Baardskeerdersbos

History

The first reference to this area by Europeans dates to 1660, when Jan van Riebeek sent an expedition to explore the Overberg. The farm "Baarscheerders Bosch" number 213 in the Bredasdorp registration district, which included the village and the surrounding farmland and hillside, was surveyed for a Phillip Fourie Senior in 1831; that original farm has since been subdivided considerably into separate farms, smallholdings and plots. The current church in Baardskeerdersbos was built in 1921 and is a National Monument. For a long time the village remained rural and undisturbed, but recently it has been discovered as a quiet getaway particularly for residents of Cape Town; several new houses have been built, and several more renovated.

Geography

Baardskeerdersbos is located east of Gansbaai on the Gansbaai–Elim–Bredasdorp road. It lies on the southern slopes of a mountain called Perdekop ("Horse Hill"), at the base of the Boskloof ("Forest Gorge") through which a small river flows south off the mountain. Just south of the village the Boesmansrivier ("Bushman's River") flows from east to west; the Boskloof stream flows into this river.

Most-observed species

• Cape Weaver

  Ploceus capensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,151
• Cape Bulbul

  Pycnonotus capensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,142
• Kelp Gull

  Larus dominicanus M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  1,065
• Karoo Prinia

  Prinia maculosa (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  1,051
• Red-eyed Dove

  Streptopelia semitorquata (Rüppell, 1837) · Aves
  1,018
• Cape Wagtail

  Motacilla capensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,004
• Southern Double-collared Sunbird

  Cinnyris chalybeus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  975
• Hartlaub's Gull

  Chroicocephalus hartlaubii (Bruch, 1855) · Aves
  973