To the NORTH and the SOUTH...

Yesterday was a very nice day out in the field – the weather was fine and sunny and the light good to have clear sightings. I atlased two pentads – the one just to the north of my home pentad, and later in the morning the one just to the south of my home pentad. The surveys were return visits to both the pentads and each has been covered for a third time.

3035_2640 is the pentad just to the north of the town of Aliwal North. Despite the fact that it is winter at the moment, I've added 10 new species to the tally of species already observed in the pentad in the previous surveys. The Hamerkop nest (reports in earlier posts) is one of the features of this pentad – and yesterday I observed the pair of birds on a boulder just above the new nest. Interestingly two Hadeda Ibises were sharing the same boulder with the Hamerkops– the birds sunning themselves in the early morning. Among the new additions was a Malachite Kingfisher (Alcedo cristata). We could watch it for quite a long time where it was actively hunting for water insects from it’s perch at a farm dam. The first hour of the survey added 36 species, in the second another 9 was added and the third only added 4 new species to the survey list. A single Greater Kestrel and three Black-shouldered Kites hunting together over a stretch of grassveld were the only raptors seen.

The second pentad for the day was 3045_2640 – just to the south of town. The first tick was a pair of Anteating Chats on the fence – they are quite abundant in our area. The second sighting of the survey was a Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus) which is quite rare in our region. Unfortunately it only gave me a few seconds to take a picture before it flew off. It nevertheless was a great sighting. The tally for the pentad grew from 63 to 75 unique species – again despite the fact that is winter and activity amongst birds are generally lower in winter. I counted 45 species in total in the 2 hours of surveying the pentad. Except for the Lanner Falcon, I saw a Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk on two separate occasions and a single Black-headed Heron (the only one for the day).

Hamerkop has a new apartment

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.

The Hamerkop nest

The Hamerkop nest

In Oct 2006 I saw first saw the beginnings of this nest of a Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) next to the road to Goedemoed in Aliwal district. It was interesting to observe this nest being built next to the road - quite a busy road in the countryside. I saw it grow from a few sticks balanced precariously on the rocky ledge to its current size. But I never saw the birds near the nest - sometimes saw a bird flying over a dam a little way off with nesting material, but never near or towards this particular spot.

The birds normally nest in suitable trees, but nests (like this one) are found on cliffs as well. The opening of the nest is well over the overhang of the cliff to prevent predators entering the nesting chamber. In his book, A guide to nests and eggs of Southern African Birds (Struik 2001), Warwick Tarboton mentions that a single nest can consist of up to 8000 individual pieces of material and can weigh anything from 25-50 kg. The nest may be used only for one season and occasionally a second season.

A few weeks ago (March 2008) while atlasing the pentad for SABAP2, I saw this Hamerkop perched on the rock just above the nest. The very first time I observed a bird near the nest. At closer inspection I realised the nest could be "active" as there were fresh droppings at the entrance and on the rocks below the entrance.

I visit the site at regular intervals, but cannot confirm any breeding activity, although fresh droppings are observed around the nesting area. A clutch is normally 4-5 eggs and takes between 28 and 32 days to incubate. I do not want to disturb any breeding activity that may occur, and the spot is quite inaccessible. I'll keep an eye open and report any findings on successful breeding. Since I first observed activity around the site and taking the time of incubation and nestling/fledging (44-50 days) into account, we may have a few young birds around (if any!).

What was of interest to me, was the fact that the site was still "active". Usually a nest is used only once, occasionally for a second season - this one seems to be active for a longer period. It even seems that fresh material was added to the dome. Apparently this type of nest "ranks as the largest domed nest built by a pair of birds" (Tarboton, 2001:32).