Umhlanga NR

Posted on June 10, 2013 by

Sun Jun 9, 2013 10:37 am (PDT) . Posted by:

“Richard Mckibbin”

Hi all,

On an evening run through the Umhlanga Nature Reserve (not recommended unfortunately as it is not the safest place on your own, at that time) I was just thinking about the one and only time I have seen a wood owl there, at the large stinkwood a few hundred meters before the end of the trail on my return, when something caught my eye on the right, and to my surprise, there it was, an African wood owl!  The beaut glided down out of the stink wood in the last light of dusk and landed on the top of a tangle of bush.  I watched it for about 5 minutes, as it curiously did its little Indian head dance, and then it approached a little closer, hanging on a vine, where all of a sudden a second joined it, all in the glorious silhouette, and they flared their wings out, almost sitting on top of one another, swinging on the vine, and then one by one, they flew off.  Magical…

Richard

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MKHUZI WEEKEND AWAY WITH DAVE BISHOP

Posted on June 8, 2013 by
2013 MAY MKUZI BIRDING 084

This gallery contains 6 photos.

MKHUZI WEEKEND AWAY WITH DAVE BISHOP Dave did a WOODLAND versus FOREST BIRDS COURSE at Paradise Valley on Saturday 18th May A walk the next day at Shongweni Dam was worthwhile…..a highlight being a number of Lanner Falcons displaying above … Continue reading →

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Palmiet Display at Westville Village Market

Posted on June 8, 2013 by

Palmiet Display at Westville Village Market 

Hello Family and Friends,

There will be a display on the ground floor at the Village Market, (Pick n Pay) Jan Hofmeyr Road on Saturday, 8 June, from 09:00 till 12:00. This is to mark FORTIETH YEAR OF EXISTENCE! of the Palmiet Nature Reserve and the Centre. 

*There are photographs on display taken in the Reserve of some of the animals and plants as well as the very scenic river and cliffs.

*The students from the Durban University Technical College will have their jewellery on display. The theme chosen for their small, delightful works of art was the Palmiet Reserve.

*Nick Evans will bring some of his snakes and as the herpetologist that works in the Reserve will answer questions on chameleons, snakes as well as scorpions.

*A representative from BirdLife will also be there to answer questions about the 250 bird species found in the Reserve.

*Members of the Palmiet Management Committee will welcome questions from the Owners of the Reserve……. Viz. YOU, THE RATE PAYERS!

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Kloof Indigenous Open Gardens 2013

Posted on June 8, 2013 by
Dear all,
We are now ready to ask for volunteers for the two days of the Kloof Indigenous Open Gardens on 22/23 June, where BirdLife Port Natal will have a stand.

Please volunteer to assist us at this important annual affair which has grown tremendously since it first started, and is now visited by a large number of people over that weekend.

This year we will be based at Kloof Junior Primary School, 30 Abelia Road, Kloof. We will be on the verandah outside the hall which will be under cover. We will be able to park very close to our stand, as the parking inside the school will be reserved for people on duty over the weekend, so we can park inside.

We will need two shifts both days as we can set up from 08.00 on the Saturday and the public will be in from 09.00 – 17.00 both days. So first shift will be 08.30 – 13.00 and the second shift 13.00 – 17.00. Arnia will set up on the Saturday and I will take down on the Sunday. I no longer need volunteers for the Sunday morning, but we need people to help on the Saturday and the Sunday afternoon.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you can volunteer for one of these shifts, so that I can draw up the roster, and send out further information to those who have volunteered.

This is a really good occasion to raise our profile and contribute to and enjoy the whole ‘vibe’ around the indigenous gardens.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Click on Lesley Frescura to reply.

Kind regards

Lesley
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Update from Pigeon Valley in Glenwood, Durban

Posted on June 7, 2013 by

Thu Jun 6, 2013 10:44 pm (PDT) . Posted by:

“Crispin Hemson” 

Winter birding is hotting up; our first Fiscal Flycatcher on record came last year, and there are currently five at the reservoir area.  A new sighting over the weekend there was a pair of Pied Wagtails.

We have been concerned over the Spotted Ground-Thrushes, which are so vulnerable.  One appeared early in the season and then became furtive.  Yesterday however one (I suspect the same) flew from the road island at the entrance to the park to perch on the fence – see my photo on Facebook at Friends of Pigeon Valley.  Later as I went through the park I was sure I was hearing at least two others making their contact call.

