Because of our projects and activities stretch over long periods and some indeed continued from the previous ear, it is difficult to present a chronological history ,but for convenience we will divide the last 23 years loosely into two chapters, starting with the first ten years (1975 - 85). During this period the Club was guided by three Chairmen:

Alan Morris          May 1975  -  June 1977
Bunty Rowan       June 1977  -  June 1981
Bill Hogg             July  1981  -  June 1985

Alan Morris

Alan once said that one of the most daunting and difficult experiences of his life was being called unexpectedly to step into Gerry Broekhuysen's shoes at the AGM in April 1975. However it is greatly to his credit that the Club continued to thrive at this time.
The Marin da Gama counts which had been started the year before continued under Alans leadership and the first moves were made to establish a bird sanctuary at Raapenberg. A landmark for the Newsletter was achieved in May 1977 when the CBC Newsletter was given its then editor, Philip Tongue, who sadly died shortly afterwards. Following a request from Kirstenbosch, plans were made to produce a guide to the birds of the Gardens, which was finally published in 1978.
Two ambitious projects were organised during Alans Chairmanship, the profits from which went to the Clubs Conservation fund. The first, was a very successful slide show for the public held at the BP Cinema in December 1975 and second slide show "Birds of Cape Town" held at the Sea Point Civic Centre in conjunction with The Cape Town Festival towards the end of Alan's term of office in April 1977.

Bunty Rowan

We have already met Bunty in a previous chapter, but her abilities as Chairman are vividly brought to life in this tribute published in the April 1986 issue of Promerops, shortly after her death. At that time Derek Longrigg wrote:
"My own recollections of Bunty stem mainly from serving as a committee member during her Chairmanship. Committee meetings are generally regarded as a crashing bore, yet with Bunty they were an entertainment. One could always count on an evening enriched by reminiscences of bygone days old members and events, for she was a great raconteur with enormous powers of recall and a keen wit.
There was also an assortment of disputes to be dealt with, for Bunty held strong views on various matters, views which sometimes did not coincide with those of others; and Bunty was not a person to cross swords (or pens) with lightly. Very often several fiercely worded letters were dictated for dispatch to various parts of the country during the course of the meeting. In between all this, the business of the committee was somehow squeezed in dealt with in an admirably summary fashion. Yes I really enjoyed those meetings".

The Guide to Birds of Kirstenbosch (with text by Derek Longrigg) was published in March 1978 and by August 1978 Bunty was able to list 15 projects under way, to which was added a survey of the birds frequenting DF Malan Airport to provide information on the bird hazards to aircraft. In early 1978, the hacks at Zandvlei Bird Sanctuary, initiated by Alan Morris were started and in March 1979 The Guide to the Birds of the SW Cape based on Dr Winterbottom's earlier Checklists of 1955 1963 was published with a reprint in 1981.
In April 1979 we were approached to conduct a bird census at Rietvlei and a major event took place in November that year was a 5–day "Birds of the Sea and Shore" symposium organised jointly by The South African Seabird Group, Western Cape Wader Study Group, and the CBC. This conference coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the SAOS, attracted over 100 delegates (including many CBC members) and papers were presented by speakers from many parts of the world.

Bill Hogg

Bill became Chairman in July 1981 having previously been vice chairman as well as CBC representative on the SAOS Council. On his imitative the Club Constitution was revised and updated in 1982, but major events of the year was undoubtedly the launch of the CBC Bird Atlas project in January.

This occupied much of the spare time of a great many members for the next 5 years, culminating eventually in the publication of our very own Atlas in 1989 about which more later. In 1983 our first membership card was produced and counts at the Strandfontein sewerage works started in July 1983 again organised by the dedicated bird counter Alan Morris. In the same year the publication Wild Birds and the Law was produced and distributed, helping to raise the Clubs profile among the general public.
Finances were a cause for concern at this time with the cost of printing and distributing Promerops and other running expenses growing at a faster rate than the Clubs income. Membership levels were another worry, and in an attempt to address both problems an attractive new publicity pamphlet was produced to try and recruit more new members.
This is an impressive list of achievements during the middle years but at the same time much pleasure was had in taking part. The following account serves the dual purpose of introducing some of the characters of the day and perhaps encouraging new members to participate in the addictive past time of counting birds.

