BIRDLIFE SOUTH AFRICA e-newsletter May 2016 albert FRONEMAN AFRICAN HARRIER-HAWK secretarybird study or the past 17 months BirdLife South Africa has supported Eleen’s Strydom study on the diet and productivity of the Sec- retarybird in the greater Wakkerstroom area. We congratulate CONTENTS FEleen and her main supervisor, Prof. Gerard Malan, on the comple- 1 Secretarybird study tion of Eleen’s BTech report and the upgrade of this project to an MTech at the Tshwane University of Technology. 2 Successful fledging In summary, Eleen’s study showed that, despite the extreme 2 Spreading the word weather conditions, a large and productive Secretarybird popula- 3 Gardening for birds tion lives in the Wakkerstroom area. The productivity rate of 1.6 young per territorial pair indicated that a pair can replace itself 4 Helping hand for every two years, demonstrating that the area acts as a source Hamburg Bird Club population for the region. 4 Bird of the Year 2016 The study also found that prey selection in the species is very het- erogeneous and included both terrestrial and semi-aquatic species. The most dominant reptile species in the Secretarybird’s diet was MEMBERSHIP the endemic rinkhals snake and the most prevalent mammal was RENEWAL the semi-aquatic vlei rat. Since both these species are associated with wetlands, the role of this habitat in the foodchain should coMPETITION not be underestimated. The most numerous prey taxa, i.e. coleop- he lucky draw has been done terans, orthopterans, scorpions and shrews, were associated with Tfor BirdLife South Africa wet grasslands. We wish Eleen success with the completion of her members who renewed their MTech study and look forward to our further involvement in and membership in March 2016. We support of the project. congratulate the five members Dr Hanneline Smit-Robinson, who will each receive a copy of the beautifully illustrated Robins of Oppenheimer Fellow of Africa coffee-table book: Conservation/Terrestrial Bird Mrs SK Horne Conservation Programme Sue Scheepers Manager, conservation@ Harry Hill birdlife.org.za Robbie Kemp Ruthette du Toit Eleen Strydom hands her BTech Thank you to everyone who report to Mark Anderson at Isdell renewed their membership. House. In the front are (from left to Shireen Gould, Membership right) Mark Anderson, Eleen Stry- Manager, membership@birdlife. dom and Gerard Malan, and at the org.za back are Hanneline Smit-Robinson (left) and Ernst Retief. maY 2016 • 1 successful f ledging t is with mixed emotions that world of helping to ensure that we bid farewell to Mmatjie renewable energy is developed in Mashao, who joined BirdLife harmony with nature. She com- ISouth Africa through the WWF mented on impact assessments Graduate Internship Pro- for proposed renewable energy gramme in April 2015. The aim facilities and studied reports to of the internship programme glean data that will be used in is to help graduates bridge the BirdLife South Africa’s guidelines gap between university and the for impact assessment, monitor- workplace. By hosting interns, ing and mitigating the impacts of organisations such as Bird- wind energy on Verreaux’s Eagle, Life South Africa help expand Black Harrier and Cape Vulture. interns’ networks, build their knowledge of career Mmatjie proved to be an asset to both teams opportunities, give them workplace experience and her calm, positive attitude will be sorely and ultimately help them find their niche in the missed. It has been a pleasure to watch her world of biodiversity conservation. confidence grow and although we are sad to see Mmatjie, who received her MSc from the her go, it feels good to know that BirdLife South University of Limpopo, was mentored at BirdLife Africa has been instrumental in helping her to South Africa by Bronwyn Maree, Christina Hagen achieve her goal of finding a secure position in and Sam Ralston-Paton. She spent the first nine bird conservation. Mmatjie will be joining the months of her internship with the Seabird Pro- Durban Natural History Museum and we are con- gramme and during this time she went to sea, fident that she will continue to make a meaning- compiled bird-mitigation plans and honed her ful contribution to our natural environment. communication skills. In January she transferred Samantha Ralston-Paton, Renewable Energy Manager, to Sam’s team to immerse herself in the complex [email protected] SPREADING THE WORD he Overberg wheat famers to better understand belt Important Bird and and manage this remarkable TBiodiversity Area (IBA) is landscape, the Overberg home to some of the more Renosterveld Conservation charismatic birds of the Trust (ORCT), together with Western