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WITWATERSRAND BIRD CLUBISSUE NO 245 DECEMBER 2015

P O Box 641Cresta 2118

Tel: 011 782 7267Fax: 086 512 7696

Email: witsbc@mweb.co.zaWeb: www.witsbirdclub.org.za

Inside this issue:

Honorary President Lance Robinson

Chairman Andy Feather-stone

Vice-Chairman Koos van Dÿk

Treasurer Sandy Goodall

Courses Janice Isom

Conservation Lance Robinson

Evening Meetings Lia Steen

Website Thinie van der Merwe

Youth Grant Morrison

East Rand Satellite Chairman

Awie Coetzee

Henley-on-Klip Satellite Chairman

David Ludlow

West Rand Satel-lite Chairman

Koos van Dÿk

Programme Ginny Mes

Club Secretary Lauraine Leigh

Cover Design: Philip TarbotonCover Photo: Sociable Weaver’s nest by Patrick Cardwell

2 Letter from the Chair

3 Getting the wind up! by Maggie Langlands

6 A visit to the Karoo National Park by Anthony Cavanagh

8 Birding The Great North Road & Beyond - WBC by Patrick Cardwell

14 Four days in Ghana by Lesley Cornish

17 3000Km Solo Cycle Ride To Launch New Conservation Pro-ject For The Orange-Breasted Waxbill (Amandava subflava) by Eelco Meyjes

24 Update on EWT Livestock Guardian Dogs by Derek van der Merwe

27 The Witwatersrand Bird Club and the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary – a 43 year-long as-sociation by Geoff Lockwood

30 Mass killing continues on Brit-ish military base in Cyprus by BirdLife Cyprus

33 Eight million birds killed ille-gally every year at 20 eastern Mediterranean locations by BirdLife International

37 Bird of the Year 2016 - Sociable Weaver

38 Rarities and Unusual Sightings Report: 31 March 2016 com-piled by André Marx

2016 Committee:

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LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Dear Members,

Sadly our summer visitors have nearly all departed for warmer climes and winter is almost upon us. Having just returned from a weekend atlasing around Nylsvley, as part of our local conservation group (LCG) activities, I was reminded that there are still plenty of interesting resident birds to see at this time of the year and we even have a few winter altitudi-nal migrants heading our way. Ginny Mes has prepared another exciting programme of day and weekend trips and I am sure you will find something to tempt you out on a cold winter’s morn.

The AGM was held in February and the 2016 Committee is now in place (including new members and all Sat-ellite Chairman) with Koos van Dÿk elected as Vice-Chairman and my-self as Chairman. We look forward to another successful year for the Club and hope that you will continue to support our efforts on your behalf. One of the main items discussed and ratified at the AGM was the adoption of a revised Club constitution. One of the changes required was our le-gal relationship to BirdLife SA (we’re now an affiliated Club) and it is no longer compulsory to be a member of BirdLife SA to be a member of our Club. I would, however, strongly urge to maintain your BirdLife SA member-ship. BirdLife SA are the only dedi-cated bird conservation organisation

and every cent given to them is used to make sure our birds are protect-ed, either through researching their specific needs, or opposing develop-ments that would irrevocably inter-fere with their habitat.

We were able to present the audited accounts at the AGM and our thanks go to our treasurer, Sandy Goodall, and our auditors, HLB Barnett Chown, for their supreme efforts. One criti-cism that has been heard on a couple of occasions recently is that we have a large sum of money ‘in the bank’ so why are the members not directly benefitting from this? In particular, why should we pay Club membership fees or any nominal mark-up on trips and outings? Unfortunately, should we follow this route of spending the capital, the investments would soon evaporate and we would not have a Club, certainly not in its current for-mat. Frankly, the cost of running the Club far outweighs our income from membership. The only way that we can cover the shortfall and support worthy conservation appeals is to use the allowable interest earned on these investments. This is in keeping with our registration with SARS as a Recreational Club.

Any nominal markup on weekends or trips away are put in place to cover leader costs and office administra-tion.

We really do need all the help that we can get to make sure that we provide you with the benefits you have come to expect from the Club. We appeal to you to please pay your membership dues timeously- we real-ly do need and appreciate it and, by default, so do the birds.

Andy Featherstone

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Getting the wind up!By Maggie LanglandsForeword by Samantha Ralston-Pa-ton of BirdLife South Africa:

Amongst all the doom and gloom of South Africa’s energy crisis, South Africa’s Renewable Energy Inde-pendent Power Procurement has been a ray of light. This programme has won international acclaim and has seen the price of renewable energy plummet. Each year, as new projects come on line, the risk of power cuts goes down, saving the country millions from lost revenue and fuel. Renewable energy is also a key part of our climate change mitigation strategy and South Afri-ca should be proud to be finally on that path.

However, being sustainable is nev-er easy, and even renewable ener-gy has a dark side. Poorly planned wind farms can kill birds and bats if they collide with the wind turbines. Some species may also be affect-ed by habitat loss, disturbance or displacement. BirdLife South Africa has been working hard to ensure that wind energy is developed in harmony with nature, but we can-not do it alone. It is wonderful to be able to rely on local champions to ensure that site and region-spe-cific issues are addressed.

Maggie Langlands (author of the article below, and BirdLife South Africa Owl Award recipient) has bravely tackled the thorny issue of

cumulative effects of wind energy on birds and other biodiversity in the Kouga area. She has set a fine example of how a group of motivat-ed individuals can hold developers to account; but she has done more than that, Maggie has shown that by finding common ground, a group of diverse stakeholders can go from being competitors and/or adversar-ies to achieve great things. Through her efforts on the ground, Maggie and her team have set a precedent for wind farm developments coun-try-wide.

There is a corner of the Eastern Cape that is very windy. It’s a corner that also has more than its fair share of charismatic birds. So when wind farm developers started weighing up the most promising areas of South Africa for their turbines, birders in the Eastern Cape’s windy corner got rather nervous.

And there was reason to be nervous. This corner of the Eastern Cape was selected for no fewer than twelve wind farms. The prospect of 500+ turbines within two thousand square kilometres was deeply worrying. It would not just be landscape-scale

Denham’s Bustard Photo: Gregg Darling

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alteration of a rural environment: it seemed that it posed a direct threat to the birds of the area.

Those birds include Denham’s Bus-tard and White-bellied Korhaan, with the highest density of any re-gion in the country. There is also a high concentration of Blue Crane and Black Harrier, as well as a good population of Secretarybird.

You can imagine how anxious the birders of the St Francis Bay Bird Club were about the threat that this new industry presented, especially knowing of the high collision rate of bustards and cranes with power lines in the Overberg. Were the hundreds of turbines going to deci-mate the local populations of these threatened birds?

The first thing they did was to regis-ter as Interested and Affected Par-ties (I&APs) for the environmental assessment process for each and every proposed wind farm, and to prepare submission after submission on the threat to the birds, especial-ly the cumulative threat of multiple wind farms. The next thing they

did was to set up their own monitor-ing programme.

The fact was that no-one in fact knew what effect the wind turbines would have on birdlife. There was information from overseas, but not only are their birds different from ours, their landscapes are too. Birdlife South Africa cautioned that it was premature to judge, and that the birds would be best served by structuring the risk-assessment pro-cess as accurately as possible. They brought together some of the top bird specialists in the country and established best practice guidelines for pre and post construction moni-toring, and this set the standards for monitoring countrywide.

Not quite in time for the early envi-ronmental assessments, and some of the earliest were in the area around St Francis Bay. The bird club was under-whelmed by the assessments produced, which were mostly based on flying visits to the area and often only a couple of days on site. So they decided to do their own mon-itoring and be in possession of the facts when they disputed inadequate

J-Bay wind turbine Photo: Wes-sel Rossouw

White-bellied Korhaan Photo: Wessel Rossouw

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site assessments.

Many of the birders are active at-lassers and the ADU was the obvious repository for the data collected by the club. And what do you know, the ADU launched My Bird Patch just at the right time for this project, because wind farms aren’t neatly contained within pentads. So each wind farm in the area has been reg-istered as a Bird Patch, with its own team of monitors, who traverse the site once every six weeks and re-port the species count to the ADU. With one exception, the monitoring is done entirely from public roads. The exception is an operating wind farm which has given permission for the birders to use its own road net-work.

And that is an indication of a rath-er unexpected outcome of the clash between birders and wind farm de-velopers. That outcome is a joint association to fund a conservation officer dedicated to that very same two thousand kilometre-square cor-ner of the Eastern Cape.

A conservation officer is called a Stewardship Facilitator nowadays and his or her job is to find the are-as of valuable biodiversity (not just birdlife) in a given territory and get into discussion with the landowner about getting that area protected. Protection levels vary from just de-claring a property as a conservation area right through setting up a con-tracted nature reserve. And now the Kouga/Tsitsikamma area of the Eastern Cape has its own Steward-ship Facilitator, paid for by five of

the wind farm operators in in the area.

Wind energy is green energy – cer-tainly far better for the environment than the smoke and smog produc-ing coal-fired power plants we have had up to now. So it makes sense for wind energy to invest in conser-vation. And the more land area conserved, the more refuge area there is for birds. The association between the environmentalists and the industrialists is good for all par-ties, including the feathered ones.

