Trip Report: Nylsvley and Mkombo

Natasja and I visited the Nylsvley floodplain and Mkombo dam over the past three days. We had a wonderful time and saw some fantastic birds and bird behaviour. 

The Nylsvley area is still quite dry and waterbirds numbers were low. However the first pentad we did between Modimolle and Nylsvley had some nice patches of water and we recorded lots of African Snipes, two Yellow-billed Egrets as well as Wood Sandpiper, Purple Heron and African Jacana. The grassland areas had Banded Martin which remains one of my favourite martins!  It was also good to record Red-billed Oxpeckers again (at Mkombo dam we recorded nearly 20!), a species that is becoming more and more common again and a nice illustration that conservation efforts can be successful. Another interesting species recorded was Wattled Starling and although not an unusual species to record in the area we only recorded one or two each time, usually they occur in large flocks. We recorded 85 species in this pentad. Not too bad at all! 

We then met with a farmer in the more northern section of the floodplain (hold thumbs if all goes well the protections status of this part of the floodplain might soon receive a higher conservation status) and during and after the meeting we saw a flock of Abdim’s Storks and two Black-chested Snake-Eagles. 

On Saturday evening we did another pentad near Nylsvley Nature Reserve and had nice birds such as Burnt-necked Eremomela and Grey-backed Cameroptera. Cape Vultures roosted on the power line structures. In the late evening an outbreak of ant flies attracted tons of birds and it was fantastic to see how species, for example Grey Go-away-birds, which would usually not eat insects or catch insects in flight, helped them to this food source. At one point we counted near to 15 species feeding on the gravel road including a Burchell’s Coucal! One the way back to the lodge we had a nightjar we could not indentify but the Marsh Owl a few minutes later made up for the disappointment! 

On Sunday we visited Nylsvley Nature Reserve. We had 63 species in this pentad with most of the birding done inside the reserve. The highlight must have been the Lizard Buzzard that posed beautifully on a dead tree. I have not seen one for a while so it was nice to meet this species again. A Levaillant’s Cuckoo was seen near the Jacana Hide while a Bearded Woodpecker also announced its presence by its tapping. How they keep tapping like that for such a long period of time remains a wonder of nature. We are 99% sure we saw an out of range immature Spectacled Weaver. Another atlaser recently recorded this species nearby and it would be interesting to hear about other records of this species in this area as it might be an indication of a change in distribution. 

We planned to take a break on Monday, sleep late and relax but the Facebook posting by Etienne about the African Skimmer at Mkombo Dam necessitated a change in plans and by 11:00 we were on our way to Mkombo. This is a beautiful area and even without all the specials in the area you can easily spend a day here birding. We met up with some birding friends and a few hours later we had beautiful views of this immature skimmer. Such a shame that they are now considered extinct in South Africa. Other interesting species seen were Yellow Wagtail and Western Osprey. This spot must now rank as one of the best places in the wider Gauteng region to see Osprey. The wagtails were not as yellow as those we saw a few weeks back at Northern Farm but still a nice species to see as they feed between the cattle. Speaking of cattle, one decided for some strange reason to rest its head on my car’s engine cap. Why I have no clue – it was nearly 30 degrees outside and the engine even hotter! Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters were seen and heard a number of times – what a beautiful species. As can be expected there were tons of waterbirds. Although a relatively common species I always enjoy watching Goliath Herons – such majestic birds. How they manage to fly remains somewhat of a mystery to me. A fantastic site to visit and we will certainly do so many times in future. 

Natasja and I set us the challenge to see 300 species in the December period in the wider Gauteng area (bit wider than the 100km radius) and these trips gave us a massive boost towards this target. Now we can look forward to a few more trips in December to find the species we need.

Little Sparrowhawk in my garden

We were pleasantly surprised when an immature Little Sparrowhawk visited our garden today. It caught a small bird - not sure what it was but looked like a small dove. It stayed for most of the day eyeing the birds at our water fountain!! It remained in the same tree for more than 4 hours and was not seen after that. A nice addition to our garden list.

