The Cape Bird Club

Projects to improve bird habitats at Strandfontein.

This is a working partnership with the City of Cape Town and the Cape Bird Club.

Contact the Conservation Manager - Erica Essig  office  021 396 4281.

Emergency phone number -  083 499 1717.

2013.

April 2013.

photograph by Erica Essig.

Beware this is Bob Marley the hippo.

• This month the conservation team has been very busy with the water hyacinth removal and follow ups! The excavator cleared the main canal that runs from Zeekoevlei to the canal and the team have been in the water for the past month with wetsuits and hand picking out all the hyacinth that has been missed. We have finally finished the initial hand follow up and the canal is looking great! The excavtor has started removing the infestation of hyacinth from P8 now, and we hope to get in there next month to do the hand follow up.

• The reeds from P5 were removed, so that pan looks a bit dreary and muddy. It has really opened up the pan for visibility, and we have had a lot of action from birds in P5, since the reed removal.

• The terrestrial invasive species including canna, tree mallow, rooi kranz, ipomea and manatoka are all being removed from various areas and we are also continuing with the monitoring of new regrowth and seedlings!

• The bridges on J dam are finally finished and all varnished. The volunteers especially Florian have been working very hard on this and the results are great. We also repaired a lot of the infrastuture as we found it broken from wear and tear and also some broken on purpose!
  Please could everyone who comes across vandalism or breakages report it to the Main Office.

• The hippo, Bob Marley is currently still in S1 and we are busy building a boma for his capture. He has frequently been seen by vistors, and as he is currently being fed by management, so he is very curious and is visible during the day.
  Please can all visitors not approach the animal, and DO NOT get out of the car when you see the hippo. He is a wild animal, and they are notoriously known for very aggressive behaviour.

See what we did this month.....    updated 01/05/2013.

March 2013.

photograph by Erica Essig.

Intaka outing for the volunteer students from Germany and Norway.

This month we started off the month with a trip to Intaka island as a farewell present to the volunteers! The 5 German and Norwegian volunteers that assisted with alien clearing, maintenance and building in the past few months have sadly fledged the nest and are back to their home countries. I treated them to a trip to intaka and a farewell meal.. they really deserved it!

This month has been super busy! We currently were given some new EPWP staff and Strandfontein now has 16 extra helpers. They have been split up into teams and we now have:

• The Conservation team - Helping out with the water hyacinth monitoring and removal

• The Alien team - Removing the Canna and Ipomea species at the gate house

• Sydnes Team - Removing the rooikranz, manatocka and tree mallow at the eastern boundary

• Litter Team - Cleaning the litter from the coast and internal sections.

Having the extra hands has really helped on site, as we are finally getting round to the tackling the terrestrial invasive species that are endangering the indigenous flora and fauna species.

We got lots of outside help from the Cape Flats Waste Water Treatment Works and Stormwater and Catchment department, fixing our roads and helping to remove the hyacinth with an excavator.

We have also employed 3 Strandfontein Birding Area Rangers - These individuals are currently going through a WESSA training programme and are being taught about Ecology and Conservation principles. They are in charge of the regular bird counts and seem to be fitting in very well.

That's all for this month.

See more of what we did this month.....

February 2013.

photograph by Erica Essig.

Pelicans coming over while on hippo watch.

This month our staff numbers have climbed and we really are starting to get a lot of work done!

The staff numbers as of 27/02/2013 - Introduction of new EPWP.
We now have:
1 x Manger                      Erica Essig        (City of Cape Town and Cape Bird Club)
1 x Foreman                    Ryno Coetzee    (City of Cape Town and Cape Bird Club)
1 x Small Plant Operator   Sydne Jacobs    (City of Cape Town)
5 x General Staff                                      (EPWP Programme)

The main tasks have included alien invasive species removal specifically Canna sp. From entrance, Acacia cyclops at the Pump station, and Lavetera arborea. Echorinea crapsis weekly follow ups where also conducted and we used a boat to follow up all the pans as well as the usual bank patrol.

The Birding Information Centre Garden and Picnic Area is going through a makeover and we are busy in the beginning maintenance phase.

We have had some problems with Hippos this month, and thus have spent a lot of time fixing fence lines and planning operations!

Myself and Ryno participated in a Brush Cutter and Chainsaw Training Course. A big Thanks to the CBC for funding the training. This will be a highly beneficial for Strandfontein as we will now have 3 small plant operators and can really start tackling the woody terrestrial invasive.

We have also reconstructed the Heronry 1. It is currently the 'Perching' Heronry, and we have tried to add features just to accommodate the birds for perching and preening, and obviously for photographers to get a nicer shot. We will commence with Heronry 2 the 'Nesting' Heronry next month.

We have finished maintenance of the Baden Powell fence line. It's looking nice and sharp now!

We have also started removing the water hyacinth from the Zeekoevlei / Strandfontein canal with aid of an excavator.

Potholes and dongas in the roads were fixed with assistance from CFWWTW.

Species spotted this month:

06 x  Pied Kingfishers at once,
98 x  Great White Pelicans at once,
and the African Marsh Harrier juvinelles.

See what else we did this month.... 

January 2013.

photograph by Erica Essig.

A sunset just before we went on hippo watch.

We unfortunately got a terrible case of botulism occurring around P2, it is 'that' time of the year, and the Kelp Gulls and Egyptian Geese got the worst of it. We lost 25 birds, and the SPCA ended up euthanizing another 5. P2 has since been flushed, and the we hope the outbreak is behind us.

We had a busy month rescuing many birds, the Wildlife Unit at the SPCA was getting pretty sick of us. I found a couple of injured birds that had clearly been knocked by fast vehicles. Please can everyone remain under 20km/ph whilst driving on and around the pans. We also found many abandoned juveniles, which also took a trip to the SPCA and are dually being taken care of there.

Chevonne Reynolds, a Phd student from UCT is currently undertaking her research project at Strandfontein. Chevonne has 3 traps located around the pans, these are monitored, so please do not approach them or fiddle with any of the equipment.
Any queries on the matter, please feel free to contact Chevonne on 072 672 8570.

Ryno and the volunteers have been working very hard to fix fence lines this month. We assisted Rondevlei and Zeekoevlei Nature Reserves with their fence line maintenance and erection. We have also started to redo our own fence line along Baden Powell Drive. The rusty broken fence wire is being replaced with new fence wire, and new poles are being planted.

As per usual we have been tackling the invasive alien species. We have finally tackled the Lavetera arborea (Tree Mallow) at the back of the pans by S8, and we have been keeping up to date with our Water Hyacinth follow ups!

Birds spotted this Month :

Black Tern
Spotted Eagle Owl
Fish Eagle
Steppe Buzzard
Jackal Buzzard
African Marsh Harrier
Yellow Billed Kite
Black shouldered Kite
Common Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Red Knot
Ruff
Pied Kingfisher
Greenshank.

See what we have been doing this month. 

Previous years activities.