If you talk of anyone who remembers the earliest days of the Club it wont be long before they say "Ah Gerry Broekhuysen, what a wonderful man". They will also say, "It was all such fun and we were like a family in those days".

Gerry Broekhuysen

Gerry was both a Founder member and also Chairman of the Club for 22 years from 1948 to 1975, with a five year break, when he became the Chairman of SAOS and his enthusiasm was an inspiration to its members. He planned to retire as Chairman in 1975 and had been nominated as president of the Club. His unexpected death in April 1975 came as a great shock to everyone.
The following extracts from tributes from C.J.(Dirk) Uys and John Martin and From Guy Currie published in the CBC Newsletter No. 116 of May 1975 and in the September 1975 issue of Bokmakierie respectively provide some background details.

Dirk Uys and John Martin wrote;

"Gerry had many facets to his make up which one could extol. He was an ornithologist of international repute, and academician , broadcaster, photographer of considerable ability and a devoted husband and family man. However it is the context of his association with the Cape Bird Club and the South African Ornithological Society that we knew him best and he made his maximal impact on us. There probably has been no other person who for so long has identified himself so completely with these two bodies as Gerry Broekhuysen and few have surpassed or equalled the contributions he made in his sphere. In all these activities he constantly supported and assisted by his wife Mariette."

Gerry Broekhuysen in the early 1950's.

Guy Currie wrote;

"Gerry was born in Java in 1908 and later studied biology at Leyden University where he received a doctorate in 1936. In the same year he joined the staff at the University of Cape Town  as lecturer in the Dept of Zoology and in 1942 he went back to Java (now known as Indonesia) as inland fisheries biologist.
The Japanese occupation occurred  shortly after his arrival and Gerry, Mariette and their baby son Jim were interned  in separate camps where only a minority survived the extreme  privations. it is  thus great credit to Gerry and Mariette that at the end of the war they were able to renew life  where they had left off and they returned to South Africa  where Gerry was appointed Senior Lecturer in Zoology  at UCT a post he held until he was appointed Associate Professor in 1964.
His scientific works include 112 articles mainly  on ornithological  subjects and 2 books, namely The Birds Around Us in 1966 and A Field Guide to the Birds of the Southern African Sea Shore in 1969.
As well as being a founder member and Chairman of the Cape Bird Club he was also a member of SAOS Council and served terms of office as Chairman, editor of The Ostrich for 14 1/2 years and as President in 1969. For many years he was the organiser of Migration records and member of the advisory board of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute. His contribution to South African ornithology was given the highest recognition when he received the honour of being awarded the Gill Memorial Medal."

And a summing up from Dirk Uys and John Martin;

"Significant as these contributions are we the rank and file of the Cape Bird Club, will remember him most for the completely selfless manner in which  he devoted so much of his time to enable others to enjoy their bird watching. He was always to the forefront at the meetings and outings and no matter how mundane or elementary the information , it was passed on to those present with enthusiasm and in the same meticulous manner as when he lectured students. His approach has nation wide introduced innumerable people to the delightful recreational pastime of bird study in others it has stimulated them to take up ornithology as a career."

Richard Liversidge also provides some personal memories from his student days;

"When I moved to the Cape whilst still at school one of my first friends was Guy Currie and when we were in standard 8 we had already decided to write a book on larks! His neighbour was Walter Stanford a well known  early member of the CBC so it was not long before I was introduced to Dr Gerry Broekhuysen. At that stage Guy and I had been cycling out to Hout bay complete with a portable ladder on our backs to investigate the cormorants at the lookout point. We were both soon persuaded to spend time to count the number of times that redwinged Starlings fed their young at the Broekhuysens temporary home at Hout bay.
In the middle of 1947 I managed with Gerrys assistance to get the post of technical Assistant Zoology with a view to working my way through an engineering degree course. This was the start of a long and very happy association with Gerry and we were soon into bird photography. (My first month , I dropped his brand new Leica onto cement, taking pictures of the spotted Eagle Owl at UCT Physics entrance. I did not get the sack!) The pictures of Avocet had a particular significance for us for these were the days when Mariette was alone in Hout bay on a farm with no transport and their youngest child was due to be born. As time went on  Gerry became more and more testy and difficult. he would pick me up each day on his way out to the Cape Flats and say he really should not be doing this. Finally the child was several days overdue and a belated chivalry overcame him so that we stopped until the child was born  - and then back to the birds again!
I owe so much to Gerry , my guide and mentor. His enthusiasm  was infectious as was his Dutch accent, which we teased him about. He was an indefatigable recorder of data and I remember when we went out monthly to measure the size of the sand crabs and I thought how simple could one get. But at the end of the day I learned a good lesson when a very clear an interesting message came out of all these simple facts
The Club was fortunate to have someone so willing and helpful as well as so patient and tolerant. We owe him an immense debt of gratitude."

