For the fourth year in a row the Glendower Magoebaskloof Bird Festival will be held from the 13th till the 15th of November, in the Maboebaskloof area of Limpopo. This event will be an exciting weekend away for beginning to experienced birders, but also for people with an interest in natural history in general. It is organised by the Greater Limpopo Birding Routes of Birdlife South Africa and sponsored by Glendower whiskey and a number of local establishments.

The Magoebaskloof area arguably offers the best forest birding in the country, where specials such as Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Cape Parrot, Bat Hawk and Orange Ground-thrush are found but also many more widely spread forest birds such as White-starred Robin, Narina Trogon, Olive Bush-shrike, Green Twinspot, Knysna Turaco, Africa Emerald Cuckoo and Grey Cuckoo-shrike. Several rare tree species are found in the beautiful pockets of indigenous forest that are furthermore inhabited by typical forest animals such as Bush-pigs, Samango Monkeys and even Leopards. Many rare butterflies, frogs and reptiles can also be found in the Magoebaskloof forests.

The programme starts on Friday evening with a gala dinner combined with presentations. Saturday will start with guided outings in small groups to various locations in the Magoebaskloof area, after which there will be lectures and lunch at the Magoebaskloof Hotel. More outings will take place in the afternoon, followed by dinner and an evening filled with fun activities and with great prizes to be won. Sunday starts with outings, followed by a lecture and lunch. Lectures will be given by high profile experts including Mark Anderson, director of Birdlife SA; Andre Botha, EWT and Derek Solomon, expert birder and guide. They will also accompany the outings and, together with local experts, try to make sure you can tick all your desired specials.

Registration is open from 12:00 till 17:00 on Friday and the programme will end on Sunday at 14:00. The costs are R 650 pp which includes Friday gala dinner, Saturday and Sunday lunch, three guided outings and several lectures. Accommodation is not included in the price however the Magoebaskloof Hotel offers accommodation at greatly discounted rates for participants of the festival. Alternatively there are several other Birder Friendly Establishments in the area, which offer great accommodation and flexible services especially tailored for birder's needs. BFEs are accredited by Birdlife SA and have a contractual obligation to provide flexible service and information for birders, involve local communities through employment or off take of goods and produce and need to have an environmental management plan in place. More details can be found on www.birdlife.org.za.

The sponsoring by Glendower, the Magoebaskloof Hotel and several other local establishments enables Birdlife SA to invest all the revenue of the event in training programmes for bird guides. Bird guides are selected by Birdlife SA from local communities and trained to guide South African and international birders as expert birders in their area, while enabling them to earn a living and provide for their families.