Familiar Chat

Familiar Chat Newsletter of BirdLife Botswana June 2009 Hi Members, The relatively serious content of this BLB has started a new initia- newsletter reflects the global Please renew your tive to grow our photographic concern for the state of the world membership if you database of Botswana’s birds. and the importance of birds as haven’t already done so We invite all keen photogra- indicators of it. In addition it - it runs from January to phers to join our group on reflects the growing change from a December. A form is Flickr, called Birds of Bot- ‘social’ club to a scientific available on page 15 or swana. It’s a lot of fun and organization, part of a much larger on our website international movement. Most we will link it to our web- www.birdlifebotswana.org.bw content has been generated by staff site, too. If you would like to and BirdLife International, however, join this group, please con- I can’t stress enough the importance tact Ian White or Harold of our members young and old, new (email addresses on page 14) and longstanding, to the running and success of the organization. The three beautiful BLB 2010 In This Issue Therefore I ask yet again, for birds’ calendars sake, for more of your stories, ideas WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD 2 DAY CELEBRATION and feedback. Carmines and Colleagues A2 Kori and Company A3 BIRD MIGRATIONS TO 4 Don’t miss Keddy’s report on page 2, INCREASE Oxpecker and Friends A5 of the delightful World Migratory STUDENT CONFERENCE 5 Bird Day celebrations, and Molebi’s will soon be available and we ON CONSERVATION SCI- reports on his travels to England on want you all to help market INTERNSHIP AT RSPB 6 pages 5 and 6. them. Please see the newsflash DARWIN’S FINCHES 7 attached at the back of this PART TWO On page 8 there is news on the newsletter or contact Harold or latest Red Data lists. It is not all MORE CRITICALLY ENDAN- 8 Molebi at the office for details GERED BIRDS THAN EVER gloom - there have been some great tel 319 0540 conservation success stories - saving EVER ON A SUNDAY 9 birds from extinction, giving hope BIRDING HOT SPOTS ON 10 and pointing the way forward. IF ANYONE CAN THE KENYAN COAST KIDS FOR BIRDS 11 It is up to us all to get involved with BLB initiatives such as Common Bird HUNTING WITHOUT GUNS 12 Monitoring, Tickbird and the Familiar BRANCH EVENTS 13 Chat! BLB COMMITTEE 14 Eugenie Skelton — editor MEMBERSHIP FORM 15 [email protected] CAN 2009 World Migratory Bird Day Celebrated in Style A report by Keddy Mooketsa The inaugural drama and poetry competition organized by BirdLife Botswana for school children in the Gaborone area was a spectacular success. The event, on the 23rd May, was held to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day, celebrated annually around the world to highlight the bi-annual, seasonal migration of mil- lions of birds from south to north and back again. It is hoped that through these celebrations a greater awareness can be cre- ated among communities of the dangers birds face at the hands of mankind and of the conservation issues involved. Children, drawn from the schools’ environmental clubs and un- der the guidance of their environmental teachers, wrote their poems and acts, and performed them in front of discerning judges at the Little Theatre at the National Museum on Thursday st 21 May. The three leading schools in each category were then The workshop programme for those with invited to perform at Bokaa village kgotla in front of the Chief vision on the left and on the right is the and invited villagers on the Saturday. Braille programme for the visually impaired More than three hundred children with their teachers and some of the community members arrived early at Bokaa Dam. Here four intrepid BirdLife Botswana members, using their telescopes, introduced the children to the beauty of a variety of water birds on the bank of the dam. This set the scene for the celebrations. The village chief, Mr Sue Mosinyi, hosted the celebrations and in his speech urged his people to take notice of migratory species in Bokaa and to conserve Bokaa Dam as a habitat for birds. He mentioned that Bokaa village was fortunate to have been se- lected to host the event, and that should stimulate villagers to protect their birds. Two BirdLife Botswana staff members, Virat Kootsositse and Keddy Mooketsa introduced the Society, its ob- jectives and the aims for the day, to the assembled guests - 1. to celebrate migratory birds with school children and Bokaa village community; 2. to educate the pupils about the migratory bird species in Bot- swana (their migratory patterns); Galaletsang Primary School performing 3. to raise awareness and conservation of migratory species in their migratory bird drama Botswana starting from the grassroots level (school pupils); 4. to develop an interest and knowledge of birds amongst school children. The atmosphere in the kgotla was electric with anticipation and excitement. The competition was divided into two categories - primary and