The Mt Moreland Swallows

I first heard about the Mt Moreland Swallows from a friend whose won­der­ful hus­band had organ­ised a sur­prise birth­day pic­nic for her at the Lake Victoria Conservancy.  She raved about how spec­tac­u­lar it was to see the swal­lows and I’ve been dying to exper­i­ence it myself ever since.  Although I now live in the Mother City, I am ori­gin­ally from Zululand and am nor­mally ‘home’ for Christmas.  So this December I made a con­cer­ted effort to get to Mt Moreland ...

Witness the spec­tacle of the Mount Moreland Swallows. (Barn Swallow — Hirundo Rustica). Every even­ing from mid October to mid April At the Lake Victoria Conservancy in Mount Moreland, mil­lions of these tiny birds gather for about half an hour before sun­set and fly in vast num­bers over the Lake Victoria Wetlands. As dusk falls, the swal­lows drop down in the reeds and are gone, until dusk the next day!

My Dad, hus­band and I arrived, snacks and straw­berry daiquiri’s in hand at about 5pm.  We had been told to arrive around that time and then it’s just a wait­ing game as the swal­lows arrive any time from 5.30pm and roost between 6.30pm and 7pm.  Although there is no seat­ing as such, there is a large area of ground for one to settle down and have a pic­nic – all with good views of the reed beds below.

Although the day was a bit cloudy it was very excit­ing when we noticed at first just a few and then as it grew later lar­ger groups of swal­lows arriv­ing.  They spent a good half an hour circ­ling around the lake and reed beds – some groups fly­ing out and then com­ing back again while other groups circled and then dropped straight down into the reeds.

The first of the swal­lows arrive at Mt Moreland at the begin­ning of October and up to 3 mil­lion birds have been coun­ted at this site.  On the day we vis­ited I was told that there are ringing work­shops (one can book a spot on these work­shops and assist in the task) – doing this has enabled con­ser­va­tion­ists to identify the Mt Moreland swal­lows as far away as Siberia!

Although we did not have a sun­set to speak of, the months of January and February provide the best sun­set back­drops and November, December and March are the best months to view the birds.

There is plenty of park­ing at the site and its advis­able to take some­thing warm to wear – the breeze can get a bit nippy, even in mid sum­mer.  Also remem­ber to take your mossie repel­lent.  There are toi­lets nearby but these were not open on the day we vis­ited so bear this in mind if vis­it­ing with chil­dren.  A fee of R10 per car is payable.

The Mt Moreland Swallows are world fam­ous so if you live in nearby you really should make the effort to see the spec­tacle for your­self – its well worth it.

Directions:
From Durban take the N2 towards Umhlanga and then the Umdloti off ramp.  Turn left and then take the dirt road to the right.  There are sign­posts dir­ect­ing you to Mt Moreland and the view­ing area.

Useful Links:
Umdloti Attractions
Umdloti Accommodation
Dolphin Coast Accommodation
South African Birdlife