Jack Winterbottom 

John Miall (Jack) Winterbottom was a tall lanky figure whose long shadow stretched well beyond the Broekhuysen era of this chapter and into the 1980's. That both the Clubs own Atlas of Birds of the Southwestern Cape (1989) and the newly published two volume Atlas of South African Birds (1997) were dedicated to his memory, speaks volumes for his influence and achievements of this remarkable ornithologist.

 Jack Winterbottom  joined the British Colonial service in Ghana (then the Gold Coast) in 1927 before transferring to Zambia northern Rhodesia) as Education officer in 1931. In 1932 he was awarded his Ph.D. in Zoology as an External  Student at the University of London. He remained with the African Education  department in Northern Rhodesia until 1950 when he took early retirement and moved to Cape Town to devote himself full time to a new career in ornithology, in which he already had a lifelong interest. 
He became Senior Bursar of the CSIR from 1950 to 1960 when he was appointed the first Director of the newly established Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology and Honorary Associate Professor at UCT, a position he held until his final retirement in 1971.

Jack Winterbottom at the Percy 
FitzPatrick Institute

 In a tribute written a few months after Prof Winterbottom's death in March 1984 (Promerops164-2)
Dirk Uys wrote;

"This 21 year period (1950 - 71) was marked by intense activity on his part both in administrative and research aspects of ornithology. His contributions in these areas were outstanding and all the more remarkable in that they were achieved at an age when most people would opt to enjoy a more leisurely mode of life.
The highlights of his many achievements include the following impressive offices and awards; 1967 - 72 President SAOS, 1974 - 76 Director Percy FitzPatrick Institute, 1960 - 71 first recipient of the Gill Memorial Award 1960, and corresponding membership of the British Ornithologist Union. In the Cape Bird Club he became a committee member in 1952 and was conferred the single honour of being made the second President of the Club in 1977.
His heavy professional responsibilities did not prevent him from being actively involved in the day to day activities of the CBC. He was a frequent attender and speaker at evening meetings and attended most field outings. Here his lanky figure was characteristically observed, note book in hand methodically jotting down  notes even in the most frequently visited and least rewarding ornithological areas. Later these observations would find their way in the Newsletter as some interesting snippet which had previously escaped the attention of others."

Bunty Rowan 

Mary (Bunty) Rowan was awarded the Gill Memorial Medal by the SAOS in January 1958 and was described by Peter Steyn at the time as "one of the greats of the bird world".
In 1951 after a 2 year spell studying the bird life of Tristan da Cunha she returned to settle in Cape Town with her husband Bertus and she said herself, "I quickly got swept up into the affairs of the Cape Bid Club and SAOS and one of my happiest tasks ever was initiating and acting as the first editor of the Cape Bird Club News Sheet".

photograph by Peter Steyn

Mary (Bunty) Rowan

During the course of a varied and distinguished ornithological career she joined the Percy FitzPatrick Institute, served on the council of the SAOS and published a great many papers as well as the definitive work The Doves, Parrots, Louries and Cuckoos of South Africa. In 1977 she was elected Chairman of the CBC. In a tribute published in the April 1986 issue of Promerops Derek Longrigg wrote;

"....even when Bunty moved on to higher places in the ornithological world ,she always retained a very soft spot for the CBC and was constantly involved in its activities. One could note a certain ambivalence , in that she was capable of both the cool and detached approach of the professional scientist to her work  and yet possessed a warm enthusiasm for all aspects of natural history.
Bunty gave many Friday evening lectures to the Club on a variety of topics mostly connected with her own research . One recalls the keen pleasure of absorbing what she had to say, always delivered in lucid,   and an organised fashion, not too technical for the layman but with enough depth to avoid triviality. She was a very accomplished lecturer indeed." 

