2

3

Inside this issue:

2014 Committee:

Honorary President Murrie Slotar

Chairman Andy Featherstone

Vice-Chairman Barbi Forsyth

Treasurer Leanne Webster

Courses Murrie Slotar

Conservation Barbi Forsyth

Evening Meetings Lia Steen

Programme Ginny Mes

Club Secretary Lauraine Leigh

4 Letter from the Chair

5 L. John Bunning by Murrie Slotar

6 Ons Besoek aan Kwa-Zulu Natal

deur Jan en Maryna Bezuidenhout

9 Flight for the Plight of Vultures by

Kerri Wolter

11 Noah the Ornithologist by Tian Hat-

tingh

14 How much longer will SABAP2 last?

by Les Underhill

15 Across the top of the World: 7th –

21st August 2013 (Part 2) by Lesley

Cornish

18 Birding Trivia - A Cuckoo Letter to

The Times by Peter Greaves

19 Update on EWT Livestock Guardian

Dogs by Derek Van Der Merwe

21 You don’t find Birds on Natal’s South

Coast by Louise Barlow

22 Controversial wind farm in Lesotho

gets the go-ahead by Samantha

Ralston and Hanneline Smit-

Robinson

25 A History of Birding and Bird Ringing

on Melville Koppies by John Freer

28 Unusual Nesting Site - Calitzdorp by

Darroll Bent

29 BirdLife South Africa: Birder’s Code

of Ethics

ISSUE NO 239 APRIL 2014

WITWATERSRAND

BIRD CLUB

P O Box 641

Cresta, 2118

Tel: 011 782 7267

Fax: 086 512 7696

Email: witsbc@mweb.co.za

Web: www.witsbirdclub.org.za

DEADLINE FOR AUGUST 2014 ISSUE - 1st JULY 2014 Contributions, addressed to the Editor,

can be:

E-mailed to: witsbc@mweb.co.za

Posted to: The Editor, Witwatersrand

Bird Club, P O Box 641, Cresta, 2118

Delivered to: Delta Environmental

Centre, Road No 3, Victory Park

Cover Photo: Eurasian Blackcap by Ivan Motlik Cover Design: Philip Tarboton See articles on Page’s 5 and 25 regarding first record of a Eurasian Blackcap for South Africa

30 Rarities and Unusual Sightings Re-

port: December 2013 by André Marx

34 BirdLife Matters

4

Letter

From

The

Chair

Dear Members,

Autumn is upon us and sadly our summer

migrants will be departing for warmer

climes to start their breeding cycle very

shortly. Our resident bishops and widows

are all losing their colourful plumage and

reverting to their drab winter plumage.

There are, however, still plenty of things to

see and do so we shouldn’t despair and go

into hibernation for the winter. Upcoming

trips include the Easter outing to Witsand, a

Kalahari reserve that I have not visited pre-

viously and am looking forward to it. For

something different why not try our com-

bined trip and Raptor Course with Geoff

Lockwood at Panata in May. Both excel-

lent ways to avoid the winter blues!

It is heartening to see a good number of

new members at the start of the year and

we hope the trend continues. Please en-

courage people who you know are inter-

ested in birds but who are not members to

come and try one of our outings or evening

meetings and to join the club. More mem-

bers means a stronger club and a bigger

voice when helping with environmental is-

sues.

Sadly we have lost one of the stalwarts of

Wits Bird Club, John Bunning, a member for

many years and past editor of this maga-

zine. Lance and I felt that it was appropri-

ate to dedicate this issue of Bokmakierie to

his memory and we have included an arti-

cle on his life by Murrie Slotar, as well as an

article relating to Melville Koppies where he

carried out ringing for many years.

The AGM on the 22nd February met with a

mixed reception. Whilst it was great to wel-

come members that we had not seen for

some time many of our regular attendees

were absent. Well done to Alison Hanson

recipient of the Diamond Award and

Etienne Marais worthy recipient of the

Bearded Vulture Award.

Sadly at the meeting we said farewell to

Lance Robinson and Matthew Axelrod who

both decided to stand down from the Com-

mittee but we welcomed Ginny Mes who

will be taking over the Planning portfolio.

Lance will continue to act as co-editor for

Bokmakierie and will still be involved in

many of our upcoming events and outings.

In March I attended the BirdLife South Af-

rica FLOCK in the Berg which proved to be

a well run and enjoyable event incorporat-

ing the BirdLife AGM. If only we could get

as many people to attend our AGM!

Maybe a new and more exciting venue is

called for?

Andy Featherstone

Barbi Forysth, husband Alan, Leanne Webster, Beverley Carstens and Ginny Mes all listening intently to Lance Rob-inson’s talk on his planning protfolio— photo by Andy Featherstone

5

L. John Bunning

02-06-1935 -

24-01-2014 By Murrie Slotar

Honorary President

It is with great sadness that I write this as

John was very special not only to me but to

so many who knew him, he will be remem-

bered by members and ringers of the

W.B.C. and all corners of the country. John

died on Friday 24th

January after a long

illness.

John was born in the U.K. and started bird-

ing at a very young age and had a list of

over 100 birds. When he was sent to Kenya

during his army training a whole new

world of birds opened up to him. John then

went on to work in Nigeria another coun-

try rich in birds before coming to S.A. John

worked at Wit’s University for Prof. Phillip

Tobias in the School of Anatomical Sciences.

He joined the W.B.C soon after arriving in

S.A. He became a committee member and

was editor of the Bokmakarie twice, he

then trained under John Ledger and be-

came a qualified bird ringer and this be-

came his first love.

John was instrumental in starting the ringing

at Melville Koppies where he trained many

young ringers. Thanks to John the ringing at

Melville Koppies is still in the hands of the

W.B.C. During an extensive study con-

ducted at Melville Koppies from March 1973

to the end of 1994 John and his ringing train-

ees recorded 164 bird species. Some of these

were just birds flying over. Were it not for

this extensive ringing program a vagrant

Blackcap from Europe, that was caught in

the mist-nets on the 10th

of December 1985,

would otherwise have gone unnoticed and

therefore unrecorded. Over the years John

and his trainees ringed some 22,000 birds

and ringed over 118 species at the reserve.

I first met John when I became Chairman of

the W.B.C and wanted to start up the ring-

ing within the club again. Ringing had

been dormant for a few years. As the

W.B.C was the first club to start ringing in

S.A. I was keen to start this long standing

tradition again, and I also wanted to be-

come a ringer. John and I hit it off right

away and we became the best of friends.

John agreed to become editor again for our

Bokmakarie which he did so while I was in

the Chair. John then retired to Barberton

and, in typical Bunning fashion, it did not

take him long to start the Barberton Bird

Club, he continued his ringing and was our

leader on many wonderful outings to Bar-

berton.

John is a great loss to the whole of the bird-

ing community and a personal loss to me. I

know he will be sorely missed by all who

knew him.

A memorial service was held for John at Melville Koppies on Saturday the 12

th of

April at 9.00 am

6

Ons Besoek aan Kwa-

Zulu Natal

Deur Jan en Maryna Bezuidenhout

Ons beplan en reël dat ons Donderdag 19

Desember 2013 om 3uur vm sal vertrek. Op

die 18de plus minus 3 uur nm is ons klaar

gelaai met alles wat ons sal nodig hê vir 10

dae se verblyf.

Maryna kyk vir my en ek vir haar en sê

‘Kom ons ry’. Ongeveer 15.30 nm is ons op

pad vanaf Roodepoort. Ons het impulsief

besluit en het nie slaap plek nie. Gelukkig

het Maryna ‘n lodge se naam in Piet Retief.

Sy kontak lekkaslaap en die sal ons laat

weet of daar plek is om te oornag.

Ons vat die pad deur Middelburg , Ermelo ,

Piet Retief. Ons wag en wag vir ‘n ant-

woord vanaf lekkaslaap maar niks gebeur

nie. Maryna kontak ons dogter en sy kry vir

ons die nommer van die lodge. Ons bel die

lodge direk en hulle sê daar is plek en ons is

welkom om te kom oornag (dankie tog).

Tussen Middelburg en Ermelo kry ons

swaar reën,donderweer en blitse wat skrik

vir niks. Daar is ook baie swaar voertuie op

die pad en die vordering is maar stadig

aangesien daar herstelwerk aan die pad

gedoen word. Ons kom op Piet Retief aan

19.30nm. Moeg gery eet ons ‘n spithoender

wat ons vir die doel gekry het en klim in die

bed.

Die volgende oggend is Maryna vroeg op.

Met haar rond beweeg in die kamer word

ek wakker en staan op, trek aan en daar

gaan ons om voëls te kyk.

Ons sien die volgende.

Ons ry verder en op Pongola eet ons ont-

byt by die Wimpy. Daarna is ons op pad

na Ndumo toe en bereik ons bestemming

12.20 nm.

Die plek waar jy parkeer en die chalet is

ver van mekaar af . Ek sien nie kans om ‘n

80 liter koelkas/vrieskas vol kos die ent te

dra nie en kry ‘n kruiwa wat lyk soos ‘n

bankie in die hande en gebruik die toe die

om ons goed aan te karwei.

FOLLOWER OF ? WITWATERSRAND BIRD

CLUB HAS ITS OWN

FACEBOOK PAGE!

