COORDINATED AVIFAUNAL ROAD COUNTS (CAR)Summer 2007 count
I do apologise for the lateness of this report, especially as Precinct Organisers and observers have been so fantastic in sending their results through in record time. I anticipated this year being incredibly busy, but not quite this pace! Fortunately I have been able to arrange for some assistance with map work recently, as some ‘speed wobbles’ are developing! Firstly a big Thank you!Participants have been more thorough in completing forms and I have not had to follow up many queries saving me much time. I have really appreciated this and the fact that Precinct Organisers have been so incredibly efficient in gathering in roadcount forms and also checking for completeness of forms. I am also aware that the cost to participants of counting routes is spiralling, as the petrol price increases and we are most grateful for your generous contribution to the project in this way. The cost of driving over 19 000 kilometres is phenomenal and would be insurmountable unless carried by you. I have also appreciated comments from Precinct Organisers and the CAR Working Group about the some proposed minor changes regarding activity, farm numbers and side of road. The results of these deliberations will appear in the next newsletter.
Count ‘High and Low’ LightsThe summer count took place on 27th January without any hitches. While updating the tables for the database, I realised that there are now 46 precincts and altogether 36 different species are recorded in the database! To date 542 routes have been registered and counted. There are some routes that have been discontinued. Some of these had to be re-configured due to the closure of gates on more minor roads, a few routes became unsafe for 2 km stops and in the Free State, in particular, some routes had too many backtracks making analysis complicated. After a very hot period, the CAR day was pleasant in most of the Overberg, with just a few routes experiencing high temperatures. Wilson and Christine Terblanche sweltered counting OV21, near Albertinia, at 40-42 °C. They noticed a number of reservoirs covered in shade cloth and wondered how this would be affecting species which have relied on these open reservoirs in the past. Very few routes recorded White Storks. Pierre van den Berg reported a two dead White Storks on OV16, directly under a powerline and Neville and Alison Passmore’s route had a dead Blue Crane under a powerline. This was reported to Bronwyn Botha, the new Overberg Crane Group Field worker. I was glad to meet Bronwyn at the gathering on Wicus and Hanlie Leeuwner’s farm after the count. I do appreciate this opportunity to catch up with some of you. In the Swartland I was delighted to see that Riaan and Marika van der Walt saw four Secretarybirds on SW14. Talking of Secretarybirds, John Carter, who counts an Overberg route, reported on the capebirdnet on 11 January that no fewer than ten were seen in a burnt field on the Stellenbosch side of Klapmuts by Julie Peters, of the Somerset West Bird Club! I was surprised that nine White Storks and the highest Blue Crane total (59) were recorded on SW15, near Tulbagh, by Angela Oelbüttel and her team. I have had an email from Keith Harrison, the West Coast Bird Club chairperson who counts SW05, as he has been identifying night roost sites with Tony Tree in the Berg River system. One evening this month 30 Blue Cranes were counted at the Kliphoek Salt pans by Jan Kotze who was assisting. If you have any information about roost sites do please let us know, as this would be most useful information for us and the South African Crane Working Group. The South African Crane Working Group also urgently need colour-ring re-sightings, so do keep an eye on those crane legs and if you have a telescope or digital camera these do help. Thank you to Maria Andela and her team, who count near Beaufort West, for driving an extra 60 km to get to the other side of a muddy riverbed following heavy rains the day before the count. Malcolm Botha, the route leader for WU07, mentioned saving a leopard tortoise crossing the road. I appreciate the fact that on the CAR day there are about 800 people out on the roads who are particularly concerned about the conservation of biodiversity. Natalie Baker, who coordinates the Uniondale routes, asked if I could mention ‘‘that CapeNature appreciates the time and expertise of the local bird club members who kindly assist with CAR counts. We have learnt so much from them and value their assistance.’’ I do apologise for forgetting to mention a significant milestone achieved by KZN observers in the last newsletter! Below is an extract from my report to the BirdLife KZN Forum in August last year. “It is ten years since the first CAR count in KZN in winter 1996. Trevor Snyman, who was Chairperson of the Regional Projects Committee and Kevin McCann, of South Africa Crane Working Group, were involved in ‘getting CAR on the road’ in consultation with Wendy Hitchcock, the CAR coordinator based at the Avian Demography Unit (ADU). Observers braved snow and icy conditions and due to impassable roads as well as poor visibility few routes were completed at the first attempt! Tim Wood was appointed as the KZN CAR coordinator and his knowledge of KZN and selection and encouragement of key people as Precinct Organisers led to the rapid development of 50 CAR routes in this province. These routes have been counted regularly and fortunately weather conditions have been favourable for most counts. Three of the route leaders who counted that first winter count are still counting!”
