DOLPHIN COAST BIRD CLUB

NEWSLETTER : AUGUST 2015

OutingsLast Outing – 16 August 2015 – Harold Johnson [2910_3125]

One might say that Saturday showed the first signs that winter was over; it was a lovely warm start at around 16°C warming up to a comfy 23°C with little wind to speak of, reinforced by lovely sunshine. A great day for birding and indeed walking.

Seventeen members and four guests attended this outing, members were: Tony and Lorraine Clarkson, Margie Green, Tony and Adele Hesp, Chris and Danny Macdonald, Chris and Rie Mathews, Roy and Lesley-Ann Orsmond, Alan Pope, Ivan and Gwen Swaffield, Elayne Tranter, Andy and Avril Warner.

Guests were: Judith Gawehn [3], Jan Bakels [2], Greg Kyle [1] and Graeme Leslie [1].

Judith is now eligible for membership and has indicated her intention to join. Welcome aboard.

Apologies were received from Klaus and Ragne Achtzehn, Rung Button, Bing and Heather Comrie, Ren and Bev Eksteen, Rob and Marion Hofmeyr, Malcolm and Pete McClean, Margi McGrath, Denise Pope, Les and Margie Shone, Jimmy Trevorrow, Derek and Larraine Watson and John and Linda Wilson.

With some explorers doing the longer walk and others doing shorter routes, interestingly, the bird counts were about the same. The bird species were typical of Zululand bush and included Gorgeous and Orange-breasted Bush-Shrikes, other shrike types, both Drongos and raptors represented by African Goshawk and the clubs first Yellow-billed Kite of the summer. Twenty-two bird species were recorded at the outing and a further seven at the east end of the reserve after the outing, totalling forty nine.

A list of the bird species recorded is appended.

Chris Macdonald Chairman 082 879-4681Andy Warner Treasurer 032 946-1819Danny Macdonald Secretary 083 447-0520

Next Outing – 19 September 2015 – Vumbuka [3000_3050]

NB: This outing was originally scheduled for Umbogavango but the venue has been taken up for a wedding. Vumbuka, almost adjacent, is a great substitute but not quite the same being sited on an old waste site.

The next club outing will take place at Vumbuka on 19 September 2015 at 08:00. Members will meet at the Tops end of Tiffany car park [to avoid the cycling gang] at 06:40 for a 06:50 departure for Vumbuka [sunrise is at 05:51]. To get to Vumbuka, take the N2 south past Durban to Amanzimtoti and take the M 37 exit [Exit 141] and turn right to cross the N2, do not turn back on the highway, do not take the next right to the Galleria shopping centre but at the bottom of the hill take the next right to the Umbogintwini Chemical Plant Complex. Members will gather outside security in order to organise access.

Club rating for Vumbuka

Birding: Vumbuka is known for the figs planted on the site and so one can expect a number of frugivores. There is a small grassland area at the entrance for open area species. Good for Barbets, Tinkerbirds, Starlings, Bulbuls and many more.

Walking distance: The Vumbuka site is not large and consists of a number of walks. The whole site is about a kilometre long by half a kilometre wide.

Difficulty: As it is on a slight hillside there is a change in elevation but not large. There is an adequate education centre area for those who do not wish to walk far and bird from an armchair. There are toilets on the site.

Talk Evenings

The next talk evening takes place on 2 September 2015 at Simbithi CC at 18:00. The talk is entitled “Middens and Mounds - the Archaeology of the lower Mvoti and uThongathi river basins”. The talk is presented by Len van Schalkwyk, an archeologist who specializes in Iron Age activities in KZN. So, if you want to know who was wandering around our neighbourhood before the Zulus and colonists, come along.

Heads Up on forthcoming events

2 September 2015: Talk Evening at Simbithi CC: A talk on archaeology of our area in the iron age.

19 September 2015: Outing to Vumbuka

General

Member’s Sightings

Elayne Tranter reports that an African Crake was identified at Simbithi during a recent visit by BLPN.