secondary. The leading schools then paraded their talents and knowledge before the assembled community, coun- cillors and fellow competitors. The acts showed that the children had an excellent grasp of all the issues and included some others for good measure. In true African tradition the perform- ances were dynamic & exhilarating. Mr Motswagole Tlhawane, the Master of Ceremonies, compered the event outstandingly. Bokaa community member ululating Continued overleaf... Page 2 This was a thrilling event for the school children, Bokaa community, stakeholders and BirdLife Bot- swana members. Lots of World Migratory Bird Day promotional t-shirts were given out and worn with pride. The day was an excellent example of migratory bird awareness raising and information sharing among the children and community. Importantly, it was educational in that schools performed their poems and dramatic acts in both Setswana and English. Among other factors that lead to barri- ers to migration, the dramas included references to poaching and hunting and called on the community to assist in the protection of birds. The poems highlighted various species, pleading for their recognition and conservation. The event was closed by Bokaa village councillor, Mr Joseph Rasefa- lana who thanked the children for their active participation in migratory bird educational dramas and poems. The councillor acknowledged BirdLife Botswana for celebrating the event in his village, and the community for their attendance. He highlighted to the community that this was their chance to learn more about BirdLife Botswana and to identify ways that they can work together for their common benefit. He closed the ceremony by acknowledging the teachers for their role and hard work in producing the various presentations. To conclude the event Harold Hester presented trophies, certificates and prizes to the winners. The first prize for drama (primary category) was won by Tlhabologo Primary School and that for secondary schools by Borwa Junior Secondary School. A full list of the prize winners can be obtained from Keddy.) One of the popular prizes was BirdLife Botswana’s publication Beginner’s Guide to Birds of Botswana. A special chairman’s award was made to Galaletsang Primary School in recognition of their magnificent bird costumes and for the direct message which they had conveyed through their dramatic presentation. The spontaneous ululating throughout the morning was evidence that those present were thoroughly enjoying themselves and appreciating the celebrations. Harold praised and thanked Keddy for organising an outstandingly successful event and for her atten- tion to detail. Lastly he acknowledged the sponsor of the event, Environment Support Programme (UNDP and Government of Botswana initiative) for their financial support. He hoped that a similar event next year would include a wider selection of schools around the country. The environmental choir from Solomon Dihutso Primary School performed three delightful songs about birds which con- cluded the celebrations appropriately. Ed’s note: The World Migratory Bird Day was established by the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). It is celebrated annually in May by BirdLife International Partners. Initiation of this day was influ- enced by the negative media coverage migratory birds received as a result of the false belief that they were the main cause of the spread of avian influenza around the world. It is a global awareness- raising campaign day, highlighting the need for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. Tlhabologo Primary School children World Migratory Bird Day winners Borwa Junior Secondary with their trophy and the certificate School playing out their migratory bird drama st for 1 prize drama Page 3 Bird Migrations to Increase — BirdLife International news 28-05-2009 Bird migrations are likely to get longer according to the first ever study of the potential impacts of climate change on the breeding and winter ranges of migrant birds. The length of some migrations could increase by as much as 400 km. “The predicted future ‘BirdLife and its Partners are temperature changes and the associated changes in habitat could working to provide a safer have serious consequences for many species”, said lead-author journey for migratory birds’ Nathalie Doswald of Durham University (UK). Richard Grimmett, A team of researchers - led by Durham University and with funding BirdLife’s Head of Conservation from the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and Natural Environment Research Council – looked at the migration patterns of European Sylvia warblers (Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis and Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla), a group of birds that are common residents and visitors to Europe. Team leader, Dr Stephen Willis, said “Our findings show that marathon migrations for some birds are set to become even longer journeys ..

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