Breeding in the City

About a week ago I had to visit the dentist. Yes - I would have preferred atlasing - but when eating becomes a struggle, then there is not much of a choice. But even so I decided to go atlasing my home pentad for a hour before the appointment. Near the dentist’s consulting room is a nice vlei area and I managed to log a number of species - mostly weavers, mossies and other common garden birds. However the highlight of the morning was when a Hamerkop flew over my head and settled on the ground not far from me.

A really nice surprise. After settling it started to collect nesting material. This must have been something new to her I thought (I later realised my mistake) for she first picked up a rather thick branch and put it in the back of her beak and then tried to collect some grass material, but because her beak could not close completely, the grasses would time and again fall to the ground.
In an effort to locate the nest I ran after her as she flew away with the single branch in her beak. She flew straight to the nest which was located in a big Willow-tree next to the stream. Another bird also joined her on the nest and they immediately paired (now you know how I know which bird is male and female :-).

The nest was already pretty big - so the construction of the nest must have started a long time ago. I will keep an eye on them and see how the nesting activities progress.

However that is not the only unusual breeding event in our area. I were called a few nights ago by someone who told me that Lesser-masked Weavers are breeding in front of the Totiusdal Post Office. I had a look the next day and found a tall palm tree with the characteristic long entrance nests of the Lesser-masked Weaver’s. A few minutes later male birds in full breeding plumage arrived and I could confirm the identification - whitish eyes, grey legs and the distinctive head pattern. Of the three weaver species (the other two are Village and Southern-masked Weavers) the Lesser-masked Weaver is the least common in our area and even more so within city boundaries. According to the reference works they do nest in “busy” areas and also away from water but the nests that I have seen in the past were always at least in the vicinity of water - in this instance there is no water nearby. So why they have chosen this spot only they will know. But I do not mind for years they have been one of my bogey birds for the yearly 100km Gauteng challenge. So to have them so near to my home is a bonus!

A Century

I will always remember the cricket commentator who could never understand why 100 runs is so much more important than 99. Somehow he could not comprehend that we as human beings like to set ourselves challenges – so although there might only be a one run difference between 99 and 100 – if a batsman is out on 99 he might have contributed valuable runs for his team, but he failed to reach the target that he himself or the sport in general has defined.

So what has this to do with birding and atlasing you might ask? Most birders also set themselves targets – to get to 700 species in Southern Africa, submit 100 SABAP2 lists before the end of the year etc. Most of it totally futile, but it creates interest and set a challenge. In the same way I decided to set myself a challenge of getting 100 species in a days birding within one pentad. Not an impossible task at all – many others have already achieved this – but I wanted to do it for myself and I thought it will only be achieved with lots of planning and careful analysis of habitats and the best roads to travel.

So when I was invited to visit the local bird club in Brits to give a talk on the atlas, I decided to combine the trip with some atlasing of pentad 2515_2730 – south of Vaalkopdam. I met up with Jannie Jansen in Brits and after 50 more kilometres we entered the pentad and started atlasing. The first few minutes were dreadful. Lots of cars on the main road and even when we tried a less travelled side road to the cement factory, large trucks made it virtually impossible to bird or hear any birds calling. So our number of species climbed very slowly. After a hour we had 32 species.

We decided to move on to Donald Peake’s farm – Tweerivier. On the way we saw some Red-billed Oxpeckers – always nice to see that they are doing well. As we entered the farm the first more unusual sighting of the day - a Kittlit’z Plover. Around Donald’s house we could tick numerous species. Especially rewarding was the presence of Southern Masked Weaver, Village Weaver and Lesser Masked-weaver – all within meters of each other. The Village Weavers were eating from the seed feeder and the Lesser Masked-weavers were building their nests in the three long Palm trees in the yard – using the palm leaves as nesting material.

It was time for a break, ate a fantastic farm breakfast and I quickly took Donald and Jannie trough the SABAP2 protocol and software. Jannie at one point joked that I will get my 100 species today – but I did not believe him – sorry Jannie.

Donald then offered to show us the area. His farm and the surrounding farms form part of the Crocodile Irrigation scheme. Some artificial wetlands and dams were created – with the water being pumped from the Crocodile river into these water bodies. The first wetland was full of coots, ducks, grebes, cormorants and egrets. A number of Black Herons were seen and two Hottentot Teals flew past. A few waders have also returned and we could tick Wood Sandpiper and Ruff on our lists. We left the dams with 94 species on my list.

