The end of August saw a trip to the PMB Botanical Gardens. The day dawned bright and sunny with a nip in the air, but soon warmed. Many birds were flying around at the entrance to the gardens and some of us got confused with all this activity, happily following our leader towards the toilets, thinking she was showing us more birds! We had a successful trip where we saw Cape Batis and Red- backed Mannikins, and when we reached a magnificent Coral tree espied Olive, Amethyst and Collared Sunbirds flitting around in the branches. Around the picnic area were lots of Olive and Kurrichane Thrushes, Black Flycatchers, Glossy Starlings, African Palm Swifts, a White-bellied Sunbird and a Cardinal Woodpecker.
The end of September meeting was a well-attended evening meeting with a number of new faces. To make people laugh is an art, and Mike Spain with his talk on ''Birding! Where, Why and How?" had it in spades. He invited audience participation while telling us that you can't make a birder, the bug has to bite. His hilarious snippets of how novice birders identify certain birds, totally ignoring the where, why and how made us all laugh.
October saw two short Birding courses by Dr David Johnson which were very well attended and most interesting and informative. The Howick courses were on Warblers, Flycatchers, Beak Design, Brood Parasites and Nests.
An evening talk by Sonja Kruger on Bearded Vultures – Wilderness Dependent was held in October. Sonia had just returned from a conference in Spain where the future of the Bearded Vulture was discussed. She explained that the greatest threat to this handsome bird is human development, and in Spain they have been studying the impact of wind farms on the Bearded Vulture. Research is now being done in South Africa because the Lesotho government is allowing a private group to put up a wind farm right in the middle of a breeding area. This will be disastrous for the vultures as there are only about 110 breeding sites in the Drakensberg and adjacent mountain areas and the mortality of the juvenile birds is high. With the appearance of wind farms the death rate will surpass the birth-rate. Another threat to the Bearded Vultures are power lines that kill mainly juveniles as they fly with their heads down looking for food. They don't see the power lines and certainly won't see the wind turbines.
Luckily the weather gods came out to play after a week of rain and the sun made a majestic appearance for our trip to Mbona. We arrived and made our way to the top of the forest area to be greeted by howling winds. The huge trees shielded us from most of the gale, and one group made their way up hill while the other group set up their chairs in a sunny patch and waited for the birds to come to them. There was great excitement when one group spotted a Bush Black-cap. Lovely forest birds began to emerge - a pair of nesting Purple-crested Turacos, a nesting Forest Weaver and a nesting African dusky Flycatcher. Black Saw-wings, Cape Batis, Brubru, Puff-back Shrike, Rock Martin and a Red-fronted Tinkerbird were some of the most memorable birds seen.
November saw us at the Karkloof Country Club for Dr George Hughes "Sea Turtles – Dynamic Survivors." An animated crowd filled the dining room at the Karkloof Country Club to listen to well-known turtle expert Dr George Hughes give a most interesting talk on the turtles of the world, concentrating on the South African coastline and the Indian Ocean. With an excellent slide show Dr George explained the life cycles and survival techniques of these fascinating animals, as well as customs and superstitions surrounding turtles. Recently his work was recognized by the International Sea Turtle association and he received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Our much anticipated End of Year Braai at Hilton College Lapa was planned for 8th December. However, with all the recent rain the road to the Lapa became impassable and sadly the whole day was cancelled at the last minute
"Wishing a peaceful and joyous Christmas to all our members and friends, good health and happiness in the New Year!" BLKZNM Chairman and Committee.
News and picture kindly provided by Birdlife KZN Midlands
Above - Red-chested Cuckoo chick in a Cape Wagtail's nest..
This year's noisy bird that everyone loves to hate! Photo by Chris Theron