Future bird-watching tourism leaders

After a trying and tough week of long hours and hard work our guides from Ongoye and Southern KZN completed their first module of the tourism entrepreneur training with Linda McClure from Junior Achievement South Africa (JASA). The course included intensive training on conducting market research through to interviewing existing businesses, which they did covering existing successful businesses in Wakkerstroom. Meeting established players as well as new entrants provided stimulating inputs for the guides, particularly those wishing to pursue the development of their own ideas. A big thank you must go to Wakkerstroom and its wonderfully warm and accommodating business people and residents.

At the end of the module Linda's feedback regarding the guides was objective and refreshing. Ideas for local birding tourism businesses ranged from community guest houses to indigenous nurseries and regional tours. This is the first important step for the guides. They have now returned home, armed with new insights and a project that they must complete before their next closing module in late November. On their return to Wakkerstroom they will undertake the toughest portion of the training, the development of budgets and the financial components. Hold thumbs for them as we hope they all apply their new skills and perspectives to the best of their ability.

Both Kristi, Andre and Thuli made our stay wonderful and certainly went out of their way to get the guides the best possible experience and opportunities for growth. Our training journey did not end their as we managed to squeeze in some bird-watching for the guides who enjoyed the company of the Grey-Crowned Cranes, Black-Bellied Bustard and the various specials of the Wakkerstroom region. I will keep you all posted regarding their development. To S'Bo, Sibusiso, Evidence, Abednego, Simphiwe and Lindalahni thank you so much for your time and effort. Lindalahni who is one of the Network members can be contacted directly regarding his experience on the programme.

Wonderful Wakkerstroom and Banded Martins return.

A little positive news for all you. Today BirdLife South Africa with the superb expertise of Linda McClure from JASA, the Junior Achievement South Africa NGO launched the first day of the tourism entrepreneur training programme, helping to bridge the gap in basic business and entrepreneur skill development for our local bird guides. Guides from both the Southern KZN and Zululand Birding Routes travelled up to Wakkerstroom over the course of the weekend. From far afield as Bulwer and the famous Marutswa Board Walk with its well-established Cape Parrots to the famous Ongoye Forest team championing the Green Barbet and Zululand.

Their first day involved engaging pressing debates centred around responsible tourism, bird conservation and community issues such as traditional medicinal harvesting. Quite a rich and interactive first day one might say. Our varied sessions were often interrupted by the antics of the foraging Bokmakierie’s around the training room, the diverting chatter of the Pied Starlings and the various birds that caught our interest as we delved into such key issues.

The guides popped off to research and do some ground work on what kind of tourism ventures are operating in the town for their business planning and market research activities as part of their programme. In order to ensure they received a warm and hospitable reception we caught up with various business owners to prepare them for the visits by our learners tomorrow. It was lovely to see that both André and Kristi who manage the centre have been true ambassadors for BirdLife South Africa and its centre. Townsfolk were friendly and engaging and it seems that old Wakkerstroom charm is still there and thriving.

We ended our afternoon with a wetland birding walk. As usual we were not disappointed. A pair of Grey-Crowned Crane flew in, calling ponderously before they landed delighting us with their proximity and their natural grace. A male Black-bellied Bustard joined the party declaring his availability far-and-wide with much gusto, with his little pop at the end of his call bringing much mirth and enjoyment. A juvenile Black Stork was grooming itself rather nonchalantly towards the Oude Stasie road and we had a terribly humourous view of a pair of Yellow Mongoose searching for nesting birds, only to be collectively pummelled by a flock of Pied Starlings who then promptly handed over their duties to a pair of very accurate Pied Kingfishers who seemed to be quite fearless and finally an African Marsh Harrier adult which the Yellow Mongooses seem to take rather more seriously. On recognising the more threatening harrier they literally turned tail, quickly raised their tails and put on some speed, which even a Cheetah might have been proud of and made as much distance as possible between them and the rather relaxed harrier. That was definitely a first for me in mammal-bird interactions.

On the migratory note, there are a few Barn Swallows lurking around, mainly skimming over the wetland in the late afternoon. Our biggest highlight though undoubtedly was seeing the arrival of a fairly large number of Banded Martins whose plumage was lustrously lit by the late afternoon sun as they flew directly westwards. It’s good to have them back and no doubts the migrants are coming in rapidly. Enjoy the late Spring all.

Signing off David Letsoalo's assessment documentation

Our few days were incredibly fruitful at Kurisa Moya,  we not only spent some productive time with Lisa Martes but also with Limpopo's famous bird guide David Letsoalo. David's hard work in environmental education as well as bird guiding is legendary. His time and effort in developing young children in the local communities as well as other young bird guides is exemplary. He is permanently based at Kurisa Moya but takes tours throughout the region across its various biomes and critical birding spots.

It was a pleasure and a honour to have him join our bird guide training team to assist in coaching the newly trained local bird guides in Limpopo. So next time you are at Woodbush or perhaps Phalaborwa you might see David leading a group of learner guides into the field. Well done David, keep up the good work.

