A few days ago a friend who had read the previous post (see archive) about the nest of the Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), alerted me about another nest in the same vicinity. I went out today to have a look at the site and here is what I found.
Previously I have observed that the old nest was damaged and that a large part of the material had been lost down the cliff - either blown off the cliff by wind or some other form of "disaster" like the dassies sharing the cliffs bumping it off.
Great was my surprise today to see that the nesting material had not been lost, but was used to lay the foundations of a new apartment merely 40m from the original site.
New material was brought in as well and a brand new nest built. Some of the material carried in for the new apartment on the cliff is still green and apart from grass and sticks I could recognise the dry flowering parts of aloes.
I cannot confirm for sure that it is the same pair of birds that built the new nest - but I suspect that they have chosen this spot to stay. The cliffs guarantee safety and with the large dams in the area food is in good supply.
The birds normally breed from July to January - so they are most probably preparing for the new season ahead.
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