But, I hear you say, are the wind tur-bines good for the feathered parties, or are they causing the feared dec-imation?

There are collisions, and there are fatalities. But it is far from decima-tion. There are so far no records of fatalities of Denham’s Bustard, Blue Crane or White-bellied Korhaan, the priority species that were of most concern. It is still early days – far too early to make any assessments with certainty – but at least the data from the first year are not ringing the alarm bells.

The fact that the environmental-ists can work together with the in-dustrialists, at least in this small corner, is cause to hope that when there is reason to be concerned, a mutually-acceptable solution will be reached.

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A visit to the Karoo National ParkText and Photographs by Anthony CavanaghFounded in 1979, the Karoo Nation-al Park is a wildlife reserve situated near Beaufort West in the Great Ka-roo area of the Western Cape. This was our first stop on our recent trip around the Western Cape and Sue and I spent three days in the park and recorded many reptile, mammal and bird sightings. Co-incidentally we also bumped into our next-door neighbours from Kyalami Estate who were visiting the park at the same time.

Certain mammal species have been re-introduced to the park; pioneer farmers for instance eradicated the Cape mountain zebra as it compet-ed for grazing with domestic cattle. Fortunately the park now boasts a large and healthy population. The quagga once roamed the Karoo in great numbers but was hunted to extinction during the 1800’s and the last quagga died sadly in an Amster-dam zoo in 1883. However the park has now been populated with rau

quagga, which are Burchell’s zebra that have been bred back to resem-ble the quagga in that their stripes fade markedly towards their rump. Lion were common in the area but by the late 1800’s had been completely shot out. Nine lions were introduced to the park in 2011 and another two in 2013. All the lions are collared and their whereabouts monitored by the park rangers who, when conducting an early morning walk with visitors, ensure that no lions are in the vicin-ity of the walking trail.

On our drives up the Klipspringer pass that winds its way up the Nuweberg escarpment, we noted Karoo prinia, Rufous-eared warbler, Cape bunting, Black-throated canary and Layard’s tit-babbler, as well as a number of klipspringers. At the Rooivalle gorge view site Pale-winged and Red-winged starlings flew below us and landed on the cliff face crags, while Verreauxs’ eagle soared effortless-ly overhead. Continuing along the 49km circular drive red hartebeest, mountain zebra, and Burchell’s ze-bra were plentiful, while steenbok, springbok and gemsbok (oryx) were also seen. The newly introduced li-

Lion re-introduced to the Karoo National Park

Gemsbok (Oryx)

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ons were spotted in the Doornhoek area resting up under a tree during the heat of the day.

The park has a number of 4x4 trails and we followed one of the trails for about 20km along which we saw grey rhebok, Black-headed canary, White-necked raven, Mountain wheatear, Karoo longbilled and Spike –heeled lark and at a small waterhole a lone Grey-backed sparrowlark.

Ostrich were abundant on much of the higher ground of the park.

There is a bird hide at the waterhole just a short walk from the chalets and on our numerous visits to the hide we saw Little Bittern, African Reed Warbler, Southern Red Bish-op, White-throated Canary, White-backed Mousebird as well as scrub hare, red hartebeest and kudu. On a

night drive with the ranger we came across a coral snake, a night adder, Rufous-cheeked nightjar and many diurnal mammals but the nocturnal mammals of the Karoo sadly eluded us. The typical low growing Karoo vegetation of the Lammertjiesleegte plains east of the chalets facilitates the spotting of taller birds that fre-quent this area, and we observed a number of Karoo korhaan, Kori bus-tard and also had a very good sight-ing of Ludwig’s bustard.

The accommodation at the Karoo National Park consists of Cape Dutch style self catering chalets all with stunning views of the Karoo land-scape, and a shady camping and caravan park. The park also has a restaurant and breakfast is included in the daily tariff. The Karoo Nation-al Park is 1000km from Johannes-burg along the N1 and is well worth spending a few days when making the long road journey down to the Cape.

African Reed Warbler

Little BitternRed Hartebeest

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Birding The Great North Road & Be-yond - WBCText and Photographs by Pat-rick Cardwell

It is over 50 years since I, as a jun-ior WBC member, first birded ‘The Great North Road’, stretching due north from its well-rutted origins in the late 19th century mining heart of downtown Johannesburg to the banks of the ‘great, ‘grey-green, greasy, Limpopo river all dotted about by fever trees’ so eloquently described by Kipling.

Today the ‘Great North Road’ is a sophisticated broad shouldered toll road featured on route maps simply as the N1 outlined in blue.

Although much has changed along this legendary route, following the discovery of diamonds and gold that gave rise to the adventurous age of the transport operator and his ox wagon in a time long past, the allure of the surrounding Bushveld remains perennially appealing and relatively

Narina Trogon

unspoilt by progress.

For Gauteng-based birders in search of a change in the species mix, this scenically appealing environment of diverse habitat types is as rich in biodiversity as its world acclaimed ‘treasure trove’ of precious metals associated with the underlying ge-ological complex of great economic significance.

Of the many destinations and lodge options available to the birder, with the central and northern Kruger Park added birding possibilities depending on the time frame, three distinctly different lodges are featured here to provide an integrated experience of birding variation north along the N1 highway to Louis Trichardt.

First in the line-up situated on the flanks of the Waterberg and close to the Kranskop exit toll leading to the Bushveld town of Modimolle, previ-ously known from the early Voortrek-ker days as Nylstroom, is the Koro Creek Wildlife and Golf Estate. Here, within the generous boundaries of this eco-sensitive environmentally

Woodland Kingfisher

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special setting, combining golf with an impressive variety of close on 200 bird species and a delightful suite of small and large mammals, is where ‘Monyena’ bush lodge is situated (www.avianleisure.com), with ex-tensive views over the Bushveld to infinity!

‘Monyena’ lodge is named after the Tswana descriptive for the wil-low-like Boekenhout trees found in abundance in the vicinity of the bush lodge offering self-catering accom-modation for four within an open plan design and a tranquil surround-ing woodland and mixed housing en-vironment.

Walking and golf cart trails meander about the extensive estate afford-ing a wide variety of wildlife view-ing opportunities within a mix of micro-habitats embracing the Little Nyl river, reed and lily pond still-wa-ter features, open grassland, mixed thornveld and broad-leafed wood-land - each accommodating a suite of habitat specific species with Lit-tle Bittern, Crimson-breasted Shrike,

Cut-throat Finch, Rufous-naped Lark, White-Helmet Shrike, White-front-ed Bee-eater, Orange-breasted and Grey-headed Bush Shrike resident ‘specials’ on the estate.

‘Monyena’ has been designed to provide a ‘user friendly’ base for birders, as well as keen wildlife en-thusiasts, with ample viewing and photographic opportunity on the es-tate and around the bird feeders at the lodge, providing a rich start to any trip north.

The lodge manual offers directional guidance in relation to trails and du-ration as well as up to date bird and mammal checklists and details of ac-tivities beyond simply birding to add to the outdoor experience.

Although ‘ Monyena’ is classified as a self-catering lodge the fully li-censed ‘Fairway Restaurant’ at the Koro Creek clubhouse serves excel-lent value for money meals for those less inclined to prepare a meal after a full birding day.

A two to three night stay comes highly recommended to do justice to

Grey-headed Bush Shrike

Cut-throat Finch

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the area and to provide for a balance between birding and simply relaxing on the spacious viewing deck en-joying the sundown moment in the company of a wide variety of birds and nocturnal mammals visiting the various feeding stations.

From Modimolle the recommended route picks up on the old national road (101) north through wooded hills and valleys to the turn off to the Boekenhout station and Nylsv-ley Nature Reserve. This RAMSAR proclaimed site of birding impor-tance oscillates seasonally between drought years with little on offer, to rain soaked wet summers of flood-plain proportions attracting an abun-dance of waterbirds taking breeding advantage of the periodic inunda-tion.

Nylsvley encompasses a mix of dif-ferent woodland and water related habitats and is home to a significant population of Endangered Roan an-telope as well as Tsessebe as added wildlife attractions. Birding by car or on foot is quite safe as the reserve

due to the absence of potentially dangerous animals.

Some 400 bird species have been recorded over the years and trained bird guides are available by prior ar-rangement. Nylsvley is approximate-ly 28 kms from Modimolle and about 40mins away from Koro Creek mak-ing ‘Monyena’ an ideal base for those not wishing to stay in the reserve in either a self-catering unit or the rus-tic camp site.

Looping back to the old main road (101) takes you further north to Mookgopong, formally Naboom-spruit, and back onto the N1 toll road past Polokwane and the Univer-sity of the North on the R71 to the ‘gem’ of forest birding destinations in the form of ‘Kurisa Moya’ www.krm.co.za

Nestled deep within a pristine tract of indigenous forest lies the old farm-house free of modern day electrical appliances beyond solar heating and candlelight for ambiance. Close by, for those in search of splendid iso-

Pygmy KingfisherGreat Spotted Cuckoo

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lation, are two well-appointed free standing and fully equipped self-ca-tering forest chalets set deep within the forest itself. Well marked forest trails rich in fresh signs of Bushpig, Samango Monkey and Bushbuck pro-vide a capillary system of interlock-ing paths for ease of exploration in the search for Knysna Turaco, Na-rina Trogon and Black-fronted Bush Shrike as three examples of forest delights on offer. Two regularly ser-viced feeding stations provide the best views of Green Twinspot, Afri-can Firefinch, Swee Waxbill and Red-backed Mannikin I know of within the sub-region.

