Best Birding Drives
Kanniedood Dam near Shingwedzi (S50)
Kanniedood specialities include the rare Saddle-billed Stork, which is often seen in the company of Abdim's Stork, the African Openbill and Goliath Heron on the sandbanks.
The distinctive call of the African Fish-Eagle regularly resonates through the Ebony Jackal-berry, Nyala and Sycamore Fig trees that line the river. The Verreaux's Eagle-Owl can sometimes be seen in the gallery forest on the water's edge.
There are about ten river stops overlooking Kanniedood from the S50 as well as the Kanniedood Dam Bird Hide, which is 13km from Shingwedzi. Woodland Kingfisher, Retz's Helmetshrike, Broad-billed Roller, Thick-billed Cuckoo and White-crowned Lapwing* are birds to look out for along the road.
About an hour's drive south from Shingwedzi along the S50 is Nyawutsi Bird Hide on the edge of the Lebombo. This is a reasonable grassland birding site. (See Kanniedood Dam).