Chris and Danny Macdonald recorded the first Narina Trogon for Brettenwood Estate.

2015 Photography Competition

Just a reminder – keep your cameras clicking as the Howard Balcomb prize is up for grabs again.

Birds and Food….again

The CWAC count at Amatigulu was an amazing experience. There has never been this many birds on the estuary in recent times. The site looked like one of the recognised amazing birding sites in Southern Africa – Ndumo or northern Botswana [Okavango], thousands of birds of many different species!

More than 150 Great Egrets were counted. But what is special about that? If one looks back at one’s birding experiences, Great Egrets are seen one here and another there and definitely not in flocks in KZN. Roberts reads on the Population Demography of the Great Egret: ”Generally uncommon and localised; African population est ca 30 000 birds. In s Africa, most common in north and north-east, especially Okavango Basin, Botswana. At Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, density 0,2±0,1 to 4,6±3,7 birds per m of shore line. In s Mozambique, est 300 birds. Prey of Tawny Eagle in Zambia.”

Reading between all this:

“African population estimated as ~30 000 birds” – 1 in 200, half a percent were present at Amatigulu two weekends ago, and the bird is “uncommon and localised”.

“At Lake Kariba, maximum shoreline density is ~8 birds per kilometre”, one would have had to walk twenty kilometres of Kariba shoreline to see the same number as were present at Amatigulu.

“In southern Mozambique estimated to be 300 birds” – half the birds in southern Mozambique which consists of mainly floodplain were present at Amatigulu.

And then there were huge numbers of White-faced Ducks, Red-knobbed Coots, Little Egrets.

Why were the birds at Amatigulu?

Normally birds chase food. But what were they eating? There must have been many fish species in the narrow channels between the weeds for the egrets, White-faced Ducks are known to eat snails which were in abundance. They would also join the Red-knobbed Coots in eating the weedy material which was exposed. So food there was aplenty.

But how did the birds know about this resource? It is very puzzling especially in the case of the Great Egrets which one encounters mostly one at a time in the area. How does the message get out all over KZN? It is an intriguing puzzle!

Species recorded at Harold Johnson [2910_3125]]

Birds Recorded 4994 Hadeda Ibis 102 Egyptian Goose

126.1 Yellow-billed Kite 160 African Goshawk258 Blacksmith Lapwing 352 Red-eyed Dove358 Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove 359 Tambourine Dove371 Purple-crested Turaco 385 Klaas's Cuckoo391 Burchell's Coucal 421 African Palm-Swift435 Brown-hooded Kingfisher 460 Crowned Hornbill464 Black-collared Barbet 469 Red-fronted Tinkerbird483 Golden-tailed Woodpecker 486 Cardinal Woodpecker541 Fork-tailed Drongo 542 Square-tailed Drongo554 Southern Black Tit 568 Dark-capped Bulbul569 Terrestrial Brownbul 572 Sombre Greenbul574 Yellow-bellied Greenbul 600 Red-capped Robin-chat648 Yellow-breasted Apalis 657 Green-backed Camaroptera683 Tawny-flanked Prinia 690 African Dusky Flycatcher696 Pale Flycatcher 736 Southern Boubou740 Black-backed Puffback 747 Gorgeous Bush-shrike748 Orange-breasted Bush-shrike 764 Cape Glossy Starling768 Black-bellied Starling 789 Grey Sunbird790 Olive Sunbird 793 Collared Sunbird796 Cape White-eye 808 Dark-backed Weaver

Seen after the outing at the Ultimatum Tree are [the Ultimatum Tree died after Demoina]426 Red-faced Mousebird 466 White-eared Barbet

86 Woolly-necked Stork 474 Greater Honeyguide81 Hamerkop 635 Lesser Swamp-warbler

791 Scarlet-chested Sunbird