COORDINATED AVIFAUNAL ROAD COUNTS (CAR)Winter 2004 countThe winter count on 31 July was certainly a challenge for many of you and I was again impressed by your willingness to brave the icy cold and mud, or even snow in parts! Thank you so much for persevering and ensuring that all the large terrestrial birds on your route were counted. Sandy Stretton recorded a temperature of -2°C at 8:30am and 4.5°C at 11:45am! We had much needed heavy rain in the Western Cape shortly before the count, the Humansdorp routes had to be rescheduled for Monday due to the rain and the Swartberg routes in KZN were counted a day late due to the impassable snowy conditions, "except for snow bound KG 10 and waterlogged KG09". Fortunately both these precincts are not close to other routes. I have appreciated the increased rate at which roadcount forms have flooded in and Linda Tsipa has already made much headway with capturing the data. It certainly does help, especially if there are any queries to be followed up. At least I can email you while the count is fairly fresh in your memory! I have included some interesting sightings or experiences below and will post a newsletter as usual in December in time for the next count on 29 January 2005!
Leaving home in the rain I wondered if we would be able to cross the drifts on the route I was counting with Mel Tripp. Fortunately it was clearer out in the Swartland and although we had to test the depth of the muddy water with a stick, we managed the route in the little ADU Mazda Rustler bakkie. A highlight was seeing more cranes than ever on SW13 (165). Koos de Goede took this photo of a flock of cranes on his route, SW07. Altogether 681 Blue Cranes were counted, the highest density in the Swartland yet (74.9 birds/100 km). Despite another year of drought, the wheat was looking better than last year. In the Overberg, observers on OV12 and OV14 commented on the increase in canola farming. Patricia Reynolds reported an electrocuted Blue Crane and the Brett's were disturbed to see a shooting party of seven men. On OV34, near De Hoop Nature Reserve, Heynè and Sharon Brink saw 14 Black Harriers, one of which was collecting nesting material and dropping it at a specific area in the fynbos. Heynè and Peet Botes visited this site on 30 August and found 3 brown mottle-feathered chicks with downy heads. One was in the nest itself while the other two were in very close proximity to the nest. Neither adult was in view but they were assumed to be hunting over the Air Force Base. Odette Curtis, of Western Cape Raptor Research Programme, visited this nest with Heynè recently and found that two chicks had fledged; one was killed by a predator. Heynè and Sharon's alert observation on a CAR count has therefore led to more information being collected on this threatened species. Heather Busby and her team counted 29 Stanley's/Denham's Bustard, a record for OV12. Despite the "icy, howling wind" on OV13, Jill Mortimer and her team of Somerset West birders saw 575 Blue Cranes. Frans de Graaff and his family noted a marked increase in the number of Stanley's/Denham's Bustard on OV33 - 24!
In KwaZulu-Natal, conditions were also very cold, which is obvious in the accompanying photograph taken by Sandi Calverley during a coffee break. They had a disappointing count on KO01, but did see 4 Ground Hornbills on their way home. Eleven Oribi were seen on the Midlands routes. Ken Gordon and Neil Smith saw 8 Whitebellied Korhaan in total on their route, KL01. Pat and Bruce Whittle have been able to continue Rod Dorning's route, KG09. John & Val Baxter saw a pair of Wattled Cranes on Rietspruit that appeared to be nesting. There was much interaction between them and a pair of Crowned Cranes. After much flying about the Crowned Cranes left and the Wattled Cranes returned to the original spot, one of them resettling on what they presumed to be a nest. On KG11 Jimmy and Lorraine Scott saw 21 Wattled Cranes. Conditions were very cold on the snowy Underberg routes as well. At 60 km along his KU01 route, Chris Thomas has noticed a roost of about 70 Bald Ibis for the last six months. If you are aware of roosts, particularly of threatened species, do let us know. Marius Wheeler, who coordinates CWAC (Coordinated Waterbird Counts) is particularly interested in reports of significant roosts or breeding sites for waterbirds throughout the country (mwheeler@adu.uct.ac.za, 021 - 650 4698). On KN03, André and Hettie Bouwer made a note about pine and blue gum plantations replacing grasslands on a section of their route. It is very important to ensure that we receive notification of any changes on a route, as this kind of information is vital in interpreting trends. The route description forms are available at the foot of the CAR page, so do fill one in when you notice changes or make a marked note on your roadcount form.