Basing oneself at ‘Kurisa Moya’ pro-vides easy access to the head of ‘Forest Drive’ at first light for the start of a unique birding experience , descending gradually in ‘sighting’ instalments down a rugged logging track through pristine montane for-est still shrouded in early morning mist to the tranquil and scenically delightful Debengeni Falls at the foot of the forest track.

This unique birding experience guid

ed by David Letsoalo is without doubt in my mind one of the top ‘Big Five’ birding days to be savoured and en-joyed by amateur and experienced birders alike, as the avian gems of the forest are professionally pre-sented by David, with hardly a break in-between and a very good chance of a Mountain Wagtail sighting along the way.

From here the birding route for the day encapsulates the birding essence of Tzaneen with Bat Hawk and Mag-pie Mannikin as highlights within a suite of low altitude ‘specials’ to look forward to if viewing condi-tions are favourable.

Green Twinspot

Knysna Turaco

Bat Hawk

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Later the route retraces its way up the Escarpment via Magoebaskloof and up to the summit of Great Head in search of Gurney’s Sugarbird with-in the Protea roupelliae stands lining the crest, with spectacular wrapa-round views as the long but sumptu-ously satisfying birding day draws to a sunset close. While total sightings on a typical day are impressive it is the quality of the sightings them-selves that captivate the attention with ‘lifers’ aplenty for most birders to look forward to. As such it consti-tutes an unsurpassed outdoor expe-rience not to be missed.

At this point one can turn back south , happily content with the birding experience, or set off east for the Kruger Park with a choice of either Phalaborwa Gate leading to Letaba, or Punda Milia to take in the north-ern section with the bird rich sur-roundings in the Pafuri area in mind.

For the more adventurous, returning to the N1 and driving through to Lou-is Trichardt opens up new scenic and birding opportunities with ‘Shilu-

vari’ lodge www.shiluvari.com lying in the shadow of the Soutpansberg Mountains as your base for a two night stay.

This ‘old style’ lodge and surround-ing thatch roofed cottages is situ-ated on the edge of the Dap Naude Dam with views out across the water and trails cutting through the sur-rounding habitat of mixed woodland supporting the highest density of Gorgeous Bush-shrike I know of in Limpopo.

Here, quietly spoken Samson Mu-laudzi (samson@birdingsoutpans-berg-venda.co.za) is the bird guide with an intimate knowledge of the Zoutpansberg area and where to look for sought after target species such as African Broadbill and Blue-spotted Dove along the flanks of the moun-tain range.

Again, like the day spent with David Letsoalo, time spent with Samson is both enjoyable and productive as various sightings are presented for visual enjoyment at regular inter-vals.

Add the bird and mammal sightings from the combination of ‘Monyena’,

Gurney’s Sugarbird

African Broadbill

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‘Kurisa Moya’ and ‘Shiluvari’ togeth-er and you have an impressive and deliciously appealing target suite to look forward to in return for a rel-atively short ‘birding breakaway’ to the Bushveld and beyond.

All in all Limpopo Province remains a favourite destination of mine that has never failed to deliver across the wildlife spectrum. This in an age where rural environments are under increasing pressure from industrial and commercial development along with the inescapable reality of ram-pant population growth and demand for arable land within the sub-re-gion.

Within this somewhat unfolding sce-nario Limpopo remains relatively unchanged from my early memories and comes highly recommended for birders in search of new travel ex-

periences and some of South Africa’s more exciting and colourful birds to add to their ‘life list’.

If you do decide to go I am sure you will enjoy the experience as much as I always do.

Please feel free to contact me di-rectly for more info should you so wish at pcardwell@netpoint.co.za .

Violet-backed Starling

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Four days in GhanaText and Photographs by Lesley CornishFellow WBC Member Mike Witcomb and I were presenting at a confer-ence in Accra, Ghana in December 2015, so as a reward, we booked four days of birding. Everything seems to run late in Ghana, and we were a bit worried about our 5.30am collection time. We need not have worried, our guide, William, and our driver, Frans, were early and we managed to beat Accra’s traffic.

First stop was Sukomona Lagoon, which combined water birds and sa-vannah birds. We were soon ticking off lifers: Long-tailed Glossy Star-ling, Purple Glossy Starling, Yel-low-crowned Gonolek (wow!), as well as meeting up with some fantastic other birds: Senegal Coucal, Western Plantain-eater, Yellow-billed Shrikes, Garganey and Spur-winged Lapwings. There was a Yellow-billed Kite which kept flushing up the egrets. At an-other place on the lagoon, we saw a flock of over 20 Black-tailed God-wits. There was also a young African

Hobby which gave us repeat views, and the best was when it caught a dragonfly and ate it on the wing. The Western Reef Egret went from lifer to trash bird this morning, as it hung around in the rubbish.

We drove on to our sleeping and lunch spot, and chilled for a few hours (it was really hot), and were bemused by the wedding going on next door. Our afternoon birding was at Shai Hills, which was savannah (and fan-tastic). We found a really confiding Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, and the call was slightly different from South Africa’s. The Senegal Parrots drove us mad, because they flew over-head really fast and were screaming, and it took a while to obtain a good sighting. Other specials included: Vieillot’s Barbet, Splendid Sunbird, Guinea (or Green) Tauraco, Beard-ed Barbet and Double-spurred Fran-colin. We stayed until it was dark, and found three different nightjars: Long-tailed, Plain and Standard (alas, without the long plumes). All these were really patient and we managed some nice photographs.

The next morning we were back, and found Green-headed Sunbird, Violet Tauraco (another wow bird!)

William holding a Plain Nightjar

Immature Senegal Coucal

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Snowy-crowned Robin-chat, Yel-low-throated Leaflove (a really diffi-cult bird to find amongst the foliage, and they would not keep still), Swal-low-tailed Bee-eaters, Black-capped Babblers, Blue-bellied Roller and Double-toothed Barbets. We even managed two mammals, a Calithrix Monkey, which is very much like our Vervet Monkey, but with a yellow tail, and a troop of Olive Baboons.

We drove on to our lunch stop, and while they were preparing it, we searched for Brown Sunbird, finally finding three very near their nest. We crossed the Volta River by ferry, after a long wait in the queue, and being entertained by the driving and the local vendors. On the other side, we birded for a while along the road which followed the river upstream. Our “spots” here included Compact Weaver (looking different from those in East Africa), Simple Greenbul/Bul-bul and African Pied Hornbill.

Arriving at our hotel for the next two nights, we had a short rest (the heat!) and then went off birding to Kalakpa Reserve. This area com-prised a savannah region where we drove along the track, and had to

compete with a few motor-tricycles, which were really three-wheeler bakkie equivalents. Again we stayed out until after dark, and found some more obliging nightjars, this time Black-shouldered Nightjars which came very close. These sound and look very much like our Fiery-necked Nightjars. Where the rangers stayed, we found a Northern White-faced Scops Owl.

All of the rest of the time we spent in Kalakpa, and found some new birds: Green Crombec, Mottled Spinetail, Black-necked Weaver, Blue-headed Coucal, Ahanta Fran-colin, Yellow-shouldered Widow-bird, Buff-spotted Woodpecker (hard work), Red-necked Buzzard, Marsh Tchagra (for Mike, I was looking at something else!) and Orange-cheeked Waxbill (a real stunner). The riverine forest part was wonderful, but hard work, as forests are! We saw Spotted Honeyguide, Green (or is it now split to Blue?) Malkoa, Forest Robin, Afri-can Shrike Flycatcher, Capuchin Bab-blers (wow!) and Western Spotted Nicator (very skulky and it would not keep still, but we saw enough to tick

Purple Glossy Starling and a family of Yellow-Billed Shrikes

Western Reef Egret

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is nice, beer is good, and we felt safe! I would just like to go back for longer, and see more specials! I saw 161 birds, heard 21 (mainly in the forest), and missed out on 6.

it!). The best was the second night, and this time we were mainly in the forest, and we were lucky enough to find a Nkulengu Rail on the path! It flew up and roosted above us, and we could now look at it properly. Our other good sighting was a roost-ing Blue-bellied Kingfisher. On the way back to the car, and walking through the savannah, we saw Sen-egal Galago, a leaf-nosed bat and an African Scops Owl. The last morning was spent in the forest mainly, but we saw a Buffon Kob on the way in, and a Brown-necked Parrot (which is part of the super species with Cape Parrot).

On our way back to Accra, crossing back over the Volta River, we saw a White-throated Blue Swallow flying low over the water as our last spe-cial. All too soon we were back in Accra, to fly back home the next morning. Although we only saw a very small part of Ghana, it was enough to appreciate the place as a good birding destination! The venues are good, the birds great and the people are very friendly. The food

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATION

Brian Bayne

Lynn Caldwell

Mark Daynes

Johan de Jager

Doug Giles

George Grant

Christl Hengst

Paul Jacobs

Enid Kirby

Jim McLuskie

Wickus Swanepoel

Lorna Thomas

Billy van Eck

Vieillot’s Barbet

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR CLUB WEBSITE ADDRESS IS:

www.witsbirdclub.org.za

AND THE EMAIL ADDRESS IS:

witsbc@mweb.co.za

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3000Km Solo Cy-cle Ride To Launch New Conservation Project For The Orange-Breasted Waxbill (Amanda-va Subflava)By Eelco MeyjesReproduced from the BirdLife SA 2016 Species Newsletter

The Rare Finch Conservation Group and BirdLife South Africa are col-laborating on a new conservation project to try and establish why the little Orange-breasted Waxbill (Amandava subflava) is disappearing in certain parts of the species’ natu-ral habitat. The species is a wetland and grassland bird. Not yet listed as

threatened based, on SABAP2 re-search, unexpected declines in cer-tain parts of its natural habitat has resulted in the need for the species to be researched.