Southern Red Bishop Rooivink

Bronze Mannikin Gewone Fret

Southern Masked Weaver

Swartkeelgeelvink

Sacred Ibis Skoorsteenveër

Hadeda Ibis Hadeda

Cattle Egret Veereier

Common Myna Indiese Spreeu

Speckled Pigeon Kransduif

Pied Kingfisher Bontvisvanger

Helmeted Guinea-fowl

Gewone Tarentaal

Lesser Swamp-Warbler

Kaapse Rietsanger

Black-headed Heron Swartkopreier

Reed Cormorant Rietduiker

Cape Robin-chat Gewone Janfrederik

Laughing Dove Rooiborsduifie

Red-eyed Dove Grootringduif

7

Ons bly 5 dae in Ndumo. Die Chalet het nie

‘n stoof nie en ook nie enige potte en panne

nie, daar is wel breekgoed en eetgerei.

Daar is ‘n gesamentlike kombuis wat ver is

van die Chalet so ook die ablusieblok. Ge-

lukkig het ons van my swart potte saam

gevat en was dus nie afhanklik van die

kamp sin nie. Na ons klaar afgelaai het,

ontspan ons op die stoep. Terwyl ons daar

sit sien ons

Ons sien 72 spesies waarvan baie die ge-wone is, maar ook wat minder bekend en nuut is. Hier is die ongewones.

Ons 5 dae is op en ons verhuis na Mkuze.

Op Mkuze bly ons in ‘n safari tent.

Die kombuis is nie in die tent nie, maar ‘n los

staande plekkie met ‘n stoof en ‘n koelkas

as ook ‘n plek waar jy jou skottelgoed kan

was. Die badkamer is binne die tent en die

potte en panne is meer as genoeg, maar

die rooster by die vuur is vodde gebrand.

(Dankie tog ek het my eie saamgevat). Hier is net ‘n waaier om jou koel te hou

maar dit help nie veel nie en ons kry

WARM. Een nag beleef ons ‘n windstorm

en moet net koes dat die seile van die tent

ons nie van die bed afslaan nie en die slaap

was maar min.

Die bly plek op Mkuze is nie van die beste

nie maar die voëls is tops.

Weer sien ons van die gewones as ook van

die minder gewones.

Die 5 dae wat ons daar bly sien ons 120

spesies.

Hier volg weer van die ongewones.

Fork-tailed Drongo Mikstertbyvanger

Yellow-billed Kite Geelbekwou

Red-chested Cuckoo Piet-my-vrou skreeu ons mal

Rudds Apalis Ruddkleinjantjie

Gorgeous Bush-shrike Konkoit

Whiskered Tern Witbaardsterretjie

Eursian Hobby Europese Boomvalk

Purple banded Sun-bird

Purperband Suiker-bekkie

Green-backed Co-maroptera

Groenrug Kwêk-wêvoël

Crested Guineafowl Kuifkop Tarentaal

Tambourine Dove Witborsduifie

Narina Trogan Bosloerie

Trumpeter Hornbill Gewone Boskraai

White-eared Barbet Witoorhoutkapper

Red-headed Quelea Rooikopkwelea

Klaas’s Cuckoo Meitjie

Yellow Weaver Geelwewer

Wahlberg’s Eagle Bruinarend

Pink-backed Pelican Klein Pelikaan

Dwarf Bittern Dwergrietreier

African Pygmy Goose

Dwerggans

African Cuckoo Hawk

Koekoekvalk

Black-chested Snake Eagle

Swartborsslangarend

African Jacana Grootlangtoon

Kittlitz’s Plover Geelbors Strand-kiewiet

Caspian Plover Asiatiese Strand-kiewiet

Senegal Lapwing Kleinswartvlerk-kiewiet

Wood Sandpiper Bosruiter

Ruff Kemphaan

Water Thick-knee Water Dikkop

8

Ons 5 dae is klaar in Mkuze en ons gaan vir

4 dae na Imfolozi Wildreservaat toe.

Op pad na Mpila kamp toe kry ons ‘n

moedswillige olifant wat die pad versper.

Die ou grote laat ons vir ‘n uur in die voer-

tuig sweet. Gelukkig kom daar toe van die

reservaat se werkers aan wat die olifant in

die bos injaag en kon ons verder gaan. Ons

vorder goed tussen die slaggate deur en

kom by die Imfolozi rivier wat besig is om af

te kom na al die reën. Die brug is toe onder

die water en niemand waag dit om deur

te gaan nie en daar is nie ‘n ander pad om

by Mpila kamp uit te kom nie, dus moes

ons maar weer sit en wag tot die rivier in so

mate gesak het dat ons kan deurkom. Ter-

wyl ons wag kom daar ‘n hiёna aan die

oorkant van die brug en loop tot by die

water. Die hiёna sit sy poot in die water en

toets die sterkte van die water of die tem-

peratuur (ons sal nie weet nie). ‘n Tweede

hiёna verskyn uit die bos en albei verdwyn

weer in die bos aan die ander kant.

Weereens kom daar ‘n reservaat werker

aan en hy loop tot in die middel van die

brug en begin om van die goed wat daar

vas gehaak het te verwyder. Dit was nie

lank daarna nie toe kon ons deur die wa-

ter ry alhoewel die watervlak nog steeds

redelik hoog was.

By die kamp het ons dieselfde probleem as

in Ndumo om ons bagasie by die chalet te

kry. Ons maak toe maar die koelkas leeg

en is dan instaat om hom te dra.

Die chalet is netjies met ‘n stort, hande was-

bak en toilet. Die koelkas is lieflik groot en

die chalet is toegerus met ‘n 4- plaat gas

stoof. Die potte en panne is van goeie ge-

halte en niks om oor te kla nie. Buite het

ons ‘n braai plek wat netjies is en weereens

‘n heerlike stoep. Die krag word 22.00 nm

afgesit en weer aan geskakel om 7.00 vm

die rede hiervoor is dat hulle maak gebruik

van ‘n krag opwekker, die water word met

gas verhit.

Daar is zebras, impalas en vlakvarke wat

voor ons wei en moenie die ape vergeet

nie. Terwyl Maryna en ek een aand op die

stoep sit en die rustigheid van die natuur

geniet wei daar ‘n klompie impalas voor

ons. Skielik trek die bokke weg met ‘n dik

spoed. Die volgende oomblik kom daar ‘n

hiёna skaar 3 meter van Maryna verby

agter die bokke aan. Dit is iets wat ons nie

verwag het nie Die voëls is nie so baie soos

in Mkuze nie en jy moet ver uitry voordat

jy afdraai paaie kry en daar is nie veel van

hulle nie.

Ons het 68 spesies gesien. Die tyd is verby

en ons moet huis toe kom. Ons volg die

GPS en die vat ons deur al die klein dorpies,

Daar is baie mis en beeste en boerbokke

wat die pad vol staan DOOD MOEG EN

OPGERY KOM ONS BY DIE HUIS AAN NA

2230KM AGTER VOëLS AAN.

Dit was ‘n baie vindingryke en rustige 10

dae. Kan nie wag vir die volgende bos-

vakansie nie. Hoekom is Desember so ver?

Totale spesies gesien 260

Red-winged Pratin-cole

Rooivlerk Sprinkaan-voël

Purple-crested Turaco

Bloukuifloerie

Black Cuckoo (female)

Swartkoekoek (wyfie)

Sabota Lark Sabota Lewerik

Lemon-breasted Ca-nary

Geelborskanarie

Neergaard’s Sunbird Bloukruis Suikerbek-kie

9

Flight for the Plight of

Vultures

By Kerri Wolter

South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are

uniting to join hands in the plight to save

southern Africa’s vultures. A collaborative

effort amongst conservationists and NGOs

have recognised the dire need for a united

conservation awareness campaign across

these three countries to spread the message

about the urgent need to conserve our vul-

ture species on the African continent, before

we are faced with an African Vulture Crisis

which is presently looming.

The project, a first on this scale and to be

undertaken during the first week in April

2014, will seek to strengthen vulture conser-

vation efforts across southern Africa. It will

also facilitate the bringing together, educa-

tion and capacity building of various inter-

est groups including government officials,

farmers, local community members and na-

ture conservation officials across the three

countries by creating greater awareness

and educating on the plight of vultures,

their unnecessary poisoning and their im-

portance to the ecosystem and communi-

ties. It will also allow for engagement on

how to strengthen vulture conservation ef-

forts across and not restricted by political

boundaries.

Initial monitoring in 2013 reflected a massive

decline of vulture numbers throughout

southern Africa and Africa in its entirety.

Numbers of vultures killed during 2013 esca-

lated when elephant poachers realized that

after the birds had eaten from the killed

carcasses, they would take to the air in

their hundreds. This "fly off" often alerted

authorities to the incident, and thus began

the start of heavily lacing the dead car-

casses with poison after removing the ivory.

Many believe that tens of thousands of vul-

tures have died in this way during 2013

alone. We are now in crisis mode and these

coordinated series of events are one way to

bring this plight to the attention of the gen-

eral public. Vultures play a vital role as free

sanitary workers and are believed to avert

epidemics of anthrax and botulism in live-

stock, wildlife and our human populations.

They are also invaluable to farmers, by pin-

pointing dead or sick livestock, and warning

of the whereabouts of poachers.