Marina da Gama (and some of the people involved)

In September 1974 the Club was approached by George Begg, the ecologist employed by Anglo American  who were engaged in the Marina da Gama development next to Zandvlei asking us to monitor the effects on the bird life of the area. A notice asking for volunteers to assist with the bird counts apparently drew little response because in the November Newsletter Gerry Broekhuysen wrote a rousing article which  acted as a clarion call to the lethargic as no fewer than 24 people turned up for the count the following month!
Jo Hobbs recalls joining this monthly count in 1975 as a comparatively new and decidedly novice member;
"I joined the CBC in May 1974 and as a new member feeling my way, did not respond to Gerry Broekhuysens call for action in November though I did note that the excuse of not knowing the birds sufficiently is invalid. which seemed encouraging. At the time I had some acquaintance with common bush birds but knew little about water birds and raptors and waders were a closed book. Then in March  1975 another invitation to helpers was issued. It sounded interesting and I thought it might be chance to widen  my knowledge and meet some other members.
I duly set off for the April count and was driving along Baden Powell drive when I had serious misgivings. I knew so little about birds and no doubt most of the other participants would be learned professional types who would wonder what I was doing there. When I got to sunrise Circle I drove three times around the roundabout before plucking up the courage to continue up Prince George drive to our meeting place at the Marina da Gama visitors centre. (I mention this only in case there are new members today who are hesitant about joining in other CBC projects. Please do participate you will not regret it).

Sure enough there was a retired professor there (Jack Winterbottom), but he was pleasant and friendly and his wife, Marjorie was charming. Others whom I remember from those early days were of course Alan Morris who effectively organised the counts and allocated the areas and leaders for the morning. Keith and Aileen Morgan , Elizabeth Coward (later Harding), Irene Tongue, sisters Shielah White and Norah Davis, who later became very good friends of mine, Dorothy Clark, Derek Longrigg, Mary Darling, Jimmy Cranston, Pat Leary, Ron Zeeman, Len Hicks, Ann Philport and many others who came and went over the ten years of the count.
Shall we know some of them a little better? There was Elizabeth Coward (of whom we shall hear more later) who reminded me strongly of the actress Joyce Grenfell in both looks and speech and Irene Tongue, wife of Philip (then editor of Promerops) who often wore elegant handmade rings which she made herself being a keen amateur gemmologist. Even in her 60's and 70's she was always so enviably chic and soignée and the only person I know who could achieve this while wearing tackies mended with elastoplasts! Irene was a fundi on fungus and it was her encouragement that I sampled my first "Shaggy Ink Cup" gathered on one of the Marina counts.

Then there was Pat Leary, good natured and entertaining company with his stories of the Desert war , Dorothy Clark always so cheerful Mary Darling a retired schoolteacher and assiduous note taker who once told me she kept several pairs of laddered stockings specially to wear for bird counts, and Len Hicks kind and friendly and bravely fighting a losing battle with leukaemia.
Norah Davis was a dedicated conservationist who used to study Alans map of the area after each monthly count and fiercely point out clumps of natural vegetation which on no account to be disturbed by the developers. But sadly as building extended further and further into the natural areas, Norahs favourite trees and bushes did indeed disappear.
The census area  was divided into five parts each with a leader and two  or three followers and the total number of species and individuals was recorded month after month. I struck a problem right at the start as many of the participants were of an older generation and frequently saw species I had never heard of. I dutifully wrote down "2 wigeon etc" when acting as recorder, but could never see these birds despite the patience and kindness of my companions though there were usually a few ducks near the indicated spot. Back at home I eagerly looked up and tried to memorise all the new species seen, but these wigeon defeated me. definitely not in Roberts. Then I picked up  a very old Gill and BINGO, Cape Wigeon – Cape Teal!
Jack Winterbottom's observational skills were an eye opener especially on the (to us) rather dull Penninsula Park section with its picnic areas, public open space and waterside paths. within ten minutes he would have a list of 30 species at least ten of which  the rest of us had overlooked and he was always surprised that we needed to have them pointed out to us.
I remember on another occasion being in his group when we were allocated the Fire Station section at Lakeside. There was an area of Port Jackson which had been cut down and had coppiced vigorously. For some reason Prof Winterbottom led us straight into this almost impenetrable whippy regrowth and we crashed along dislodging hats and specs and stumbling into a vagrants hideout with foam mattresses and pots before reaching the embankment that led up to the Main road. 
At one moment I was wondering crossly What on earth am I doing here with all these crazy people? 
Next I was following our leader more than 30 years my senior scrambling up the slope like a mountain goat and not caring a bit what the passing motorists must have thought of our sudden emergence and dishevelled state.

