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.