So here I sit at Ashanti Backpackers in Cape Town. A grey windy and wet day to write while
passing the time, reflecting on the last ten days of bliss. This was a self-inspired trip to visit TheBlack Eagle Project, PhD research initiated by Megan Murgatroyd. Megan is now in the third field season of
research comparing land use and productivity of the (relatively) pristine
population of the cederberg Black (nee Verreaux) Eagles, and the eagles of the
Sandveld which are living next to lands with extensive agricultural
transformation.
On the 6th of September (happy birthday to me!) I
flew from Durban to Cape Town, and boarded an evening supersonic taxi to
Clanwilliam. Megan met me here at 10pm and
we began the hour-long drive to the field site, the gravel road endlessly
evolving in the headlights. Arriving at
night meant I had no idea what landscape to expect in the morning. On the first frosty dawn, the sun peaked over
the eastern mountains and slowly warmed the valley. The field house is part of the Driehoek farm,
passionate sponsors of Megan’s research and, surrounded by the Cederberg
Wilderness Area, perfectly situated for access the study site. Driehoek is a great place to set up camp on
one of their camping/caravan sites if you’re inspired to come and visit.
Spring comes to the cederberg now. And the flowers were beginning to bloom. To the south the fynbos dominates, and to the
dryer northern slopes different colours representing succulent karoo. Mountains
loom over the colourful valleys with tiered expanses of cliffs and crags
providing an abundance of nesting opportunities for eagles and other raptors. We spotted plenty of kestrels and booted
eagles, and despite their absence no doubt the cliffs would be full of
peregrine and lanner falcons as well. In
the river valleys, reed beds provide all that a Black Harrier would need, and
the old oak trees around the homesteads also home to a Black Sparrowhawk. I noticed a theme here - so I dressed in
black every day - there must be some reason it works so well for mountain
raptors.
While most of the nests in the cederberg have not bred this
year (for reasons to be determined), we set out each day for short walks to
nearby nest observation sites.
Invariably each site had some sort of eagle entertainment to watch. On one occasion during the 1 hour watch,
while being amused by the wing-flapping exercises of the eyass, the pair of
adults appeared over the top of the ridge.
While one adult descended to the nest site to deliver fresh prey to the
waiting chick, the other coming from an unknown location, tucked into a steep
glide, building up speed and rushing by just 30 meters from us, before
continuing out over the deep valley beyond.
At another site, the pair cautiously checked these bipedal intruders
into their territory, drifting back and forth in front of the nesting cliff in
the most majestic style before coming to perch together on a distant ridgetop
buttress.
Three active nests were visited, including one that was a
new discovery for the season – a site that takes an hour of bone-rattling
driving and then a short hill hike to get to.
The bakkie ‘Ratel’ has done some rough miles over the last few years,
and there have been countless flat tires to fix. It takes guts and mettle to face these
boulder strewn slopes, and trek miles through them day after day searching for
nests. And mettle Meg has in spades,
attested to by a titanium pin, the result of a compound fracture while boulder
hopping a stream early on in the project.
To strengthen the ankles again and blast through another two seasons is
testament to the determination and passion for the Black Eagles.
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| Ratel in the karoo blooms |
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| I battled to get far enough uphill of Meg to take this perspective shot |
Happily, there was something useful I could help with. On day three we set off early towards Tafelberg,
the second highest summit in the range.
Up on the last plateau before the summit sat a VHF relay station to
download GPS tagged eagles - this had been pounded by recent storms, the unit
was silent and the aerial broken. So
after a 2 hour uphill hike (passing a lifer, a pair of Cape Rockjumper’s on the
way), we reached the base station, stopped for lunch, admired the scenery, and then
loaded the equipment, Megan with the batteries and downloader and I with the 9
ft aerial, descending back to the field base.
A few days later I was to get another remarkable perspective of Tafelberg
peak.
For some weeks Megan has been preparing to repeat the helicopter surveys that proved so successful last season. The 2012 helicopter surveys were in November, when many nest had fledged, this year the surveys were timed earlier to be able to locate the nests while chicks were still at home. Unfortunately, September surveys coincided with the aviation students’ exam time, and there were limited numbers of pilots and budgets available to fly the crags of the cederberg, cutting down on the previous years available flying time.
On Wednesday evening, the two two-seater R22 ‘matchbox’
helicopters arrived. They were covered
in their blankets for the night. The sun
peered over the ridgetops the next morning and gradually softened the
frost. But the helicopters were
hypothermic after such a cold night. Theres
something disconcerting with helping jumpstart toy helicopters that we’re
supposed to be airborn minutes later, moreso when one of them refuses - having
blown some electrics around the solenoid or alternator. Without power for the radio’s and gauges the
pilots decided that it should stay grounded until the flight back to cape town
airport. So down to one helicopter for the survey.
Happy with the jumper leads, the second chopper roared to
life, and the first flight was up and out by 9am. Megan logged four flights,
surveyed 28 nests, and added three new nest sites to the known population! Incredible success for five hours airborne. Then as 4pm rolled around, there was one
hour left before sunset, the chopper refuelled and Megan offered me an
opportunity to fly a transect. Taking a
direct line over the Tafelberg neck where days ago we’d hiked 2 hours up the
mountain, in 7 minutes we crested the ridge, and descended to the other side,
passing the Die Hoek nest site that takes over an hour to drive to. Passing over a waterfall, another plateau and
then into a cavernous gorge on the Tra-tra River. After taking several runs at gps marks on
tiered cliffs, it was quickly apparent this was no walk in the park – despite
being just tens of meters from the cliffs. Eventually, I spotted one of the sites,
apparently recently used but definitely empty. And all too soon with fuel and sunlight
running out it was time to turn tail and head back over the ranges to
base. We passed by the Tafelberg neck
again just as the setting sun poured red light over the rust coloured rocks.
The following morning, rolling clouds and high winds forced
the pilots to beat an early departure from these changeable mountains, flying
in tandem back to CapeTown so the bird with the radio’s could get ground
clearance for the crippled craft.
Meanwhile Megan and I walked to Uilsgat Rock to sit under an old bushman
shelter, with weathered rock art, the old bushman's shelter was a great place to
chill and maybe see a pair, despite an inactive nest this year.
After eight days of blue blue skies and softly winds,
yesterday morning I woke to the rain streaking sideways across the valley. Time to hitch a lift back to Cape Town
then. The week has given me a very constructive
time to discuss all thoughts of eagles, the trials and successes of the
research. The environments our
respective eagles call home definitely determine much of the rest of how the
research plays out. And I find myself
somewhat envious of Megan’s remote little mountain paradise (inspiring
landscapes, melt-water streams, pure fresh air), while also appreciating the benefits
of urban research (smooth roads, passionate public participation, and access
to… well civilization). Now I’m looking
forward to getting home to the crowned eagles to perhaps see the first hatched
chicks of the season.