The species has been selected by BirdLife South Africa as an indicator species for no less than eight threat-ened species, ranging from Critical-ly Endangered to Near Threatened, plus 84 common bird species that live in the same habitat and all will benefit from the research work. This particular project is part of a BirdLife International Preventing Ex-tinctions initiative known as Keeping Common Birds Common. For more information see:

http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/casestudy/62

http://www.birdlife.org/europe-and-central-asia/keeping-com-mon-birds-common

http://www.birdlife.org.za/con-servation/terrestrial-bird-con-s e r v a t i o n / k e e p i n g - c o m -mon-birds-common

Orange-breasted Waxbill - photo by Chris Krog

Distribution comparison of Or-ange-breasted Waxbill at QDGC level (Full protocol only)

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Dr Hanneline Smit-Robinson , Terres-trial Bird Conservation Manager at BirdLife South Africa stated that “ The Orange-breasted Waxbill will be a good flagship sentinel (watchdog) species for other grassland and wet-

land specialists, endemics, threat-ened and or/common species.”

Objectives of the study

Phase one: Desktop study and Com-munications

• To consolidate all distribu-tion and habitat information of the Orange-breasted Waxbill in South Africa from 1900 to 2015. A first draft of the study has now been completed and is currently being reviewed by BirdLife South Africa.

• Using the little Or-ange-breasted Waxbill as a sentinel species, create a public awareness campaign for the BirdLife Interna-tional Preventing Extinctions Pro-gramme: Keeping Common Birds Common conservation initiative.

• Fundraising for the Or-ange-breasted Waxbill project

Phase two: Site study. Identify and research 10 historic and 10 new sites where the Orange-breasted Waxbill occurs. Academic involvement for this second phase will be included, using either a conservation biology MSc or PhD student.

Marketing Communications

This particular species needed an in-novative strategic approach to raise funds for the required research. Not only is the bird extremely small in size, but as it not yet listed as Threatened, it was decided that it should rather become a sentinel ((watchdog) bird for the eight red listed species that use a similar hab-itat. Species, ranging from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened will all benefit from the research work. In addition to this, another 84 com-mon bird species that also use the same habitat will benefit from the research work. In essence the little Orange-breasted Waxbill will now become the modern day “coal mine canary”.

Creative Strategy - small is BIG.

The Orange-breasted Waxbill, be-cause of its sentinel status, is now a small bird with a BIG responsibility

The creative challenge going for-ward will be to make the small bird a BIG HERO

The little waxbill, with its lovely bright orange colour, will be made into a hero bird that can be loved and admired by children (and appre-ciated and enjoyed by parents and grandparents). Its heroic role, as the modern day coal mine canary, that

The Orange-breasted Waxbill is a wetland and grassland associated bird - photo by Eelco Meyjes

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helps to save threatened and oth-er common birds species (using the same habitat) will be dramatized in a fun and memorable way. Prefera-bly both the small size of the bird as well as the colour “Orange” will be simultaneously leveraged to their maximum effect.

The launch of the public awareness and fundraising campaign: a solo cy-cle ride from Cape Town to Vic Falls.

To raise awareness in today’s high-ly competitive and much cluttered media world is not easy. Economic times, as we all know, are also very tough. In essence something BIG had to be done to appeal to the imagina-tion of the general public.

After having completed a very mem-orable unsupported solo cycle ride from Joburg to Cape Town, a dis-tance of 1485km, in 2013, I thought I had done my bit with ultra-long dis-tance cycling (or enduro cycling as I like to refer to it) The new distance was now 3000km and, given that I had only got back into cycling eight years ago, this was going to be my Mount Everest of southern African cycling.

Needless to say by including two African countries, it suddenly made the combination an entirely different ball game. For starters, Botswana doesn’t have the B+B infrastructure that South Africa has. Other than in Gaborone, the capital, there are no specialist cycle shops the way we know them in SA. So you need to make sure you have all the right spares with you. The distances be-tween the towns are also a lot longer.

On average one could say that in SA the distances between towns is approximately 70km, whereas in Botswana they are approximately 100km apart, with some days requir-ing far longer rides, sometimes with no water, food or electricity availa-ble at the other end. In addition to this you also need to manage inter-national mobile network communi-cation challenges (often with GSM dead spots) as well as the reality of having to cycle through some wild-life habitat in the very far northern parts of the country.

Enduro cycling is not about speed, it’s all about survival. Managing your health and safety are your number one priorities. Enjoying the journey, by stopping and meeting some of the interesting locals, plus sightseeing and taking photographs, is as impor-tant as making sure you reach your destination. Nearly everything must have a plan A, B,C or D. Sometimes plan C or D, when one is forced to use it, you later discover is actually far better than your original plan A or B. So you need to be flexible and be prepared to get out of your com-fort zone.

For safety reasons having the correct satellite tracking equipment is also very important. When I rode down to Cape Town I only used one system, but now the distance had doubled and, because I was going into other African countries, I decided to use at least two different systems (one never goes deep sea fishing with only one engine on the boat). The same can be said with enduro cycling in Southern Africa. Always have at least

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two satellite tracking systems (just in case one fails ) and ideally each one should be different in the way it works One system was an app sponsored by NEVAREST and linked to my smartphone. It used virtual pegs and as I rode through them it would pick up my location. The sec-ond system was a separate remote device with a panic button which gave me peace of mind. This system was sponsored by Safesporttracking and it tracked my ride in real time on Google Earth. Both systems were GSM reliant (which meant mobile connectivity was required). Having four Facebook social media part-ners on board (BirdLife South Afri-ca, Africa Geographic, Cyclelab plus Ride magazine) also helped to give the launch of the Orange-breasted Waxbill conservation project greater public exposure.

On both my enduro rides a friend of mine, Mark Kronenberg, who is based in Joburg, was my base manager. He had my entire route plan which in-cluded all the distance splits, eleva-tions, planned stop overs and safe-ty points. He always knew exactly where I was to be at all times of the day and night. Mark was also linked to all my debit card transactions so, if I had been robbed, he would very quickly pick up that there was a problem the minute they started going on a wild spending spree.

In order to cross the Little as well as the Great Karoo, which is more than 700 km (I have now done it twice), you need to be prepared to ride at night. This in itself provides new challenges with managing your

safety and power supplies. To ride at night in the Karoo has its own particular magical beauty, but it can also sometimes be very scary, daunting and freezing cold. At night you need to watch for hyperthermia which is the exact opposite to avoid-ing sunstroke in the day.

Learning how to manage and ride through dangerous or potential hot-spots is also part of the enduro expe-rience. Coming into and exiting big cities requires meticulous planning.

Arriving in Joburg via the backend of Soweto, after 24 days from Cape Town, was an important milestone for me. At 1,753 metres above sea level, not only had I reached the highest part of the journey but, af-ter 1654 km, I was now well over the half way mark to Vic Falls in Zimba-bwe

After Joburg there were two more major hotspot areas before reaching Vic Falls. An 11km stretch through Hammanskraal just north of Preto-ria, plus cycle through a 12 km town-ship to get out of Mokopane (Potgi-etersrus). Fortunately Ernst Retief from BirdLife South Africa kindly escorted me through Hammanskraal very early one Saturday morning and the South African police very kindly led the way for me at 2 am from the Mokopane CBD to the open road that took me to Martins Drift on the Bot-swana border. Both are heart-warm-ing stories that were described in detail and well ‘liked’ on my Face-book page.

Botswana is a beautiful country, its people are extremely friendly and

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always willing to help. Often people would stop and ask if I needed extra water or help. It’s not surprising that their country’s slogan is: Our Pride is Your destination. Botswana people, both rural and urban, are certainly very proud and hospitable and with only 2.5 million people in a country half the size of South Africa, it is also very clean. What makes the go-ing tough in Botswana, as mentioned earlier, are the massive distances. With very few B+B’s, camping has to be done, which in turn impacts on how you manage your water, food, recovery and the recharging of all your equipment In addition to this the wildlife, potential GSM dead spots which will impact on your safe-ty, also has to be factored into your world. Using the old traditional bush telegraph system (of telling people in the next town that you were on your way) worked wonders. The last 500km of the Cape to Vic Falls endu-ro is arguably the toughest and re-quires a lot of good planning.