Driving back we saw some female Wattled Starlings and then the highlight of the day – a pair of Temmicks Coursers. Wow - every time I see them I am amased how beautiful they are. While watching them a Greater Kestrel caught something right in front of us – unfortunately we could not identify the prey. And that was it – 100 species! A few more species were ticked in the remainder of the trip and I ended on 104.

So with no planning I managed to get my target. Driving back I felt a little bit disappointed – thought it was going to be more of a challenge. Never satisfied I suppose…..

On the left a section of the pentad can be seen. The crocodile river and the circles created by the center-pivot irrigation can clearly be seen. Some of the wetlands mentioned above are also visible. The sightings have been logged with Cybertracker.

Atlasing and Twitching

I know for a fact that there are many people in our part of the world who believe that atlasing and twitching do not mix. You are either a twitcher or an atlaser. But I knew it would only be a matter of time before this perception is proved wrong. It took a while but during the past two weeks this is exactly what happened.

Last week one of our atlasers Michal Groenewald went atlasing to try and submit a list for the Communal Atlasing Week. He chose a pentad in the Centurion area and between all the ducks, wagtails and plovers he found a Franklin’s Gull! Only the second known inland record! After receiving his frantic call the family grabbed the binocs and 30 minutes later we could add this wonderful species to our life lists.

So you see if it wasn’t for atlasing al us twitchers would have missed out. And it is all very simple – rarities can pitch up anywhere in the country. So the more atlasers we get to atlas or bird on a regular basis the bigger the chance that something special will be discovered.

The other interesting observation I made during the last few weeks is how important a House Sparrow can become to an atlaser. I did my home pentad again over the weekend and the species total were not so great so when I saw a House Sparrow to take the total number of species over 40, I was really pleased.

But I will admit not as pleased as seeing the Franklin’s Gull. And he deserves special mention – after all he did fly all the way from America to come and have a look at our beautiful country!

I'm Jealous!

Jealously is not a good thing and like all human beings I try my best not to succumb to this rather nasty habit. But then I receive an email from a birding friend and atlaser, Etienne Marais, only one short paragraph with two photos attached.

The photos are taken in his garden. The first of a beautiful Little Sparrowhawk, the second of the same bird guarding his bird bath! Apparently a regular appearance. I was lucky to see this bird breeding in a big tree just in front of Etienne's home a few years ago (it was a lifer for my wife) and then I already had to suppress that nasty feeling mentioned above. I get ecstatic when the Red-headed and Cut-throat Finches visit my feeders in my garden or when I heard and saw a Grey-headed Bush-shrike in my garden for the first time a few weeks ago. Raptors - never had one in my garden. Or maybe more correct - not that I know of. The nearest raptor I had in my garden are all the Yellow-billed Kites that fly over my garden in summer. In my garden - not so lucky.

But that is not the end of the story - for in the same email he included a photograph of a Spotted Eagle-Owl that is also a regular visitor to his garden. Something really special to have in you garden - isn't it.

So I will just have to settle for it - some people have all the luck.

By the way Etienne has a really nice website at http://www.birding.co.za/.

We have been informed that the first Yellow-billed Kite's have arrived - so summer is nearly here!

Sometimes I wonder if atlasing is fun

In many of my postings below I have emphasized a number of times what fun it is to do bird atlasing. And that is certainly the case. But I will be the first to admit that sometimes there might be that fleeting moments when even I will wonder if what I am doing can be considered as fun. During Sunday’s outing to the north of Cullinan I had exactly such a moment.

I did a pentad about 10km north of Cullinan – on the Gauteng border. An interesting area with lots of different habitats and some interesting species as for instance Tinkling Cisticola – an uncommon species for the Gauteng area.

But on Sunday after 1 hour of birding and nearly freezing to death I had exactly 8 birds on my list – yes that is correct EIGHT! So you cannot blame me if I did not consider this fun. But I decided to continue and although the eventual number of species came to only 44, I had great FUN and recorded some interesting birds.

The first interesting sighting was an African Harrier-hawk climbing around in trees as only they can do. My second sighting of this species during the last few weeks. Secondly I had a number of Striped Pipits. This is a common species in the pentad – at Little Eden. But I have never seen them outside of Little Eden - although I am sure other birders have. They were recorded on three occasions – sometimes next to the car and always near rocky areas.

Even more interesting was the record of a Red-headed Weaver. Again in some parts of the country a common species – but not so in Gauteng (I might be wrong – if you have more info please let me know by leaving a comment at the end of the posting). In fact it seems that as soon as the record is accepted it will be the first record for this species in Gauteng for SABAP2.

Unfortunately the Tinkling Cisticola was nowhere to be seen. Taking into consideration the weather I cannot blame them!

And yes - I had great fun.

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.