Rangers and guests at a game lodge in a secluded Eastern Cape valley have been ticking off some impressive bird sightings.
Inzolo Exclusive Game Lodge, a five-star boutique establishment near the village of Sidbury in the Albany district, has built up quite a reputation for its birdwatching opportunities and sound conservation programmes.
The area in which Inzolo is situated is home to five biomes: fynbos, renosterveld, forest, thicket and grassland. With this unusual combination of contrasting landscapes and vegetation types in a relatively small area, the birdlife is also highly varied.
Even the short 15-minute drive from the reception to the lodge meanders through four of the biomes.
Guests often spot rare and exciting species such as black harriers in the grassland and forest buzzards further down the valley.
Inzolo is home to some 180 species of birds. Visitors can expect sightings of the beautiful and elusive narina trogon, the blue mantled fly catcher, the Knysna turaco and Knysna woodpecker as well as green wood hoopoe, wood owl, crowned eagle,booted eagle  crowned hornbill.
With the lodge itself perched on a rocky outcrop surrounded by forest with dramatic cliffs, caves and different rock formations, guests can enjoy excellent bird viewing from their private decks, with the bird of rock kestrels nesting close by.
The main deck area, which overlooks a large dam, is the perfect place to watch the many water birds and seasonal migrants that make this place home, while the hamerkops that nest in an ancient yellowwood tree overlooking the waterhole often put on a show for guests.
Head ranger Cleo Mdlethe says several rare birds have been spotted on the reserve in recent years. One is the dwarf bittern, seen recently way out of its normal habitat, as it is usually only found as far south as Mozambique, Mdlethe says.
This rare find meant guests at Inzolo managed to capture perhaps the first ever pictures of the bird in this area. It also has grabbed the attention of the local birding groups. Inzolo's interactive buffalo breeding project has meant that the resident colony of red-billed oxpeckers, which were introduced back into the area about 50 years ago, are thriving.The marsh owls in the conservation area are often also seen out in the open during the day – unlike other owl species.
Mdlethe and her colleagues are passionate and committed to the conservation and sustainability of the land. Hunting is prohibited on the reserve, and the lodge has successfully launched two special conservation initiatives – the buffalo breeding project and the protection of the endangered Cape mountain zebra, the smallest of the zebra species, which is threatened due to habitat loss and irresponsible hunting.
The buffalo project has been so successful that, earlier this year, 10 of the male offspring born since the buffalo introduction there three years ago were relocated to different reserves and breeding projects. Since then, another big breeding bull has been introduced to the females.Guests may on occasion be present when the buffalos are darted  for the conservation team to test for tuberculosis and other related diseases.
A protected enclave has been set up for the Cape mountain zebras to live and breed in. Inzolo has also started a programme where, on leaving the reserve after their visit, each guest is given a spekboom to plant in a designated area near the reception.Hectare for hectare, spekboom thicket is 10 times more effective than the Amazon rainforest at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, making it a powerful tool in the fight against climate change.
Inzolo Exclusive Game Lodge is located in 6,500ha  of unique flora, 250ha  of which are used for the lodge’s conservancy project.The lodge is about 80km from Port Elizabeth and 30km from Grahamstown.
For more information on Inzolo, contact 064-625-7687, e-mail: info@inzololodge.co.za or visit www.inzololodge.co.za