Background information

Vulture populations are dwindling in south-

ern Africa, and globally, due to a variety of

threats including poisonings and power line

collisions and electrocutions. In the past 20

years: populations of three Asian Vulture

species have collapsed primarily as a result

of consuming livestock carcasses contami-

nated with the veterinary drug diclofenac.

While in Africa the numbers of 11 species of

vulture continue to decline with the ever

present danger of a widespread African

Vulture Crisis. There are fewer than 4000

breeding pairs of Cape Vultures left in

southern Africa, having already gone ex-

tinct in Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Namibia

as a breeding species. The once ambiguous

African White-backed vulture has recently

been uplisted to ‘Endangered’ by the IUCN

2013 and the remaining vulture species all

have question marks as to their population

numbers with some estimates of fewer than

100 breeding pairs of Lappet-faced vultures

left in South Africa and the species being

uplisted to ‘Endangered’ in Botswana.

Without a unified African conservation ap-

proach, vulture species are in grave danger

10

of becoming critically endangered.

For more information and to support this

initiative, contact:

Kerri Wolter

VulPro

Founder and CEO

Kerri.wolter@gmail.com

Mobile: +27-82-808-5113

www.vulpro.com

Zelda Hudson

The Bateleurs – Flying for the Environment

in Africa

Manager

info@bateleurs.org

http://www.bateleurs.org

Maria Diekmann

Founder and Director

Rare and Endangered Species Trust

rest@iway.na

http://www.restafrica.org/

Dr Kabelo Senyatso

Director

BirdLife Botswana

blb@birdlifebotswana.org.bw

http://www.birdlifebotswana.org.bw/

+267-3190540

Kevin Grant

BirdLife Botswana representative, Ghanzi

Co-ordinator/Cattle Rancher

Ghanzi

tiisakalahari@gmail.com

+267-72112297.

Phil Zappala

BirdLife Botswana representative, Kasane

Co-ordinator

BEWARE!

Please pay your membership fees by

Electronic Transfer, or at the local branch

of your bank, as posted cheques are be-

ing intercepted in the post and used for

Cheque Fraud. If this happens to you

your membership payment is lost!

PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR

WEBSITE

ADDRESS IS:

www.witsbirdclub.org.za

AND THE EMAIL

ADDRESS IS:

witsbc@mweb.co.za

11

Noah the Ornithologist

By Tian Hattingh, Director of IELTS

Studies, Jiahua Language Center,

Shenzhen, China

In light of the newly released motion picture NOAH, I have written an article about Noah the Ornithologist.

1. A historic perspective Descriptions of the creation of the world

and of a great flood were well known in

neighboring as well as far-off countries at

the time when the Biblical versions were

formed in and around Palestine. For exam-

ple, the three Mesopotamian flood stories

namely the epics of Ziusudra, Gilgamesh

and Atra-Hasis.

In a Sumerian flood myth the tale of

Ziusudra is known from a single fragmen-

tary tablet written in Sumerian, datable by

its script to the 17th century BC. The first

part deals with the creation of man and

the animals. After a missing section in the

tablet, we learn that the gods have de-

cided to send a flood to destroy mankind.

The god Enki warns Ziusudra, the ruler of

Shuruppak, to build a large boat. The pas-

sage describing the directions for the boat is

also lost. When the tablet resumes, it is de-

scribing the flood itself.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is amongst the earli-

est surviving works of literature. This first

combined epic, known as the "Old Babylo-

nian" version, dates to the 18th century BC.

Andrew R. George is of the opinion that the

flood myth in Genesis 6–9 matches that in

Gilgamesh so closely that "few doubt" that it

derives from a Mesopotamian account.[1]

According to Rendsburg, the way the

Genesis flood story follows the Gilgamesh

flood tale "point by point and in the same

order", even when the story permits other

alternatives is particularly noticeable.[2]

This

view, however, should be questioned, as the

epic states that the hero, Utnapishtim, re-

leased a dove, a swallow and a raven.[3]

Atra-Hasis is the protagonist of an 18th cen-

tury BC Akkadian epic recorded in various

versions on clay tablets. The Atra-Hasis

tablets include both a creation myth and a

flood account. In this version the flood is de-

picted as a river flood.

What is unknown to date is which one of

the following possible sequences actually

occurred:

the Hebrew version was copied from an

earlier Mesopotamian story,

the Mesopotamian stories were copied

from an earlier Hebrew story, or

both the Mesopotamian and Hebrew

versions were fully, or in part, copied

from a common source that predates

them both.

The third possibility mentioned above is of

particular interest when it is kept in mind

that the flood myth motif is widespread

among many other cultures as well. For

example:

in the ancient Hindu texts called the

Puranas,

in the story of Deucalion in Greek my-

thology,

in the folklore of the K'iche and Maya

peoples of Central America,

in the folklore of Native Americans in

North America,

in the folklore of the Muisca people in

South America.

in the folklore of Australian aborigines

we find the story of a large flood result-

ing from the cruel treatment of Dumbi,

the sacred owl, by some taunting chil-

dren.

2. A theological perspective According to the original biblical narration,

which was eventually recorded in the book

12

of Genesis chapters 6-9, Noah faithfully

complied with the instructions he received

from a higher power. He subsequently built

the ark according to the specifications

given, and took his family, seven pairs of the

ritually ‘clean’ animals and birds, and one

pair of the ‘unclean’ animals and birds into

a watertight vessel. Here the author’s inten-

tions were twofold, namely: a) to describe

the first attempt by a human being to not

only ensure the survival of himself and his

kind but to, at the same time, prevent the

eminent extinction of all, or at least a num-

ber of species, in the face of catastrophic

circumstances, and b) to, even more impor-

tantly, utilize the above incident to convey

the message that obedience to a divine

command is in the best interest of man and

beast. At that time, and in those circum-

stances, it meant engaging in completely

irrational behavior. In other words: acting in

faith was the right thing to do. The author’s

target population did not need any further

details in order to get the message, and

therefore it was never the intent of the au-

thor to describe the incident in scientifically

discernible terms.

However, two of the most famous birds in

our Bibles are found where the story tells us

about Noah trying to determine to what

extent the floodwaters have receded.

Firstly, he released a crow, which did not

return. Then, because he wanted to confirm

that some land was actually bare, he re-

leased a dove.

This incident provides us with the first ever

mention in writing to specific zoological

families and it is no other than two bird

families namely the Columbidae and Corvi-dae. They are known in English as the pi-

geons and doves, and the ravens and

crows, respectively.

3. Ravens and Crows Because of their extensive dietary range,

ravens and crows are included in the lists of

“unclean” birds in Leviticus 11:15 and Deuter-

onomy 14:14. The Hebrew word ‘orev’ is the

generic term used to describe the ravens

and crows (Corvidae). Elsewhere in our Bi-

bles in 1Kings 17:4,6 ravens are said to supply

Elijah with food. Ravens are known to be

more shy and vigilant than crows. They

prefer mountainous terrain or solitary

wooded areas suitable for nesting, and

would therefore fit well into the context of

Elijah’s story. In addition, Song of Songs 5:11

takes note of the raven’s plumage, and in

Isaiah 34:11 of its preference to live in solitary

areas.[4]

Regarding the crows, it is said their boldness

and sagacity, coupled with their extensive

dietary range and exceptional intelligence,

have enabled them to adapt completely to

a lifestyle co-existent with man, even as the

latter has radically altered the particular

habitat involved. The ease by which they

survive and even prosper in modern day

concrete jungles, densely populated by hu-

mans, serves as an example. In the case of

Noah, a radical change in precipitation

patterns in a specific location would result in

the habitat being significantly altered, albeit

temporarily.

Because of the differences in personalities, I

would like to believe that it actually in fact

was one of the crow species that were re-

leased by Noah. Elsewhere in our Bibles,

both Job 38:41 and Psalm 147:9 suggest that

parents in this family have their hands full

with ravenous chicks. Proverbs 30:17 refers

to the practice by crows to peck at the

eyes of a fresh carcass.[5]

4. Pigeons and Doves The Rock Dove (Columba livia), the Col-

lared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto), the

Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur), and the

Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis), are all common birds in the Middle East. In

this region the latter is often known as the

Palm Dove. The Common Woodpigeon

(Columba palumbus) is a rare wintering

species, and the Namaqua Dove (Oena

13

capensis) may occur accidentally from Af-

rica and/or Arabia.[6]

The Hebrew word ‘yonah’ is a generic term

usually translated in English as “dove.” It is

derived from the stem ‘anah’ which means

“to mourn” and is probably applied to the

dove because of the calls of some species

like the Laughing Dove (Streptopelia sene-galensis), for example. The Rock Dove was

later renamed the Rock Pigeon. Simply be-

cause the pigeons are known for their hom-

ing skills, would I suggest that it was in fact

a Rock Pigeon that Noah had released.[7]

As in neighboring cultures, this Hebrew

word also has a love connotation, with the

noun being used as a term of endearment

for a beloved girl on three occasions in the

Song of Songs namely in 2:14, 5:2 and 6:9. In

the sacrificial passages of Leviticus 5:7, 5:11,

12:6, 12:8, 14:22, 14:30, 15:14, 15:29 and Numbers

6:10 it is usually translated into English as a

“young pigeon.”[8]

The Laughing Dove is also common in the

Middle East, and would certainly be ac-

ceptable as a sacrifice. However, the He-

brew word ‘tor’ is a sound-imitating word,

based on the call of the Turtle Dove

(Streptopelia turtur), as is the case with its

scientific name. It is referred to in all the sac-

rificial passages of Leviticus 5:7, 5:11, 12:6, 12:8,

14:22, 14:30, 15:14, 15:29 and in Numbers 6:10,

making the sacrificial prescription unmistak-

able. [9]

5. Noah the Ornithologist It is clear that the biblical narrator/author

was an ornithologist to the extent that he

realized that if there was one species that

would immediately be able to adapt to

the circumstances outside the ark and sur-

vive, it would be a crow. He had obviously

studied bird behavior to the extent that he

knew that doves and pigeons

(Columbiformes) are generally terrestrial

(ground-living) birds, and with this in mind

he decided on a dove. As long as the dove

returned to its perch it would be an indica-

tion that the ecosystem had not become

suitable for human habitation yet. Thus the

main character of this story was depicted

by the author/ narrator as having extraor-

dinary ornithological insights in the species

that he chose.

