Short-toed Rock-Thrush got a new bangle

On 29 August BirdLife Free State had a birdringing day at Kloofeind south-west of Bloemfontein. The morning started out quite chilly, but later the day turned out to be a very nice late winter day (or should we rather call it an early spring day?).

Male Short-toed Rock-Thrush in ringing process (Photo: Dawie de Swardt)

On arrival at the site the calls of a Short-toed Rock-Thrush (Monticola brevipes) were heard. It was spotted where it worked the area around an old klipkraal for early titbits. Snaptraps were set and put out in the area where the Thrush had been spotted and very soon afterwards the first special bird for the day was in the trap. It was a male bird and it got it's very unique bangle with the number CC94704 on the right leg. It was very obliging and posed after receiving the bangle for a few photos, after which it had been released.

Other special birds that were ringed were the pair of Pririt Batises (Batis pririt) - both the male and female birds - they were caught in the mistnets. It was very interesting to see (and hear) the fierce pose these small birds put up when handled at the nets and while ringing. For such a small bird, weighing a mere 7,5g, they made quite a lot of noise and snapped their small bills angrily while they were handled. Fortunately they were released very quickly after receiving their bangles to go about their own ways.

A number of Acacia Pied Barbets (Tricholaema leucomelas) were netted through the morning, as well as a female Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis), Fiscal Flycatchers (Sigelus silens) and the odd Familiar Chat (Cercomela familiaris) in a snaptrap. Other birds for the day included a Kalahari Scrub-Robin (Cercotrichas paena) and Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler (Parisoma subcaeruleum).

Close up of Short-toed Rock-Thrush (Photo: Dawie de Swardt)

The other highlight of the day was a Long-billed Pipit (Anthus similis) that had been tricked into the snaptrap. The bird was spotted where it patrolled an open grassy area with small rocks and sparse bushes. Snaptraps were set out in different spots in that area and in the end the bird could not resist the wriggling mealworm in the trap. The pipit had been bangled (CC94706) and after a photoshoot had been released again.

A total of 21 birds had been ringed and two recaptures of birds ringed before at this site had been made.

The pentad had been atlased as well for SABAP2 and a total of 58 species were counted in the pentad.

Another out-of-range species

A week or three ago, Christa van Zyl, a friend, first reported her sighting of a pair of White-fronted Bee-eaters (Merops bullockoides) on their farm about 20km south-east of Aliwal North. She first heard the call that did not sound familiar at all and then saw the birds in the garden of the farmhouse. At first she could not believe what she saw – so she went to her father-in-law to listen the bird calls on his Roberts' Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa. Now she had been sure, the call was unmistakably the calls she heard in the garden. The next obstacle was to get a photo of the birds. She literally stalked them, but could unfortunately not succeed in getting near enough to get a clear picture. She sent me the best she could manage – her photo is added to confirm the sighting.

If compared to the current distribution records of SABAP2 and the older distribution records of the previous atlas, it is very clear that these two birds are way out of their normal range of distribution.

Christa's sighting is a very good example of the contribution that citizen scientists can make towards research on birdlife and the distribution of bird species. Well done, Christa, this record gives us a clearer picture of the movements of this species.

Our next challenge wil be to capture the birds to ring them in an attempt to monitor their movements. We will attempt this if the birds stay around in the next few weeks.

Atlasing and daylength

After reading my remark on the increase of daylength (see post of 6 August) that get birds excited about the new season coming, a friend sent me this link which explains a lot of the change in behaviour of the birds.

http://www.news24.com/Content/SciTech/News/1132/f78b9d0be3f34646b3a193bb0e6dc850/07-08-2009%2011-08/Why_birds_sing

The research done by these scientists just proves that the new season is on it's way, and I was delighted to see my hunch about the daylength rather than higher temperatures had been on the spot. And yesterday I witnessed it when I observed the first Little Swifts that have returned to our patch. The past few days mark an increase in activity around the bird feeder in my garden as well, with male birds trying their best to impress the females.