Limpopo leg to bird guide training

Dear All,

We have just concluded a whirlwind working journey across the Limpopo Province culminating in our final stop in the Kruger at Shingwedzi. Our mission was to meet up with the individual guides that have been trained over the last two years or so by BirdLife South Africa and to evaluate their working conditions, assessment readiness and support needs as guides.

We spent a wonderful few days at Kurisa Moya and spend some memorable times birding with Paul who works with David Letsoalo. With poor weather and various meetings to get to, I literally had one hour on our first morning to get some birding in. Woodbush was definitely not on the cards, but the indigenous forest patch Msenge on the Kurisa Moya farm provided more than ample birding as I was to find out. Within 45 minutes of walking into the forest Paul had located and shown me Yellow-streaked Greenbul, two Black-fronted Bush-shrikes, Chorister Robin-chat, a male Narina Trogon perched at a mere 4 to 5 meters away, Forest Canary, a horde of Olive Bush-shrikes, Grey Cuckooshrike, Sombre Greenbul, Terrestrial Brownbul, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Swee Waxbill, Olive Woodpecker and a run of an amazing amount of birds. We were visited by Samango Monkeys doing their early morning foraging in the trees.

A short trip to visit some guides at the Thabametsi/Georges Valley Canopy Tour was also very rewarding with Southern Double-Collared Sunbird, Cape Batis, Knysa Tauraco, Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk and quick few other birds doing the fly-by. Birding via Canopy tour is highly recommended for the more adventurous of us. Jeremia and Moses the two bird guides have mastered their site admirably and are expanding their knowledge of the surrounding areas quickly with the support of David Letsoalo, their bird guide coach.

A visit down to the Tzaneen Country Lodge netted us African Cuckoo-hawk, Wahlbergs Eagle, Yellow-billed Kite and a few other good local species. Here we saw Sydwell Mkhari who is enjoying the lowveld birding and building his knowledge of the area around Northern Kruger. We then proceeded on to visit Idah at Sefapane Lodge at Phalaborwa and along the we picked up African Hawk-Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Purple Roller, Magpie Shrike, Grey Penduline Tit, our first Wood Sandpipers of year, a deluge of all the hornbills (yellow, red and grey), Dark Chanting Goshawk and Gabar Goshawk. We immediately noticed that the drought this winter has been particularly harsh (perhaps a dose of climate change added to the El Nino mix) with vast tracts of Mopane Shrubveld severely overgrazed and quite a few cattle looking rather forlorn and wishing for greener times.

We returned to the mountain heights and struck out to obtain a long standing bogey bird of mine. The Short-clawed Lark, which thanks to the directions provided by David Letsoalo and Lisa Martes at Kurisa Moya we managed to find on our second attempt. Admittedly my first one took us to the wrong place and the cattle and various members of the community looked at me quizzically. My iShiVenda is not particularly strong so back to David we went and under the guidance of the master we eventually made our way to Mamabolo grasslands where we picked up the Short-clawed Lark within a few minutes of our arrival. David’s inputs were impeccable and we enjoyed excellent viewing of this bird. With much sad feelings at our departure we headed deep into Venda, stopped at Thouyandou picked up Samson Mulaudzi and drove into deep territory amongst those magnificent Soutpansberg mountains and eventually arrived at the famous Golwe-Vhurivhuri camping and picnic site.

Once again the lads were indefatigable and we had saw a pair of Narina Trogon, Pink-throated Twinspots, Collared Sunbird, Cape Batis and tons of birds around us. Our trip through the community area was really enlightening, local Venda people directed us to the Golwe site with many-a-smile and grin. Christopher is an absolute gem and I would really recommend spending time there with him. The facilities are absolutely lovely and the Twinspots and Grey Waxbills literally hopping about the campsite, jostling for space alongside more common birds.

We then pushed on through the normal road through the mountains to Mhinga just outside the Punda Maria Gate and we spent a night at the Punda Guest House, a bird-friendly-establishment run by a local entrepreneur. Self-catering and it was really lovely. In the late afternoon on our way there we got a really diverse range of Fire-finches and a pair of Orange-winged Pytilia an absolutely awesomely beautiful bird. We also were blessed with Retz’s Helmetshrike in the mixed habitats flying in-between a Baobab and open woodland. It was a wonderful day to say the least.

The next day took us into Kruger on our way to visit Phanny the guide based at Shingwedzi. For a change the northern area seemed in a better state than further South. Reminiscent of the drought of the early 90’s. We managed to get Arnot’s Chat outside the Punda Maria Camp and we headed South to Shingwedzi. Seeing lots of Elephants on the move.



Good birding although often sparse and almost unbirdlike for the Kruger. We saw more bird parties than single species sitings. Picking up the usual Kruger bird mix and we noted that very few migrants had made their way back yet. It was a quiet time for the Park. Red-crested Korhaan, African Hawk-Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Red-headed Finches, Brown-headed Parrots and lots of Wahlbergs Eagles already nesting on a variety of Baobabs, Jackalberries and so on. We noted that most White-backed Vulture chicks were well on to the way of fledgling and leaving their natal nests. The raptors seemed healthy as ever with some decent Bateleur viewing all-round.