Hot weather was experienced on most KZN routes during this last summer count and the grass was very tall in most of this province after good rainfall. Looking back briefly at previous counts for KG08 I noticed that there has been a gradual increase in the number of Grey Crowned Cranes. There were either none or 3-5 in earlier counts. Pat and Bruce Whittle had quite an adventure counting their route, KG09, on Fearnley farm and I appreciate their perseverance! They got stuck on the road across the vlei for 2 hours, despite being in a 4x4, and Pat waded out in thigh deep water to climb a hill to get signal so that she could summon help. Thank you, LeeAnne Dorning, for sending a tractor to the rescue and Pat and Bruce for continuing the count, wet, on the other side of the vlei! White Storks were recorded on most East Griqualand (KG) and Midlands (KM) routes. I was thrilled to see that Monte and Eunice Pera saw two Wattled Cranes on KM08, the last time this species was recorded on this route was on the first count in summer 1998. Gavin and Sandi Calverley’s route had one juvenile and three adult Southern Ground Hornbills. White Storks were recorded on most Eastern Cape routes. Graham Winch reported severe storms with hail and tornado winds the day before the count in the Border precinct. There were many Amur Falcons, possibly over 400. The Monfoort’s and their team had to abort their count on EB04 at 1130 in pouring rain and heavy mist after 34.9km. They did see a group of 10 Denham’s Bustards bobbing their heads and milling around a ‘lek’ in the veld. I was sorry to see that Pat Hulley and family were delayed by puncture! Mike Agenbag saw 9 Southern Bald Ibis on EE11, as I have mentioned before this species was not recorded in this area during the first Atlas period. I have recently sent all the CAR Southern Bald Ibis data to Kate Henderson, of BirdLife, who is working on this species. Counting on one of the Humansdorp routes was hampered by rain and poor visibility. Alison Brown’s son and daughter-in-law recced a new route in the Somerset East precinct. Neville Willows recorded 255 Blue Crane and 19 Kori Bustard on ES08. Laurie Wood and her team heard a Southern Ground Hornbill on EK05 near Alexandria! Jenny Roxburgh and Laurie are both very familiar with the call and independently concluded that it was this species. They also met an articulate farm worker who said he had seen a large black bird with red near the head, before confirming it in the Sasol field guide. He had seen two in December, but only one in January. Denzil Ward, received a report from the landowner of a farm on his route, EP03, that 100 plus Blue Crane were roosting on an earthern farm dam. Denzil had hoped to confirm this by going out at sunset on Friday evening, but a severe electrical storm prevented this. The observers in the Free State also need to be congratulated as they have also completed 20 counts. The first count took place in this province in July 1997, shortly before I began coordinating CAR. Brian Colahan, the Principal Nature Conservation Scientist of Ornithology of the Free State Department of Tourism, Environment and Economic Affairs, has set up 241 routes altogether in these last ten years. This represents a phenomenal amount of work, as any Precinct Organiser will agree. Thank you so much, Brian, for all the time you have given to this project. For the Steenkampsberg precinct in Mpumalanga this winter count will be the 20th count! As David Gaynor, the Precinct Organiser, mentioned in his report, “the dedication of participants in this precinct is commendable in view of the very low counts of target species that often result.” I have really appreciated David and Helen’s preparation of participants for counts and David’s count reports. The White Stork (19) and Helmeted Guinea Fowl (20) counts were particularly low. Judy-Lynn Wheeler reported “Well we did it - but - projects such as CAR will always be a little nerve wracking in Wakkerstroom. We had nine teams in place 24 hours before the count but ill health/crisis struck and four teams were forced to pull out. We had five vehicles with only two persons per team on the day. Those who participated had a great day. We completed the routes that were closest to each other, leaving the remaining two namely, Volksrust and Sandspruit, at the other end of the world, to be completed as soon as two teams could get there. We got out on the Tuesday 30th to complete the counts. Not an ideal situation but could not, for the life of me, get around it.” Bird numbers were low. The dams/pans that had been damaged during the 2006 floods had not been repaired so bodies of water were scarce. Maize is being grown in low lying ground or right up to wetlands in many places. One of these major areas is up at Heyshope Dam where Grey Crowned Crane flocks could always be found, but none were seen this count.