Yesterday’s best sighting though in the late afternoon was my coming upon the only bird bath on the southern side of the park, and watching a Buff-spotted Flufftail bathing.  Hard to get any picture given the dimness and distance, but it was great – only my second sighting of a mature bird in more than 20 years of viewing.

Crispin Hemson
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Wednesday June 5 – Mariannwood N.R. Report

Posted on June 6, 2013 by

Wednesday June 5th outing to Mariannwood N.R.

A few birders took advantage of the sunny weather and attended the outing to  Mariannwood N.R. on Wednesday 5 June. Birding was extremely quiet and we only recorded 25 species (seen or heard) , much to the embarrassment of the leader! Sorry, Jackie and Rex – you travelled so far for so little. A highlight was a flypast of some woolly-necked storks as we started on the trail. This is really a lovely reserve with beautiful trees and lovely grassland areas and birding here in spring and summer would be more productive.

Sandi du Preez

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Saturday Outing Pigeon Valley Reportback.

Posted on June 4, 2013 by

Saturday Outing Pigeon Valley Reportback.

Pigeon Valley did not disappoint – the Spotted Ground-Thrush was seen by everybody!!

The weather was great and we had a good turnout – about 20 of us including a few non members (our newspaper advertising is working).    We broke up into two groups and good birding was had by both groups.  The Black Sparrowhawks were calling loudly and we had a number of fly-bys.   Most of us stayed on afterwards for ‘picnic tea’ at which stage we tallied up our bird count which eventually came to 43.  A most enjoyable morning was had by all and my thanks to Sally for leading the one group.

Photos courtesy of John Bremner : Collared Sunbird, Lesser Honeyguide, Cardinal Woodpecker female & the tree is an Apodytes (White Pear) excellent tree for birds.

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Cheers

Elena

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Activities Wednesday 12 June

Posted on June 4, 2013 by

Wednesday 12 June. 08h30  Springside with Derek Spencer. Directions: From M13, turn off at Hillcrest off-ramp. Turn right at traffic light into Old Main Road. At Heritage Market, turn right into Stonewall. Travel under the subway and at the T-junction turn right into Springside Road. Continue along this road until you see the reserve on your left.

Wednesday 12 June 19h00. Indoor meeting. “A celebration of hummingbirds – avian jewels of the Americas”. Westville Methodist Church, Jan Hofmeyr Road, Westville. Adam Riley, Director – Rockjumpers. This is a wonderful opportunity to come, look and listen to one of South Africa’s most travelled birders. As the director of the highly successful Rockjumpers Worldwide Birding Adventures, Adam has the opportunity to photograph interesting and fascinating birds in their natural habitat. Don’t miss this opportunity, as we originally made this booking a year ago.

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BMCG Meeting Saturday June 8

Posted on June 4, 2013 by

Saturday 8 June. BMCG Meeting 14h00 at Pigeon Valley.

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Wednesday 5 June. Mariannwood N.R.

Posted on June 4, 2013 by

Wednesday 5 June. Mariannwood N.R.  8h00 with Sandi du Preez – Tel. 031-7014839 or 0733324431.  A 12 ha delightful reserve of bush clump, grassland mosaic, riverine forest and coastal scarp forest.  Directions:- Take N3 toll road towards Mariannhill. Exit at Richmond Road. Turn left (south) towards the Mariannhill Monastery. Turn left into 7th Ave, right into Adams, then left into Mariannridge Road. Turn right into James Herbert Road. Entrance to the reserve is at 8 James Herbert Road next to Heightor flats. Meet at the picnic sight. Bring coffee/tea and eats for picnic afterwards.

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Krantzkloof Tuesday 11th June at 09h30.

Posted on June 4, 2013 by

Hi everyone,

Our coming meeting, next Tuesday, 11th June, is going to be a really good one.  It will be at the Krantzkloof Interpretive Centre, usual time – 9.30 a.m. for 10.00, with tea/coffee and biscuits and the cost is still R20.00 per person so nothing has changed.

