The end of March is as usual a lovely wind free period, in Cape Town. After the summer long pummeling of the South Easter, the good 'Cape Doctor' that cleans out the city and gives Table Mountain its much photographed “table cloth” of cloud goes to ground.  It is a time of change of seasons . Nights are getting cooler, early morning sea-mist creeps in over from the Atlantic on the western shore night blanketing the vast Cape flats and kloofs. I often drive to work in thick mist with the car lights on, while the peninsula mountain tops bask in bright warm autumn sunshine, with bright blue skies above the snowy cushion of mist below.

Migrants

Those annual sights, of  migrant birds lining up, on the telephone and electric cables for the long flight northward to their Paleo-Artic breeding ground after their summer sojourn, reinforce the knowledge that autumn is well and truly upon use. Just as these long distance songsters and waders link the continents together by their criss-crossing paths, so to birders north and south are inextricably linked together, this came home to me very graphically recently. While browsing the web I came across a picture of a European bee- eater stuck in bird lime. The accompanying article dealt with the ongoing hunting and trapping of migrant birds while traversing the Mediterranean islands. Reading further I was startled and shocked to discover that despite legislation having been passed to prevent the slaughter of thousands of birds to supply commercial and domestic supply, this still continues in some areas . It has been estimated that some 1 billion birds may be killed per annum. This unsustainable slaughter must be having a severe impact on migrating species. I just wondered if the group of European Bee-eaters (Merop apiaster) I saw a few weeks back, lined up on and earthen dam wall has been affected? Not to mention the other migrants I have so avidly watched all summer long. Birders all over the world must be having the same thoughts when they read of these events. Lets make a concerted effort to pressure the powers that be to prevent this from continuing. 

Boulders Beach and Jackass penguins

Autumn is a good time to visit Boulders Beach, nestled between giant sandstone boulders in Simonstown has since 1983 become the breeding colony of +/-340 breeding African Jackass Penguins (Spheniscus demensus).  They really do sound very similar to a jackass braying hence the name.  How the local human residents whose homes surround the picturesque beach sleep at night I just can’t imagine, that’s the time the braying is at its worst.

What makes boulders beach so special are a number of factors.  Firstly from the end of the beach you can swim out amongst the giant kelp, often as not a beady eyed penguin will pop up at arms length to examine you.  A really great experience.  Secondly it’s the largest of any  known colonies of jackass penguin on the African mainland and the only one open to the public. Finally one can get so close to the penguins, the birds have been known to make nesting burrows on the traffic island in the car park.

Spheniscus penguins,( Jackass and the Magellanic penguins) have a unique colour pattern differing from all the other penguins. In Adelie, Rockhopper and all other species  they have a white underside and a black back, this is known as countershading. It gives the best camouflage protection for bids mammals and fish, when viewed from above the dark colour blends with ths sea, and from the bottom the light colour merges with the sky. The Spheniscus penguins has a bold alternating black and white stripe along side the head and body. This rather conspicuous outfit must bring some advantages , because it’s not as if the jackass does not have predators. Well it appears as if the prey spiecies of the jackass is schooling pelagic fish such as anchovies (Engraulis japonica) and pilchards (Sardinops ocellata)travel in loose formations until threatened once under threat they bunch into a tight swarm making it hard to single out individual fish, Captive trials have shown that models with jackass penguin colouration broke up the tightly knit school of fish more frequently and for longer than models with countershading patterns. Other penguins prey mainly on crustacea, squid and non schooling fish.

These birds have been declining in numbers, from over 1 million in the 1930’s, to 16 000 in recent times, they are listed as vulnerable.  Guano on the offshore islands where most of the colonies are situated was exploited early in the 20^th century.  This together with egg collecting led to early declines.  Oil spills have recently been a threat.  The most recent oil spill, from ore carrier ‘Treasury’ in June 2000 severely impacted the jackass penguins from Robben Island and the west coast.  The South African Foundation for the Conservation Of Costal Birds (SANCOB) treated 39 500 oiled penguins .  Some 19 500 were released at Port Elizabeth some 800km away on the south east coast.  This allowed the birds time to rehabilitate and feed  in unpolluted waters. It was expected that the relocated birds would make their way back up the coast and not join the existing colonies in the Algoa bay area, and this is just what they did. In anticipation of this movement 3 of the 19 500 were fitted with satellite transmitters packs to track their progress.  Our local morning daily newspaper the Cape Times had Capetonians tracking the 3 birds by publishing a map of the their progress back to Cape Town. For some three weeks it was quite a talking point in the city, and good publicity for birding.