Ovambo Sparrowhawk at Derdepoort Recreational Park

I atlased Dedepoort recreational park today. A nice range of birds were seen but the highlight was an Ovambo Sparrowhawk. It was seen a number of times flying between the exotic trees in the park. A nice area to bird as you can walk through the park and the entrance fee is around R20. However be warned that it can become rather noisy during weekends - so choose your visiting time wisely!!

Wattled Starling in my garden

My new water fountain had a new visitor today in the form of a male Wattled Starling!! I know of one other record in our area before, but this is certainly not a common bird in our neighbourhood!!

We tried to take some photos but unfortunately they are not good enough. So you will just have to trust me!!!

White Storks at Rust-de-Winter

This morning I atlased the pentad between Rust-de-Winterdam and the town. Birding was slow but I saw some nice species. The surprise of the morning was 5 White Storks feeding in the agricultural fields. Maybe they have decided to stay here for winter as more and more White Storks do.

One of the White Storks can be seen here next to a Cattle Egret

Other interesting species I encountered were Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver (more than usual), Yellow-throated Pretonia, Southern White-crowned Shrikes, Southern Pied Babblers and lots of Pearl-spotted Owlets (even two together)!!

Magpie Shrikes are very common in the Rust-de-Winter area.

Sunbird Feast!!

While birding this morning I thought the title of this message should be "patience, patience...". I atlased the Seringveld and birding was really slow. It was cold, windy and unpleasant. The birds must also have thought so as for long periods they were nowhere to be seen. During the first hour I had 29 species. However during the second hour I could only add THREE. I tried all sort of roads I have not travelled before, but nothing...I was ready to go home and call it a day but decided to continue. The third hour was a lot better and I eventually managed to see 51 species. Not a great total at all, but better than I thought it would be.


The highlight of the morning was not a rarity but a whole bunch of sunbirds!! Next to the road was a large patch of Wild Dagga (also called Lion's Ear) Leonotis leonurus. They are in full bloom at the moment and can be seen all around Pretoria (by the way if you are looking for information about plants in South Africa, I found the following website of SANBI of great value: http://www.plantzafrica.com/). This patch had about 25+ sunbirds feeding in it. The majority were White-bellied Sunbirds with a few Amethyst and one Marico male. They were calling insistently and sometimes competing for the same flower. Really something special to see. Now would you think that with all that sunbirds around it is easy to get some great photographs - alas not...

Roodeplaatdam NR and Northern Farm

On Thursday afternoon I visited Roodeplaatdam NR and on Saturday Northern Farm. At Roodeplaatdam NR I had two very interesting records namely Brown-back Honeybird and Striped Pipit. Brown-backed Honeybird is not a common species in our area so it is always nice to see them.

The Striped Pipits were way out of their normal habitat, maybe they were only moving through this area. This is a new species for me for this reserve.

I love to visit Northern Farm for there is always a chance of seeing something interesting. It was no different this time around. You can learn more about this venue by visiting the following website: http://www.northernfarm.co.za/.

This must now be one of the best spots in Gauteng to see Comb Duck and I had nice views of them while they were walking with Egyptian Goose on the agricultural lands. On land they look rather comical I must say....

In the vlei area at the northern boundary of the pentad I saw a group of Orange-breasted Waxbills, to me the highlight of the morning’s birding. This was a relatively common species in Gauteng a few years back, but during the last two years a few birders mentioned to me, and it was also my experience, that these beautiful waxbills are nowhere to be seen. It was really good to see that they are still around. But I am still worried about their numbers…..

Other interesting species seen were Long-crested Eagle, Goliath Heron, Hottentot Teal, Great-crested Grebe and African Fish-eagle. The Fish-eagle’s call had the mountain bikers that were driving past me very excited especially as it was sitting right above me in a tree – however the bird they referred to was a White-breasted Cormorant!!! The Fish-eagle sat at its usual vantage point on the other side of the dam….