6. Aristotle and the biblical authors Aristotle (384-322 BC) is widely regarded as

the first ornithologist. The value of the story

of Noah should be seen in light of the fact

that it was eventually preserved in writing

about one thousand years before Aristotle.

The Hebrew Canon containing these narra-

tives had fully developed by the time of Ar-

istotle, and the accuracy of the ornithologi-

cal facts contained in this narrative and

other Scriptures were never questioned by

him or anyone else to this day. Although

they never intended their books to be sci-

entifically correct, many other biblical au-

thors (most notably the author of the book

of Job) display magnificent ornithological

insight in their work. Therefore, in my hum-

ble opinion, the time has come for the orni-

thological world to take note and give the

biblical authors the credit that they deserve.

References:

1) George, A. R. 2003. The Babylonian Gil-

gamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition

and Cuneiform Texts. Oxford University

Press. pp. 70–. ISBN 978-0-19-927841-1.

2) Rendsburg, Gary. 2007."The Biblical flood story in the light of the Gilgamesh flood account," in Gilgamesh and the world of

Assyria. Eds: Azize, J & Weeks, N. Peters.

p. 117.

3) Mellor, Enid B. 1972. The making of the

Old Testament. Cambridge University

Press. p. 8.

4) Hattingh, Tian. Birds and Bibles in His-

tory. 2012. London. The London Press

Ltd. p. 127. ISBN: 798-1-907313-70-7.

5) ibid. p.

6) ibid. p.

7) ibid. p.

8) ibid. p.

9) ibid. p

14

How much longer will

SABAP2 last?

By Les Underhill

If I have my way, SABAP2 will run for ever.

Before I get to the end of this article I will

explain why.

The immediate answer is that SABAP2 will

continue for at least a few more years. The

Animal Demography Unit and SANBI have

just set up a new three-year contract. The

ADU has a measure of financial stability

that it has not had for years. As awful as

retrenching key members of staff was last

year, we are now living within our means.

We have been through a major strategy

planning initiative, and a new Advisory

Board is in place and meeting within the

next month. So the ADU is no longer living

from hand to mouth.

I often criticized for so enthusiastically pro-

moting atlasing in the “Greater Gauteng”

region, the four one-degree grid cells cen-

tred on Johannesburg and Pretoria. “Surely,

there is more than enough data for this re-

gion, and you ought to be encouraging the

Gautengers to be atlasing out in the poorly

covered areas?” say the critics.

The reality is that about 30% of the popu-

lation of South Africa lives within this

Greater Gauteng region, and this propor-

tion is steadily increasing. This is a key area

where we ought to be doing our monitor-

ing intensively, and on a continuous basis.

Firstly we need to cover the region as com-

prehensively as we can each year. Secondly,

it is precisely the pentads with the largest

numbers of checklists in earlier years for

which we would like to have comparable

numbers of checklists this year, next year,

and the following years. These are the ar-

eas where it is going to be easiest to detect

changes in species composition, and to de-

tect trends in abundance. I did a prelimi-

nary analysis with Geoff Lockwood of

changes in reporting rates in the pentad

that includes Sandton (and Delta Park). I

was in awe of the number of species for

which the reporting rates were trending

either upwards or downwards.

And that is why I believe there should

NEVER be a SABAP3. We need to keep

SABAP2 running in perpetuity, because bird

distributions are changing so rapidly that

we cannot afford to stop monitoring for

even a few years.

There are two take home messages: (1) If

you are an atlaser, please maintain

“sustainable atlasing.” We cannot afford for

you to suffer “burn-out.” Please keep on

atlasing at the pace you enjoy doing it. (2)

If you are not an atlaser, please learn the

protocol and get involved. We are NOT

near the END of the project, we are near

the BEGINNING. We need you on board.

Gauteng 4DY and 3456 Challenge in 2014

Get all 576 pentads in the four degrees of

'Greater Gauteng' to YELLOW in 2014

Get 3456 checklists in total (average of 6 lists

per pentad!)

Pentad with 0 cards 297 51.56%

Pentad with 1 or more

cards 279 48.44%

Pentad with 2 or more

cards 135 23.44%

Pentad with 3 or more

cards 83 14.41%

Pentad with 4 or more

cards 60 10.42%

Total cards submitted in 2014 993

Total percentage submitted in 2014 28.73%

15

Across the top of the

World : 7th – 21st

August 2013 (Part 2)

Text and Photos by Lesley Cornish

Continuation of Lesley’s article in-

cluded in December 2013 edition of

Bokmakierie

15th August There was heavy fog, which kept the ship’s

cruising speed to a minimum, and finally we

reached Dreamhead Mountain. We took

the Zodiacs, and after landing split into two

groups. One was Mark’s, looking for more

birds, and the other was Rodney’s route-

march to get to a potential place for

Snowy Owl. I chose the latter, but first

checked out the lagoon to see what was

about: Dunlin and Red Knot, then had to

run after Rodney’s group. We were about

to give up on a Snowy Owl, (we had

walked quite far and fast in the tundra,

which is hard work), when a white blob

was seen on a small rocky outcrop. Was it

a plastic bag? We walked in fifty pace in-

tervals, stopping to check it out. Eventually,

we could see it was turning its head, and it

had eyes! It was a magnificent male

Snowy Owl (males are whiter than the fe-

males), and to confirm its identity, if flew a

short distance away. To keep us going on

the march back, Olga gave the group a

lecture in instalments (while we rested) on

Snow Geese, which come to nest on

Wrangel. There is a continual battle be-

tween the geese and Arctic Foxes, which

eat their eggs and small chicks.

Back on board, the ship backtracked north

and east, and we listened to Nikita’s lecture

on safety in the land of Polar Bears. He

and his team have developed a unique ap-

proach to ensure the safety of people and

bears on Wrangel Island. They have no

rifles, just six feet long, thick poles! There is a

three-part code for dealing with Polar

Bears: 1) keep away (and walk around ob-

stacles to ensure there is no bear behind), 2)

Be aggressive if one comes close, and 3) Be

really aggressive if one comes really close

(poke it hard with your pole). We also saw

a video demonstrating the approach. After

hearing this, I understood why we were

keeping away from the bears, which is

good considering that their numbers are

decreasing rapidly due to less ice (global

warming), hunting and poaching (yes, bits

of Polar Bear are also apparently used

“medically”).

Later and in thick fog, we took the Zodiacs

to explore Nahodka Island just north of

Wrangel Island, and this was our most

northerly landing. The name of the island

means “a finding” in Russian, and we really

battled to find a decent landing spot, be-

cause the beaches were steeply shelving,

and thus unsafe. This gave us the best

sightings of Sabine’s Gulls, as well as our

closet sightings of Common Eiders. When

we eventually did land, it was on a mud

bank, with nearby Dunlins. Keeping the

Zodiacs together in the thick fog was a

challenge, even with the radios, and this

was when we found (to our relief) that all

the Zodiac pilots had GPSs.

16th August There was too much fog, so we could not

take a Zodiac cruise in the river mouth. We

had to collect the “Overlanders” from Snowy Owl (male)

16

Ushakovskaya, which is a former Soviet vil-

lage founded by Georgy Ushakov in 1926,

and is now the main base camp for the

Wrangel Reserve. Another Georgy, a

Chukchi who has lived there for many

years, welcomed us on the beach dressed in

a traditional reindeer fur coat (a

“kukhlyanka”), accompanied by a black

Labrador. We were given a tour around

the settlement, and even went into one of

the houses – it was really cosy! Whilst we

were looking at the houses, the flowers, and

the pile of bones brought in by the rangers

(Polar Bear skulls, and mammoth tusks), at

least three small flocks of Snow Geese flew

overhead – the closets we had got to them!

17th August It was still slightly foggy first thing, but it did

clear, but not before photographs were

taken of the “white rainbows”. In the night,

we had reached the northern coast of Chu-

kotka, and then arrived at Kaluchin Island.

We were quite close to some Humpback Whales. After an early lunch, the ship an-

chored not far from Kaluchin Island, and we

realised that a landing was not possible be-

cause the beach was covered by hundreds

of Walruses. We approached them very

slowly and carefully in the Zodiacs, trying

not to disturb them, and a few came out to

see us! They are hunted by the locals, and

so are fairly wary. This was one of the

highlights of the trip, because we had very

close sightings.