Our speaker on Tuesday will be Adam Riley, who founded the birding company in P.M. Burg, Rockjumper Birding Tours. The company has grown enormously over the years and now has a branch that covers mammals, one that covers photographic tours and another for anthropological safaris.  All of these do tours throughout the world and if you should ever by lucky enough to go on one of these tours, it will be something you will never forget.  Adam will be sharing his experiences and wonderful photographs of Ethiopia so come and enjoy an exhilarating morning with us down at the Centre.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Yours,

Tessa, Sarah, Peter, Jenny & Peter Farrington.

083 540 4120.

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BMCG Meeting changed to June 8th

Posted on May 30, 2013 by

The next BMCG meeting will be on the 8th June at Pigeon Valley at 13h30. Bring bins, snacks, seats etc.

Good birding until then,

Roy

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Reminder of Activities for June

Posted on May 29, 2013 by

JUNE 2013

Bird Ringing with Garth Aiston: Usually held early on a Sunday each month. Please call Garth closer to the time for details. 084 5491752.

Bird Ringing with James Rawdon. James visits many privates estates on the North Coast. Contact James for details: 083 745 6007.

Saturday 1 June. Pigeon Valley with Elena Russell. Meet at the entrance at 07h30. Directions:  South along Manning Road, right up Rhodes Avenue which leads you to the entrance. Alternatively, south along South Ridge Road and after the dip look out for the Pigeon Valley sign to the left.

Saturday 1 June. BMCG Meeting 10h30 at Pigeon Valley.

Sunday 2 June.  Bird Ringing with Andrew Pickles. Venue to be advised. Please contact Andrew for details. Cell 082 338 3302 or barbet@venturenet.co.za

Wednesday 5 June. Mariannwood N.R.  8h00 with Sandi du Preez – Tel. 031-7014839 or 0733324431.  A 12 ha delightful reserve of bush clump, grassland mosaic, riverine forest and coastal scarp forest.  Directions:- Take N3 toll road towards Mariannhill. Exit at Richmond Road. Turn left (south) towards the Mariannhill Monastery. Turn left into 7th Ave, right into Adams, then left into Mariannridge Road. Turn right into James Herbert Road. Entrance to the reserve is at 8 James Herbert Road next to Heightor flats. Meet at the picnic sight. Bring coffee/tea and eats for picnic afterwards.

Tuesday 11 June. 09h30 Krantzkloof talk by Adam Riley on one of his many birds trips.

Wednesday 12 June. 08h30  Springside with Derek Spencer. Directions: From M13, turn off at Hillcrest off-ramp. Turn right at traffic light into Old Main Road. At Heritage Market, turn right into Stonewall. Travel under the subway and at the T-junction turn right into Springside Road. Continue along this road until you see the reserve on your left.

Wednesday 12 June 19h00. Indoor meeting. “A celebration of hummingbirds – avian jewels of the Americas”. Westville Methodist Church, Jan Hofmeyr Road, Westville. Adam Riley, Director – Rockjumpers. This is a wonderful opportunity to come, look and listen to one of South Africa’s most travelled birders. As the director of the highly successful Rockjumpers Worldwide Birding Adventures, Adam has the opportunity to photograph interesting and fascinating birds in their natural habitat. Don’t miss this opportunity, as we originally made this booking a year ago.

Sunday 23 June. Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve with Terry Walls. Meet at the gate at 07h00. Contact Terry to confirm meeting time and place. Contact Tel: 031-266 6580 and email: terry@inkmate.co.za. A favourite birding spot and the cisticolas will keep us busy with ID. The wild flowers are always a treat. Bring a picnic lunch. Directions: Travel south on N2 from Durban for 60 kms (past Scottburgh) take the R612 (Park Rynie/Umzinto) turnoff, turn right over freeway and travel 12 km (past Umzinto), turn right at the signpost for Vernon Crookes onto good gravel road travel for 6 km to the reserve. Meet at entrance (there is an entrance fee). Take Rhino/Wild Cards in case.

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The June Wed outing to Mariannwood N.R. has been changed

Posted on May 29, 2013 by

The June Wed outing to Mariannwood N.R. has been changed from 12 June to Wed 5 June.

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Posted on May 29, 2013 by

We have great pleasure in inviting BirdLife Port Natal to CROW’s upcoming fundraising event which is taking place on Thursday, the 25th July 2013 at the Barnyard Theatre.

CROW Barnyard Poster

CROW Barnyard Poster

Attached you will find full details of our event and the We are the Champions show, which promises to be hugely entertaining and lots of fun!