Cylcing amongst wild game was a brand new experience for me. I could find nothing on the internet on how it should be done. I certain-ly had to learn a lot very fast. From about 130km out of Francistown one starts to see elephant road signs. The road to Nata, where there is a beautiful bird sanctuary, is also very dangerous in certain parts with lots of pot holes and fast moving trucks driving to and from Zambia. With my first major ride going into a wildlife area, which was from Nata onwards, I foolishly decided to start the ride at 3am. It was a 100 km ride and I

knew that I would have to camp in an old deserted pump house, at the end of the ride, where there would be no water, food, electricity or GSM connectivity. This meant that I had to have enough food and power to last at least 2 days before I reached a place called Pandamatenga. The 7 litres of extra water needed also put a huge amount of additional weight on the bike, making it extremely dif-ficult to handle. At 4.30am, when it was still dark, I suddenly had two hyenas literally 3 metres away from me, on the left side. They quickly and quietly slunk off into the long grass and, needless to say, I had the fright of my life. Later as the sun began to rise, I started to see more and more elephants. One or two truck drivers stopped and asked if I was mad, or if I knew that there were wild animals there or asked if I had a gun to pro-tect myself! All that I had was a little pepper spray, ultra sonic alarm and my trusted Swiss army knife.

By 9am I came across an elephant that was not going to allow me to pass. It was absolutely adamant. He

Elephants are not used to seeing cyclists and often made it diffi-cult to pass them - photo by Eel-co Meyjes

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had obviously seen many trucks and cars in his time, but not too many cyclists. This particular jumbo, as the locals call them, mock charged me five times and would not let me through. At first I thought it was a bit of a joke, but with all the extra weight on the bike it wasn’t easy to turn the bike around and get away quickly. Invariably I would be in the wrong gear and to make matters worse, I was trying to take selfies using an extended selfie stick to capture the moment. Fortunately a safari vehicle eventually arrived and saw that I was in trouble.

On one occasion where an elephant mock charged me five times, a sa-fari vehicle rescued the situation by going between myself and the ele-phant.

The driver put the vehicle between the elephant and myself and revved the engine to distract it and I was fi-

nally able to get past. On a different ride I heard the roar of lions and I must confess that for once I was ex-tremely pleased not to see them.

The five key lessons that I learnt from cycling amongst wildlife is: 1) don’t ever ride at night. Probably the very best time to ride is at midday when the predators have done their kill for the day and they are well fed and need a rest. 2) If there is no traffic, ride in the middle of the road so that you still have some time to swerve if there is a problem. 3) Riding a bike is very quiet and it sometimes catches the game off guard, so make a bit of a noise every now. By barking out a couple of choice words you will of-ten see how well the game responds to it by moving away. 4) The more time the game has to be aware of your presence the safer it is. 5) How to do the “elephant dash “if an ele-phant is on the right hand side of the road, wait for an oncoming vehicle. Waive it down. Make sure the bike is in the right gear. Then flag the vehi-cle to come through slowly and you then quickly dash behind the vehicle and hope to hell there isn’t an ele-phant hiding in the bush on the left hand side of the road!.

My final ride from Chobe in Botswa-na, to Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe, was probably the most beautiful ride of my life. It was a distance of 90 km. I started the ride at 6 am just as the sun was coming up. It was the first time that I was riding in an easterly direction in a very long time. I could now take photographs on both sides of me without having

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to worry about the sun. I had an-other border to cross and the cus-tom s officer very politely warned me of the wildlife”Be careful of the elephants, they will be coming from your left side to cross the road, after their morning drink at the Chobe riv-er. “ I saw elephants, lots of giraffe, baboons, Vervet monkeys, warthogs etc. I also saw road signs saying that there were painted dogs (wild dogs) in the area. A question I kept asking myself: if a pack of wild dogs were to see me on a bicycle, would they chase me and go for my legs, like a domestic dog does, or would they simply run away? I still don’t know the answer to this.

Finally, after 44 days and 3008km ( of which 7 were rest days ), averag-ing nearly 82km per day, I arrived at Victoria Falls knowing that we had successfully launched the public awareness program for the little Or-ange-breasted Waxbill conservation project!

Otters’ Haunt is a rustic country retreat with a good variety of birds on the island trails and bushveld walk. More than 60 species have been seen over a weekend. We have maintained a peaceful and se-cluded ambience in spite of the tourism

developments that have gone on in Parys and surroundings.

There’s plenty to do at Otters’ Haunt! We are the adventure centre of the area. In addition to birdwatching, there are walks & hikes, mountain biking, kayaking and even rafting. We are Lonely Plan-et’s “Pick” of the Northern Free State. Out of hundreds of lodges, hotels and guest houses in this area, we came out tops for adven-ture and hospitality.

For more information contact Graeme & Karen Addison

082 475 8767, 056 8181814 or 0842452490

info@otters.co.za

If you would like to support this very worthy new conservation pro-ject then please make a donation to: Rare Finch Conservation Group, Nedbank. Branch 193 305 Account number 1933198885.

The Rare Finch Conservation Group, which was founded in 2005, is a reg-istered non-profit Organisation.

All donations, unless otherwise stat-ed, will be publically acknowledged on the Rare Finch Conservation Group website www.rarefinch.org.

Eelco Meyjes at Victoria Falls - photo by Lesanne Dunlop

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Update on EWT Livestock Guardi-an DogsBy Derek van der MerweCarnivore Conservation Pro-gramme: Conflict Mitigation Field Officer

With this year flying by I thought I would update you on our Livestock Guardian Dogs unfortunately we had some minor incidents which we for-tunately managed to sort out. We have been struggling to bond our 5 Maluti Livestock Guardian Dogs in the Northern Cape with their sheep. Three of the 5 dogs are very play-ful and have caused a few problems. They have also grown so much and the sheep are struggling to bond with them as they are much more in-timidating. This has led to the death of a number of sheep on two of the farms where we have placed dogs. Unfortunately the dogs have been resting at the water cribs especially during the heat wave which has been preventing the sheep from drinking. We have tried a number of methods to correct this behaviour by using dangle sticks and putting the dogs on walking lines with little success. Un-fortunately we will have to rehome

one dog who is really not working well and the farmer has put in a lot of effort to try get the dog working. Not all puppies develop into suc-cessful Livestock Guardian Dogs and we have been very fortunate not to rehome a single dog over the last two years. Usually just over 80% of dogs develop into successful working dogs. Two of our 5 dogs are work-ing well. We are struggling with the other three, it has been very diffi-cult to bond the dogs with their Dor-per sheep due to the fact that the Dorper breed is not a herding breed and mostly feed at night when it is

cooler. None the less we are hoping that we will be able to sort out these

Mieka in the field with her sheep

Rex escaping the hot sun by having a dip in the crib

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behavioural problems.

Our Dogs in the Magaliesberg are do-ing very well. We have moved

Rommel to another property which was experiencing a few losses to

leopard. He has settled in well and has been chasing jackal away from his heard. Frostie is doing very well. Unfortunately he had biliary but has been treated and is working in the field again. Frostie now spends all of his time in the field and stays with his herd. The farmer has to locate the herd to feed Frostie. One of the resident leopard whose home range overlaps the two farms that the dogs are working on has had another lit-ter of cubs. It is encouraging to see farmers working with conservation-ists in order to save predators. If

non-lethal mitigation methods work

Sockies in the field with her sheep

Vendetta with his sheep

Woolies resting in the shade of the water drum

Frostie showing typical LSGD behaviour, walking with his herd

Camera trap photo of Rommel chasing two jackal away from the kraal.

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quite the celebrity as he was filmed by 50/50 once again. I will update you when the programme will be aired. He was bitten by a puff ad-der but fortunately his owners react-ed quickly took him to the Vet and he has since recovered well and is working again. Jane developed some behavioural problems over Decem-ber, she was spoilt and treated by a family staying on the farm over De-cember. She was therefore returning to the house on the farm. We tried various methods to encourage her to stay with her herd. Eventually as a last resort we fitted her with a shock collar and have sorted the problem out. She is staying with her herd now. There have been plenty of leopard tracks on the farm recent-ly. Fortunately not one calf has been lost.

and are successfully implemented farmers will buy into the idea.

Our two Anatolians in the Waterberg are working well. Buks is becoming

Camera trap photo of Brandy the resident female leopard with her second litter of cubs

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The EWT Livestock Guardian Project has had a very busy few months. Perhaps the most encouraging thing is that farmers with livestock guard-ian dogs are now buying their sec-ond dogs. We are going to be placing some more puppies in April. The pro-ject continues to grow from strength to strength and we could not contin-ue without your continued support.

ERRATUM

The vulture on the Cover of the December 2015 Bokmakierie was

incorrectly labeled as a White-headed Vulture. It should have been labeled a

Hooded Vulture

Buks in the field

Jane inspecting the work vehicle

The Witwatersrand Bird Club and the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary – a 43 year-long asso-ciationBy Geoff Lockwood

In 1973 it was decided to redevel-op the disused Delta Sewage Treat-ment Works and surrounding area as a public park and members of the WBC Committee began negotiating with the Joburg City Council to have a portion of the area set aside as a bird sanctuary. Approval in principle was given, but with the proviso how-ever that no Council funds would be forthcoming for the development of the sanctuary.

Norman Bloom and his two brothers – Dave and Harry had recently donat-ed bird baths to three of the city’s parks - Zoo Lake, Melville Koppies and The Wilds, in memory of their late mother, and WBC committee members Norman Elwell and Har-

Delta Park Environmental Centre

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ry Cook approached the Blooms to sponsor the erection of two hides and the construction of a second dam in the proposed sanctuary. The brothers agreed and, after a two-and-a-half year development period, the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary was opened.