We were now making up for those post-

poned landings on the way out. In the eve-

ning we landed the Zodiacs on Belyak Spit

in Kolyuchin Inlet. This place is known to be

home for breeding migrants, including

Spoon-billed Sandpiper – alas, a pair had

nested about 4 km away and already mi-

grated south. We walked though the tun-

dra, checking out the many lakes, and got

close to three White-billed Divers (Yellow-

billed Loons), Buff-breasted Sandpiper and

a small flock of Emperor Geese. There was

also an Arctic Fox lurking behind them.

Birds seen by the others included both Pa-

cific and Red-billed Divers, as well as Tun-dra Swans. The sun was setting as we left –

we had run out of time!

18th August The good weather continued, and a lecture

was interrupted, because someone saw

many whale spouts. The Captain sailed in

a large loop in the bay near Uelen village,

and there were well over a hundred

Humpback Whales, with some Gray Whales. One Bowhead Whale came very

close to the ship, and the distinctive depres-

sion behind the blowhole was clearly seen.

There must have been a very rich food

source, because there were also thousands

of seabirds, including huge flocks of Crested Auklets. Some of the photographers man-

aged to capture a Sabine’s Gull flying just in

front of the disappearing tail of a Grey Whale!

In the early afternoon, we landed at Uelen

Humpback Whale

Immature Arctic Fox (in summer coat)

17

village, and in the swell was a single Whisk-ered Auklet. We were taken on a tour of

the village, including the School and Cul-

tural Centre, and Museum, but we had to

keep away from the border post, as well as

not take any photographs of the military.

The School also hosts about 50 scholars

from other villages, and School Principal

and Deputy talked to us about their activi-

ties. Here, the Chukchi language and cul-

ture are taught. We also went to a Walrus

tusk carving workshop. Lastly, we had a

concert of traditional songs and dances, on

the beach, with the participants wearing

traditional costumes. As the Zodiacs started

to come back to the ship, a pod of Orca

went hurriedly by, and it was thought that

were hunting a whale, but the fog de-

scended and we did not see the outcome.

We sailed past Cape Dezhnev, but it was

too foggy for a cruise.

19th August By much effort, we managed to see Fork-tailed Petrels, which are a ghostly grey and

almost ephemeral! On our way back, the

weather did allow us to land on Yttygran

Island. The object was Whale Bone Alley,

which is an old hunting ritual centre with

meat pits. There are Bowhead Whale jaw-

bones nearer the beach, and ribs placed

together in arches to form an avenue,

which is nearly half a kilometre long

(although some of the bones have fallen).

Some hiked to the top of the hills for the

view, but most settled down to take photo-

graphs of the site, and then the Pikas and

Arctic Ground Squirrels. By the time we got

to the Zodiacs, the wind had risen, and get-

ting back in them was challenging. “Hands-

on” Rodney was up to his shoulders in the

water, holding the boats steady for us to

scramble aboard. Sailing back towards

Anadyr, we came across small flocks of King Eider on the water, as well as the other

more usual seabirds.

20th - 21st August The last full day was spent at sea, heading

back to Anadyr. I was still trying to take

photographs, but there was some fog. The

guides had made a presentation of the trip,

and it was made available to us all.

The port had closed on the night of the

2oth, due to bad weather, and we were

worried how we would disembark. Even-

tually, we used the more upmarket ferry –

this one looked like an overgrown tug.

Getting on was quite scary, because of the

swell, but Rodney was there passing the

cases, and helping us board. Soon we were

whittled down to just those staying the

night in Anadyr, because those returning

home via Nome in Alaska were taken di-

rectly to the airport. After a traumatic

time trying to book in, I did the town sights

– many were closed when we arrived, and

we all met up for dinner.

22nd August I had a few hours before being collected for

transport to the airport, so I went to find

the birds I had missed before. Searching

around town and in a park, I found Willow and Arctic Warblers, as well as Common Redpoll, and the ubiquitous House Spar-rows. Catching the ferry across the river

was scary, because there were too many

people trying to get on, but by now the

group had bonded, and somehow every-

one was dragged/pushed on board, even if

not via the gangplank! What a trip: it

might not have had the highest species

numbers, but some amazing animals and

birds were seen! Whalebone Alley, with our ship behind

18

Birding Trivia - A

Cuckoo Letter to The

Times By Peter Greaves

Now here is a piece of absolute TRIVIA of

no concern to anybody except an idiot Bird

Nerd who researches stupid stuff on the

internet.

Discovering a small conflict in geographic

regional boundaries in my Birding database

in the area of the Wallace Line and think-

ing about where does Indonesia STOP and

Australasia START I decided to look up the

Wallace Line.

For the record: Alfred Russel Wallace pro-

posed, in 1859, a line from between Bali and

Lombok going on between Borneo and

Sulawesi (Celebes) and south of the Philip-

pines which extends across the entire region

between South East Asia and Australia. His

reasoning was based on personal observa-

tion and noted that the species of birds and

animals on each side of the line differed

most dramatically in their type and evolu-

tionary origins. Although he did not con-

clude the theory of continental drift this was

an early indication that it may be true and

he supported earlier comments on the

topic. Worthy of note is that in his “Origin of

Species” Darwin completely and openly

considered the concept of “Continental

Drift” to be ludicrous! Remember also that

Wallace was ready to publish his own the-

ory of evolution and steal the limelight from

Darwin but encouraged Darwin to publish

before him. Darwin thus “rushed through”

his Origin book and promised to expand

with a fuller tome and evidence later

(something he never got around to)

What Wallace did was delineate the

boundary between two zoogeographic re-

gions and later authors refined his work.

Lydekker drew another line to the west of

Wallace’s and then named the area be-

tween the two lines as Wallacea. But on

looking up Lydekker (because his line does

not cleanly line up with glacial Maximum

coast lines when Papua New Guinea was

joined to Australia and marsupials could

move between the two land masses); I

found the Trivia.

On 6th

February 1913 Lydekker wrote to

“The Times” of London and claimed to

have heard a cuckoo. This was contrary to

Yarell’s “History of British Birds”

which doubted that the cuckoo arrived

before April. Six days later, on 12th

February

Lydekker again wrote to “The Times” and

confessed that the comment was that

of “A Bricklayer’s Labourer” and withdrew

his claim of 6th

February. This little incident is

the origin of the tradition of the paper pub-

lishing letters regarding the first cuckoo

every year.

Now if you can find ANYTHING more triv-

ial than that I will be amazed!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

DONATION Matthew Axelrod

John Bradshaw

Andy Featherstone

Sean Glynn

Christel Hengst

Ginny Mes

Paul Netscher

Val Odendaal

Brian Phillips

Howard & Magui Rayner

Gail Schaum

Billy van Eck

Elsabe Vorster

19

Update on EWT

Livestock Guardian

Dogs

By Derek Van Der Merwe

Carnivore Conservation Programme:

Senior Field Officer

Endangered Wildlife Trust

There was huge amount of rain experi-

enced in the Waterberg over the last

month (March 2014) and major floods have

occurred in Lephalale and surrounding

area. It has been a challenging month to

visit and see all of the dogs. However I

managed to visit and see all but one which

was just impossible to visit. I did however

arrange to get her some food as soon as

the water subsided and the roads became

manageable. Other than that all of our

dogs are doing well.

As for out Malut’s in the field. Poppie is do-

ing really well. Her wound from the wart-

hog has healed nicely. One of the cows in

the herd however stood on her tail and she

now has another wound, it should heal

nicely though. She has been working very

well and even goes out in the field when it

is pouring with rain. She is now chasing off

the baboons that tormented her as a

young puppy.

As for our Anatolians in the field, Alex is

working extremely well. She continues to

protect her goats from all intruders includ-

ing humans. Whenever she barks the

herder checks on the goats always to find

something interesting, whether it is people

passing through the farm or baboons in the

area. The herder has an extra pair of eyes

which always lets him know what is going

on.

I could unfortunately not go past Catriena

this month. The roads were completely

washed away. The farmer assured me that

she is doing very well. He has still not

moved her to the farm where he is experi-

encing livestock losses, he will however do so

after the rains. I did however manage to

drop off her dog food for the month in

Vaalwater for the farmer to collect.

Our Anatolians are doing very well. Almost

90 percent of the farm where Hughie has

been placed was flooded in the recent rains.

The farm borders the Mogol river which

overflowed its banks. I was fortunate

enough to be there when the farmer was

caching all of his goats out of a temporary

pen he made at the highest point of his

farm in order to move the goats to higher

ground. Hughie was not very impressed

20

with people handling his goats. The two

dogs that look after this particular herd

have been moved with the goats. The

farmer has assured me that the move to

another property went very well and that

the two dogs have settled down nicely.

Hughie’s stable fly infection has healed com-

pletely and is not scratching anymore.

Alex has been very frustrated over the very

rainy days as the goats are fed in the kraal

and do not venture out. The feed has at-

tracted some baboons and she has man-

aged to chase them off. Alex is soon to be

signed off to her farmer and really has been

a star dog. She started working in the field

from a very young age and continues to

impress me every time I visit. I hope that she

continues to protect her goats as well as she

does for many years. While visiting Alex I

managed to get my work bakkie (4x4)

stuck and in the process two tractors stuck

after trying to get me out. After 5 hours we

eventually got the bakkie out by dragging

it out with a block and tackle. Many thanks

to the farm workers who helped me out.

