WITWATERSRAND BIRD CLUB Affiliated to PROGRAMME 3/2019 Birdlife South Africa FORTHCOMING EVENTS IN BRIEF Date Activity Leader Venue September 2019 7 Saturday meeting & Craig Nattrass Delta Environmental Centre Arbor day 14-15 African Bird Fair BLSA Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens 18 Wednesday outing Christo Venter Northern Farm 21-24 Long Weekend away Samson Mulaudzi Soutpansberg 28 Saturday night outing Grant Egen Cradle of Human Kind October 2019 2 Wednesday Outing Koos van Dyk Rocky Valley 5 Photo Editing Course Ernst Porter 11-13 Birding Bonanza Wakkerstroom Bird Club Wakkerstroom 19 Saturday afternoon Margi Brocklehurst Delta Environmental Centre talk Friends of Free Wildlife 20 Sunday outing Werner van Goethem Pretoria Botanical Gardens 25-27 Bird Calls Course Lance Robinson Sediba Game Lodge November 2019 9 Saturday Outing Christo Venter Roodeplaat Dam 16 Saturday afternoon Andy Featherstone Birding in Georgia talk 17 Sunday Outing Andy Featherstone Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve 20 Wednesday outing Lance Robinson Northliff Eco Park 24 Sunday Outing Alan Weideman Hekpoort 30-1 BBD Weekend away Lucky Ngwenya and Wakkerstroom Dec Andy Featherstone December 2019 7 Saturday Awie Coetzee Yearend function at Marievale 11 Wednesday outing Wendy Carstens Melville Koppies January 2020 10-12 CWAC weekend Barbi Forsyth Nylsvley Nature Reserve 11 Saturday Outing Koos van Dyk Bergland Instant Lawn 18 East Rand CWAC Werner van Goethem Rolf’s, Bullfrog & Clearwater pans 19 East Rand CWAC Awie Coetzee Elandsvlei & Varkfontein pans 25 West Rand CWAC Johan de Jager De Pan, Carletonville 25 East Rand CAR count Werner van Goethem Rayton 25 Saturday Afternoon Dr. Stephan Woodborne About Baobabs and Birds meeting 26 East Rand CWAC Awie Coetzee Marievale Bird Sanctuary Page 1 of 12 WITWATERSRAND BIRD CLUB Affiliated to PROGRAMME 3/2019 Birdlife South Africa AFTERNOON MEETINGS Club meetings are held at Delta Environmental Centre unless otherwise stated Route: Follow First Avenue, Linden, towards Johannesburg until it becomes Rustenburg Road. Turn left into Road No 3 at the robot. Follow the road past King David Primary School and into the Park. Once in the Park, turn left at the T-junction and follow the road to the parking lot of the Delta Environmental Centre. Cost: R20 per person (unless otherwise stated) Time: 13h45 for 14h00 Arbor Day Celebration and a talk on Saturday 7 September 2019 Craig Nattrass ringing entitled “Feathers and Rings” We will start the day with our annual Arbor Day tree planting at Delta Park’s Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary. This will be followed by a talk by Craig Nattrass on bird ringing. Craig will tell us about the history of ringing in South Africa, its purpose, the differences between ringing and birding and why he is so passionate about ringing. Saturday 19 October 2019 Margi Brocklehurst Friends of Free Wildlife Join us for an informative talk about the work that the Friends of Free Wildlife does. Friends of Free Wildlife is a wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in the Kyalami area. They have been open for over 2.5 years open and have already had over 8000 patients. 80% of their patients are birds with the species list they tend to growing continuously. They also look after small mammals e.g. hedgehogs, Bushbabies, Mongoose, Antelope, and many more. Tortoises, terrapins. They have also had the endangered Giant African Bullfrogs at their facility. Friends of Free Wildlife is a community based, volunteer Centre and are totally reliant on donations from the general public who bring in injured and orphaned animals. Georgia – Mountains, History & Iconic Saturday 16 November 2019 Andy Featherstone Birds Following on last year’s trip to Belarus, four members of Wits Bird Club were intrigued by the thought of visiting Georgia, another of the previous U.S.S.R. countries. Using the same Hungarian guides we planned our trip for the end of April when the snow was retreating and the spring migrants are beginning to arrive. We were not disappointed as Georgia is very different to Belarus, not only scenically but also culturally, historically and in its avifauna. From the snow-capped Greater Caucasus Mountains on the Russian border to the rolling steppe grasslands on the border of Azerbaijan the scenery was amazing and birds stunning. Saturday 25 January 2020 Dr. Stephan Woodborne About Baobabs and Birds Come and listen to the most interesting facts about these ancient trees and what the analysis of Baobabs reveal to scientists. The presentation will show how we used radiocarbon dating to understand the “architecture” of baobab trees in southern Africa. The presentation will close with a brief reflection on baobab deaths that were widely reported in the media, and on the impact that climate change will have on arid zone birds in southern Africa. Page 2 