Counts in the Karoo went well with no wind, but it was freezing as can be seen by the ice on Mark Anderson's Toyota grill. Conditions were clear in the Free State, but it was also very cold. Wimpie Geyer recorded the temperature as -3°C at the start of FS88, while Pieter Lubbe recorded a temperature of -1°C on FW16. Pieter remarked that the veld was dry and in very poor condition. In the northeast (FN 48) Janet Lourens noted that it was "very, very dry", as did Hazel Vickery and Mike van Gelder (FN45) and Dr Wessels (FN35). The numbers of White Storks on David Weaver's route, FN 32 (152), Harry Illsley's route, FN43 (33), and John and Freda Whipp's route, FN29 (29), were surprising for a winter count. These routes are all in the east of this precinct. In the Eastern Cape it was also extremely cold - Graham Winch recorded a temperature of -4°C! Graham noted that there had been several reports of Secretarybirds in coastal areas the fortnight before the count, and for the first time they didn't see any on their route which is inland. There is a need to find more participants to cover the EE routes in the northeast. Some routes were delayed because of snow in this precinct. Neville Willows did a recce for a new route in the Somerset East precinct. Neville's wife, Carmen, teaches at a farm school, and apparently a daily activity is to count the number of Blue Cranes in a field near the school. Usually there are 19 or 20, but there were 129 on a recent count which must have stretched some of the younger children's counting skills! I think this is a wonderful way to encourage their appreciation of birds.
Yvonne Craig and her team counted 54 Stanley's/Denham's Bustard on their route, EH06, while on a bird outing a week previously they saw 23 in one field. A photo of those on routes EH03 and EH06 with Desmond Ponti, a new participant who is a game guard at Thula Moya reserve, appears alongside. In Mpumalanga, David Gaynor reported that the count in the Steenkampsberg area "was disappointing in terms of both species sighted and numbers". Helmeted Guineafowl numbers were down considerably at 134, following counts of 153, 292 and 236 in the previous three seasons. However, there is always something special on a day out and David wrote this: "On our route we had a spectacular sighting of two African Fish Eagles, one adult and the other still in juvenile plumage. The two birds flew low over our heads, linked talons and pirouetted about one another for several revolutions, and then flew off calling to each other. Who says birds don't fly for the fun of it?!" On route MT01 near Standerton, Colin and Ronalda Williams saw 19 Swainson's Francolin, 4 Blackbellied Korhaan and 3 Whitebellied Korhaan, despite the cold and wind. As Alison Richardson wrote: "It was with some sadness that Wits hosted the last official CAR count in the Wakkerstroom precinct on Saturday 31 July 2004. Wits Bird Club will officially hand over the Wakkerstroom CAR precinct to the Wakkerstroom Bird Club as from January 2005, and Judy-Lynn Wheeler will take over from myself as the CAR precinct organiser. With the wind howling along most routes, we had to work hard to find the birds; despite the nasty weather, everyone had a great day out on the routes, with a lot of time and energy going into 'teaching' our colleagues from the Wakkerstroom Bird Club how to do the count." Alison and Barbi Forsyth have not wasted a moment and have already spent a weekend out at Chrissiesmeer, an Important Bird Area, investigating the possibility of a new precinct with Pieter du Plessis's help. Pieter, who coordinates the Middelburg routes, has also planned two new routes in the Amersfoort-Bethal-Carolina District Important Bird Area. Kerryn Morrison, who is now manager of the recently launched EWT Ground Hornbill Working Group, is interested in any information about Ground Hornbills. Do send in sightings at any time of year. As it happens, James identified the need to investigate the possibility of routes in the Kruger at a planning meeting we had earlier this year, to provide comparison with agricultural areas and also to monitor the savannah biome. If you know keen birders in the savannah biome, please let us know. Do check the 'What is new' and the recently updated CAR webpages. You will also find reference to CAR in the article "ADU celebrates 10+ years of bird monitoring". The photograph at the top of this page was taken during a CAR count in KZN on Ann Gray's route with Winterton Primary School Grade 6s. We have put the updated trends of Blue Crane in the Overberg and Swartland on the website and plan to put annual updates of trends for all species. This will facilitate prompt feedback of results to you, landowners and conservation agencies. As you are aware, funding is still a major issue. Thank you to those of you who have made efforts to approach your bird clubs or companies. Please do continue these efforts, as we still have a shortfall in our budget. Also if you are aware of anyone prepared to sponsor a booklet of CAR results and recommendations for landowners, do contact me. I do have an updated Annual report and funding proposal that I could email or post. A big THANK YOU to you all for your concern for these spectacular birds and for your participation in CAR. I am sorry there isn't enough time for me to write to you personally! Donella Young |
Blue Crane flock seen on Koos de Goede's
route SW07.
A welcome coffee break on KO01. Left to
right: Don Leitch and Sally Calitz (sitting), Kali Fourie and Gavin
Calverley. Photo by Sandi Claverly 
Ice on Mark's vehicle early on count
day.
Chilly CAR participants who counted EH03
and EH06. The EH06 team was glad to introduce CAR to Desmond and be
driven by him in the Thula Moya landrover. Left to right Back row:
Sylvia Leslie, Marie and Alan Jones. Middle row: Vic Craig, Maggie
Keulemans, Yvonne Craig, Wendy Rosser, Rose Paterson. Front: Desmond
Ponti.