See some of the photos of the floods

(below).

Robby is very happy at his new home, he

has settled in nicely and has a huge yard to

play in. The owners are lovely people and I

hope Robby will make them very happy.

Lastly due to the rains and flooding in Lim-

popo, as well as a severe shortage of Live-

stock Guardian dog puppies, we have not

placed any new dogs. We intend to place a

few in the near future.

21

You don’t find Birds on

Natal’s South Coast

By Louise Barlow

You don’t find birds on KwaZulu-Natal’s

south coast, rather, they find you! Early one

morning I heard this dreadful squawking

in the huge wild fig tree at the back of the

garden, on closer inspection was a large

bird hopping around in the heavy

branches venturing closer I saw a purple

crest and greenish bird looking a lot like a

more familiar go –away-bird when I

looked it up it was a Purple-crested Turaco

- man I was out of my tree! From then on I

heard it more times than I saw it. In the

front garden in the giant wild stretilzia there

was an Olive Sunbird suckling from the gi-

ant white and purple flowers, others that

also enjoyed it were the Cape Weaver,

Spectacled Weaver and Common Myna.

I was delighted to secretly spy on a pair

of Greater Striped Swallows building their

nest against a light fixture on the ceiling

outside. I had to stand dead still while they

graced me with their presence, prettiest lit-

tle birds, if I sat on the deck they would al-

most skim the top of my head as they

swooped and dived.

There were a few Bronze manikins at the

bird feeder but not as many as in the

month of June in previous years: doves,

other LBJ's I couldn’t identify. I also saw a

Black-collared Barbet, Red-winged Star-

lings, a Black-shouldered Kite and both

Forked-tailed and Square-tailed Dron-

gos. A Black-headed Oriole I heard before

I saw it, it then came and perched itself on

a branch just above our heads. This was in

Pennington near a nature reserve and

they were quite confiding, also an Olive

Thrush with a dragonfly in its beak, a

Brown-hooded Kingfisher honing down on

the goggos in the garden.

FLAMINGOS IN THE FREE STATE and gulls

at the coast.

Many Greater Flamingos, hundreds (but

not thousands) in various pans and dams in

the Free State on the road to the Cape on

a coach tour, a big thrill, fleetingly so I

couldn't study them, or what was amongst

them. Another definite lifer for me was a

White-backed Mousebird in Matjiesfon-

tein. Amongst all the various birds seen on

the trip many White Storks in various

places, the country was very green, even

the Karoo, which had rain before Christmas,

was quite pleasant to drive through. Blue

Cranes in fallow grounds, quite a few Afri-

can Black Oystercatchers together with

Cape Cormorants on the rocks at Sea

Point, the many gulls are just too difficult for

me to identify: just when you think you get

it right, you get it wrong! Red-winged Star-

lings everywhere. The Wilderness gave

many surprises, but again too many too

difficult to identify. That makes it two more

lifers which makes it 200!

The Sasol Bird Fair will be held at the

Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gar-

dens in Roodepoort, Gauteng on 7 and

8 June 2014. This year’s theme is Going

Inland to Save our Seabirds. This year's

message is around all seabirds, the

threats and challenges they face and

the conservation of these ocean wan-

derers.

WBC will have a stand at the Fair.

22

Controversial wind

farm in Lesotho gets

the go-ahead

By Samantha Ralston and

Hanneline Smit-Robinson

The controversial wind farm proposed for

Lesotho’s Maluti-Drakensberg received the

go-ahead from the Lesotho Government in

October 2013. Conservationists are con-

cerned that this decision does not bode well

for the future of vultures in the region or for

the reputation of the fledging wind energy

industry in southern Africa.

“Approval of the Letseng project is a source

of great concern to BirdLife”, said Ken

Mwathe, BirdLife International’s Africa Pol-

icy Programme Coordinator. “African gov-

ernments must tread carefully on renew-

able energy projects by ensuring they do

not threaten birds and biodiversity”.

PowerNET Developments (Pty) Ltd ap-

plied for permission to erect 42 wind tur-

bines (each with a capacity of 850 kW)

near Letšeng-La-Terae in north-eastern

Lesotho. This site falls within the breeding,

roosting and foraging grounds of important

populations of both the Bearded Vulture

and the Cape Vulture. It is well known from

international studies that vultures are prone

to colliding with wind turbines and BirdLife

South Africa is therefore concerned that this

wind farm development could have severe

impacts on these two threatened vultures.

Bearded Vultures are currently listed as En-dangered in South Africa but, as their

population has been declining, it will be

uplisted to Critically Endangered in the

pending update of The Eskom Red Data Book of birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.

The Cape Vulture, which is only found in

southern Africa, is currently listed as Vulner-able in the Red Data Book. It will be listed

as Endangered in the updated Red Data

Book. The southern node of the Cape Vul-

ture population is centred on the Drakens-

berg Mountains and comprises 44% of the

South African and Lesotho population, and

41% of the global population (which includes

the colonies in Botswana). The Lesotho

Highlands is of global significance for the

Cape Vulture as the area is used for breed-

ing, roosting and foraging.

The specialist report, compiled by well-

respected ornithologist Dr Andrew Jenkins

as part of the Environmental Impact State-

ment, indicated the anticipated impacts of

the project on highly unique and sensitive

birds will be of high to very high negative

significance, rendering the project unsustain-

able.

In response to these concerns, the developer

has proposed mitigation measures, including

the use of radar linked to a system that

would automatically shut turbines down

when birds are at risk of colliding. “The

problem is that at this stage we simply do

not have enough information to be sure

that these mitigation measures will be effec-

tive in substantially reducing the risk to the

vultures” said Samantha Ralston, Birds and

Renewable Energy Manager at BirdLife

South Africa. It is also not clear if the project

would be feasible should these measures be

implemented as wind turbines do not gen-

erate electricity when they are not turning.

In order to determine if mitigation will be

effective and feasible, more research is

needed to understand how often, at what

height and under what conditions the birds

move through the site. The Department of

Environment in Lesotho recognised this and

23

issued the environmental clearance for an

initial period of one year in order to assess

the bird mortality risks associated with the

project. The Department also reserves the

right to revoke the authorisation if there

are environmental concerns caused by the

project that are beyond mitigation.

“We are really pleased that the Director of

Environment, Mr Damane, recognises that

this project potentially poses a severe risk to

vultures and we understand that the deci-

sion was an attempt to find a compromise

between the needs of the developer and

the concerns of conservationists” said Ms

Ralston.

BirdLife South Africa is however concerned

that the decision of the Lesotho Govern-

ment to issue the environmental clearance

is procedurally flawed and is not in line with

the internationally-recognised precaution-

ary principle (which prescribes a risk-averse

and cautious approach to environmental

impacts).

“The additional studies required by the Re-

cord of Decision should have been com-

pleted prior to the approval as this infor-

mation should have informed the decision”,

she said. There is also no assurance that

stakeholders will continue to have the op-

portunity to provide input on the addi-

tional reports or seek recourse should they

be dissatisfied with the outcome. BirdLife

South Africa and its conservation partners

have therefore requested the decision to be

reviewed.

“We are extremely concerned that the pro-

ject could have severe impacts on both

Cape Vultures and Bearded Vultures” said

Dr Tim Stowe Director of International Op-

erations at the RSPB, BirdLife’s Partner in

the UK. “These magnificent birds are one of

the key reasons that the Maloti-

WBC QUIZ EVENING

Lester Niss has agreed to host another quiz evening for the Club on Thursday 17th July

2014. These evenings are a lot of fun and you don’t need to

be a bird boffin to join in. Please join us for a lighthearted evening which we will enhance with a warming soup and glass

of sherry!

RAPTOR COURSE

Join Geoff Lockwood at Panata bush camp for an

enrapturing Raptor Course!

9th—11th May 2014

R300 Course R375 Chalet Accommodation

R250 Camping

24

Drakensberg Park has been identified as a

transboundary World Heritage Site – an

area of global importance for which both

Lesotho and South Africa have responsibil-

ity”. While the proposed wind farm does not

fall within the Maloti-Drakensberg Park

World Heritage Site, vultures move great

distances, transcending geographical

boundaries to forage and conservationists

are concerned that the wind farm will pose

a threat to the overall vulture population in

the region.

BirdLife South Africa recognises the impor-

tance of clean energy generation, particu-

larly in light of global climate change, and

supports the responsible development of

wind energy. Impacts on birds can be mini-

mised or even avoided with careful plan-

ning and assessment. One of the most effec-

tive ways of reducing the impacts is the

considered location of both the wind farm

and its turbines. Unfortunately much of Le-

sotho is not ideally located for wind farms

given the importance of the Maloti-

Drakensberg area for vultures. “This makes

it all the more important to set a precedent

for rigorous assessment of wind energy in

Lesotho”, said Mark D. Anderson, CEO of

BirdLife South Africa. “Poorly planned wind

farms give wind energy a bad name” he

added, and “That is not good for nature or

for our efforts to combat climate change.”

