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.