All this new activity is a good sign for atlasing, as all the new activity tempts one to rather go out to atlas to welcome the migrants back, than to grind along at the workbench. A nice walk on the golf course or in the veld with binoculars restores mind, body and soul - and helps the endorphins to kick us into a new gear for the new season.

Birding at night

While working in my study, my ears are always pitched to listen for birds calling outside. A little while ago I heard a Barn Owl screeching - they are regular "customers" and I've found some of their pellets outside. Spotted Eagle Owls are regular visitors too. I'm planning on putting up an owl box in a large oak tree in the corner of our garden, to see if they don't want to set up permanent residence in the garden.

Earlier tonight I heard Crowned Lapwings as well as Spotted Thickknee calling - it is a bright moonlit night. Sometimes the odd Cape Turtle Dove calls in the middle of the night and I've just heard the first Cape Robin Chat of the morning.

Atlasing milestone

I've reached a personal milestone while taking part in SABAP2 - the second Southern African Bird Atlasing Project. On Tuesday this week, I've submitted my 350th full protocol card. That translates to an average of 29.17 cards per month and 19 124 individual records submitted. The average number of species per card is 54.6. The submissions cover 140 different pentads all around the country.

December is the month with the highest number of cards - 43. And February has the lowest number - only 21.

I have submitted 191 ad hoc protocol cards with observations in 180 pentads as well. Each of these contributions add valuable bits of data in the bigger picture of the bird atlas for our region.

With the first signs of spring in the air (daylength increasing) atlasing will become easier and with the first reports of migrant birds returning to our southern climate, I'm looking forward to go out atlasing. Some of the first birds appear with breeding colours as well - at my bird feeder in the garden I have a Southern Masked Weaver male in full breeding plumage as well as a very cocky Cape Weaver male.

A special Hoopoe in the trap

Today marked a personal highlight and milestone. I ringed the 250th bird since I got my ringing licence at the beginning of February 2009. The bird that had the honour of this milestone was an African Hoopoe (Upupa africana – Rob 451 – Ring CC94703). I trapped it in snaptrap in my garden – that was after putting out traps for 5 days in a row on the lawn. It was very interesting to watch the Hoopoes (there were two birds at times) as they went probing all over the lawn. They even probe their bills through the netting of the snaptrap, but don't go for the mealworm in the trap. My "very unscientific" conclusion after watching them for many hours, is that they feed on feel rather than sight. Other species went straight for the wriggling worm. Capturing Hoopoes in a snaptrap is more by accident, in my opinion, than inticing them by the bait into the trap.

Note the big white window in the wing of the Hoopoe – indicating the wing pattern of the male bird. The female as more black patterns in the wing and not such a large wide window. Also note the wax sheaths on the rectrices showing that the bird is moulting it's tail feathers. The wing primaries showed no moult.

This was the second Hoopoe that I ringed. The first being over Easter weekend on the farm Tasmania to the south of Aliwal North.

The weather had not been very favourable for atlasing for SAPAB2 this "long weekend", so I put out the traps to see if a few birds will succumb to the juicy mealworms. Yesterday I went to the local golf course – the wind was strong, but a few birds could be captured and ringed. We (the kids and I) had a few magnificent sigthings of raptors. The first was a Lanner Falcon charging swiftly after a Cape Turtle Dove. The dove was lucky enough to escape. Shortly after that we heard an African Fish-Eagle calling over the water at the Islands Spa. Not long after the call, we saw the magnificent bird flying overhead. Then we had sightings of a Black-shouldered Kite hunting low over the reeds and the fairways of the golf course – hovering time from time to get good views of possible and unsuspecting prey. Seems as if the raptors don't really mind the wind and the chill of winter.

At the end of the weekend a whole flock of Red-winged Starlings had been ringed – no less then 20 of them received a bangle to wear.

