Fynbos Research Program

       For the next 5 years, the NVT, in collaboration with SANPARKs, will be doing fynbos research in and around the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park and Nature's Valley. The project will examine the intricate pollination systems in the fynbos, and how these may change over time.
       We launched the project [on the morning of the 17th April] with a bird ringing session. We were joined by SANPARKs staff, ORCA, BirdLife Plettenberg Bay, WWISA, Nature's Valley Open Spaces Committee and a crew from NetNews, who filmed the event for a program. Helping Mark run the ringing station were Minke Witteveen and Shane McPherson, who made sure the birds got top priority. We netted and ringed 66 birds this morning, including a whopping 39 Southern Double-collared Sunbirds, 14 Cape Sugarbirds, and 2 Orange-breasted Sunbirds. Thanks to all who participated!

By Dr. Mark Brown, Program Director, Natures Valley Trust


We were blessed with great weather, a calm and cloudy dawn that persisted right through 'til midday - despite a forecast of approaching rain. There was plenty of trail to set mistnets and so eight tall and seven low nets were erected.  The flow of birds being caught and ringed was steady right through the morning and the 66 birds was about twice as much as was expected or hoped for.  Very special species included the fynbos endemic Orange-breasted Sunbird, and the beautiful White-starred Robin which was also a birding lifer for me.

The selection of photos here are mine, more can be seen on the NVT blog

fire in the sky over Tsitsikamma mountains

setting up the first run of nets

when the film crew from NetNews arrived, mark ditched us to take the heat

what a fantastic setting for the nets

although fynbos shrubs have a knack of snagging the nets

one of the first birds to be captured - Orange-breasted Sunbird   Anthobaphes violacea

male OBS from the back

female OBS

a great turnout of collaborators and visitors for the inaugural ringing day at Site A

the ringing table set amongst the vibrancy of the fynbos in bloom

all Cape Sugarbirds   Promerops cafer   are color-ringed, this site will be monitored fortnightly for 5 years

a fairly short sugarbird tail

its more tricky to measure tail length of the male sugarbirds

a male Southern Double-collared Sunbird   Cinnyris chalybeus

papparazzi and a Bar-throated Apalis   Apalis thoracica

female Olive Woodpecker   Campethera cailliautii   - males have a fiery red crown

White-browed Scrub-robin   Cercotrichas leucophrys

such a rich and vibrant yellow, White-starred Robin   Pogonocichla stellata

Ringing the 2012 Cohort

In order to be able to follow individuals birds and their life history, they must be uniquely marked.  This is a key component for the population studies, and especially following the dispersal and survival of young birds.  

Marking involves both SAFRING identification rings and plastic CB rings, which with their bright contrast and large codes allow much easier recognition and reporting of individual eagles in the field.  The nestlings must be ringed within a specific time frame; to be fully or near-fully grown to fit the ring well, but not so mentally mature to think they could jump to escape this approaching monster.  Fortunately we were able to age these birds well and time the climbs appropriately, ringing eight between December and early January. Ringing juveniles and nestlings are particularly valuable because we know their age and origin, and could provide some very interesting longevity and dispersal data in the decades to come.

The behavior of the birds is very interesting.  I had expected more aggression from the adults, such is the need for a riot helmet and foam filled backpack.  Fortunately all birds appeared reluctant to attack.  Two nests that I have accessed have involved birds that were prepared to frighten me by a flyby within about five meters.

The nestlings generally show a threat display as they first see me broach the edge of the nest, facing head on with mouth agape and wings outstretched.  However as I climb further they may realize just how massively outsized I am, and their next response is to go completely catatonic. This is very fortunate in that I can place a bag next to the bird and simply lift it across, zip up, and lower it down.  The young eagle is kept in the dark and hooded while still in the bag.  They generally remain calm and docile while hooded, even during all the handling and measurements.

Our procedure has been well practiced now, and although the time it takes to get a rope in a good position for access can vary greatly, the process of removing the chick from nest and back takes all of about 20-30 minutes - depending mostly on the height of the climb back to the nest.

*awaiting more photos of nestlings and nests*

SAFRING training marches on

In the last week I managed to squeeze a bit of spare time in to get out ringing again.  Darvill proved a fruitful morning, and a few days later up in Howick in a local birdlife members garden.  It is a lovely garden with plenty of space to put up mistnets.  The nectar feeders attract a number of sunbirds, but unfortunately the Gurneys Sugarbirds were not present that morning for my big month list.