Our entry to Shingwedzi was a welcome stop and there we spent some great time with Phanny who is doing very well, but the Palm-thrush is not present, but he seems to be high-spirited as ever. Shingwedzi was great, we picked up allot of African Mourning Dove right in the camp and around it. The usual Natal and Swainsons Spurfowl were abundant with a sprinkling of Crested Francolin too. We had a fantastic sighting of 4 Southern Ground Hornbills at perch tucked away from some marauding Lions. We managed to get some decent views of all their legs and did not see any rings and presumed that this was a fully-wild flock. No reintroductions apparent there. We had some lovely bird-mammal feeding associations with Dwarf Mongoose assisting some Natal Francolin and Greater-Blue-Eared Starlings with a few snacks.

Our trip was beginning to draw to a close but we enjoyed our drive out of the Kruger heading to Phalaborwa via Mopani and we picked up Lappett-faced and Hooded Vulture plus a few other mixed savannah birds.

A thanks must go to all the great guides for their input and energy in the course of our time and stay with them. To those of you that have an active interest in the guides development you will be pleased to know that quite a few are ready for their Level 3 regional assessments and even a couple for their Level 4 assessments. Not only that but many of the guides are contributing to education and schools projects as well as environmental awareness and site conservation initiatives. For those of you heading into the Park and the region I really do recommend considering a Mountain, Forest to Savanna combination. A big thank you must go to Lisa at Kurisa Moya and Grace their wonderful chef, Paul as well as David. To Samson, Christopher, Idah, Sydwell, Jeremia, Moses, Phanny and so many others. A big ngiyabonga from myself and the BirdLife team. For those of you interested in more specifics on my trip, on localities, guiding information please do not hesitate to contact Brenden Pienaar on taita@birdlife.org.za or check out the www.birdingroutes.co.za website or email me and I will assist you where I can.

Kind regards
Ashwell Glasson

A restful yet invigourating stop

Dear All,

Our last stop at Wakkerstroom with André Steenkamp and Kristi Garland has been absolutely great. The Barn Swallows are back and seem to be growing in numbers here. We had several sightings of them flying into the reed beds to roost at Sunset. We also noted the arrival of Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Stint at the Wakkerstroom wetlands. The paleartic migrants are beginning to match their afro-tropical cousins and are inbound earnestly. Our late afternoon birding yesterday at the wetlands was brilliant, as only Wakkerstroom can deliver. We had African Snipe, a reed bed quartering pair of African Marsh Harriers causing some fuss for their intended prey, a range of ducks and one pair of South African Shelduck, always a lovely sighting for us more easterly birders.

African Rail did a little display whilst nipping between clumps of reeds and our highlight of the day was a sunset interaction between a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron stalking a juicy looking Little Bittern (Payessi race) along a Willow tree overlooking the water’s edge. Our rather nervous Bittern did a slow creep away from the impending threat of the Night Heron who did its very best to look incognito, but was rather unsuccessful. When it got too close for the Bitterns sense of survival it dashed off flying across the road and settled in a stand of reeds in its typical upturned ankle posture watching for reprisals from the now forlorn Night Heron.

Most birds are breeding and we witnessed a few matings of Coots and Ducks. The Wakkerstroom Centre itself is lovingly developing into a new refreshed look under André and Kristi’s care and visitors to the Centre will enjoy the changes no doubts. The surrounding vegetation and fields are a mix of recently burned patches and flush emerald green meadows. The winter rains have certainly ensured a good start to the Spring here.

Kind regards
Ashwell Glasson

Super Sefapane and Tremendous Taita Falcons

Dear All,

After our long trip back towards KZN, we stopped at Sefapane Lodge a Bird Friendly Establishment at Phalaborwa to see Idah, the local bird guide based there and see how she was doing. To our delight Sefapane’s bird list was really good and we managed to pick up on a few extra-birds that we dipped on in Kruger due to the dry-weather. The three dams and the lodge gardens were filled with birds and we managed to get African Mourning Dove, Brown-headed Parrot, Greater-blue Eared Starling, Groundscraper Thrush, Lesser Masked Weaver our first Dierderick Cuckoo of the season. Black Crake and White-faced Duck was also added to the tally. Idah is progressing well and will be taking the early morning bird walks around the lodge and thanks to Brenden Pienaar the Kruger to Canyons Project Manager also getting to know the birds and sites in and around the BaPhalaborwa area.