The park Island section was a favourite  as there were usually Orangethroated Longclaw to be seen, water Dikkop at the far end and on one occasion no fewer than 17 Spotted Dikkop on a single slope.
Yacht club was also good although it involved a short cut past a house with a dog of dubious disposition and the crossing of a water channel  by walking along the railway line for a short distance (quite illegal of course). We took great care to be unobserved by any railway official and always looked and listened to make sure no train was approaching. Nevertheless, Alan Morris has vivid memories of the day when Jimmy Cranston who was rather deaf, failed to notice the approaching train and had a narrow escape.

The most exciting however was the sanctuary section which had been set aside by Anglo as a future bird sanctuary (later to become the Zandvlei Bird Sanctuary). In the earlier years this was very rough and overgrown and to reach some parts it was necessary to slosh through a rather smelly bog. However the rewards were great for the best birds were here. Unfortunately not only the best birds but also the less desirable members of homo sapiens for Wildwood as it was affectionately named by us was inadequately fenced and was a known haunt of vagrants. It was here that we appreciated having Pat Leary as the leader of our group for he was an ex military man who had been on active service in the North African Campaign. He would cheerfully pat his pocket where he kept what he called his comforter and we suspected he might have welcomed the opportunity to use it! Fortunately  the occasion never arose and instead we waged a seek and destroy war on the numerous ingenious ducktraps to be found in the area. New houses in the Marina were completed and occupied at a surprising rate and the expansion was noticeable on our monthly visits. On one occasion we were startled, when a newly occupied house on the edge of the development to find the proud new owner on the sun deck of his house leaning over the parapet and smoking a cigarette while serenely contemplating the view, completely au naturel or poedelnakend. His consternation when he became aware of our binocular toting group slowly approaching with eyes not quite averted and his abrupt disappearance provided the mornings comic highlight.

The Marina da Gama counts continued for a full ten years until the mid 1983 an achievement duly celebrated with a party at Alan Morris's house and the records have been lodged with the Avian demographic Unit at UCT. Not content to give up bird counting after a mere 10 years Alan started the counts at Strandfontein sewerage works later in the year. These are still continuing today and will be featured in our next chapter.

Zandvlei Bird Sanctuary and the Wildwood "Hacks".

Wildwood was officially recognised as the Zandvlei Bird Sanctuary by the Cape Town City Council in 1977 and work teams were sent in regularly to clear some of the alien vegetation and to lay out pathways.

Entrance before 1980.                                            The new gate in 1982.

By November 1980 the area was properly fenced and two bridges and a small hide had been built. An advisory Board was set up and the CBC was represented at its quarterly meetings.

One of the narrow footbridges mentioned.                 Looking east, the concrete foundation in
                                                                            the foreground is still there today.

In April 1978 the first of the Clubs monthly Wildwood Hacks took place organised by Alan Morris. The aim was to supplement the Councils efforts, and to highlight in a constructive and visible way, the Clubs special interest in the Sanctuary. These hacks have continued ever since though with variable and sometimes very limited support and we would like to give Five Star recognition to the dedicated organisers over the years;

Alan Morris        1978 – 1985
Bill Rudings       1985 – 1991
Gavin Lawson   1991 – .......

Alan Morris (left) visiting Zandvlei for a hack in Dec 2004, tea afterwards.

The Rietvlei Counts 1980 -1985

Derek Longrigg takes up the story; 
"These counts started following a request from the CCNCC for help in providing up to date, data on bird numbers and species richness as part of the case opposing a proposal by the Dept of Water Affairs to dam the Diep River which flows into Rietvlei from the north . This dam would have had serious consequences for the ecology of the vlei.
Bunty Rowan the then Chairman (as it was in those days by PC) of the CBC Committee, ordained that counts were to commence without delay and suggested I volunteer to organise the project. I was reluctant but one did not cross binoculars lightly with Bunty, a lady who combined considerable charm with a robust forthrightness, birders tended to hop when she handed down decisions.
Thus the counts began in early 1980. I decided to divide the area (approx 400ha) into quadrants which required at least 8 people  two per quadrant. Over the five year duration of the counts we only twice failed to get the eight, on several occasions had 15, which shows a gratifying willingness of CBC members to subject themselves to such masochinistic pursuits as wading through waist deep icy water in mid winter, yomping through paspalum (tussock) grass, to being blown away by the sometimes vicious South Easters prevalent in the Milnerton area.