Birding on the Border

After a few hectic weeks at work, I had a very welcome break yesterday, and what better way to start a few days of leave with a day out atlasing for SABAP2. I mapped out 4 pentads just north of Zastron and to the west of the Lesotho border. The weather was not very favourable for birding … we started out with a temperature of just around 3°C and a chilly wind blowing. The temperature rose throughout the day, but the chilly wind did not subside. Eventually the day turned out quite a few interesting surprises.

Neels – a long-time non-birding friend – and myself set out early to start the first pentad just after sunrise. 3005_2705 was the first pentad of the day with rolling grass hills, a few farm dams and dotted with bare poplar groves. Common Fiscals were abundant and the fences were dotted with both male and female African Stonechats as well as Anteating Chats. The colourful Cape Longclaws were also regularly seen. The first special of the day was the Barn Owls in the rafters of an old abandoned farmhouse. Another regular sight was the small groups of Blue Korhaan – adults with two or three young birds. At one of the farm dams we had a great sighting of a juvenile African Fish-Eagle with its blotched moult and shortly thereafter we were entertained by 3 Ludwig's Bustards. Through the binoculars we had wonderful sightings – unfortunately just too far off to take photos. A single White-breasted Cormorant sat on guard on the wall of a cement reservoir and we spotted two Cape Crows – a sight not regularly seen in this parts of the country.

We moved through a part of the 2nd pentad – 3005_2710 – where we had a single Swainson's Spurfowl, and again the Common Fiscals and Stonechats amongst the sightings along the road. Later the day when we did the second trip through this pentad we had a single Lanner Falcon just before sunset. We saw a surprising variety of water birds throughout the day. Red-billed Teal were spotted on a dam near the wedding venue Onder-die-Akker. It had been the only sighting of these ducks for the day. Troups of Helmeted Guineafowl were spotted throughout the day as well.

View from the mountains towards Zastron

Boesmanskop – 3000_2705 – was next in turn. A Hamerkop patrolling a very dry Witspruit (stream) had been a special in this pentad. We saw both the variations (grey and black) of the Mountain Wheatear and had good sightings of the Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk. The sole sighting of a Familiar Chat for the day was in this pentad. One of the very specials of the day had been the Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk in a poplar grove near the farm Trianon.

Now we moved to the mountains towards the border of Lesotho. The first sighting was a real treat – 2 Black-shouldered Kites were mobbing a Jackal Buzzard … and they gave the bigger raptor all their best. Eventually the buzzard flew off into the distance, annoyed by the look of it. We met the wife of the owner of the farm Geheeltevrede along the road and she gave is permission to go up the mountain on their farm. And this was the highlight of the day.

Neels - with one foot in Lesotho - birding on the border

The road took us up to the Lesotho border and we could see far into Lesotho and the south-eastern Free State. Although it was overcast, it was clear enough to see in the distance. We were entertained by a Verreaux's Eagle soaring just about 30m off, but in the strong gusts of wind it was blown away towards the east quickly. In one of the sheltered kloofs we spotted a female Drakenberg Siskin and Karoo Prinia responded ferociously to my pishing. They were displaying and calling over the Ouhout and Broom Karree (Rhus lancea) and had been quite annoyed by the intruder. Back down from the mountain, we hit the grassveld again and soon spotted a Black Harrier – it permitted us good view, but once again out of reach of my camera lens.

As we were returning after sunset, Neels (remember, he is a non-birder) remarked: "Even I can now recognise a Common Fiscal in the dark." We really saw them in abundance all day. And the African Stonechats with their bright chestnut chests had been an entertainment as well.

Although cold and windy ... a special day with 4 new pentads done for SABAP2 and two souls revived.

Another rare visitor to the southern Free State

Earlier this year I have seen European Rollers (Coracias garrulus) on three occasions in the vicinity of Aliwal North – twice in the southern Free State and once in the northern extremes of the Eastern Cape (see post in archive). It was quite surprising to observe these birds in our area after being living here for nearly 17 years without once seeing them – and then suddenly three sightings within three weeks.

