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.