The physical difficulties of counting at Rietvlei were considerable. In winter heavy rainfall in the Diep River catchment could result in flooding to levels of MSL+2.00M. In June 1983 only the tops of the trees were showing above the flood waters , but on the day of the count had dropped to top of the fence height. These high water conditions meant that to reach the more isolated reed beds or high ground wading in water sometimes over waist high on a slippery mud substrate was required.
Thee unfortunate scorers that is the persons writing down the bird numbers on a clipboard sheet were under strict orders to keep the sheet dry at any cost, falling into the water was not accepted as an excuse. One simply had to hold the sheet above water by keeping a firm grip on it with the arm vertical even if everything else was submerged. More than once this resulted in the sight of a disembodied arm protruding above the surface with the scoreboard at one end and bubbles at the other, a sort of enumerators Excalibur. Damp, illegible score sheets were definitely a cardinal sin, with the perpetrator risking confiscation of his /her binocs and an endorsed Roberts. I dont recall rumours of a few cases of trench foot and mildly toxic fungal growths in the nether regions.

One youthful newcomer rather short in stature complained bitterly on his return from a winter count that he wasnt told the water was deeper than he was (I did not believe in burdening beginners with too much unnecessary detail). Regrettably he decided against further participation. In summer the wind sometimes posed problems attempting to count distant massed waders with a scope or binoos vibrating like a water diviners rod was difficult. On such occasions the relationship between the actual numbers of birds present and those recorded was I suspect a trifle imprecise. somebody likened it to trying to count confetti whilst operating a jack hammer. The trick here was for the old hands in the team to scan the flock with a fierce concentration for a few minutes and then authoritively on the number to be recorded, even if these bordered on the realms of fantasy, dissension by less experienced counters was not encouraged. The larger species such as Fish Eagles were recorded with more accuracy.
If I have made the Rietvlei counts sound like a military assault course, this should be attributed to a degree of hyperbole. When the water level is low and the winds light there are a few better bird spots in the Cape Town area than Rietvlei, which has a special ambience of its own. Certainly the memories of those counts are mostly pleasant in particular those members who turned out month after month  year after year regardless of the conditions to help with the work. Among those were Alan Morris, Stan Clarke, Keith Morgan, Jo Hobbs, Guy Currie, Marion von Maltzahn, Gordon Scholtz, JJ Brossy, and many others.

In all 58 monthly counts were completed with only 2 cancelled because of heavy rain. Whether the information gathered had any bearing on the eventual decision not to dam the Diep river is not known, but the collected data were used by the Dept of Nature Conservation and the School of environment Studies at UCT. The raw data were recently handed to professional biologists who prepared a paper for publication, but this has not appeared in the literature . Possibly the referees did not care for those eccentric wader numbers".

As a sort of footnote to the above 
Jo Hobbs comments;
"I can confirm the Excalibur incident described above . Derek looked back at his floundering scorer he immediately expressed his concern Is the list still legible I think this puts things in their proper perspective After all a wet bird recorder will dry off, but a wet bird list could be irreplaceable. I hope this convinces everyone of the vital importance of bird data collection!
To the list of participants I would also like to add the names of Neil and Josie Murray who were regular counters in the later years. Being from England they were perhaps more resistant to the cold than the rest of us and preferring wet legs to wet trousers and water filled gumboots opted to wear shorts all year round. In winter these were topped by thigh length navy blue anoraks and they presented a truly startling sight with their long bare legs and short raincoats "flasher macs" as Derek described them.
Another was Ken Davey who joined us for the last year of the counts. He was a retired ex Rhodesian general practitioner  who was a keen and knowledgeable birder with a fund of entertaining stories and a great love for medicine. I remember one occasion when he was enlightening his companions on the main differences between the male and female internal waterworks systems and the comparative storage capacities of each under varying conditions. Definitely not the most suitable topic of conversation while paddling ankle deep through icy water without a bush in sight.

Amazing how bird counting can add to ones general knowledge!

The Drift Sands checklist project.