Evening calls by Scops Owl and the general bird viewing at the dams made for a welcome respite with an early morning cup of coffee to jump-start tired batteries. We proceeded on to JG Strydom tunnel for our longest leg of the trip, which would lead us down to Wakkerstroom via Blyderiver Canyon, Graskop, Sabie, White-river, Nelspruit, Barberton and Piet Retief. It makes for some rewarding back route driving through some spectacular countryside. We stopped at the Abel Erasmus Pass looking for Michael Kumako the local guide with no luck, but managed to track him down at home via cell-phone. Not wanting to disturb him we were going to push on and forego his services and catch up with him on our next training visit in a few weeks. Michael’s unflinching spirit and good nature won as over and we drove up to his home village and picked him up and returned to the site. He sacrificed one of his mornings off for us from his four children, he has two sets of twins unbelievingly, and judging from their fathers influence are fast on track to becoming hard-core Taita custodians themselves. Further conversations with other members of the community demonstrated how almost all adults and a good amount of teenagers knew about the Taita and its importance. That can only be ascribed to Michaels great work and ongoing commitment to the birds, the environment, the area and its people.

Amazingly, without his Bushnell Spotting Scope which is in Johannesburg for repairs, or binoculars he detected the male bird in under thirty seconds at arriving at the viewing site. The male bird was at perch scanning for its staple diet of Rock Martins high above us, but through binoculars and our scope we had lovely clean views of the bird. The birds are nesting and the female is currently out-of-sight unseen waiting for her regular meals to be dropped off by her attentive partner. Interestingly Michael had worked out the average numbers for successful strikes whilst they have been nesting. He witnessed 4 to 7 success strikes per day by the male bird. That is pretty impressive by any margin. Rock Martins feature the highest on the Taita’s diet according to Michael. Michael also showed us the nesting site which for obvious reasons we will not describe and if anyone was actually silly enough to attempt having a crack at it would no doubts be pulled off the mountain by angry stall vendors and local people and would probably conveniently disappear from life. For those passing through wanting to see the Taita’s try and ring Michael (079 261 1559) if you do not find him and check the second stand of stalls after the JG Strydom tunnel. Michael has a stand dead centre amongst the others, with a sign board donated by BirdLife Inkwazi and Bushnell Optics hanging from the roof. Michael also demonstrated his broad knowledge of all the birds in the Abel Erasmus Pass and we completed our pre-assessment planning with him. A short stop at the Blyde River Canyon was a lovely closure to those awe-inspiring mountains. Cape Vulture graced us with their poise and balanced flight and the sight of the Three Rondavels nestled against each other in the early afternoon light was spectacular.

Our journey on to Wakkerstroom was a fairly relaxed drive, although long but we noted the changes in the pasture and vegetation as it transitioned from dry and khaki to light green and eventually deep emerald at Wakkerstroom. Thank you must go to Michael Kumako, Idah, Nelke and Keith Macivar at Sefapane, Brenden Pienaar at Kruger to Canyons and André Steenkamp and Kristi Garland at Wakkerstroom for having us and for all their hospitality and hard work.

Kind regards
Ashwell Glasson

A perfect puddle

It’s certainly a warmer day down here in Durban than expected. This past weekend, I popped up to our farm in the Bushlands district, south of the town of Hluhluwe. Our farm Marual Ridge lies in that dubious border realm between the Eucalyptus plantations and the Sand Forest patches and woodland savanna of Bonamanzi and Bushlands Game Reserve. The journey northwards along the N2 was one of extreme variation. Some rivers like the Nyoni and Matikulu were in full flood above the riverbanks and others like the Hluhluwe were bare trickles in the riverine vegetation. Many youngsters were out and about guiding their cattle on meandering paths seeking decent pasture and grazing. This late winter seems a little more desperate and dry up and around Hluhluwe with a large number of foraging cattle herds in and around areas where I have not traditionally noted them before. I think the pressure for good grazing and perhaps the local economic conditions have made pastoralism even more important than usual. On arriving at home, I noted that the frogs and toads were beginning to vocalise, albeit in a muted fashion, not their usual competitive cacophony of croaking and bubbling calls.

With the welcome rains stifling the dust on the back roads, the birds were far more exuberant and engaging than usual, with road-side puddles and mico-pans filled with bathing Dark-capped bulbuls, sharing a bath seat with Brown-hooded Kingfishers, Yellow Weavers, Village Weavers and even one rather tame Eastern Nicator. Unlike the normal bird parties that one experiences feeding together, this was a pool party, minus the ‘G-n-T’ and the various Tropical Cocktails. Instead of focusing on my varied habitat driven route of birding, I undertook to find puddles and view them from a distance. Sounds a bit tedious and boring, but there were no g-strings or topless bathers in the true sense of the word.

You might find the following interesting when it came to puddle viewing:

1. Dark-capped Bulbuls shared the number one spot with the Red-eyed Mousebirds and Yellow-fronted Canarys’ with an average of 5 birds per puddle.
2. Red-eyed Mousebirds jointly shared number one spot with the Dark-capped Bulbuls.
3. Yellow-fronted Canary’s jointly shared number one spot with the Bulbuls and Mousebirds.
4. Village Weavers were the second most numerous with 4 birds per puddle.
5. Red-eyed Doves came in at approximately 3 birds per puddle.
6. Southern Black Flycatchers came in at a pair of birds per puddle.
7. Brown-hooded Kingfishers came in at 1 bird on average per puddle.