Buffelsdrift pentad - 102 species

Last week I decided it is time for another list with 100 plus species! So the past weekend was spent in the Buffelsdrift pentad – a pentad to the west of Roodeplaatdam. I suppose I could have chosen a better pentad to look for 100 species, but during my visit to this area last week (see previous post) I saw lots of birds and thought if I spend enough time in the pentad 100 species could be a possibility.

EarlySaturday morning myself and Rob Geddes (an atlaser who has submitted literally 1000s of incidental sightings to the SABAP2 project) listened for owls and nightjars and our patience paid off when we were able to tick Marsh Owl and Fiery-necked Nightjar. The resident Barn Owls kept quiet but luckily Rob heard them the next morning and I could add them to the list. As it got light we ticked a number of common species and the River Warblers were also calling again. The melodious calls of White-browed Scrub-Robin and White-throated Robin-Chat were heard as well as Marsh Warbler.

A little bit of a surprise were two African Black Ducks flying over us – I suppose on the way to a river in the area where they can usually be found. Also flying past was a group of Black-faced Waxbills. I would have loved to watch them for a while – but as they moved on it was not to be. Groundscraper Thrushes entertained us with their antics on the telephone lines and White-bellied Sunbirds enjoyed themselves in the flowers around us.

Two Violet-backed Starlings flew past – so they are still with us and a family of Burnt-necked Eremomela’s moved through the trees. Two Cuckoo species were recorded namely Diederick and Levaillant. A Bearded Woodpecker tapped like mad. Amazing group of birds – the woodpeckers.

With just over 70 species on my list when I left Rob’s farm I had some work left to do to get to 100 species but I kept going and added White-throated Swallow, African Grey Hornbill, European Bee-eater and maybe the highlight of the two day’s of atlasing - Common House-Martin. The only raptor for the weekend was a Black-shouldered Kite. I returned home with 85 species on my list. My only hope to get to 100 species was to find some waterbirds the next day.

The pentad is cut in two by the N1 highway and I did not give much thought to bird the strip of the pentad to the NW of the highway. But Rob suggested that I have a look at the wetland there and also look out for ducks at the dams at Ludwig’s Roses. The dams contained nothing but the wetland and surrounding area were a big surprise. On the road next to the highway (not near the wetland) I ticked Grey-backed Camaroptera, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Black-crowned Tchagra and Marico Sunbird.



The Marico Flycatchers were vary tame and posed nicely for a photo or two. The wetland did not contain a lot of water but I am certainly going to keep this area in mind for a visit next summer. It must contain lots of flufftails and crakes and with the road network running through it I think it might just be possible to see some of the secretive birds crossing the roads. Woodland Kingfisher, Lesser Swamp-Warbler and Cape Longclaw were seen or heard as well as some bishops and widowbirds.

My final total was 102, but of more significance to me is the fact that it is possible to see more than 100 species in 5 hours in this area! Parts of it are totally degraded and there is a major highway running through it! I am certainly blessed with such variety within a few minutes drive from my home.

River Warbler - lifer - eventually

We all have our bogey birds. I still have lots. But luckily I can take one of my list - River Warbler. But the saga begins a long time back - about 4 years ago I think.

I was still an active ringer at the time and together with my son we left early one morning to do some ringing on the farm Buffelsdrift. On the way to the meeting point my son fell sick and I had to return home and as my wife was at work that day could not return for the ringing session. A few hours later I got a call from the ringers - they caught a River Warbler!! With my son still not feeling well there was no chance of going to see it.....

The following year (I think) the bird club visited Wolfhuiskraal and there on the Zaagkuildrift road we sat for hours under the trees listening to this bird's characteristic call. But still no luck seeing it.

The next summer I visited Rust de Winter - again a single bird was calling as if his life depends on it. But seeing it - no way. Twice I returned to the same spot - still no luck.