The Chrissiesmeer counts went smoothly on a glorious day with White Storks on most routes and 30 Southern Bald Ibis on MC03. Invasive wattle was noted along MC02 and maize being grown right next to road. Twenty-five routes were counted in Gauteng. Abdim’s Storks were counted in three of these precincts, with 36 seen on GW01. Two White-bellied Korhaan were recorded by Diane Rose on GD03. In the Eastern Karoo very few White Stork were recorded during the Karoo Large Terrestrial Bird Survey, with the highest count being 27 on Fritz Bättenhaussen’s route, NK063. The largest flock of Blue Cranes was also recorded by Fritz on NK061. The highest totals of Ludwig’s Bustards were recorded on Lorette Luscombe’s route NK391 (19), and Kobus de Villiers route, NK432 (21). New areas of developmentThree routes were counted in the Kruger National Park, an area where we have wanted to establish routes for a while. We are not actively encouraging new routes this year, as there is a need to consolidate and analyse what we have collected which will help us assess where future growth should be prioritised. FeedbackI gave a brief presentation on CAR and the ‘Big Birds on Farms’ Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) project at the Overberg Intergrated Conservation Group Quarterly meeting in February in Bredasdorp, where representatives from the agricultural sector, Cape Nature, municipalities, Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative and Cape Action for People and the Environment were present. In March I presented CAR results at the Overberg Crane Group AGM. Useful contacts were established at both these meetings. Marius Wheeler (CWAC and BIRP Coordinator) and I had planned to visit the main bird clubs in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape with Neil Smith in March, but due to delays in the launch of the Atlas this was unfortunately not possible. I submitted a report on CAR to the BirdLife KwaZulu Natal Forum meeting in March. Blue Crane Genetics projectThere is at last some progress on this front and Paul Bartell and Kim Labuschagne, of the Wildlife Biological Resource Centre, are applying for permits and preparing blood samples from the Biological Resource Bank for export to the Oregon University. My brother, Michael Banks, a conservation geneticist, has a colleague, Renee Bellinger, who is keen to analyse these South African samples and some from Namibia as part of her PhD. The South African Crane Working Group, Overberg Crane Group and the Namibian Crane Working Group are very interested in receiving these results as they should answer questions regarding Blue Crane movements and population structure and reveal information important for the conservation of this threatened species. We are grateful for the blood samples which these groups have collected. This project is involving collaboration between the following organizations and we have appreciated their support of this project:
FundingWe do have more funding for CAR this year than in the past, but there is still a shortfall in the budget. As mentioned above we have received funding from the CEPF for a project focusing on the Cape Floristic Region. This project will enable us to take CAR a significant step further in an area where we have the longest dataset. I am collecting information about land use at present and James Harrison and I are preparing for a workshop in late May with representatives from the agricultural community, conservation agencies and scientists to assist us in interpreting the trends in bird numbers and developing recommendations for best practice in land management for conservation of biodiversity. Les Underhill, René Navarro and I met with Dr Richard Pettifor, from the Zoological Society of London, late last month regarding the CAR database which will be used for the Darwin Initiative project 15/002 entitled ‘Integrating Crane Conservation with Sustainable Habitat Utilisation’. We are most grateful for the funding we have received from this project in return for this data. We are also thankful for the African Bird Club (ABC) Conservation Award from the ABC which supports small conservation projects in Africa. I was most encouraged to receive a donation of R2 500 from an Overberg route, as an enthusiastic participant drew up a sponsorship form for people to donate an amount per bird counted on their route. About 28 people sponsored this count! In addition a calendar of bird photos was compiled and sold at a Somerset West Bird Club meeting raising funds for CAR! CAR 2007I have recently arranged for Prideel Majiedt of ADU to assist me with the capture of new routes onto GIS one morning a week, as I was struggling to find time to do this. Prideel is currently capturing the new Mpumalanga routes. The GIS length of routes is needed to calculate birds per 100 km. René is currently updating the software developed for the eight-year CAR report to update the trends in numbers. We will be posting these results on the website. Fortunately, through Pierre van den Berg, who has counted an Overberg route for many years, we have been able to arrange for a French volunteer, Hugues (Hugh) Leray, who has extensive experience in programming, to assist with CAR for 2-3 months from early May. The plan is to develop the programming further so that more extensive summaries of the CAR data will be available on the website. We feel this is a major priority as we are monitoring 18 species with Red Data status. Currently updated trends on all species in the Overberg and Swartland, as well as densities of Blue Crane, Denham’s Bustard, Grey Crowned Crane and Secretarybird in other precincts can be found in the table at the foot of the CAR webpage (click on species name in table). In order to save costs I would like to know if you are willing to receive your newsletter and roadcount form by email in PDF format. If so, please send me an email in reply to this email so that I can create a distribution list for this. Thank you for reading this far, this has turned out rather longer than expected! Kind regards to you all, Donella (CAR Project Coordinator)
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