Black Oystercatchers

When at Boulders besides keeping an eye on the Jackass penguins It’s the real rarity that I keep a sharp look out for, that most clockwork toy like bird, the African Black oystercatcher (Haematopus monquini). These rare resident, range restricted birds some 4 800 in number are listed in the International Red Data Book as near threatened. Found in irregular locations along the SW African coast from Namibia to Durban. In some places they are almost abundant and completely absent from other areas.

All the food for the oyster catcher is found in the inter-tidal zone , that narrow strip of land between low and high tide. During low tides these birds feed almost exclusively on sand mussels. Rocky shores offer a more varied fare, the staples appear to be limpets and black mussels. Some years ago the west coast was invaded by a alien species of Mediterranean mussel, during the height of this infestation this mussel made up to 90% of their diet. This is one of those must ticks for anyone’s life list, endemic to this beautiful coast of ours.

Fynbos

We don’t have much of a change in vegetation from winter to summer.  The indigenous vegetation, “Fynbos” literally fine bush, (other wise known as macchia) that makes up the Cape Flora Kingdom, the smallest yet most diverse of the worlds biomes, consists of proteas, heaths, retsia, which are well adapted to long dry summers. It is this particular vegetation, the mountain ranges and the location on the South Atlantic ocean that gives the South Western Cape its unique bird population some of which I’ll talk about at a later time.

Winter birding (The Pelagics)

Winter really arrives, when the cold fronts originating far to the west in the frigid Southern Ocean,  and sweep migrating pelagic birds from their summer homes, on the sub-Antarctic islands and surrounding ocean onto the Cape Coast.  An average day’s birding at sea will produce 20 or more different species:

Albatross, Black browed (Diomdea melanophris), Yellow nose (Diomedea chlorhynchos) and less frequently Wandering (Ddiomedea exulans) can be seen.  Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), White Chinned (Procellaria aequinoctialis) and Softplumaged Petrels (Pterodroma mollis), Wilson storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) and Antarctic tern (Sterna vitta) are wide spread.  Large numbers of Broadbill prion Pachyptila vittata) and Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) occur.  Occasionally Royal(Diomeda epomophora) and Grey headed(Diomeda Chrysostoma) albatross, Pintado(Daption capense), Blue petrel (Halobaena caerulea), FleshFooted Shearwater (Puffinus carneipes), Little Shearwaters (puffinus assimilus) and Sub-Antarctic Skua (Catharacta maccormicki) are seen.. A recent sighting has been exciting, the  Grey petrel (Procellaria cinerea) usually very rare North of 40’s convergence have been seen. Other recent vagrants over the last few years include Dark mantled Sooty albatross (Phoebetria fusca), Kergulen petrel (Pterodroma brevirosrtis) and Red Billed Tropic Birds (Phaethon rubricauda).

Land based vantage points are close to my home in Fish Hoek.  Kommetjie headland is 8 km away on the Atlantic coast.  In the other direction, 4 km on the False Bay coast is Glencairn.  The great advantage of Glencairn is that you can watch from the relative warmth and comfort of your car while the wind howls out of the North West. To get really close to the pelagic birds, fishing boats from Hout Bay take groups out to sea just for this purpose. These are some of the most sought after ticks any where in the world!

With a change of season there is a change of birds . With spring in the air I hope  you Northerners will also get your usual and a few unusual birds. I hope and trust that those European Bee-eaters made it, perhaps you will see them, and they will bring as must enjoyment to you as they did to me.

Article by Russell Collins

Russell writes as follows:

Dear Fellow Birder,

 As an active birder I enjoy reading about birds and birding not only in my local area but from further afield. In Southern Africa I have a good network of birding contacts, so my information needs are well met, but it is overseas in the UK and USA that I don’t have an adequate information network. I am writing to you and your organizations members on birding issues in the hope that a regular dialog will result.

Just as migratory birds link the continents, birding activities are universal. What happens in your country and in other countries, may very well affect the birds you and I see. A case in point is the trapping of migrants in the Mediterranean area this autumn. Another example is the effect on birding and other outdoor activities, that Foot-and- mouth disease in domestic animals in the UK is having at present. We have had a devastating out break of Foot-and-mouth disease, not more than three months ago. I do think that we can learn from each others experiences and that communicating is the first step on a path of learning.

As I have said I would like to establish a regular communication with your club/ organization and especially the members. I have attached a short article on some aspects of local birding, I wonder if you would consider publishing it in your news letter, as a first step in getting some sort of dialog with ordinary birders, off the ground.

My contact details are:

e-mail:
Telephone and fax: ++ 27 (21) 785-37 09

Russell Collins

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