Wakkerstroom Bird Club

Birding Bonanza

11-13 October 2019

Presenter outline

Bradley Gibbons

Bradley studied Nature Conservation at Saasveld (now known as the George Campus of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) where he completed a diploma and B-Tech degree. He later completed a Masters in Environmental Management at the University of the Free State.

Bradley is the Highland Grassland Field Officer for the African Crane Conservation Programme (Endangered Wildlife Trust / International Crane Foundation Partnership) and is based in Newcastle, KZN and works in the Highveld grasslands. He started working on cranes in the grasslands between 2002 and 2005, based in Memel in the north-eastern Free State, and then moved to the Karoo where he spent 8 years monitoring the Blue Crane population there. Following that, Bradley worked for 5 years on threatened grassland species such as Sungazer Lizards (for the Endangered Wildlife Trust) and since September 2018 he has been working for the African Crane Conservation Programme again.

Professor Mary Scholes

Prof Mary Scholes, a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, is currently a full professor in the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, where she holds a Research Chair in Systems Analysis. Her research activities focus on soil fertility, food security and biogeochemistry in savannas, plantation forests and croplands. Her research funds are mostly sourced from government sources and she is currently actively involved in research studies on food security, water pollution and social studies and sustainable development. She chairs the advisory boards of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis. She is also a member of the jury for the Volvo Environment Prize. These activities involve extensive collaborative research with several overseas and local institutes. Her publication record is extensive; she has mentored over 70 postgraduate students and she teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University. She has been awarded the Vice-Chancellors Teaching, Research and Academic Citizen Awards. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa and of the South African Academy of Science, as well as the African Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences. She is the recipient of several national and international awards including being elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. She has served on Senate at Wits for over 25 years and has served on Council for two terms. She is married to Bob Scholes, a systems ecologist, and they have a son.

Steve Davis

Steve has been a birder since moving to South Africa in 1975, and has birded in most parts of southern Africa and many countries around the world. He has presented numerous birding talks and courses with the late Roy Cowgill, has previously served on the BirdLife Port Natal Committee and is a regular member of the KwaZulu-Natal Rare Birds Committee. He has a passion for all nature and nature photography.

Dr Melissa Whitecross

Melissa is BirdLife South Africa’s Threatened Species Project Manager and is responsible for the conservation of raptors and large terrestrial birds. As part of BirdLife South Africa’s Terrestrial Bird Conservation Programme, Melissa coordinates projects on the Secretarybird, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Black Stork, Black Harrier and Taita Falcon. Melissa studied environmental science, completing her PhD at Wits University. She is also the Deputy Editor in Chief for Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology. Melissa was recently awarded the Leslie Brown Memorial Grant from the Raptor Research Foundation. Melissa describes herself as a ‘nature nerd’ and spends much of her free time travelling around South Africa exploring and photographing the country’s natural biodiversity.

Professor Bob Scholes Prof Bob Scholes is a systems ecologist with a particular interest in the savannas of Africa. He is among the top 1% of environmental scientists worldwide based on citation. He has led several high-profile studies (e.g. the Assessment of Elephant Management, the Strategic Assessment of Shale Gas Development, the Global Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment) and large research campaigns (e.g. SAFARI 2000 and the Southern African Millennium Assessment). He was an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 3rd, 4th and 5th assessments. He has been on the boards of the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, the South African National Parks and South African National Space Agency. He is a Member of the South African Academy, a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, an NRF A-rated scientist, and a winner of the National Science and Technology Forum Lifetime Contribution to Science Award.

Dr Hanneline Smit-Robinson

Dr Hanneline Smit-Robinson recently took up the position as Head of BirdLife South Africa’s Conservation Division. Her key responsibilities include oversight of the Terrestrial Bird and Seabird Conservation Programmes, Important Bird and Biodiversity Area/Key Biodiversity Area Programme, Policy and Advocacy engagement, regional support and Avitourism projects. For the past nine years, Hanneline spearheaded the conservation of the country’s most threatened terrestrial (landbird) species.

Hanneline graduated with a PhD in Molecular Zoology from the University of Stellenbosch, followed by postdoctoral research in phylogeography (using population genetics to consider the biogeography/geographic distribution of a species). Hanneline was also the African recipient of the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award in 2008. Hanneline is passionate about the environment and about making a difference through conservation initiatives. Hanneline describes birding as a favourite pastime.

Carol Preston

Carol Preston moved to Wakkerstroom in 2014 to open aa artist/writer retreat. Prior to that she worked as a theatre technician in various theatres in South Africa and Europe. Currently she is involved with children from eSizameleni as part of an environmental awareness programme, which aims to halt the state of littering and informal dumping in the village and surrounding areas.

Ernst Retief

Ernst Retief is the Manager: Data and Spatial Planning for BirdLife South Africa since 2010. He works within the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas Programme. In addition to creating maps and analysing data he also works with farmers in the eastern Free State to get them to formally protect their properties as Protected Environments or Nature Reserves. He is the co- ordinator of the Southern African Bird Atlas Project and also promotes other citizen science projects through the mobile app BirdLasser. Ernst has been birding from school days and remains a keen birder and atlaser.

Richard Mckibbin

Richard is an extremely passionate naturalist, photographer and public speaker and has been involved in wildlife his whole life. His parents often share the story about when he was being pushed in the pram by granny, and she said, 'Look Richard, a birdie', to which he retorted, 'No granny, that's a fiscal shrike'. He is a qualified guide with over 15 years of experience throughout Southern Africa and has done research on leopards, crowned eagles and lynx (in Norway). He and his wife Candice worked on a two-year leopard identification project in the Eastern Shores of iSimangaliso and together now run their business in conservation, biodiversity and eco-tourism called The LionHeart Experience. Their passion is to be a link between people and the beautiful world we live in, giving them an incredible and unforgettable experience as they encounter the beauty of nature whilst making a difference at the same time.

Carina Coetzer

Carina is BirdLife South Africa’s Ingula Project Manager, acting as the on- site manager of several environmental projects run on the Eskom Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme –which was declared the Ingula Nature Reserve in 2018. Her duties include the monitoring of the bird populations and ensuring optimal management of their habitat on site, as there are several threatened species breeding in the area. She is also tasked with coordinating the national Southern Bald Ibis monitoring project and managing the database. Furthermore, she is acting as the contact-person for the Upper Wilge Stewardship Initiative in the Greater Wilge Catchment area, assisting the BirdLife IBA team with acquiring formal protection for this critical water area.

Carina obtained her M.Sc. in Environmental Science at North West University, continuing with an internship with the National Research Foundation at the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State. Carina truly loves all of nature and can sit for hours on end curiously inspecting all the small living creatures in an area –which naturally lead to an interest in birding. She believes that if there is one thing you do every day; it should be to learn something new.

Faansie Peacock

Faansie started birding when he was five, and has been trying to quit for thirty years. It doesn't look like that's going to happen, so now he makes a living as a professional birder. He has written a number of books on birds, plus loads of magazine articles, scientific papers and blog posts. He loves telling stories about birds, and has spoken to thousands of people about more than thirty topics. He has a special interest in bird sounds, and can often be seen running around with his huge microphone dish and earphones. He previously worked as the Curator of Birds at the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Transvaal Museum). Faansie has birded in Madagascar, Spain, Thailand, Australia and Israel, and just got back from Brazil. But his favourite birding spot is the West Coast National Park - in fact, he lives within walking distance of this park, in the town of Langebaan. Faansie and his wife Ronel, and their two sons share their garden with rain frogs, tortoises, a fox, and of course, plenty of awesome birds!