Flamingos need your help

There are not many success stories in conservation. So when they do happen these projects need to be appreciated, nurtured and enjoyed.

That is how I felt about the fantastic work that was done at Kamfersdam near Kimberley - where a haven was built for breeding Lesser Flamingos. Not only did thousands of chicks bred there during the past year but this project was also a nice example of the co-operation between a number of role players including the mining sector.

The following information is posted about this colony on the http://www.savetheflamingo.co.za/ website:

- Kamfers Dam supports the largest permanent population of Lesser Flamingos in southern Africa, with at times up to an estimated 60 000 individuals (comprising more than 50% of the southern African population).- Large numbers of Lesser Flamingos are attracted to the wetland to feed due to the very high concentration of the flamingos’ food, blue-green algae, in the dam’s water.- During 2007/8 Lesser Flamingos bred on a purpose-built island on Kamfers Dam, producing an estimated 9000 chicks. The island was constructed by Ekapa Mining for which they received the prestigious Nedbank Capital Green Mining Award.

- Kamfers Dam is currently the only breeding locality for Lesser Flamingos in South Africa (See photo left - from the above mentioned website - Mark Anderson).

However it was with great sadness that we had to learn that this colony is now under severe threat. The reason: raw sewerage from the Kimberley Water Treatment works are flowing into Kamfersdam with a detrimental effect on the health of the colony. I quote again from the above mentioned website:

"Scientists have recently become concerned about abnormalities on Kamfers Dam’s flamingo chick’s legs, including swollen tibio-tarsal joints and lesions (open sores) on the birds’ tarsi. Veterinary pathologists suspect that these abnormalities may be related to the dam’s water quality. Studies are being conducted in collaboration with international veterinarians, eco-toxicologists and ornithologists to determine the reasons for the observed abnormalities".

Please show your support for this wonderful project by “signing” a petition on the web. Goto http://www.savetheflamingo.co.za/, select petition, fill in a form with your personal particulars and you will soon receive an email which you must click in order to confirm your support for this project.

Please also lookout for news in the media about this issue.

Atlasing my Home Pentad: Lots of Interesting Birds

After a hectic week’s work it was really nice to break out and do some birding in my home pentad. And as usual some interesting birds were seen.

But let me first go back to last week and tell you about two other new species I saw for my home pentad list. During one evening while driving back from the Pizza shop, I had excellent views of Spotted Eagle-owl – first flying next to the road and it then settled on a telephone pole. I have seen a photo of a Spotted Eagle-Owl in our area a few years ago – so I knew they were around but nice to actually see one. Other owls that I have recorded in the past are Barn Owl (heard) and Southern White-faced Scops-Owl. I caught this little owl after it was hit by a car and took it to a rehabilitation centre.

The second new bird for the pentad was seen yesterday when, while driving in Montana, I saw a Mountain Wheatear. This is certainly not an uncommon bird in the rocky areas to the north of Pretoria, but I have never seen one so near Pretoria or in one of its suburbs. So a nice surprise.

Back to today’s atlasing. In order to cover the pentad well I need to visit the Pretoria Botanical Gardens. Most of the species that will occur in this pentad can be seen there and there is always the chance to see something more uncommon. Today was no different. The one bird I am always looking for when visiting the gardens is Brown-backed Honeybird (I must say I whish they kept the name Sharp-billed Honeyguide). The last few visits I missed out but found it today sitting high up in a dead tree, its profile clearly visible – sharp forehead and thin beak. Its white outer tail feathers could clearly be seen in flight.

The second big surprise came in the form of an African Harrier Hawk that flew low over the gardens. What a beauty!

Seeing the many Crowned Lapwings in the garden, I thought back to a nest I found in the garden a few years ago. I checked the nest regularly for a season in order to submit the data to NERCS. What I found was a nest not lined with the usual pebbles but with the droppings of a Scrub-hare.! I could not find anything in the literature of other instances where the droppings of a hare have been used to line a lapwing’s nest. The photo shows the nest with the droppings.