While on-going initiatives like our 1000 100 Club are certainly helping us to cover our monthly expenses such as animal feed and medical care, there are also several projects that are urgently needed at our centre, such as repairing some of our animal’s enclosures and furnishing our clinic with the latest medical equipment.

So please do consider joining us at the Barnyard and inviting as many of your family, friends and work colleagues along as possible! We promise you won’t be disappointed!

Thank you so much for your on-going support and we look forward to sharing an enjoyable and memorable evening with you in aid of our wildlife.

With much thanks,

Paul Hoyte

Marketing and Communications Officer

Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife

Tel. 031 462 1127   Fax. 031 462 9700

Cell: 071 350 6502

www.crowkzn.co.za

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Mystery Raptor

Posted on May 27, 2013 by

Mystery Raptor

Seen in Le Domaine, Hillcrest.  Some suggest it is an African Cuckoo-Hawk juvenile others Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk - but what is it?

Mystery Raptor

Mystery Raptor

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Bird ringing – Umhlanga Ponds – Sunday 26 May 2013. Last minute change of plans.

Posted on May 24, 2013 by

Bird ringing – Umhlanga Ponds – Sunday 26 May 2013. Last minute change of plans.

Sorry for the very late change of plans but I have not been able to obtain the necessary approvals to carry out bird ringing at Umhlanga Ponds this Sunday so therefore have to change the venue to iPhithi Nature Reserve. Please see below for details.

Sunday, 26th May 2013 @ 05:30 – iPhithi Nature Reserve – Bird Ringing – Garth Aiston
Directions: Take the M13 up Fields Hill. Take the Everton turn-off, turn right back over the freeway and then turn immediately left into Camp Road. Take the first right over the railway line into Edward Drive. Continue for 500m, taking the left fork, and the reserve is on your right hand side. Walk down the main path to the bottom of the hill.

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Mystery Bird

Posted on May 22, 2013 by

Mystery Bird – seen in Le Domaine, Hillcrest.

Mystery Bird for ID

Mystery Bird for ID

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Dargle Outing Sunday 19th May – Report back.

Posted on May 22, 2013 by

Dargle Outing Sunday 19th May – Report back.

Although Dargle is a little further for us to travel than we’re used to, 10 of us came from Durban and surrounds including Martin Taylor our guide for the day.  After all of us meeting at Piggly Wiggly (in 6 degrees I might add) we made our way to Kilgobbin Farm to meet Barend Booysen who owns the farm and also does guided walks through the Forest on the 1st Thursday of each month.  (Contact tel: 082 3372025).

Upon arrival we were welcomed by Barend outside a romantic chapel and on cue, much to our absolute delight 12 very vocal Cape Parrots flew over our heads.  Some of us were so stunned our reactions were pretty slow.  Happily we had another opportunity to see them when another flock of 6 came over while admiring an African Crown Eagle’s nest.

The entrance to Kilgobbin Forest is Barend’s very bird friendly garden.  In a matter of minutes we identified a number of different sunbirds giving the birder’s in our group a spectacular display and the photographers some excellent opportunities to record them. See photo gallery below.

Kilgobbin Forest is beautiful and well maintained by the Dargle Conservancy.  As we entered this magical canopy of trees, including stately Yellowwoods, we were greeted by a chorus of bird calls from Olive and Cardinal Woodpeckers, Chorister Robin-Chats, Cape Batis, Bar-throated Apalis and Knysna Turacos.  For me personally, forest birding is very difficult but this time there were a number of open clearings making it easier to see the birds and where they seemed to make themselves surprisingly more conspicuous. The forest walk leads up onto open grasslands above. Unfortunately there was not an abundance of grassland birds although a highlight was a Malachite Sunbird was seen amongst the Leonotis.

All in all, we recorded 46 birds and 3 waterbirds on the dam on the way out.  Sandi du Preez claimed the Chorister Robin as the Bird of the Day, but for me it was the Cape Parrot.  Our thanks goes to Martin our guide, Barend for his hospitality and all the wonderful birds, making it another perfect birding day.

Cheryl King

Photos courtesy of Dave Rimmer, Sally and Paul Bartho.

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Posted on May 20, 2013 by

Dear all,

I really recommend that you watch this TED talk – it is absolutely relevant to South Africa.

Regards

Lesley

http://youtu.be/vpTHi7O66pI

 

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