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One of the great natural reserves of the area, the Queen Elizabeth Park, Pietermaritzburg is one of the favorite Pietermaritzburg Tourist Attractions. Queen Elizabeth Park will be loved by any tourist and traveler who is a lover of nature and love to roam along the grasslands and open space with animals. Queen Elizabeth Park, Pietermaritzburg provides ample scope for bird watching. The Queen Elizabeth Park is just beyond the Victoria Country Club.
The Queen Elizabeth Park is located on an area of100 hectares or 250 acres of land. The Park lies at a distance of 8 kilometers or 5 miles north of the city and has a luxuriant growth of vegetation, including aloes and proteas and many species of birds to see and know. Queen Elizabeth Park at Pietermaritzburg is ideal for a good morning walks and happens to be one of the great picnic spots in the region.
Queen Elizabeth Park is actually the headquarters of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife that is a highly recommended and safe birding spot on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg. It contains a variety of habitats including forest patches, thickets, open woodland and grassland. The variety of birds that you will be able to see in this region is highly impressive.
Reaching to the Park is quite easy, as there are paved walking trails suitable for all ages, and 3 picnic sites with toilets. A large map of the trails is available at the first picnic spot on the left of the main access road. You can walk the whole trail, which is 2.5 kilometers at a stretch depending on how long you stop to look at the variety of birds. This trail is again broken into sections so shorter walks can be done by you.
In and around the forest patches and thickets of Queen Elizabeth Park at Pietermaritzburg, some of the birds to look for are Tambourine Dove, African Emerald Cuckoo, Olive Woodpecker, Bush Blackcap, Chorister Robin-Chat, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Cape Robin-Chat, White-starred Robin, Blue-mantled Crested-Flycatcher, Olive Bush-Shrike and Olive Sunbird.
Black Saw-wing can be seen flying around the trees. You may spot a Buff-spotted Fluff tail while on a walk very early in a summer morning. You can also watch for the birds of the open woodland like, Crested Barbet, Lesser Honey guide, Brown-backed Honey bird, and Red-throated Wryneck and Black Cuckoo shrike.
Entrance to the Park is free and on weekends serious birders should aim to finish bird watching by about 11 a.m. which is when most picnickers start to arrive.
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