In 1983 at the request of the Tygerberg Wildlife Society the CBC undertook to compile a checklist of the birds of the Driftsands Nature Reserve near Kuils River. which at the time was awaiting proclamation . The area was bounded on one side by the Old Faure Road parallel to the N2. Monthly visits took place for a year from September 1983 to August 1984 under the leadership of Pat Lockhart and a total of 93 species was recorded by the end of the period. In April 1984 Pat wrote in Promerops;
"Driftsands the latest Nature Reserve on the Cape Flats provides ample ornithological enjoyment. consisting largely of Port Jackson and Rooikrans exotics there are also patches of indigenous fynbos interspersed with open grassy areas and vlei with adjoining swamps. Perhaps it is in the swampy area the rewards for the birder are most likely to materialise such as the Little Bittern, Purple Gallinules, water rail and Black Crake, which have all been seen and heard. Raptors such as the Fish Eagle, African marsh harrier and summer migrants like the steppe Buzzards and yellow billed Kite are also regularly noted.
Various mammals, including two species of buck and mongoose and snakes are also sometimes encounter, so that differing wildlife interests are well catered for.
sadly before the Reserve could be officially proclaimed faction fighting broke out in the informal settlements adjoining Crossroads and some groups were forced to flee across the N2 and establish themselves at Driftsands, where they have remained in increasing numbers ever since and so the Nature Reserve was never establish.
Of course we weren't always working on projects and there were plenty of events which were arranged for sheer enjoyment the most memorable being;

The Bottelary Camps.

The annual camps at Bottelary  farm on the edge of Langebaan Lagoon were the highlight of the CBC calendar from the early 1970's to 1987 and Bottelary will always have a special place in our hearts. Yes those camps were a joy but there were a few drawbacks, chiefly the water the weather and the loo. All campers were warned to bring their own water because the water available at the farm was extremely brackish as Anne Lomberg discovered to her cost at one of the early camps. She writes;
"The buzzword on all the field trips was an excited" Its carrying" My sister was not at first sure that she wanted to be identified with a perceived image of eccentricity with binoculars focussed calling the magic words that served to activate the entire group, but she agreed to set  aside her prejudice and joined the CBC camp at Langebaan. We photographed European Bee eaters and had a lovely trip. We set up camp a little way from the others, built the typical Mountain Club fireplace collected additional water and then joined in the birding activities. Later after we had had a good meal a small group including John Martin came to make sure that we were all right. We offered them coffee and having finished our Cape town water we now used the farm water. What a disaster! How glad and grateful we were to the John and Elsie Martins of this world who kept us in sweet tasting tea and coffee for the rest of the weekend".

The camps always took place in march but the weather was very variable sometimes very hot during the day, sometimes windy and often very cold at night. Jo Hobbs recalls her first camping experience;
"I had bought myself a nice 3 man tent as I like lots of room and practised erecting it in the garden beforehand. Unfortunately I didnt realise that my sleeping bag would be quite inadequate for the bitterly cold night air beside the lagoon. I woke up on my first morning absolutely frozen stiff and quite unable to move. For a few terrifying moments I thought I had been stricken with some form of paralysis during the night".
At Bottelary there were no facilities at all and by 1973 as the camps were becoming increasingly popular with day visitors as well as campers the Committee decided to rectify the situation  as recorded in the minute book at the time.
It usually fell to the lot of Stan Clarke and Louis Besseling to erect the canvas "kleinhuise" in the bushy area and to strike it afterwards. However some newcomers noticed that the ribbon signifying that the huisie was unoccupied flew for most of the day and this useful amenity was not much patronised. Eventually the story emerged that a certain currently well known (but naturally anonymous ) member of the CBC had entered the huisie and zipped up the door. A few minutes later he found to his horror that the zip had jammed and he was unable to let himself out. As mentioned it was rather a warm afternoon. Reports differ as to whether he was eventually missed and released by anxious friends or whether he managed to force his own way out. The huisie is now believed to be stored in the ceiling space at Stan Clarke's home and any offers from interested buyers will be gladly considered by the CBC Committee.