Cape, including the BirdLife South Africa and Blue Crane (South Africa’s other partners, has produced national bird), as well as the a fauna and flora booklet for Black Harrier, Secretarybird and the region. It covers mammals, Denham’s Bustard. birds, reptiles, insects and the Many of the landowners incredible plants and bulbs the ORCT. In four years this and farmers in this area are that make the Overberg so small NGO has made great unaware of these jewels of the special. It is being distributed strides in conserving the region, which also houses one to landowners across the birds of the Overberg wheat of South Africa’s, and indeed region; interested members belt. Learn more at http:// the world’s, most diverse plant are welcome to contact Dale overbergrenosterveld.org.za/ groups: renosterveld. Wright for more information. Dale Wright, Regional Conservation In order to bridge the BirdLife South Africa is Manager: Western Cape, dale.wright@ knowledge gap and empower proud to be a partner of birdlife.org.za maY 2016 • 2 ❀ ❀ gardeningfor birds ❀ t’s getting to that time of year when you can sit back and enjoy all the hard work you put in during summer. The weeds should be slowing Idown, it isn’t really a good time for planting and many of your aloes will be sending up their glori- ous orange spires. Sit back, enjoy the parade of sunbirds and pat yourself on the back for making such a great bird-attracting garden! I have been blown away by the speed at which Aloe arborescens flowering spikes shoot up. I wish that I had put a marker on one or two and then checked the following day – I am going to do just that and will let you know in my next article! One or two other aloe species are trying to compete Amethyst Sunbird with the A. arborescens but I don’t think they have a chance of winning. Luckily for the sunbirds, the really matter as there is always space to plant Leonotis leonurus (the winter-flowering variety) is something better. But the rest of us need to be in full bloom, offering a new set of furry, orange very picky, taking careful note of height and width or white tubes every day. Nature is so careful not and preferred conditions. to offer all the reward at once – a little bit each Remember that scale is a very important com- day ensures that the pollinators keep returning. ponent of a successful garden. You can’t simply This is the time to assess the plants you have cut the top off a tree that grows too tall as that grown with such care. Are they doing what you won’t look either good or natural; rather choose meant them to? Now is not the time to ‘plant- a tree that is not going to reach any great hug’; if the plant is not doing what you thought height. Sometimes it is better to train a gan- it would, then it must go… Of course, if it simply gling shrub into a little, single-stemmed tree hasn’t achieved its final height or width, or or, in a very small garden, use something like a hasn’t yet started fruiting because it is still too sturdy single stem of that delightful succulent, young, then it stays. The smaller your garden, Crassula ovata. A sculptured piece of driftwood the harder the plants need to work for you. could work well in a tiny garden; everything else Gardens are getting smaller and smaller as we could be flowers and spindly sedges or grasses. move into more secure, gated complexes and Planning your garden is half the fun – and if the thus plants have to tick lots of boxes to retain first plan doesn’t pan out, well, there is always their place in your garden. next year. That is why gardening is so enjoyable Those of you lucky enough to have large gar- and rewarding! dens can try things out and if they fail it doesn’t Sally Johnson, [email protected] ORDER ZEISS PRODUCTS & SUPPORT coNSERVATION To look through a pair of Zeiss binoculars is to get closer to your quarry than you ever thought possible. Suddenly, there is no forest too dense or too dark in which birds can hide. You can purchase Zeiss binoculars directly through the BirdLife South Africa website – and support bird con- servation. Visit www.birdlife.org.za/support-us/purchase-zeiss-products maY 2016 • 3 helping hand for HAMBURG BIRD Club amburg is situated on the estuary of the Keiskamma River, between East London and Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. The Hestuary, coastal bush and shoreline support a large number of bird species. In December 2015 Hamburg Bird Club held an outing, led by Ann Williams from Kleine- monde. Among the participants were a number of young artists and embroiderers from the Keiskamma Art Project, who produce tapestries based on the Intsikizi Tapestries, originated and directed by Carol Hofmeyer.