Other interesting species included the aforementioned Nicator, Bearded Scrub-robin and Pale Flycatcher (which became rather less pale after a dip and exfoliation). The score of the day was a single Black Coucal in Bonamanzi off their Southern Fence line that popped in for a bath and snuck off back into the long grass.

Puddle quality also seemed to have a large influence on the birds, with puddles on the fossil dune sand cleaner and attracting a far larger volume of birds, versus puddles found on clay-based substrates which were naturally dirtier. Interesting behaviour was demonstrated by a single Hamerkop who was feeding in association with the bathing birds. Catching small frogs that were being disturbed by the vigorous shakes and twists of bathing Bulbuls. The Hamerkop caught several amphibians and small insects in this fashion, but eventually was driven off by a Black-headed Heron which proceeded to do the same.

Trying new activities or approaches in birding always excites me and I must say that spending an hour or two in the vicinity of an innocuous looking puddle in a Sand Forest patch or adjoining section of flooded savannah can be very productive. It was a true test of patience for me. It is a really worthwhile activity though on a quiet stretch of road or track. I recommend using a scope and setting up at a comfortable distance and allow the birds natural space to feel comfortable to bathe and socialise without any displacement behaviour or unwanted impact. This has been a really nice approach to use in my birding methods.

To the atlassers out there I hope you are all having a great time out there.

Condolences to Lisa and Ben's Family

This year has been a hard one for birding and bird conservation in South Africa. Ben De Boer a really great birder and the pioneer in setting up the Limpopo Bird Routes passed away yesterday after a protracted bout of probable meningitis. It unfortunately led to a stroke after his operation to treat a bad aneurysm as result of the meningitis. Ben's passing will leave a gap for bird conservation and bird-watching tourism in South Africa. His work in training bird guides and assisting local rural communities was exemplary. A teacher by profession, but a conservationist and humanist at heart and a friend to all things wild and free. Ben you are already missed. To Lisa and his family and friends, my thoughts are with you all over this difficult time.

Birding for BirdLife South Africa

I just got back from an interesting trip to Johannesburg for Martin Taylor and BirdLife South Africa. I have joined the team to assist with the consolidation of the bird guide training programme and to see how we can take Birdlife's capacity-building focus further. I must admit I am really excited by the prospect of working with Martin, Mark and the rest of the team.

On a slightly different note I had some cracker viewing of a Little Sparrowhawk over Seaview yesterday which provided some really excellent viewing at perch in a Eucaplytus tree. Towards the Sunset it pulled off heading Westwards, with a the Dark-capped bulbuls, Forked-tailed Drongo's and Spotted-backed Weavers crying foul.

In my local trips around Durban I have noticed a renewed bout of earlish nesting activity by Spotted-backed Weavers in stands of Fever Trees and Ankle-Thorns. Fresh new nests being built with resurgent grass growth in and around the suburbs. The upswing in Lesser-striped Swallows has also seemed rather marked and quite a few individuals are roaming around Westville and down towards Cato Manor.

Swallows aplenty!

 

Well I have not been on my birding blog in awhile. The long weekend of the 24th through to the 27th was absolutely brilliant for some atlassing although we experienced some intermittent wind and rain over the course of our explorations. It was great to see mixed flocks of Swallows with Barn, Wire-tailed and Lesser Striped perched on this telephone line outside Bonamanzi on the way to Hluhluwe. At times we have species richness with mixed Flocks of Grey-rumped, Barn, Lesser Striped, Red-breasted and Wire-tailed Swallows at roost or foraging together.

We did several new pentads and I will be adding those to my next posting. One thing we did notice was the absolute change in early calls and the muted dawn chorus. Winters grip is tightening and even the Purple-crested Tauraco's have changed their call to the more rapid bubbling winter call now. Winter is certainly being felt up in the Maputaland region.

Recommendation: Organsing distant members and groups

Well its official. Trish Strachan and I plus Darren Richter finally got ourselves organised and are in the process of creating an atlasser and birder friendly online resource for the local North Coast, Zululand and Maputaland region.

Whilst working on a formal project with allot of international colleaguesin my company capcity we ended up our using a web-based project management system which has been incredibly user friendly called Base Camp HQ.

Simultaneously, we are searching endlessy trying to find something that would help Trish as our provincial coordinator, myself commuting between Durban and Hlulhuwe as well as Darren in Durban North and other new atlassing members.

Well after much investigation we found out via YouTube actually that National Geographic and the World wildlife Fund (WWF) use Basecamp to run their conservation and documentary projects. We did a months pilot and needless to say it has all turned out really well. It is not as detailed or overly focused as MS Project and similar project management suites and of course relies on very basic internet literacy and the ability to use a schedule. Of course for bird and conservation clubs it is a perfect resource. As we gain ground with the establishment of the atlassing project we expect it to really benefit us significantly. I really recommend that you have a look at it for birding and conservation oriented projects and perhaps even more.