BirdLife South Africa does not believe that

we need to choose between renewable en-

ergy and birds. By working with wind en-

ergy developers, environmental consultants,

and government and bird specialists,

BirdLife South Africa’s aim is to ensure that

renewable energy is developed in a way

that is truly sustainable.

Michael Raum

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Diana Bent Northwold Deborah Jenkins Meyersdal

Keith Bent Northwold Keren Jenkins Meyersdal

Brian Berry Randburg Sarah Jenkins Meyersdal

Valerie Berry Randburg Elsie Kritzinger Northcliff

Carla Droppelman Kensington Johann Kritzinger Northcliff

Klaus Droppelman Kensington Wynand Malan Norwood

Monika du Plessis Atlas Park Dorothy Marsden Magaliesburg

Vickus du Plessis Atlas Park Colin Meddows-Taylor Craighall Park

Janet Ebedes Fourways Christa Moller Fontainebleau

Neil Ebedes Fourways Grant Morrison Eden Glen

Marlina Elburg Aukland Park Lizanne Roxburgh Kensington

Peter Hamming Allen’s Nek Leintjie Swart Roosevelt Park

Marion Hofmeyr Highlands North Martin Swart Roosevelt Park

Robert Hofmeyr Highlands North Jan van Heerden Edleen

David Jenkins Meyersdal

25

A History of Birding

and Bird Ringing on

Melville Koppies

By John Freer

It was in the early 1960s that the then

Chairman of the Johannesburg Council

of Natural History, Irene Sturgess, asked

John Freer for notes on some birds to be

seen at Melville Koppies.

Ten years later, John Bunning and his

friend Michael Fagan, both from the UK

and both members of the Witwaters-

rand Bird Club (WBC) went to Melville

Koppies intent on bird watching and

preparing a check-list of the birds to be

found there. On their second visit they

were met by the late Ken Newman and

were disappointed to learn that Ken

had already started such a list.

Ken in his friendly and encouraging

manner asked John and Michael to help

with the survey and after a year asked

John to assist with the list which was

published as “Supplement A of WBC

News No 82”. In it were some 84 species.

In the following year John met John

Ledger when both were serving on the

WBC Committee. Ledger, a qualified

bird ringer, agreed to continue training

Bunning for his permit. They chose Mel-

ville Koppies as their ringing site. The first

birds they caught were a pair of Crested

Barbets.

After a year, John got his ringing permit

and was on his own. A bit apprehensive

at first, things soon fell into place. He in

turn took on his first trainee - Peter

Rohloff from the WBC - a “delightful,

humerous and conscientious guy” who

regularly cycled from Florida to help

with the ringing over a period of per-

haps three years before moving on to

Rhodes University to complete his stud-

ies. Shockingly, Peter was later shot by

robbers while tending his father’s general

hardware business in Honeydew.

Next John took on twins Roger and

Trevor Ellis. Trevor dropped out but

Roger completed the course and got his

ringing permit, then left to become a

tour guide. While sleeping under the

stars in the Okavanga he was grabbed

by the face by a hyena but managed

to scare the animal away at the cost of

the loss of one ear!

Soon after this the WBC appointed John

as their official training officer for their

ringing programme and chose Melville

Koppies as their training ground. Young-

sters were turning up thick and fast. At

the height of this activity, John had some

13 trainees between 13 and 17 years old.

Things continued this way with many

dropping out and others coming in until

a year before John was due to retire

(1994). Then he decided to disband the

group which he found he could no

longer control.

Melville Koppies looking towards Johan-nesburg

26

Among the highlights of his experiences,

John records:-

One of the more senior boys coming

back and reporting a Grey Cuckoo-shrike. Sceptical, the bird had to prove

its existence to John by coming to the

Lecture Hut as has been the case so of-

ten with other vagrants such as White-crested Helmet-shrikes, Crimson-breasted Shrike and Chinspot Batis.

On 16th December 1985, Eric Forsyth, an

immigrant from Scotland, came back

from the nets with a bird he thought to

be a Eurasian Blackcap. It had a rufous

cap not a black one, defining it as a fe-

male. Within hours, Clive Hopcroft, also

from the UK and a member of the SA

Rarities Committee was able to confirm

the identification making this the first re-

cord of the species in South Africa.

Of the boys trained by John, one is a di-

rector of the Durban Museum and

Dawid de Swardt, having obtained his

doctorate is now in charge of the bird

section of the Bloemfontein Museum.

Another, Kim Wolhuter, the son of the

WBC’s Joan Wolhuter is a well known

wildlife film maker.

Lastly, mention must be made of Mar-

kus Hofmeyr, the son of George and

Heike Hofmeyr—long time friends of

Melville Koppies. John remembers spot-

ting a young boy watching his activities

through binoculars from the top of the

Koppie. That was the start of an asso-

ciation with the most serious and de-

voted bird ringer he had ever had in the

group. Markus went on to obtain a de-

gree in veterinary science at Onderste-

poort. He successfully introduced Wild

Dogs at Madikwe Game Reserve, map-

ping the life history and behaviour of the

pack and committing it to film for TV

publication. He now has the position of

Head: Veterinary Wildlife Services, SAN-

Parks.

Very recently John was pleasantly sur-

prised to unexpectedly meet one of his

past trainees. Professor Ara Monadjem,

a well known ornithologist and professor

of Zoology at the University of Swazi-

land when he walked in to a meeting at

Nelspruit. It took John time to realize

that he had trained him at Melville Kop-

pies many years earlier. This was an-

other success story for John and Melville

Koppies of setting a youngster on the

right track.

Bird ringing is not John’s sole contribution

to birding at Melville Koppies. In 1998 he

published his delightful booklet on the

Birds of the Botanical Gardens, Em-

marentia Dam and the Melville Koppies,

Johannesburg. In the Introduction he

states that by the end of 1994 the list of

birds recorded in this complex totalled

198 plus 12 which required confirmation.

Since his departure to Barberton, bird

ringing continued on a regular albeit less

frequent basis under the aegis of the

WBC, first under Jumbo Williams of St

Extract from SACS Rarities Committee's Annual Report 1987 - Edition 39 Bok-makierie

Blackcap Sylvia.atricapilla One trapped at Melville Koppies,

Transvaal on 16 December 1985

(E. Forsyth, C. Hopcroft and L. Bunning). Can you imagine the surprise

when E. Forsyth saw this bird

hanging in a net! The second record

for the region, the first being a

collected specimen from Zimbabwe

of which details will be published in

the next report.

27

Stiithians College, then Murrie Slotar and

presently Gail Schaum.

Birding at Melville Koppies remains a

stimulating past-time and this within a

few kilometres of the centre of the city.

Measuring the culmen of a Karoo Thrush - photo by Wendy Carstens

BirdLife South Africa’s Bird of the Year for 2014 is the Tristan Albatross, one of only two glob-ally Critically Endangered spe-cies that occur in South Africa.

28

Unusual Nesting Site -

Calitzdorp

Text and Photos by Darroll Bent

We were basking in the sun at the pool

side, when we noticed a bird disappear into

the pool housing, on inspection found that a

Lesser-striped Swallow, had built their nest

inside the closed room, on the inside of the

roof, and they gained access through the

diamond holes in the door, see attached

pictures, incredible!

Pool Pump Housing

Entrance hole used by Swallow

Swallow entering nest site

29

BirdLife South Africa:

Birder’s Code of Ethics (Lia Steen has requested that we again in-clude the Birder’s Code of Ethics after re-cent complaints about behaviour at a number of rare bird sighting sites.)

Birders have an obligation at all times to

protect wildlife, the natural environment

and the rights of others. We provide leader-

ship by adhering to guidelines of good bird-

ing behaviour.

Birders do not endanger the welfare of

birds or other wildlife. We will:

Observe and photograph birds with-

out knowingly disturbing them in any

significant way.

Avoid chasing and repeatedly flushing

birds

Sparingly use recordings and similar

methods of attracting birds and not in

heavily birded areas or during breed-

ing seasons.

Keep appropriate distances from nests

and nesting colonies, not disturb them

or expose them to danger.

Refrain from handling birds and eggs

unless in recognised research activities.

Birders do not harm the natural environ-

ment. We will:

Stay in existing roads, trails and path-

ways to avoid trampling or disturbing

fragile habitat.

Leave all habitats as we find them.

Birders respect the rights of others. We will:

Respect the privacy and property of

others by observing “No Trespassing”

signs, and by asking permission to en-

ter private or posted lands.

Practice courtesy in our contacts with

others. For example, limit requests for

information, and make them at rea-

sonable hours.

Always behave in a manner that will

enhance the image of the birding

communities in the eyes of the public.

Birders in groups have special responsibilities.

We will:

Take special care to alleviate prob-

lems and disturbances multiplied

when more people are present. Act in

consideration of the group’s interest,

as well as our own.

Support, by our actions, the responsi-

bility of the group leader(s) for the

conduct of the group. As group lead-

ers we will:

Assume responsibility for the con-

duct of the group

Learn and inform the group of

any special rules, regulations or con-

duct applicable to the area or habi-

tat being visited

Limit groups to a size that does

not threaten the environment or the

peace and tranquillity of others

Teach others birding ethics

through words and example

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS

Bokmakierie is published three times annually. Contributions may be in Afrikaans or English. English names of birds should be those used in Roberts VII. Views ex-pressed 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 nec-essary.