Len Gillard – a major name in birding and sound-recording in southern Af-rica undertook the task of develop-ing a bird checklist for Delta Park and he and other club members recorded 111 species between 1971 and 1975. In July 1976 Tony Statham, together with Brian Asher and myself took up the reins, pushing up the species to-tal for the park to 144 species over the next two years. When Tony re-turned to England, I took over the long-term monitoring of the birdlife in the park, moving into the Centre on the 10th December 1981. Looking out the front window towards the sanctuary movement caught my eye . . . . and I was looking at a stunning male Eurasian Golden Oriole – my first garden bird!

Living in Delta Park made monitoring much easier, and the advent of the first atlas project (SABAP 1) meant my records for the park were con-tributing to the first region-wide project to map bird distributions. New species continued to turn up on a regular basis and by the end of April this year I had recorded 248 species in the park. Many of these new arrivals reflected the dramatic changes that were occurring in the surrounding suburbs but others were as a result of drought cycles bringing “bushveld” birds into Johannesburg.

Highlights have been many, but the appearance of a Madagascar Cuckoo in December 2003, and a sighting of a sub-adult Sooty Falcon in the poplars behind the Centre in January 2010 were possibly the most unusual and unexpected additions to the growing checklist for the park. Another high-light has been having my “own” pair of Spotted Eagle Owls nesting on the roof and being able to study these birds at close range as they reared successive broods.

Many of the longer-standing mem-bers will remember with fondness the regular club meetings held every third Saturday afternoon of the month. These wonderful events in-troduced members to the amazing birdlife in the sanctuary and sur-rounding park and the walks were al-ways followed by a bird talk given ei-ther by members, or visiting birders on the lawn in front of the Centre. Best of all, we were all treated to ice cold cool-drinks supplied by the Bloom brothers! It was at these out-ings that I, as a very new (and very young) member of the club first cut my teeth on the ins and outs of bird identification, and rather diffidently

Spotted Eagle Owl Photo: Geoff Lockwood

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began to guide some of the regu-lars to the correct identity of some of the birds we were seeing. It was also at one of these meetings that I gave my first public talk - on owls of course!

Although these afternoon meetings later fell away, the club still retained strong links with the sanctuary and for many years hosted an end-of year braai for members in the park.

In 2000, the Centre celebrated its 25th anniversary and in recognition of the role that the sanctuary had played in the establishment of the Centre, we began the process of restoring the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary. The eradication of inva-sive alien vegetation was identified as an urgent priority and a number of club work parties were held under the leadership of Athol Midgely, Cyn-thia and me. Progress was slow, but we eventually were able to hold the first of a number of indigenous tree plantings in the sanctuary. The trees were sponsored by club members, in many cases in memory of lost loved ones, and were chosen to provide food, nest sites and shelter for the birds. This process is still continuing and the WBC is intending to extend the plantings on Arbour Day in Sep-tember. The club is also sponsoring the cutting of fire collars around all the trees already planted in the sanctuary to prevent any losses in the event of any veld fires.

Looking back over the past 43 years, the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary and Delta Park have come a long way. New birds have continued to

surprise and delight and the long span of records have highlighted major changes in the birdlife in the area. When I started birding in the park in the mid 1970’s, Red-faced and White-backed Mousebirds were the only members of the family we recorded. Now, Speckled Mousebird has totally replaced White-backed (my last record of White-backed Mousebird was in 1981). Other losses include the Hamerkop (which used to breed in the sanctuary); Lanner Falcon (no records since April 2009); Pied Starling (last record in March 2006) and Cape Weaver (no records since November 2009). Replacing at least some of these species have been Peregrine Falcon (becoming regular in the park); Red-winged and Common Starlings, and Thick-billed Weaver. Rose-ringed Parakeets first nested in the park in 2004 and a researcher working on the species this past summer found over 14 pairs nesting in the park. No doubt we will continue to see change into the fu-ture and hopefully I will see a new (and younger) group of birders step up and continue to monitor docu-ment the birdlife in this amazing park.

Membership subsciptions from 1st July 2016:Individual R 320Family R 450Senior Citizen (over 60) R 170Senior Citizen Family (over 60)

R 300

Full-time Student R 170Overseas R 600

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Grace Country Retreat is situated in the quaint farming community vil-lage of Memel, nestled at the foothills of the Maluti Mountains in the North Eastern Free State.

The Retreat consists of 8 fully furnished, self-ca-tering units. On site is a Coffee / Gift Shop provid-ing breakfasts and light meals, as well as a library and various arts and crafting opportunities.

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Mass killing con-tinues on British military base in Cyprus

Editor’s Note: Many of you will have seen the recent emails and articles requesting sponsorship of Trevor Hardaker and his team’s en-try into the 2016 Champions of the Flyway race. Money raised will be

going to assist with combating the illegal killing of migratory birds in Greece. Unfortunately it is not just Greece that takes part in this ille-gal activity but many other Medit-eranean countries as well. We have reproduced two articles which re-cently appeared in the BirdWatch and BirdGuides newsletters to il-lustrate the scale of the situation.

Over 800,000 birds were trapped and killed illegally on a British mili-tary base in Cyprus last autumn, ac-cording to the latest research by the RSPB and BirdLife Cyprus.

The songbirds are illegally trapped to provide the main ingredient for the local and expensive delicacy of ambelopoulia, where a plate of songbirds is illegally served to res-taurant diners.

Organised crime gangs are running this illegal practice on an ‘industrial scale’, which is estimated by the Cyp-riot authorities to earn criminals on

31

the island 15 million Euros every year.

Survey data from BirdLife Cyprus and other organisations have recorded over 150 species of bird which have become trapped in nets or on lime-sticks. More than half of these spe-cies are of conservation concern.

On a positive note, the results from 2015 show that there’s been a stop to the annual increases of the last five years in numbers of birds killed on British Territory, thanks to vari-ous measures taken to tackle the problem by the Base authorities. The numbers however remain around re-cord-breaking levels, with levels of illegal killing still far worse on Brit-ish Territory than in the Republic of Cyprus.

Jonathan Hall, Head of UK Overseas Territories at the RSPB, said: “The RSPB congratulates the British Sover-eign Base Area for taking important steps in tackling the illegal killing oc-curring on MoD land. Approximately one third of the invasive acacia trees which were planted on the firing range to attract migrant birds have been removed and these efforts are to be congratulated.

“However, we are disappointed that the numbers of birds still being trapped for huge profit by organised gangs remains unacceptably high and the rest of this illegal-killing in-frastructure needs to be removed in order to put an end to this barbaric practice.”

Juvenile Masked Shrike trapped on a limestick (Photo: RSPB images)

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The latest survey data confirmed the industrial scale of illegal bird trapping, both with mist nets and li-mesticks. The survey found that as much as 19 km of mist nets could have been active during the autumn of 2015 within the survey area across British Territory and the Republic of Cyprus. These trapping levels could have resulted in over 2 million birds killed across the island as a whole. More than 5,300 limesticks were also confiscated by enforcement agen-cies, mostly within the Republic.

Dr Clairie Papazoglou, Executive Di-rector of BirdLife Cyprus, said: “The scale of the trapping found within the survey area has to be seen to be believed. Long avenues of planted acacia trees that resemble vineyards

with mounds of gravel at one side.

“The gravel is brought in by truck and is thrown to scare the birds into the nets. More needs to be done to reduce the trapping and prosecute restaurants serving up these birds in the Republic. A consistent zero tol-erance must be adopted.”

Although enforcement action took place on the trapping fields, en-forcement against restaurants serv-ing ambelopoulia has been very lim-ited and much reduced in the last few years; these restaurants are exclusively found in the Republic. Small-scale trapping of songbirds for human consumption on Cyprus was practiced for many centuries, but it has been illegal on the island for 40 years, when it was outlawed in 1974.

The endemic Cyprus Warbler is among the species found illegally killed (Photo: David Moreton)

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WELCOME NEW MEMBERSBeverley Barrow-man

Randpark Ridge Sue Maitland Fourways

Francesca Bid-dulph Houghton Lynne Parrymore River Club

Grant Biddulph Houghton Thomas Steen-kamp Kenmare

Oliver Biddulph Houghton William Stranix Fairland

William Biddulph Houghton Sakkie Theron Monument

Heather Clarke Lonehill Candice Truda Houghton

Rob Clarke Lonehill Christo Venter Strubensvallei

Jo Davies Fairland Graham Wells Petervale

Cameron Dud-ley-Owen

Emmarentia Lindsay Wells Petervale

Janice Dud-ley-Owen

Emmarentia

Historically, trappers have relied on lime-sticks, where stems of pome-granate are coated in a locally-man-ufactured ‘lime’ and are then placed in trees and bushes. Passing birds become stuck on the lime-coated sticks where they fall easy prey to trappers. Lime-sticks are still used in many areas. Today, most trappers will use long lines of nearly invisible netting, known as mist nets.

Cyprus has two songbirds that breed nowhere else in the world: Cyprus Warbler and Cyprus Wheatear. Both of these songbirds have been found illegally trapped.

Eight million birds killed illegally every year at 20 eastern Mediterra-nean locationsBirdLife International scientists have estimated that just 20 locations in the eastern Mediterranean may be responsible for eight million individ-ual birds being illegally killed or tak-en alive each year.