It was Easter but there no chocolate eggs

Well back into civilisation in Durban from an absolutely brilliant Easter weekend with my wife Clare, an avid raptor and Owl fan of note. We did a concentrated atlasing (SABAP2) run across the Elephant Coast or Southern Maputaland region, spanning the iSmangaliso Wetland Park (historically known as St.Lucia) covering areas that have not been atlased or surveyed ornithilogically. Although many keen bird watchers and naturalists have spent many years popping in and out of the region. As you can see on the left our farm is marked by the yellow placeholder right on the edge of the Fasle Bay and Hluhluwe River area, historically known as teh Bushlands District. A mix of eucalyptus forestry, sugar cane, slash & burn agriculture, pineapple farming and ecotourism and conservation operations. A real example of mixed land use. Not necessarily sustainable but a very tangible interface of both modern and historical land use in action.

The regions key stone species or major 'ticks' in bird watching parlance are the Lemon-breasted Canary, Pink-throated Twinspot, Woodwards Batis, Rudds Apalis and Neergards Sunbird. With our early morning forays into the area and its highly diverse habitats we saw all the top species plus a few other regional rarities like Red-headed Quelea, Black Coucal, African Crake plus Rosy-throated Longclaw. The regions major ecological dynamics are driven by the riverine systems interlocking with the estuarine and marine environments as well as being the geological end-point of the Great Rift Valley system which literally ends with the foot hills of Ubombo Mountains at Phinda Game Reserve. Factoring mountains, plus the ocean as well as two major biomes (Forest & Savanna) with the estuary provides the basis for incredible bird watching as well as game viewing for the keen naturalist. We had plenty. We are blessed to own a farm, called Marula Ridge that neighbours the world renown Bonamanzi Game Reserve, which has well conserved portions of estuarine grassland, riverine woodland, wetland marshes, Ilala Palm Savanna, Broad-leafed Woodland and the highly endangered Sand Forest habitat. This lovely birder and family friendly reserve caters to all price ranges as well as tourist types from backpackers through to self-catered chalets and camping sites. The staff are incredibly friendly and welcoming. For a birder this reserve offers a real opportunity to see the regions specials plus more and to also find some time to just unwind.

We spent several hours bird watching and atlassing in this wonderful reserve, where one can watch Red Duiker foraging alongside Terrestrial Brownbuls with elusive Eastern Nicators dashing in to snatch a exposed insect on the forest floor. Pictures will follow shortly with further detail for you all.

From an atlassing perspective, we spent time covering at least four new pentads. STarting from the rarely explored Lower Mkuzi papyrus swamps through to the Manzimbomvu trail in the wilderness area. This avian, plant and ecosystem rich jewel is only accessible by 4 x 4 and it is highly recommended that you travel with at least two vehicles and make usre you have a kinectic rope and highlift jack for the sandy patches and wet areas. It can be great fun, but very daunting so come prepared.

Our top pentad count took us to 197 in 10 hours which was a mammoth count but in a region which tops over 300 bird species it is quite possible. Though I am citing bird numbers my focus is really the conservation status and robustness of such a vast protected area that is the main source of survival for many indigenous Zulu communities that fish, harvest, hunt and live off this amazing land. Climate change is certianly being felt here with extended rains which were still falling this weekend.

Well there were no chocolate Easter eggs but we certainly had a beautiful weekend and we did manage to down some of Woolworths organic dark chocolate with organe pieces as a major consolation prize. Enjoy the rest of the week everyone.

Introduction to ringing!

I would appreciate any inputs here. Although I obtained a trainee ringing permit I unfortunately could not complete it in Gauteng. If any of you have any information on ringing I would appreciate it. I thought that considering Steven was a ringer it might be great to do a article on ringing.Here is an excellent ringing clip with a familiar bird for all of us, the Willow Warbler.

Tribute to Steven Piper!

As stated in my previous posting Steven Pipers passing and loss to global ornithology is truly saddening. The one impact Steven had on my life was to certainly open my eyes to the art of ringing and more than that. The very sense of the precious quality of life. Particularly when holding a beautiful warbler in your hand or gently coaxing a Cape Vulture off after ringing it. I could not really find the inspiration to say anymore about Steven other than the fact that both through his courses, his writings and influence in bird clubs that he was an inspiration to truly contribute to life in a meaningful and profound way. Unfortunately I coudl not find a verse or picture that could remotely capture the spirit of who he was and what he did. I did manage to find a YouTube video clip celebrating life and bird ringing. My own small tribute to Steven.

KZN YBK sighting update, Barn Swallows at Mt. Moreland & Steven Piper's passing.

It has been a great morning with allot of emails coming in regarding sightings of YBK's throughout KZN. It seems like they were seen from Weenen, Highflats, Durban, Toti, Glenwood, Mt. Edgecombe through to Richards Bay. Reports are still coming in from Johannesburg and the Kruger National Park which might indicate birds heading north and in transit.

Interestingly no one has yet to report any sightings of YBK's today. I did not see any myself and perhaps the last remnants are migrating out. Lets see what unfolds this week.

