbler
- 5. Cape White-eye
- 6. Dark-Capped Bulbul
- 7. Sombre Greenbul
- 8. Cape Weaver
- 9. Spectacled Weaver
- 10. Cape Grassbird
- 11. Red-collared widow
- 12. Swee waxbill
- 13. Common waxbill
- 14. Brown-hooded Kingfisher
- 15. Greater double-collared sunbird
- 16. Lesser double-collared sunbird
- 17. Amethyst sunbird
- 18. Fiscal Shrike
- 19. Southern Boubou
- 20. Lazy Cisticola
- 21. Neddicky
- 22. Stonechat
- 23. Levaillant’s Cisticola
- 24. Hadeda Ibis
- 25. Long-crested Eagle
- 26. Steppe buzzard
- 27. Forest buzzard
- 28. Cuckoo hawk
- 29. Black-shouldered kite
- 30. Crested Francolin
- 31. Helmeted Guinea fowl
B. The area with reed and water
In the reed borders of the lake, and the lake itself the following birds could be found (depending on season as well):
- 1. Thick-billed weaver
- 2. Little rush warbler
- 3. Great reed-warbler
- 4. Lesser swamp warbler
- 5. African reed warbler
- 6. Marsh warbler
- 7. Cape wagtail
- 8. African Pied wagtail
- 9. Mountain wagtail
- 10. White-breasted cormorant
- 11. Reed cormorant
- 12. Finfoot
- 13. Red -breasted flufftail
- 14. Buff-spotted flufftail
- 15. African Black duck
- 16. Yellow-billed duck
- 17. White-backed duck
- 18. Egyptian Goose
- 19. Giant kingfisher
- 20. Pied kingfisher
- 21. Little Egret
- 22. Green-backed heron
- 23. Grey heron
- 24. Black-headed heron
- 25. Moorhen
- 26. African Jacana
- 27. Knob-billed coot
- 28. Little Grebe
- 29. Sacred Ibis
- 30. Fish Eagle
- 31. Osprey
C. The indigenous Forest
The forest is one of the most interesting areas and has the specials. Some work to know birdcalls is helpful. In different seasons the following might be seen:
- 1. Black-fronted bush-shrike
- 2. Grey-headed bush-shrike
- 3. Olive bush-shrike
- 4. Orange-breasted bush-shrike
- 5. Black-backed puffback
- 6. Green twinspot
- 7. Black-headed oriole
- 8. Orange ground thrush
- 9. Olive thrush
- 10. Kurrichane thrush
- 11. Narina Trogon
- 12. Cape Parrot
- 13. Square-tailed drongo
- 14. Olive woodpecker
- 15. Olive pigeon
- 16. Grey Cuckooshrike
- 17. Chorister Robin
- 18. Cape Robin
- 19. Brown scrub-robin
- 20. White-starred robin
- 21. Black sparrowhawk
- 22. Little sparrowhawk
- 23. African Goshawk
- 24. Crowned Eagle
- 25. Emerald cuckoo
- 26. Red-breasted cuckoo
- 27. Forest canary
- 28. Cape Canary
- 29. Knysna Turaco
- 30. Yellow-throated woodland warbler
- 31. Bar-throated apalis
- 32. African dusky flycatcher
- 33. Spotted flycatcher
- 34. Blue-mantled crested flycatcher
- 35. Paradise flycatcher
- 36. Cape Batis
The Capricorn-Letaba Birding Route
The Capricorn-Letaba Birding Route stretches from Polokwane in the west to the Great Letaba River beyond the Letsitele valley in the east. The route runs just a few degrees south of the Tropic of Capricorn, mainly along the R71 road, which links the towns of Polokwane, Haenertsburg, Tzaneen and Gravelotte.
An interesting geographical feature of this route is its varying altitude. The extreme variations in altitude result in a great range of vegetation types within a relatively small area. It is within these diverse habitats that over 500 bird species are to be found. The open thornveld habitat of the Polokwane plateau supports a great variety of both Bushveld and Kalahari-type birds. Typical species here include Crimson-breasted Shrike, African Wren-Warbler, Short-clawed Lark and Black-faced Waxbill. Just before reaching the foothills of the Drakensberg and Wolkberg Mountains, one passes through the outcrop strewn Mamabolo Bushveld. These granite inselbergs hold many rock-dwelling species including the northern-most population of Southern Bald Ibis. In the Northern Drakensberg and Wolkberg sections of the route, birders enjoy vast tracts of montane grassland, which is Blue Swallow territory and houses other sought after species such as Broad-tailed Warbler, Croaking Cisticola and Drakensberg Prinia.
The afro-montane forests of Woodbush and Magoebaskloof offer amongs the best forest birding in the country with specials like Brown scrub-Robin, Black-fronted Bush Shrike, Barratt’s Warbler, Yellow-streaked Greenbul and Orange Ground Thrush. While the eastern lower slopes and valleys of Magoebaskloof prvide reliable sites for the elusive Bat Hawk and Green Twinspot.
The Tzaneen area is well known for its sub-tropical fruit industry and the interesting mix of lowland habitats here support a wide range of species including Gorgeous Bush-Shrike, White-browed Robin-chat and Purple-crested Turaco.
The Lowveld region around Letsitele and along the Letaba River has habitats including Mopani Woodland where Arnot’s Chat is resident. There are many lowveld rivers with their associated riparian forest habitats where the likes of Greater Blue-eared Starling, Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, Retz’s Helmet-Shrike and Thick-billed Cuckoo can be found. This is also one of the prime raptor areas in the region.