Norah Williams was one of the regular campers and she write;

"I will always cherish the weekends spent at Bottelary. Rosemary Bisset and I and Louis and Ora Besseling usually spent the Friday night there before the others arrived on the Saturday . It was fun pitching a tent among the bushes and mole hills and unpacking stocks of food and material for the fire and then to sit around the glowing ashes listening to the birds in their hundreds returning to the reeds for the night. And it was a joy the next morning to see flocks of Flamingos feeding and later on the thousands of migrants some in part breeding plumage getting ready for their return to the Northern Hemisphere. It is memories like these that keep one interested in the bird life.
Jo Hobbs recalls; "My own enduring memories of Bottelary are not all bird related and chief of these is of the long walk barefooted along the shore at low tide towards "Oosterwal", usually ending at "Candleabra Point" where Brunsvigia orientalis was always in bloom in March. The peace a serenity and changelessness of the scene was balm to the soul. At low tide the birds were few, but there was always something unusual to observe. One year there was a curious red tide stretching for quite a few meters which on inspection turned out to be a mass drowning of lady birds. Just how and why this could have happened is a mystery.
Hide was always spent sitting together on the banks partly screened by bushes watching the waders come in with the tide, confirming and disputing identifications and consulting field guides an exciting time as there was always the off chance of spotting something unusual or even a rarity. 
At night at the campsite it was a delight to listen to the honking of the flamingos and the calls of the nightjars. On occasion in 1989 we all got up in the early hours to watch Halleys Comet hoping for a good sighting well away from the lights of Cape Town. Unfortunately the tail was shorter in March than it had been earlier and the effect was not as spectacular as it might have been".

Rudolf Schmidt was another Bottelary enthusiast and in the April 1982 issue of Promerops he describes the weekend of 20 - 21 March;
"The birds came into their own towards evening.  The graceful flamingos silhouetted against the glowing red western sky  as well as thousands of waders feeding on the exposed mudflats were an unforgettable sight. Also impressive were the flocks of Pied Starlings, accompanied by many Wattled Starlings which came to roost in the reedbeds. And an cloud of thousands of European Swallows still hovered in the air after sunset before they rushed down to the reeds like a cloudburst.
With the rising tide on Sunday morning , dense flocks of waders congregated on sandbanks quite close to the many watchers. Knots many in breeding plumage and Whimbrels were especially conspicuous.
With the plan of declaring the lagoon a Nature Reserve there is hope that this gem of the Western Cape will be preserved for birds and man".

And of course this hope materialised when the West Coast National Park was formed though sadly this meant that casual campers could no longer be admitted and our last camp was in 1987. The farm house was never occupied during our visits and this has since fallen into a state of disrepair. We hope that it may still be possible to restore it and put it to good use before it is totally derelict. and perhaps the CBC could become involved in some way with this.

Field Outings.

All of us who so enjoyed the Bottelary camps will remember Stan Clarke with gratitude and affection for it was he who organised them for us year after year. But Stan did more than this. For well over twenty years until 1987 he also arranged all the monthly field outings and indeed most of the evening meetings as well. Not content with arranging the outings he also attended them all and even planned his own holidays and other activities to avoid clashing with CBC dates.
Few others can claim such regular attendance but we should perhaps mention
 Pat Lockhart who has been leading CBC outings to various venues and sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm at least once a year for almost twenty years and Bruce Mackenzie who still attends almost all our outings and is always willing to lead and encourage newcomers. We also express our gratitude to the many farmers and landowners who so kindly allow us access to private property.

The Newsletter.

We have already heard how the Newsletter became the Promerops in 1977, but we havent yet taken you behind the scenes to see how it was distributed. These were the days of the Addressograph machine and the CBC acquired a rather decrepit hand operated on-at-a-time model. This involved inserting the metal address plate into the machine, positioning the envelope and banging a lever to make an impression. Remove the envelope and the plate and repeat 600 times!!
Norah Williams was our patient and long suffering operator who certainly deserves a medal or at least a lifetimes supply of headache pills. To begin with we had the address plates embossed commercially but later we acquired our own hand operated  embossing machine "on permanent loan" from  a local publisher. Norah then noblely took  on the tedious task of embossing each new  address plate letter by letter and even doing the address changes - Wham, Bang, Bang!!

The actual insertion of the Newsletters was usually undertaken by Stan and Ida Clarke with help from time to time from Norah Davis, Shielah White, John Harvey and others.

Sheilah White was the CBC Treasurer from 1976 - 1990.

The CBC Bird Atlas.

This, one of the Clubs most ambitious and important projects was launched in January 1982 during what we are calling the middle years, but data collection continued for five years and the Atlas of the Birds of the Southwestern Cape was finally published in 1989 so we will cover this in more detail in our next chapter.