On a slightly separate note and different migrant. Clare and I spent a wonderful late afternoon at the Mt. Moreland Barn Swallow roosting site yesterday. The experience was of epic proportions and just absolutely humbling to see. I must compliment and congratulate the Barn Swallow site conservancy and rate payers association and the local custodians of the site for a well-organised experience. They are a testament to how an important bird area (IBA) can be conserved and utilised sustainably. Their booklet on the entire history, current challenges with the La Mercy/King Shaka airport, ringing activities and visitors statistics is of really high quality and very informative. Using the ringing certificates is also a really innovative idea and I sincerely hope that more support can be garnered for this programme and depth of this wonderful community-conservation-bird partnership.

On a truly sad note, the world renown Professor Steven Piper passed away yesterday. Acclaimed Ornithologist, conservation champion and educator of note. His impact and legacy will be felt for yours to come. His influence at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is Zoology department will not be forgotten. I suspect that many bird-watchers and nature lovers across South Africa and further afield will miss his charm, humour and passion for birds. His role in supporting the Mt.Moreland roost site for the Barn Swallows was a recent achievement not easily underated. He assisted in providing a framework for a successful relationship and scientifically-based solution to the conservation and mitigation of the La Mercy/King Shaka airport operations. Rest well Steven. We shall truly miss your presence and fellowship.

Lurkers on the trot

I was wrong it seems we still have a few Yellow-billed Kite in Durban. On my usual bird atlassing circuit yesterday I saw five birds foraging and quartering in Seaview, Westwood and over the Umegeni River. So my prediction from my first blog was off the mark. Well, I must say I am rather pleased. I love having them around. Yes many might say thay are the most common raptor in the world, but their northerly larger cousins the Black Kites are showing declines across their range and at the migration bottle-necks like Eilat off the Sinai Peninsula and the straits of Gibraltar. Though it seems that we must be in the final stages of their departure from the general KZN region. As noted by Trish Strachan this morning via email she has seen no Yellow-billed kites in the Highflats region in Southern KZN.

The Wahlbergs Eagles were still around 'upsurging' near the Pavillion shopping centre yesterday so I expect to see them as we head out today. With the weather turning for the worse yesterday we opted against going to the Barn Swallow roost at Mt. Moreland, but today the weather has improved and we are going to have a crack at this afternoon.

Hopefully we will pick up a few 'lurking' YBK's that are enjoying the Durban climate, easy foraging and overall abundance of roosting and perching sites. I am sure some last minute migration 'fattening-up' is not going to hurt them either. It should make the success of their migration journey more certain.

Pirates of Durban

The Kite numbers have dropped off significantly over the last two weeks or so, but in and around Durban we are still seeing the odd bird or two. Keeping an eye on their departure has been my primary goal this week and my daily atlassing activities have kept me going. Funny enough spending time constantly looking for the kites has actually relieved some of my eye strain which I suffer with due to the lack of breaks whilst in the office on my laptop. Yes I know I need to take regular breaks, but when the creative urge strikes it does not really like to take five or ten nimuntes here or there.

I have noticed that the Kites seem to almost funnel themselves into groups later in the day and when atlassing into the early evening I have seen small groups heading westwards flying inland. This has been almost as late 6:30 in the evening which is pretty dark, but I have a decent spotting scope which I use when birding from vantage points in decent passage or migration points. The Umgeni River Valley seem like one their transit highways and most evenings I have caught quite a few flying out above the river heading west. With Autumn drawing closer now and the days shortening it is sad to think that the kites will soon be gone, probably arriving in West or Central Africa in the tropical Spring. For me the kites are the epitome of a KwaZulu-Natal Summer comforting me with their constant presence. You can spend an afternoon on your balcony at home looking across the landscape and see the kites in pairs or singly deftly dextrous and spiralling around in courtship displays. I realise now that you can take them for granted, these wonderful birds. I must say the more adverserial part of me loves their plucky attitudes particularly when they corner Pied Crows and other large birds. They really are the pirates of the bird world. They will hunt for themselves, steal from others and forage across their territories with verve and vigour. Lets see whether they are still here over the weekend.

A Lanner Falon on strike!

Taking my wife to King George Hospital yesterday for a quick check up we passed a house just before netering at gate two. When suddenly an adult Lanner Falcon showing his almost rufous cap whizzed by at a neck-breaking speed in front of our car. Dodging through the gate and just passing the security guard who barely saw the lightning fast bird. The bird banked slightly showing its full extension and wings as passed right of my drivers window. My neck is still a bit sore from the sudden jerk to track the course of its flight. As I managed to turn my head I saw the falcon furiously strike a feral pigeon that spotted the falcon at the very last possible chance. I suspect it was hobson's choice, it tried to flee, as it took off the Falcon struck it dead centre on its breast. I have absolutely no doubt that had my window been open we would have heard an audible crack. The Falcon then extended itself into a aggressive 'mantling' posture extending its wings covering the now dead pigeon, craning its head around scanning the sky for any piratical Pied Crows or perhaps the larger and more daunting Yellow-billed Kites. I felt quite conflicted, I had to get my wife to her appointment, but I just wanted to stay and watch this magnificent killing machine feed. Taking a calming breath we drove through the gate and up to the hospital. An hour and half later we returned but there was no sign of the birds except for some bloody feathers and discarded giblets.