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

30

Rarities and Unusual

Sightings Report:

December 2013

By André Marx

The early summer period from Sep-Nov 2013 saw many good wader records for the region, with many of them coming from Mkhombo Dam where a large shoreline provided habitat for good numbers of birds for several weeks. Excellent finds were Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, White-fronted and Chestnut-banded Plover as well Ruddy Turnstone and Caspian Plover, all at this locality which is located at the very edge of the 100km zone from Pretoria. The period also saw some outstanding finds with two birds being especially noteworthy. The first was relocating the female White-breasted Cuckooshrike at Groenkloof Na-ture Reserve on the southern edge of Pre-toria, and the other was finding first one and then two Bush Blackcaps in Gisela Ortner's garden in Randburg. Both localities were visited by numbers of birders over a few weeks and many people were able to see and photograph these gems! My thanks to all for reporting records either through atlasing or via Facebook and through re-ports from club outings - there are so many ways to report records these days!

National Rarities / Nasionalerariteite

Sandpiper, Green. Ruiter, Witgat: a

single bird was at Rietvlei NR, 6 Oct 2013

(JdW), with two birds reported at this site

on 10 Nov 2013. One bird was reported

from Mkhombo Dam, 5 Oct

2013. Another bird was present at Water-

fall Estate in Midrand and was first re-

ported 26 Oct 2013 (RS). The Rietvlei bird proved to be popular and was reported by several birders in the following weeks leading up to mid-November 2013.

Regional Rarities / Streeksrariteite

Corncrake. Kwartelkoning: a single indi-

vidual was reported from the wetlands

to the south of the Pienaars River in Buf-

felsdrift, north east of Pretoria, (RG).

Crane, Grey Crowned. Mahem: a single

bird was seen at the Weltevrede Resort

on the Vaal River, near Parys in the Free

State, 27 Oct 2013 (BE).

Cuckooshrike, White-breasted. Kata-koeroe, Witbors: the bird first reported

on 7 July 2013 at Groenkloof NR was relo-

cated at the same locality on 14 Oct 2013

and confirmed to be a female from the

Green Sandpiper / Witgat Ruiter – Jan de Wet

White-breasted Cuckooshrike / Witbors Katakoeroe – Ian Grant

31

many photographs taken (RJ, NPa). This species is approximately 350-400km from the nearest known locality and probably represents a wandering bird. Hundreds of birders were able to twitch this bird in the following weeks when it was present until at least mid-November 2013. Curlew, Eurasian. Wulp, Groot: one

bird was at Mkhombo Dam together

with a number of other waders, 5 Oct

2013, where it was present for a few

weeks (JB, MAx et al).

Godwit, Bar-tailed. Griet, Bandstert: one bird was found at a wetland near

Rust de Winter Dam 26 Oct 2013 (RGd),

with one bird also present at Mkhombo

Dam in the following days.

Harrier, Pallid. Vleivalk, Witbors: a ju-

venile bird was photographed at Rietvlei

NR, (JdT).

Honey-Buzzard, European. Wespedief: a single bird was reported north of

Bronkhorstspruit, 23 Nov 2013 (EM). An-

other bird was at the entrance to Rietvlei

NR, 23 Nov 2013 (SC).

Ibis, Southern Bald. Ibis, Kalkoen: two

birds were a surprising find at Mkhombo

Dam, 4 Oct 2013, (JB, MAx et al). A soli-

tary bird was in pentad 2535_2830 north

of Cullinan, 1 Nov 2013 (SM).

Pipit, Short-tailed. Koester, Kortstert: one bird was initially seen in pentad

2525_2900 in the Verena area, 30 Nov

2013 (EM), with several more birds re-

ported from this general area in the days

following by other birders. This is a highly localised and difficult to find species that may occur in small numbers at certain higher altitude grassland localities in the region. Plover, Chestnut-banded. Strand-kiewiet, Rooiband: two birds were at

Mkhombo Dam during the braai and

get together there for the Wider Gau-

teng Challenge group, 14 Sep 2013

(GBird).

Plover, Grey. Strandkiewiet, Grys: one

bird was at Borakalalo NR, 2 Nov 2013

(JA, LvD).

Plover, White-fronted. Strandkiewiet, Vaal: one bird was at Mkhombo Dam, 7

Sep 2013 (JB, FdP, MAx). This is a very un-common bird at inland localities. Sanderling. Strandloper, Drietoon: one

bird was at Mkhombo Dam, 5 Oct 2013

(RGd), with several birds present at this

locality on 3 Nov 2013. A single bird was

at Kgomo-Kgomo, 2 Nov 2013 (NPe).

Wagtail, Mountain. Kwikkie, Berg: a

solitary bird was again found at Groenk-

loof NR at the same time that the White-

breasted Cuckooshrike was at this site, 15

Oct 2013 (MK).

Whimbrel, Common. Wulp, Klein-: one

bird was present at Mkhombo Dam

where it was reported by a number of

birders, 27 Oct 2013 (GBird).

Bar-tailed Godwit / Bandstert Griet – Niall Perrins

Sanderling / Strandloper – Warren In-gram

32

Other Interesting Observations / Ander Interessante Waarnemings

Blackcap, Bush. Tiptol, Rooibek: An

exciting record, first of one bird and sub-

sequently of two birds, came from a gar-

den with superb indigenous trees in Robin

Hills, Randburg, 7 Oct 2013 (GO); this bird

was observed by many birders in the fol-

lowing days. A very uncommon bird in Gauteng, this is only the fourth known record in the province since it was con-firmed as occurring in 1999.

Bush Blackcap / Rooibek Tiptol – Dylan Vasapolli

Common Whimbrel / Klein-Wulp – War-ren Ingram

33

Bunting, Lark-like. Streepkoppie, Vaal: one bird was in pentad 2625_2725

near Fochville, 19 Nov 2013 (RGe).

Cuckoo, Great Spotted. Koekoek, Gevlekte: a juvenile bird was photo-

graphed in pentad 2545_2710 in the Oli

fantsnek area just south of the Magalies-

berg, 25 Oct 2013 (GF).

Cuckoo, Jacobin. Nuwejaarsvoël, Bont: one bird was at the Klipriviersberg NR in

southern Johannesburg, a first record for

the reserve, 23 Nov 2013 (LR).

Eagle, Long-crested. Arend, Langkuif: one bird was in pentad 2550_2835 south-

west of Bronkhorstspruit, 27 Oct 2013,

with another bird found in nearby pen-

tad 2545_2840, 4 Nov 2013, (RF & PT).

Falcon, Red-footed. Valk, Westelike Rooipoot: one bird was observed near

Rust De Winter NR, 2 Nov 2013 (DV).

Francolin, Orange River. Patrys, Kala-hari: a first record of one bird in pentad

2605_2755 at Alberts Farm in Johannes-

burg, just south of Northcliff Hill, is an un-

usual record for the city, 27 Oct 2013 (SC).

Hawk Eagle, Ayres. Arend, Kleinjag: a

bird in heavy moult was photographed

flying over Groenkloof NR, 29 Oct 2013

(KR).

Plover, Caspian. Strandkiewiet, Asiati-ese: one bird was at Mkhombo Dam

during the braai and get together there

for the Wider Gauteng Challenge group,

14 Sep 2013 (GBird), with as many as 6

being reported on 13 Oct 2013.

Sandgrouse, Namaqua. Kelkiewyn: one bird, a male, was found at Rietvlei

NR in Centurion, 18 Sep 2013 (MAt). The only known locality in the Greater Gau-teng area for this species is in the south west of the region, some distance from Centurion. Starling, Common. Spreeu, Europese: one bird was found at Northern Farm in

pentad 2555_2755, 6 Nov 2013 (RS).

Turnstone, Ruddy. Steenloper: a soli-

tary bird was at Mkhombo Dam

amongst many other waders, 7 Sep 2013

(JB, JdP, MAx), with up to 3 birds being

reported in the ensuing weeks.

Observers/ Waarnemers

Barend Esterhuizen (BE)

Dylan Vasapolli (DV)

Etienne Marais (EM)

Francoise du Plessis (FdP)

Gauteng Birders (GBird)

Geoff Finney (GF)

Jan de Wet (JdW)

Jan du Toit (JdT)

Jason Boyce (JB)

Jerome Ainsley (JA)

Kevin Ravno (KR)

Lance Robinson (LR)

Lisl van Deventer (LvD)

Marj Atkins (MAt)

Mark Kirk (MK)

Matthew Axelrod (MAx)

Niall Perrins (NPe)

Nicholas Pattinson (NPa)

Pat Tattersall (PT)

Rihann Geyser (RGe)

Rob Geddes (RGd)

Roger Fieldwick (RF)

Rowan Jordaan (RJ)

Ron Searle (RS)

Shaun Chamberlain (SC)

Stuart McKernan (SM)

This column is mainly concerned with obser-vations of rarities and interesting sightings made in the greater Gauteng region, de-fined as 100km from the centre of both Jo-hannesburg and Pretoria, however obser-vations made further afield are also wel-come. While the majority of records are in-cluded it is sometimes necessary to exclude some depending on whether the subject matter has already been well reported. Oc-casionally records are sourced from the Internet. Members are invited to submit de-tails of sightings to André Marx at e-mail turaco@telkomsa.net or 083 4117674.

34

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