OUT IN THE VELD - ATLASING AND RINGING

The last few weeks had been very exciting on the atlasing scene. With the return of the summer migrants a whole new dimension started and I could list record numbers of species in the different pentads. And for the first time I "struck" a century – 105 species in a 3 hrs stint in one of the pentads north of the Orange River. Some of the birds that I've observed in that specific pentad for the first time was a flock of 11 Glossy Ibises. I counted no less than 7 Namaqua Sandgrouse at the same dam where I found them a few months ago – compared to SABAP1 data totally out of range. This time around it was not necessary to complete an out of range form to verify my sighting as I had done it already the previous time.

A week later we counted 124 species in another neighbouring pentad – a very special species that was observed for the first time in this area, was the Kurrrichane (Small) Buttonquail (Rob 205). Some other specials for that same area were the Barn Owl that we flushed by accident from its hide in a cliff and the nest of a Rufuos-cheeked Nightjar. African Rock Pipits called throughout the day and even before dawn a plethora of Eastern Clapper Larks were strutting their stuff.

Malachite Kingfisher after it has been ringed (ACvdW)

Dawie de Swardt, ornithologist of the National Museum in Bloemfontein, and I did bird ringing in that same pentad in the southern Free State in the same period – about 15 km from town. Some of the interesting and very special birds in the nets in that particular pentad were African Reed Warblers (Rob 631) and a Malachite Kingfisher (Rob 431). A Lanner Falcon tried to rob us of a Cape Turtle Dove in the nets - so we could add a Lanner to the tally of birds in the pentad.

An African Reed Warbler in the hand (ACvdW)

Other specials in the nets were 2 Rock Martins and 2 Greater Striped Swallows. With the bird in the hand it is so much more interesting to observe the characteristics close up – things one would not normally see through the binoculars with the bird at a distance.

Thank you to Francois and Monique Botha for hosting us on their farm at their lodge – Iniklofie Lodge – contact them at 072 736 0944. The lodge is rustic and just the place to recharge after a full and busy week.

Male Red-billed Quelea with an interesting head colouring (Pic: Deon du Plessis)

A week or so later Deon du Plessis – local birder and ringer – and I did some ringing at a site on the farm Zuiderzee just south of the Orange River. We ringed 17 species and a total of 63 birds on the day. It was interesting to see the different colours of the male Red-billed Quelea (Rob 821). Female Red Billed Quelea (Pic: Deon du Plessis)

At first we captured only males, but later in the morning we had some females (with their yellow bills in contrast to the red bills of the males) in the nets as well. Southern Red Bishops were plentiful and a Lesser Swamp Warbler was amongst the birds ringed.Male Red-billed Quelea (Pic: Deon du Plessis)

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).