25 May 2024 

To the uninitiated, atlassing birds might seem an impossible task, but it is the biggest contribution a birder can make to conservation! You need to be familiar with the BirdLasser smartphone application and adhere to the stringent scientific methodologies required by the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP). But once you have climbed over those two hurdles, all you need to do is go birding! Atlassing entails recording all birds encountered in a pentad or atlassing block (an area of roughly 8 x 9 km) for a minimum of two hours, stretching up to a maximum of five days. An atlasser should strive to include some nighttime birding and attempt to cover all the habitats in the pentad. 

To help recruit new atlassers, a short course was held at the end of May. It consisted of an online theoretical presentation on Friday, 24 May 2024, and a practical outing to the Durban Botanical Gardens the following morning.

At 08:00, the 16 participants gathered in the parking area before the entrance, and after several last troublesome issues with apps and smartphones were sorted out, the atlassing commenced! A quick circuit of the parking area provided the first few species: African Palm Swifts circling the palms, Rock Doves on the surrounding buildings, Cape White-eyes at the little fountain, Hadada Ibis calling from the nearby field, and Common Myna underneath and among the cars. The first highlight followed quickly: two Palmnut Vultures took off from inside the gardens and flew off low over the trees. I had personally never encountered them this far south, but I had heard that they can be found in this area now and then.

After entering the Gardens, we headed straight for the small dam area and the large colony and roost in the surrounding trees. Pink-backed Pelicans and African Spoonbills became our main focus birds. We counted and recounted to get as accurate numbers as possible, then added the number of nests present and updated the details for the sightings on the app. It took us a while to get a final count, as much to our amusement, everyone seemed to get a different number! 

All this took place while we kept our eyes and ears open for new species: the single Common Moorhen in the far corner of the dam, the few Grey and Black-headed Herons that flew back and forth and Pied and Brown-hooded Kingfishers briefly making appearances. Furious nest-building behaviour by a small flock of Village Weavers had us scratching our heads. The unseasonably warm Autumn weather had clearly upset their clocks a little bit! A quick circuit of the tall trees in the centre of the Gardens delivered Black Sparrowhawk, which had caused some consternation among the smaller birds in the open.

Two hours flew by, and before we knew it, we were back at the parking area, finalising our lists. After a final few tips and updates, several new atlassers submitted their first (of hopefully many) Full Protocol cards!

Report by Cassie Carstens