of 12 WITWATERSRAND BIRD CLUB DIRECTIONS & INFORMATION OF OUTINGS & EVENTS MAY 2019 – SEPTEMBER 2019 Target Bird Challenge Target birds are not necessarily the most elusive, prettiest or rarest birds to be found. We encourage you to read up beforehand and get to grips with our nominated target birds; share your newly acquired knowledge with your fellow members and in this way, we all learn something new. Please note that the overall objective is to learn more and to have fun, therefore no prizes will be awarded for spotting the target bird on the day. 14-15 SEPTEMBER 2018 / AFRICAN BIRD FAIR WALTER SISULU BOTANICAL GARDEN The African Bird Fair provides a superb opportunity to create awareness about birds, bird research and conservation, and the bird conservation organisations, like BirdLife South Africa, who work tirelessly to conserve our country's birds. Should you wish to exhibit at the African Bird Fair 2018, or if you require more information, please contact the Events & Marketing Manager at [email protected]. Wits Bird Club will have a stand at the fair and we would welcome your assistance. Should you be willing to help out, please contact Lauraine at the office on either [email protected] or, (011) 782-7267 18 SEPTEMBER 2019 / WEDNESDAY OUTING NORTHERN FARM Northern Farm has a wide range of habitats with a number of dams and large expanses of grassland. The reserve is particularly good for raptors with Black Sparrowhawk, African Fish-Eagle and Long-crested Eagle regularly seen. Northern Farm is also an excellent area for Orange-breasted Waxbill as well as the many waterfowl that frequent the dams. Route: From Randburg take the R512 Malibongwe Drive past Cosmo City and Cosmo City shopping centre. At the traffic lights at the top of the hill, turn right onto the R114 towards Diepsloot. After 9km, the entrance is a white gateway on the left with a “City of Johannesburg Northern Farm” sign. Once through the gate meet at the parking area. Book: [email protected] or (011) 782-7267 GPS: S25°56'15.41", E27°59’19.74" Meet: 08h00 at the parking area Cost: There is a R50 entrance fee payable to the leader on arrival. Leader: Christo Venter SABAP2: Pentad 2555_2755 Target Bird: Black Sparrowhawk 21-24 SEPTEMBER 2019 / LONG WEEKEND AWAY SOUTPANSBERG We will re-visit this bird rich area after our very successful weekend in 2018 to enjoy the area specials at the start of the breeding season and to try and find some of the birds we missed out on previously. We will use local guide Samson Mulaudzi to visit all the special birding spots in the area. These will include among others Roodewal, Hanglip, Luvuvhu River and Entabeni Forests as well as the Thohoyandou Botanical Gardens. Special birds of the area include Bat Hawk, Orange Ground Thrush, Grey-headed Parrot, Black- fronted Bushshrike, Green Twinspot, African Broadbill, White-starred Robin, Yellow throated Woodland- Warbler, Mountain Wagtail, Forest Canary, Grey Cuckooshrike, Knysna Turaco, Scaly-throated Honeyguide, Yellow-streaked Greenbul and Brown Scrub-Robin. At the Botanical Gardens, there is also the possibility of Blue-spotted Wood Dove and Pink-throated Twinspot. Route: Take the N1 north to Louis Trichardt, at the junction with the R524 turn right and continue for approximately 34km. Turn left at the sign for the Time Out Lodge which is 950m along the dirt road. Book on either: [email protected] or (011) 782-7267 GPS: S23°03'43.06", E30°12’51.84" – Time Out Lodge Page 3 of 12 Meet: Friday 18h30 for briefing Cost: R2,100pp (R410 single supplement) inclusive of meals Co-ordinator: Andy Featherstone (083 259 0231) SABAP2: Pentad 2300_3010 Target Bird: Orange Ground Thrush 28 SEPTEMBER / SATURDAY NIGHT OUTING CRADLE OF HUMANKIND The Cradle Nature Reserve and Cradle Boutique hotel are situated within the Cradle of Humankind on the Kromdraai Road. This is a private reserve which is close to 10.000 hectares it holds Plains game (buck species, Wildebeest, Giraffe, Zebra, Baboons and Monkeys etc. The reserve also has Leopard (rarely ever seen), Brown Hyena Jackals and smaller Cats. This is also a World heritage Palaeontology area with 5 active fossil sites for Flora and fauna and the latest excavation of "Homo sediba" hominid fossil dating back to around 1.95 million years. The species list for the area totals 190 and includes White-bellied Korhaan, various larks, cisticolas and pipits, Cape Vultures, Rock Kestrels and Ostriches as well as the occasional Blue Cranes. There is an award-winning restaurant at the hotel for those that wish to dine afterwards; the restaurant is open until 23h00. Route: Take Beyers Naude Drive (M5) in a Westerly direction. Turn left onto the R540. Drive for +- R3km, the entrance to the Cradle Nature Reserve and Cradle Boutique hotel will be on your right. Book on either: [email protected] or (011) 782-7267 GPS: S25° 55’ 05.0” E27° 50’ 49.6” Meet: Meet in the car park at 15h00.