In the paper ‘Preliminary assessment of the scope and scale of illegal kill-

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70th Anniversary Celebrations 2017 is going to be a BIG year for Wits Bird Club!

Look out for details of forthcoming events!

Trapping and killing is also prevalent in Greece, and Birdwatch is raising funds to tackle this problem by en-tering a team in this year’s Cham-pions of the Flyway competition in Israel.

The highest estimates of birds illegal-ly killed or taken in the Mediterrane-an region were for Italy (3-8 million birds), Egypt (300,000-11 million) and Syria (3-5 million), while the density of illegal killing or taking was highest in Malta (18-667 birds per year per sq km), Cyprus (146-351 birds per sq km) and Lebanon (161-335 birds per sq km).

“It was disturbing to find that despite the positive impact of EU legislation, half of the top 10 countries with the highest levels of illegal killing are Member States of the EU. This indi-cates the need for greater effort to ensure that the EU Birds Directive is fully implemented at national lev-el,” said Willem Van den Bossche, co-author of the paper and Flyway Conservation Officer for Europe and Central Asia at BirdLife Europe.

The species affected by illegal killing include Blackcap (1.2-2.4 million in-dividuals per year), European Turtle Dove (300,000-900,000 individuals per year) and Song Thrush (700,000-1.8 million individuals per year), along with many others.

ing and taking of birds in the Med-iterranean’ published this week in the scientific journal Bird Conserva-tion International, the authors pres-ent a detailed analysis of how many individual birds and which species are impacted, where the 20 worst locations are and why different spe-cies are targeted in each country.

“We were shocked to discover that 25 million individuals of over 450 species are estimated to be illegal-ly killed or taken alive in the Med-iterranean region per year, main-ly for food (eaten as a delicacy or sold for profit), sport and for use as cage birds or hunting decoys,” Dr Anne-Laure Brochet, lead author of the report, said. “Importantly, eight million birds are estimated to be killed or taken at just 20 locations. Given the uncertainty around these numbers because of the difficulty in documenting illegal activities, the total could be anywhere from five to 11 million.”

These 20 worst locations are found in just four countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. They include the Famagusta area of Cyprus, where 400,000-1 million individual birds are illegally killed or taken each year, and the El Manzala area of Egypt, where 30,000-1.1 million individu-als birds are illegally killed or taken each year.

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The data were collected by BirdLife Partner organisations across the re-gion using a variety of sources, in-cluding targeted monitoring data, police records, publications, reports and expert opinion. In many cas-es, the numbers were extrapolated from data or estimates of the num-ber of mist-nets, shooting incidenc-es, recoveries in animal hospitals and rehabilitation centres, and ille-gal lime stick traps used to ensnare birds with sticky glue.

“Illegal killing is a complex conser-vation problem, with key methods of killing, targeted species and moti-vations varying between countries,” explained Dr Vicky Jones, co-author of the paper and Senior Flyways Of-ficer at BirdLife International. “Ad-dressing this issue requires action on a local, national and internation-al scale, involving law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, hunting associations, national government authorities, non-governmental or-ganisations and international policy instruments.”

National action plans to tackle illegal killing have recently been developed by a wide range of stakeholders in Egypt/Libya and Cyprus, with the aim of strengthening legislation and

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS

Bokmakierie is published three times annually. Contributions may be in Afrikaans or Eng-lish. English names of birds should be those used in Roberts VII. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Editor, Club, the Committee, Members or those of BirdLife South Africa. The Editors reserve the right to edit articles as necessary.

This issue of Bokmakierie has been produced and edited by Andy Featherstone and Lance Robinson.

its enforcement, improving monitor-ing and supporting efforts to take action for individual species.

“Unsustainable exploitation is one of the major threats to the world’s birds, and much of this is illegal. Our study is the first to compile detailed quantitative estimates of the scale of the problem in the Mediterrane-an. Our identification of the worst locations will help to focus efforts on the ground to tackle the issue,” said Dr Stuart Butchart, co-author of the paper and Head of Science at BirdLife International.

A Red-backed Shrike caught on an illegal lime stick is an all-too-common phenomenon around the eastern Mediterranean region. Photo: Mindy el Bashir (Nature Conservation Egypt).

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So, while you have fun spotting and plotting birds you automatically play a part in helping the thing you love. Double win!

You can download the app (FREE!) from the respective online app stores

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About BirdLasser

Web: www.birdlasser.com

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http://www.birdlasser.com/chal-lenges

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37

Bird of the Year 2016 - Sociable Weaver

Birds are excellent flagship species and valuable indicators of the en-vironment as places that are rich in bird species are often abundant in other forms of biodiversity. The presence of birds indicates a healthy environment and thriving ecosys-tem. BirdLife South Africa conserves our country’s birds. By focusing on birds, the sites and the habitats on which they depend, BirdLife South Africa hopes to improve the quality of life for birds, for other wildlife and ultimately for people.

Each year a Bird of the Year is cho-sen by BirdLife South Africa. Bird of the Year is one of BirdLife South Africa’s annual initiatives for creat-ing awareness about birds and bird habitat conservation. Educating peo-ple is one of the key components of BirdLife South Africa’s conservation work. The aim of the project is to choose a bird species and focus ed-ucation and other activities on it during the coming year and improve public awareness about the species and the need to protect the species (and related species) and its habitat.

The Bird of the Year for 2016 is the

Sociable Weaver and is proudly spon-sored by Builders.

The Sociable Weaver is an icon of southern Africa’s arid zones, and one of the drawcards that bring people to visit the Kalahari. They are small birds with big personalities, and a complex social life, living in colo-nies that can be hundreds strong. Colonies are like villages, made up of nuclear families organised into close-knit societies with strict social hierarchies.

Although Sociable Weavers are not found throughout South Africa, oth-er weavers are more widespread, so the learning resources and materials (which can be downloaded below) are linked to weavers in general. Issues addressed include their in-tricate weaving skills, diversity of breeding systems – ranging from mo-nogamy to polygamy, and from soli-tary to colonial breeding and infor-mation about the 17 weaver species found in South Africa.

Sociable Weaver

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Rarities and Unu-sual Sightings Re-port: 31 March 2016Compiled by André MarxThere were a number of excellent rarities this past summer, with pride of place probably going to the much celebrated and obliging Spotted Crake at Waterfall Estate in Midrand, which was viewed and photographed by nearly 1500 people. It was one of the best summers at Marievale as well, which has improved tremen-dously as a birding destination after the good work undertaken with re-gard to habitat management there, and a steady stream of good birds was reported; more Spotted Crakes, Black-tailed Godwit, Pectoral Sand-piper, Western Marsh Harriers and more. The other top locality in the very north-east of the region – Mk-hombo Dam – delivered again, with Caspian Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Collared Pratincole, White-fronted Plover and a very interesting gull, more of which is written below, to name just some. A Tree Pipit in Pre-toria also attracted a lot of atten-tion. The reports for this 6 month period were numerous and not all were included, especially of more regular rarities such as European Honey Buzzard. My thanks to all who submit sightings and photos to me or via SABAP2 and the various Internet forums.

National Rarities/ Nasionalerarite-ite

Crake, Spotted. Riethaan, Gevl-

ekte: a single bird was observed at Marievale on 7 Jan 2016 (R&KW). In the days and weeks following at least another two birds were seen at the same locality (Gbird). On 21 Jan 2016 a solitary bird was noticed at a small wetland at the entrance to Waterfall Estate, Midrand (PV). This chance sight-ing eventually resulted in hun-dreds of birders from all over the country converging on this site to tick the bird in the following weeks, and became the biggest twitch to date in South African history when nearly 1500 peo-ple had been to see it.Godwit, Black-tailed. Griet, Swartstert-: one bird was located at Mkhom-bo Dam on 29 Mar 2015, EdB, DV, TH), with one bird, presumably the same one, still being report-

Spotted Crake, Waterfall Estate - photo by Don Reid

Spotted Crake, Waterfall Estate - photo by Simone Swiel

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ed in early Oct 2015.

Godwit, Black-tailed. Griet, Swartstert-: at least two birds were still present at Mkhombo Dam on 5 Oct 2015 (Gbird), with records of this species still being reported well into Feb 2016. One bird was at Marievale, 26 Dec 2015 (NL).

Gull, Lesser Black-backed. Meeu, Kleinswartrug-: The im-mature bird at Mkhombo Dam was still present on 28 Sep 2015 (Gbird) and remained present until at least Feb 2016 when a number of birders reported it. This bird had been studied in detail and with the help of gull experts from abroad the opinion was expressed as the bird came into moult that it belonged to the subspecies Larus fuscus baraben-sis, the form known as “Steppe” Gull, considered to be part of the Herring Gull/ Lesser Black-backed Gull complex.

Harrier, Western Marsh. Vleivalk, Europese: an immature male was seen at Marievale Bird Sanctuary, 9 Nov 2015 (reported by MT and JvR), and in the en-suing weeks up to 2 and 3 birds were present at this locality (Gbird).

Sandpiper, Green. Ruiter, Wit-gat-: at least one bird was in the vicinity of the vlei bridge at Riet-vlei NR for several weeks, 15 Oct 2015 (Gbird) when it was seen and photographed by several birders. A single bird was at Waterfall Es-tate, Midrand, 21 Nov 2015 (RS).