So with not much hope I returned this week to Buffelsdrift to try my luck again - the same place I missed the species a few years ago. The story begins very similar to the previous years - three individuals were heard and we quickly moved closer to a spot where the bird was seen earlier in the week. Now I must state here, that I have rather strict "rules" as to how well I must see a bird in order to tick it for my life list. I want to see most of the identification features of a bird before ticking it and while trying to do so have already missed a few species in the process. But driving to Buffelsdrift I decided to make an exception this time - even if I see the bird for 5 seconds I am going to tick it. Forget about seeing the distinctive undertail patterns etc. I paid my dues on this one!!! And that is exactly what happened - I saw it - no distinctive features but believe me - I saw it! Somehow I expected a smallish warbler so was surprised by its size and "thick" tail. Really a great feeling to see it after so many years and hours of trying.

Now I am prepared to bet you a few rand that next year I will see this species calling in every tree, it always works like that with me and bogey birds!!

But somehow seeing this bird has made me more intrigued with it - where do they go during the day, where are they the rest of the summer, what do they eat etc. We still have so much to learn - don't we?

Water - the source of life!

We recenlty bought a small water fountain with a pump and what a pleasure it has been to watch the birds bathing and drinking from this new water source.

The fountain has different levels and as we hoped, different species uses different levels - the white-eyes enjoy the top level where the water runs through small holes and cracks while the thrushes and doves enjoy the deeper middle level where they can bath and drink as they whish. The deep bottom level that contains the pump is not that popular - although the dogs love to drink water from it!!!!


But as in all things in life some birds want it all for themselves - the thrushes have now decided this is their oasis and chase away every other bird that want to come and have a drink. So the bulbulls, sparrows and weavers have to wait patiently for their chance to drink. However a Karoo Thrush is no match for a Red-eyed Dove - they just fly in and everything else have to move away. Real bullies.

I think we are going to have tons of fun watching "our" birds using this new toy. Mmmm...maybe another opportunity for a new species list.......

Home Pentad Atlassing

I did my home pentad yesterday and got over 50 species in the first two hours. In contrast to previous atlasing surveys in this area, I took a different route and also visited some patches that I did not even know existed in this pentad. So although not uncommon species for the Pretoria area some interesting species were logged.

The African Green Pigeons moved up the order of my list rather dramatically as they can be seen early in the morning feeding in the fig tree in our garden. In winter they are nowhere to be seen.



I ticked Black-crowned Tchagra, Black-throated canaries and Black-chested Prinia at the Magaliesberg and a flock of European Bee-eaters - so they are still around. It seems to me as if Blacksmith Lapwings are getting more common in our area for they are now regularly ticked which was not so a year ago. In a patch of bushveld in the Derdepoort area I got Brown-crowned Tchagra, Purple Indigobird and its host Jameson's Firefinch.

The number of swallows is down and I recorded one Lesser Sstriped Swallow and one Greater Striped Swallow. No Barn Swallows. In the moist area next to the stream Thick-billed Weaver and Brown-hooded Kingfisher were seen.

Back at home "my" African Hoopoes and Green Wood-hoopoes could be added to the list.

Thank you also to Philip Calinikos who once a week submits his list for my home pentad - he always provides me with a few species to add to my list!!!

What a way to begin 2009

Myself and Stephan Terblanche decided to do our bit to get Gauteng to 100% coverage by atlasing one of the few remaining virgin pentads in Gauteng on 2 Janaury 2009. This pentad (2520_2800) covers the western section of the Tswaing Nature Reserve while the rest of the pentad consists of mostly rural villages.

We had a fantastic beginning when one the first birds we could add to our 2009 year list was a Bronze-winged Courser!! Sitting in the middle of the road!!

This sighting was quickly followed by a string of more common species as for instance Red-chested Cuckoo, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Grey-backed Camaroptera, European Bee-eater and Crimson-breasted Shrike. The pan itself had lots of water and we could tick Cape Teal, Ruff and Black-winged Stilt. While scanning the water from the rim of the crater, a Striped Pipit called from its perch near us. A female Thick-billed Weaver prompted some remarks about how far this species have expanded their distribution in recent years. Black and Diderick Cuckoo also made themselves heard.

We then went for a walk through the reserve and could tick some very nice species including a few raptors namely Amur Falcon (we thought for a moment we also saw Red-footed Falcon but could not confirm the ID), Steppe Buzzard, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Yellow-billed Kite, Brown Snake-Eagle and Black-shouldered Kite.