I sincerely hope that the bird was able to enjoy its reward without being driven off by a prowling dog or cat. Replaying the event in my mind step-by-step I realised that the Falcon had stooped in with the sun behind it, almost using an old dog-fighting technique from world war one and two where fighter planes would stoop in on bombers and other aircraft with the sun behind them making it difficult to detect their approach. I wonder who first figured out the technique and whether they learned that from observing or working with raptors. Perhaps a falconer or some ornithologist realised that the principles that work for high-speed ambushes for Falcons could be applied to aerial combat. Well yesterday the score was certainly Falcon 1 and Pigeon -1.

Here is a short YouTube video showing a Lanner strike on a Quail. How the person recorded this is amazing, very lucky. It depicts it the bird mantling over its Quail kill.


Here is a really good National Geographic YouTube clip on Peregrine Falcon stooping speeds. The american pilot recorded this particularly falcon 183 mph. That is absolutely mind-blowing.

The dwindling numbers of migrating Yellow-billed Kites

The last few weeks of intermittent rain and humid spells with the ever-shortening sunlight has certainly opened the gateway to shifts in bird migration. The earlier sunsets and later sunrises have promoted many species to begin their migration to their wintering or summer grounds. One of my favourite raptors the rather ubiquitous Yellow-billed Kite or more fondly named, the YBK has all but disappeared, whilst seeing up to fifty or more birds in a day soaring and gliding over Durbans leafy suburbs, we now are lucky enough to see a couple in a day. As an avid amateur bird atlasser I have been keeping tabs on their departure and migration. Today I was lucky enough to see four different birds still active and pirating food from indignant Pied Crows. The YBK in question was a fairly large specimen and managed to snatch away some kind of meat. My only concern was that it took place at the back end of King George hospital. A specialist public hospital for the treatment of tuberclosis and related conditions.

I think the crows must have over-turned a dustbin outside the hospital kitchen and were fighting over the scraps. Lets just hope they were not some post-operative human waste. I expect that by the end of the week the YBK's would have all but migrated on out of Durban heading further North. For you South Africans, keep an eye out for them.

Here is an interesting YouTube video on Yellow-billed Kite feeding behaviour. Its fairly short and should be too long. The video quality is not the best, but you can see some interesting parent-fledgling interactions.

Birding with a purpose

Well, Summer is drawing to an end down in the Southern Hemisphere, even though temperatures are still soaring here in Durban. From a birding perspective, it is quite noticeable with the diminished calls from the cuckoo tribe who seem to have absented themselves from Durban and its surrounds, and their persistent calls have all but disappeared. The repetitive song of most of the cuckoo's is really a sign of Spring and the height of Summer, which really do dominate the bird-patches. Personally I really enjoy watching the interaction between host and parasite. Particularly the Weavers and Diderick Cuckoo, which seems like a war that is never one by either party, only endless small victories here and there. Having said that this year I really have not done much in terms of birding at all in and around Durban as I usually do. Work has been intense and my masters has kept me very busy. We do kick in with the Long Autumn Migration Project (LAMP) via the South African Bird Atlas Project 2 (SABAP2) now which presents another excellent challenge to monitor and regular bird watch the same areas constantly. Keeping accurate records and data of birds observed, both seen and heard throughout a dedicated area. Thank goodness for the precision of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology as well as Google Earth which is a great resource, with its customizable layers.

Clare has been great encouraging me to keep up my birding skills and certainly continue to contribute to various birding projects. We have completed several pentads and field sheets, but have yet to submit them. Piece by piece the data is going in. There has been a ton of discussions around the impact on climate change and birding migration, which I think is going to provide us with some insight into some of the bigger changes that we might expect to see in the Southern Hemisphere and perhaps further afield. With the rapid growth of bird-watching and more participative contributions to bird-watching projects we can really leverage the pool of volunteers out there to get as detailed a picture as possible. Leaving the data-crunching and analysis to the professional ornithologists at the Avian Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Another personal passion for me is raptors, birds of prey who have always stirred my soul. Ah some of the best kills I have ever seen have not been a pride of lions courageously pulling down a buffalo behemoth, but exhilarating strikes by Crowned Eagles outwitting a Vervet Monkey sentry, diving into snatch an unaware simian and deftly snapping its spine with an audible crunch.

Here is a an excellent YouTube video clip of a hunting African Crowned Eagle pursuing a Water Chevrotain in Central Africa. Produced by National Geographic and it is not too long at all. Well worth watching I promise you.

This week we are targeting at least three field sheets for submission to the project and will also be going to see the Swallow roost at Mt. Moreland. Sadly it might be the last year that we get to see the swallows in numbers there, because the new King Shaka International Airport will be completed in the next 12 months or so and the aircraft flight paths head right over the Mt.Moreland wetlands. Till my next blog.