Regional Rarities/ Streeksrariteite

Buzzard, European. Wespedief: several sightings of this species occurred; one bird at Leeuwfon-tein Estate, north-east of Pre-toria, 21 Nov 2015 (LL); one at Rievlei Dam NR near the coffee shop 22 Nov 2015 (AB); one again at Rietvlei NR, 3 Dec 2015 (A&G-Bo). Another bird was at Delta Park, Johannesburg, 9 Jan 2016 (DH). Several more sightings of this species were reported this summer in Gauteng, with this raptor being reported more reg-ularly than some resident raptor species!

Openbill, African. Ooievaar, Oopbek-: one bird was at Mk-hombo Dam, 6 Dec 2015 (MB). A single bird was briefly seen at Ri-etvlei Dam NR, 16 Jan 2016 (FO). Another sighting was of one bird at Vaalkop Dam on 20 Mar 2016 (FP).

Pelican, Great White. Pelikaan, Wit-: a single bird was at Mkhom-bo Dam, 28 Nov 2015 (MJ).

African Openbill - photo by Faansie Peacock

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Pelican, Pink-backed. Peli-kaan, Klein-: one bird was on the southern side of Roodeplaat Dam, 28 Dec 2015, (DT), with an-other bird sighted at this locality, 12 Jan 2016 (ER).

Phalarope, Red. Fraiingpoot, Grys-: a single bird was found at Mkhombo Dam on 16 Jan 2016 (RG) and in the following weeks was reported by many birders. Another bird in non-breeding plumage was reported from Hart-beespoort Dam, 15 Mar 2016 (RK).

Pipit, Mountain. Koester, Berg: a very interesting discovery was

finding a small group of these birds at Ezemvelo NR when the distinctive features could be noted, 10 Oct 2015 (EM et al). Etienne Marais notes: the ex-treme winter weather forces birds to depart their high breed-ing grounds [in Lesotho and sur-rounds] from about early April. They return again in the second half of October. Where they go in the intervening months is one of the enduring mysteries of south-ern African ornithology. Given that related pipits are resident or short-distance nomadic migrants in the South African winter, it seems plausible that the Moun-tain Pipit is merely an altitudinal migrant.

Pipit, Tree. Koester, Boom-: one bird was found on 5 Feb 2016 in Wonderboom Nature Reserve, Pretoria, (TvS). Several birders saw this local rarity in the follow-ing weeks.

Pink-backed Pelican Roodeplaat Dam - photo by Duard Teichert

Mountain Pipit, Ezemvelo - photo by Thinus van Staden

Red Phalarope, Hartbeespoort Dam - photo by Rick Kleyn

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Plover, Caspian. Strandkiewiet, Asiatiese: at least 8 birds were still present at Mkhombo Dam on 5 Oct 2015 (Gbird). At least 5 birds were present at the floodplain at Kgomo-Kgomo, 11 Dec 2015 (LR).

Plover, White-fronted. Strandkiewiet, Vaal-: one bird was at MKhombo Dam, 14 Oct 2015 (JB) and remained present until at least 19 Dec 2015.

Pratincole, Collared. Sprinkaan-voël, Rooivlerk-: one bird was at Mkhombo Dam, 5 Oct 2015 (Gbird).

Sandpiper, Pectoral. Strandlop-

er, Geelpoot-: a single bird was

found at Marievale Bird Sanctu-ary, 23 Nov 2015 (DM).

Turnstone, Ruddy. Steenloper: at least two birds were at Mk-hombo Dam, 5 Oct 2015 (Gbird). One bird was at Marievale Bird Sanctuary, 9 Nov 2015 (MT).

Whimbrel, Common. Wulp, Klein-: a single bird was at Mk-hombo Dam, 24 Nov 2015 (CvW)

Other Interesting Observations/ Ander Interessante Waarnemings

Bee-eater, Blue-cheeked.

Caspian Plover, Mkhombo Dam - photo by Wilma Moreby

Tree Pipit, Wonderboom - photo by Celia Human

Collared Pratincole, Mkhombo Dam - photo by Wouter Cromhout

Pectoral Sandpiper, Marievale - photo by Celia Human

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Byvreter, Blouwang-: one bird was at Marievale on 12 Dec 2015, (RvT), an unusual record. Another interesting record for the region is one bird seen at Hamerkop Bird Sanctuary, Roodepoort, 17 Dec

2015 (BA).

Cuckoo, Common. Koekoek, Eu-ropese: one bird was found at Waterfall Estate, Midrand, 11 Jan 2016 where it remained for a few days (Gbird).

Eagle, Ayres’ Hawk. Arend, Kleinjag-: in early October 2015 a few birds were noted in the vicin-ity of Weskoppies Hospital in Pre-toria, and in the ensuing weeks and months they were observed by a number of birders, still be-ing present during January 2016, (Gbird). Another bird was seen

at the Tree Pipit site at Wonder-boom NR in Pretoria, 6 Feb 2016 (JvRo).

Finfoot, African. Watertrapper: this species was confirmed as oc-curring at Rietvlei NR in Centuri-on, 18 Oct 2015, at the new hide downstream from the vlei bridge (Gbird).

Kingfisher, African Pygmy. Vis-vanger, Dwerg-: an unusual sighting for the Walter Sisulu Bo-tanical Gardens in Johannesburg was two birds of this species, 21 Nov 2015 (JvRo).

Moorhen, Lesser. Water-hoender, Klein-: one bird was an unusual sighting at Hamerkop Bird Sanctuary in Florida, Rood-epoort, 30 Dec 2015 (BA). A single bird was at Glen Austin Pan, Mid-

rand, 10 Jan 2016 (JA).

Owl, Southern White-faced. Uil, Witwang--: one bird was a sur-prise find at The Sandton Field and Study Centre grounds, 14 Oct 2015, where it remained for a few days and was observed by several local birders (KT).

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Mariev-ale - photo by Rowan van Tonder

Ayres’ Hawk Eagle, Pretoria - photo by Robert Wienand

Lesser Moorhen, Hamerkop Bird Sanctuary - photo by Anthony Pa-ton

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Owlet, Pearl-spotted. Uil, Wit-kol-: a sighting of one bird at Hamerkop Bird Sanctuary in Flor-ida, Roodepoort, is an unusual record for the Greater Johannes-burg region, 7 Nov 2015 (BA).

Pipit, Short-tailed. Koester, Ko-rtstert-: this species was located again along the Mabusa backroad near Verena, 13 Nov 2015 (EM), a highly localised bird in the Gaut-eng region.

Starling, Common. Spreeu, Eu-ropese-: a single bird was ob-served at Delta Park in Johannes-burg on 30 Oct 2015 and another individual was recorded foraging next to the N1/ N14 interchange just south of Pretoria on 10 Nov

2015 (GL). A report from the last CWAC count along the Vaal Riv-er was that it revealed 24 birds of this species in trees and lawns next to the river, 15 Aug 2015 (JBr).

Whitethroat, Common. Sanger, Witkeel-: one bird was observed at Helderfontein Estate, north of Fourways in Johannesburg, 31 Jan 2016, a first sighting at this locality (AM). One bird was at Waterfall Estate, Midrand, on 7 Feb 2016, an unusual bird for the area (RS, AM). Another bird was recorded at Klipriviersberg NR in the south of Johannesburg, 20 Dec 2015 (LR), a new bird for the reserve.

Observers/ Waarnemers:

Amanda & Gary Boyle (A&GBo)

Andrew Buitendach (AB)

André Marx (AM)

Bradwin Adendorff (BA)

Corrie van Wyk (CvW)

David Myburgh (DM)

Dirk Human (DH)

Common Whitethroat, Waterfall Estate - photo by Ron Searle

Southern White-faced Owl, Sand-ton - photo by Jéan van Rooyen

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Duard Teichert (DT)

Ernst Retief (ER)

Etienne Marais (EM)

Faansie Peacock (FP)

Fransie O’Brien (FO)

Gauteng Birders (Gbird)

Geoff Lockwood (GL)

Jason Boyce (JB)

Jerome Ainsley (JA)

John Bradshaw (JBr)

Johan van Rensburg (JvR)

Jéan van Rooyen (JvRo)

Kevin Trinder-Smith (KT)

Lance Robinson (LR)

Leon Labuschagne (LL)

Mark Tittley (MT)

Martin Benadie (MB)

Michael Johnson (MJ)

Norman Lok (NL)

Pieter Verster (PV)

Rick Kleyn (RK)

Rob Geddes (RG)

Rolf & Karin Wiesler (R&KW)

Ron Searle (RS)

Rowan van Tonder (RvT)

Thinus van Staden (TvS)

This column is mainly concerned with observations of rarities and interesting sightings made in the Greater Gauteng region, defined as being 100km from the centre of both

Johannesburg and Pretoria, however observations made further afield are also welcome. While the majority of records are included it is sometimes necessary to exclude some depend-ing on whether the subject matter has already been well reported. Oc-casionally records are sourced from the Internet and from SABAP2 re-cords. Members are invited to sub-mit details of sightings to André Marx at e-mail turaco@telkomsa.net or 083 4117674.

WEBSITEWe are pleased to announce

that the Wits Bird Club website has been rebuilt and is now

back up and running.

www.witsbirdclub.org