The second highlight of the day was a flock of Black-winged Pratincoles. Always nice to see.

This was quickly followed up with the third highlight of the morning - Common Whitethroat, sitting only a few meters from us. Icterine and Willow Warbler were seen a few meters from each other and the difference in size and feeding behaviour could be nicely seen. The walk back to the car through the veld was tough but for our efforts a Kurrichane Buttonquail was flushed right in front of us.

Leaving the reserve we had listed just under 80 species and with lots of common species missing from our list we thought we would try to get to 100 by driving through the villages in the remainder of the pentad. As I have now reported regularly on my blog the fact that the atlas "forces" you to visit areas that you would otherwise not visit, has it advantages. We found a number of dams and vleis right between the villages and we could tick a number of more common water birds. Of these Great Reed-Warbler was a really nice record. We soon passed the 100 species mark – only the second time that I have personally managed to reach this milestone for SABAP2.

A fantastic day of birding!

Atlasing - December 2008

Here are some of the more interesting sightings I had during the past few days while atlasing in the Pretoria area.

2008/12/04 (Wonderboom NR) - pleasantly surprised by the state of this reserve - long views of Black Cuckoo and then had Diederick, Red-Chested and Klaas's calling, Spotted Thick-knee breeding, Rock Martin and the highlight Striped Pipit (on the south side of the fort).

2008/12/08 - 2535_2815 (West of Roodeplaatdam) - As in most pentads Diederick, Red-chested and Black Cuckoo and Violet-backed Starling (M and F).

2008/12/10 2530_2820 and 2530_2815 (North of Roodeplaatdam)- Gabar Goshawk, Lesser Grey Shrike, Bearded Woodpecker, Shaft-tailed Whydah, Long-tailed Paradise Whydah, Jacobin Cuckoo and Great Spotted Cuckoo (Imm).

2008/12/11 2510_2830 en 2505_2835 (Rust-de-Winter) - Jacobin Cuckoo, African Spoonbill, Gabar Goshawk (2 imm), Lots of Amur Falcons, Lesser Grey Shrike, Levaillant's Cuckoo, Bennett's Woodpecker, Common Swift. The 2505_2835 pentad is fantastic (have a look on P194 of The Chaimberlain Guide to birding in Gauteng, the road marked point 20-21, but go even more north by taking the road to the small village of Rapotokwane. I think it might even be possible to go further north but I had to return home and could not investigate further - I will spend a full morning later in this pentad).

White-bellied Sunbird Nest - Pretoria Botanical Gardens

For the last few years I had the honour to regularly lead outings for SANBI at the Pretoria Botanical Gardens. While waiting on Saturday 25 October for the attendees of such an outing to arrive my curiosity was raised when a White-bellied Sunbird female flew past me straight into a Cycad a few meters from me - reappearing a few seconds later. A few minutes later the same thing happened and upon further investigation I found the nest of this beautiful sunbird bound against one of the "thorny" leafs of the cycad. When my outing had to start - I left them in peace.
The outing itself was great and we managed to inter alias record Brown-backed Honeybird and the now, it seems, resident Orange-breasted Bush-shrikes.

The next morning I decided to see if I could get a photograph of the nest without disturbing the sunbirds too much. In order to get a nice view of the nest I had to press the camera through the outside leafs and started to click away.

To my utter amazement the female flew in again and entered the nest right in front of me! Luckily I remember to keep taking photos and managed to get some nice ones. I then left the nest and she returned again in a few minutes. I did not hear any chicks calling but she was certainly carrying worms, so they must have been inside the nest.

The nest was about 1.5m above the ground. The cycad was one of a few on the grass patch before the entrance. According to Tarbotan’s "A guide to the nests and eggs of Southern Africa Birds" the nest of the White-bellied Sunbird “is characteristically (but not invariably) placed in a thorny plant” (P233). Cycads are not listed as one of these plants but I suppose it is somewhat thorny – so it fits.

Hundreds of people must have walked past the nest and I can only wonder how many might have noticed the cycad but not the nest inside it!

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.