This weekend I had been surprised by another rarity for our region – a Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudata). Saturday afternoon while travelling to Zastron we spotted this Roller for the first time. Unfortunately we had to pass and could not stop to take a closer look. The wind was blowing strongly, but the long tail rectrices were conspicuous as the wind blew the bird from its perch on the telephone post.

Early this morning I went out to atlas the pentad for SABAP2. It was quite chilly and the mist on the river made for a wonderful scene. At first I passed the location where we spotted the Roller on Saturday. I atlased some other habitats in the pentad. On my return along the route I scanned the high trees and bushes in the hope to find the Roller again. After a visit to the farm dam where we counted a few waterbird species, I spotted a bird perching on the power line. It allowed us to come nearer and I frantically took photos from a distance in the fear it may fly off. Eventually I could stop right beneath the perch on the power line and could take a few close up shots. The bird seemed quite at ease and it seems as if it were settled in to stay in this area. It did not even look uncomfortable with the car right under the power line and the people watching it through their binoculars.

This one is a rarity for our region and definitely a first record for the bird atlas for the southern Free State.

Common Fiscals with white eyestripe

For the past few months that I have been atlasing our district - Aliwal North - intensively for SABAP2 (the second Southern African Bird Atlasing Project), I started to make a few mental notes on the sightings of Common Fiscals. As a complement to the atlasing I started taking notes on the Common Fiscals that I've been ringing. I took photos of them too. When you have them in the hand, it is a whole lot easier to take that pic close up of the white eyestripe (supercilium).

Common Fiscal (subcoronatus) - male

According to current distribution maps (Roberts VII) the subspecies of the Common Fiscal – Lanius collaris subcoronatus – is found to the north and more to the north west from our area. Roberts VII describes their distribution as "vagrant to the EC". For the past two years I've closely observed the pair of birds breeding in my garden – and then eventually in the past 3 weeks I caught both the male and female to ring them. Their pictures clearly show the white supercilium.

Common Fiscal (subcoronatus) - female

FEASTING FURORE

On 23 January a friend phoned me to report an exceptional occurrence in our area. On the farm Rooipoort in the Burgersdorp district a swarm of locusts had been sprayed on 7 January. The dead insects were spread over an area of about 250m wide and 1km long. This source of easy delicatessen was just what some of the birds of the area – and even some rare visitors – came to enjoy. More than 850 White Storks were counted – the photo shows only a small portion of this macnificent sight. Other species that came to gorge themselves on the dead locusts were amongst others: Blue Cranes, 3 Marabou Storks, Ludwig's Bustards, Pied Crows and even a Martial Eagle had been seen early the morning. By the time the pictures were taken, the birds had been feasting for more than a week on this specialty. Apparently the insecticide had no obvious detrimental effect on the feasting birds. I atlased the pentad for SABAP2 while visiting the site and added a new pentad to the Eastern Cape tally of atlased pentads.

Rollers out of range

In three weeks I had observed no less than three European Rollers (Coracias garrulus) in close proximity of my home town, Aliwal North. I have been staying here for more than 16 years and this is the first time I have spotted them. I know of one other sighting in the vicinity in the past.

The first sighting was on 16.01.2009 on the N6 just north of Rouxville (at S30.34382 E26.74455). Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me as we were not birding but on our way to Bloemfontein, but the single bird perched on the telephone line allowed us good views for more than five minutes.

Just a week later, on Friday 23.01.2009, I was fortunate enough to have another sighting. This time the camera had been ready for anything that might pop up along the road. Once again the bird had been perching on the telephone line next to the road. It was as if posing in the late afternoon sun. The co-ordinates are: S30.79603 E26.45507 – a mere 26 km from Aliwal North and I had been busy atlasing - so the sighting will be recorded in the new bird atlas (SABAP2) we are working on now.

Nine days later, while en route to Goedemoed, I had the third sighting of this beautiful migrant. It perched on the farm fence – S30.56220 E26.46702. Sadly enough I had not learned the lesson to take my camera with me – especially when I'm not birding, because then one can expect the unexpected. So nowadays the camera is put next to my binoculars – lesson learned!