So the numbers climb, 65 species and about 450 individuals have passed through these clumsy fingers.  there is still a fair way to go for the general ringing license.  But a recent permitting condition for the eagle research was to be SAFRING registered, and so I now have a registration number and authority card outlining permissions to use various raptor trapping methods to ring raptors, alongside this Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife issued a permit for the province of Natal, and I celebrated this with a quick drive up to Cato ridge, where we caught and ringed one Jackal Buzzard and had a missed opportunity at a Long-crested Eagle.

Yellow-throated Longclaw   Macronyx croceus

African Pygmy Kingfisher   Ispidina picta

male Dideric Cuckoo   Chrysococcyx caprius

Spectacled Weaver   Ploceus ocularis

Amethyst Sunbird   Chalcomitra amethystina

Malachite Sunbird   Nectarinia famosa

Dusky Indigobird   Vidua funerea

African Paradise Flycatcher   Terpsiphone viridis

Burchells Coucal   Centropus burchelli

A bird in the hand

This post is two pronged.

The first sequence is of our oldest chick of the 2012 season.  For something different, I have shown here three photos per day of just a few days in early October.  With a focus on attempting to show a variety of behaviors and different times of day.

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pretending to still be a hapless chick, the eaglet still begs to be fed

evening exercises are frequent

the young eagle spends most of its days alone one the nest now

although salad greens come in less often then in earlier weeks, sanitary conditions are still vital

the morning feeding session was another delicate exchange between mum and chick

the evening session was self-serve

although mum still sleeps on the nest for protection, the eaglet is now entirely thermally independant

The second sequence is of ringing and collecting biometric data from this eaglet.  The eaglet is skeletally mature, which means when we measure the leg, we can apply the correct ring size that it will wear for the rest of its life.  Our DNA sample will confirm our prediction that it is a male. This individual will be known henceforth as 'E6', and the ring identification enables all of the local residents and birders to be part of this amazing project by sighting and submitting the details (date-time, GPS location, ring code, and hopefully photos) of each birds whereabouts. Either to me [shane.mcpherson@gmail.com] during the course of the research, or to the ADU in future years.

All birds of all species with identification marks are collated on a database that covers Southern Africa, and communicated with other regional and country ringing programs.  Re-sightings and ring recoveries need to be submitted.  To report SAFRING, colour ring combination, or colour rings with alpha-numeric codes please complete the online form.

Photo credits to Mark Brown, sadly, not represented in a photo here.  Hopefully the journalists that were present will have a photo in their article!  While it is heavily overcast, the photos are a little blurred in the dark forest floor, and the bird is damp, we were fortunate to have achieved all that needed to be done in a perfectly timed break in the weather.  The nest camera will continue to provide invaluable information on diet, as well as how the bird, and its parents, respond to the new jewelry.

starting the first climb at 07.34am to service the camera and collect the eaglet

hauling the precious cargo back to the nest

E6 safely back in the nest at 08.36 am

Winter Birding and Ringing

Another week of nest surveys to look forward to this week.  I wonder how many of the six active nests will have hatched, and which others will have now laid eggs and be incubating.

Just before I go – here is a quick update on birding and ringing.  On Saturday we had another Darvill session, and after ringing about twenty birds I’d picked up two new species ringed: Three-banded Plover, and Brimstone Canary.  This now takes the number of Natal species ringed to 46, with a total of 235 individuals.

Thick-billed Weaver  Amblyospiza albifrons

a family (male, female, juv) of Sombre Greenbul  Andropadus importunus

juvenile Olive Bush-shrike  Chlorophoneus olivaceus 

Black-collared Barbet  Lybius torquatus

juvenile Greater Joneyguide (very cool binomial) = Indicator indicator

Gurney's Sugarbird  Promerops gurneyi

a first ever ringed at Darvill.  Black-crowned Tchagra  Tchagra senegalus

Three-banded Plover  Charadrius tricollaris

Grey-headed Bushshrike  Malaconotus blanchoti

those bushshrikes pack a heafty hooked tip and strong bite!

I have been casually birding during my busy days in the field – not having time to go out and look for anything in particular.  Turns out that several of the eagle nests are in great reserves, and my study area encompasses a wide variety of habitats from the high country of the midlands, and through great city reserves such as Kloof Gorge, down along the coastal forests.  In particular Zimbali Country Estate is turning out to be a great place to pick up exciting species, first time was the special Spotted Ground Thrush, and more recently Wattle-eye.  Last week at Shongweni Dam I scared a Narina Trogon off its roadside perch.  The number of species seen during July was 147.  And Darvill on Saturday added Croacking and Lazy Cisticola, as well as Red-headed Quelea, to push my total South Africa list to 400 species.

Spotted Ground Thrush  Zoothera guttata