The Cape Bird Club

Projects to improve bird habitats at Strandfontein

01 May 2011 -  Ajay Bhoopchand sent this photo of a Glossy Ibis with a ring around its neck and beak. It was seen at the edge of a pan struggling with its noose.

photograph by Ajay Bhoopchand

This is the price to be paid for careless disposal of our plastic refuse.

17 November 2010 -  Victoria Day, Reserve Manager reports we did a night count last night at Strandfontein.

The drive included part of the Zeekoevlei Road. Here we saw  2 Spotted Eagle Owls, 1 Cape Hare, 2 female Duikers and another unidentified antelope. We also saw a Spotted Thick knee.

photograph by Greg Morgan                                                        photograph by Greg Morgan

Spotted Thick knee.                                              Blackcrowned Night Heron.

Inside Strandfontein Birding Area we saw  3 female Grysbok and 2 males, with 1 unknown gender Grysbok.  3 Spotted Eagle Owl, 12 Helmeted Guinea Fowl, 2 Black Crowned Night Heron, 1 Water Mongoose, 1 Grey Mongoose and a Genet.

We saw other birds as well but due to the monitoring during the day we did not take note of their exact numbers or species.

An up date for the water hyacinth: we did follow ups yesterday on pans S2 and P7. We found one piece of  hyacinth  in P7 and +/- 50 pieces in S2.
The excavator is working in P8. Once he is done a hand team will go in and collect the smaller pieces. We are currently doing follow ups in two of the canals and T1.

October 2010 -  Victoria Day, Reserve Manager, Strandfontein Birding Area (SBA) reports;

Staff Information.

 All of the staff members at Strandfontein Birding Area have received First Aid Level three training (Certificates not received yet).

Strandfontein has a new member of staff: Amanda Jacobs. She is an intern from the CPUT and will be with us for six months. She is studying Environmental Resource Management and will be putting together a project on an alien faunal policy for the aliens found at the FBEP. When she is not doing this she is on the ground with the SBA team.

Felicia Meyer, one of the skills development team members at SBA and one of the seven people chosen, was recently given the opportunity to go to Kruger National Park to participate in a Field Ranger Course. This course consists of physically and mentally demanding training. I am pleased to say that she passed and will be coming back to Cape Town this Saturday 30/10/2010.

Alien Clearing Information.

Water Hyacinth:
Pans P7, P6, P2, S2 and two sluits are now in the maintenance phase of the hyacinth clearing. This requires a follow up every six months. The quantity of water hyacinth being removed is becoming less and less and much easier to manage.

Pans T1 and T2 are about a week away from initial clearing completion.

There are plans to start clearing pans S1 and S3 soon. We need to move the barge from Zeekoevlei and put it into one of the pans to start the clearing. There are only 2 large pans, three smaller pans and two sluits to have the initial clearing started.

Terrestrial alien clearing:
About 5 to 6 ha of Rooikraanz, Port Jackson and Cestrum have been removed from behind S8. 
Funding has been received from the City for an alien clearing contractor to come and work at SBA. This is very exciting as SBA is being recognised more as a conservation site with in the City!

Other projects.

Up grading of J-dam (P3) the fishermen are causing quite a bit of erosion on the sand bank between the pan and the sluit. To prevent the erosion from deteriorating furthur measures are being put into place. These measures consist of three bridges, parking lots and a couple of bollards. One bridge has already been built and has been quite succsseful with fishermen using it.

Hopefully we shall receive some photos in the near future.

June 2008 -  Aerial photograph of the new Bird Information Centre construction in the centre of "the wagon wheel" of the pans.

April 2008 -  Eben reports; 

• An island has been created on pan S3 (see below) where we are busy putting branches on it as there are between 100 -150 birds roosting on the island.

• Another bit of news is that I am planning a nice entrance to the birding area, with signage and a new boom gate that will open at 07h30 in the morning and close at 19h00 at night.

• I am just awaiting a fire permit before we can start burning the reeds around pan P2 (see below)

• I am also in the process of getting a sponsored 4x4 for use at Strandfontein.

• Other news is that we are in the process of building a big canal bypassing the hyacinth pan so that we can try and remove the hyacinth by drying the pan completely.

photograph by Morne Carstens

A new pan constructed in the south western corner which has filled with rain this winter.
It will be a seasonal wetland. It was utilised by birds very soon after filling with water.

photographs by Morne Carstens

Fire management to reduce the annual dry brush load.

photograph by Morne Carstens

The new picnic site on the northern side of pan S8.

Management and regulating the water level of the pans

The importance of dropping water levels was highlighted from a short lived experiment which the Cape Bird Club conducted some years ago. A pan was selected in conjunction with the Management at the Sewage Works and water to the pan was diverted. This resulted in a progressive lowering of the water level.

Montlhy counts were conducted at this experimental pan and an adjacent control pan. The results revealed a dramatic change; both in the number of species and bird numbers.

With Morne operating as from January 2006 he has worked at lowering a number of pans water levels and is monitoring the bird activity.

photograph by Morne Carstens

P2 pan just before the level was being dropped in February 2006.

photograph by Morne Carstens

S3 pan island visible at the begining of lowering in March 2006.