Isobel Taylor has special memories both on Bunty's forthrightness and meticulous attention to detail. Let her tell the stories herself;

"I didnt know Bunty well but she taught me something which I have never forgotten. I believed some observations I had made were accurate and was surprised when she asked me how I had arrived at a particular measurement. Was the distance estimated or had I actually measured it? As I had had no measuring tape with me at the time I had made an estimate. She pointed out that binoculars could give a false sense of distance and asked me to go back and re-measure with a tape. This I was able to do and to my surprise had to revise my estimate.
On another occasion we were driving along a highway when she decided it was time for morning coffee and was able to run her car off the tarmac and stop next to a patch of natural vegetation. Two of the species we saw are indelibly etched on my memory - a Spotted prinia (long tail) and Crombec (almost tailless). Now Bunty was very bright and very positive and didnt suffer fools gladly. I am a stubborn plodder but quite prepared to assert myself when necessary.
I said "Theres a crombec" and Bunty said "No its a prinia". I couldnt see the crombec but I could hear it. I said There IS acrombec" and Bunty flattened me by saying "Its a prinia". I squeaked "I can HEAR a crombec". Suddenly Bunty said "Oh I beg your pardon there is a crombec Ive just seen it".

After the death of Bunty Rowan in 1986, Derek Longrigg wrote;

"The passing of Bunty Rowan in March brings to an end an era in which the CBC was guided by the leadership of three eminent biologists; Gerry Broekhuysen, Jack Winterbottom and Bunty Rowan. Their influence on the Clubs activities was profound as they added a new dimension to the usually amiable pastime of birdwatching. Members were cajoled into gathering data through field counts, ringing nest records and associated activities. In return this triumvirate of scientists gave their time advice and friendship to members a most satisfactory symbiosis".

We have now met all the members of this triumvirate but there were many more special people who need to be introduced if only briefly.

Jack MacLeod

One name which crops up frequently at this time is that of Jack MacLeod to whom Peter Steyn introduced us in the previous chapter. As well as being a mine of information, he seems to have been a remarkable imperturbable character. Anne Lomberg recounts this amusing story;

"On one occasion Jack MacLeod a wonderful birding friend, quiet and full of humour and a most experienced birder and leading light in the Club invited Isobel Taylor and myself to AE&CI to introduce me to the Ethiopian Snipe. Bunty Rowan had given us a most erudite and humorous after dinner talk on the bird and I was fired with enthusiasm to see it.
Isobel and I drove to the appointed area which was within the shooting range of AE&CI and for which a special permit was required. Jack MacLeod was already there with his chair and telescope all set up. We had had good birding which included several sightings of the snipe as it moved about. We were quietly and deeply engrossed in this when a bullet whined over our heads. "Good heavens a 303", said Jack.

photograph by Peter Steyn

Jack MacLeod on Pringle Peak in 
his beloved Hottentots Holland mountains.

Other members still remember the good advice he gave them. Richard Liversidge writes;
"Jack the son of a Scottish gamekeeper, had a remarkable knowledge of nature. He taught me to identify a bird flying of its nest so that one could find the nest. Birds have a routine way of flying, but when they leave their nest they fly in a different way. So often he would say "Come, lets us look at its nest" and we would walk over to the bush and there the nest was  as though he had seen it before. His other trick  was to challenge me when I identified a bird, to ask for three reasons why I said it was what it was. This is a very important lesson and strangely it is all you need to be able to identify a bird just three. reasons."

And Isobel Taylor;
"I think I was with Trudie Alais when Jack  said "You two arent birdwatching, youre birdspotting". He told us we should remain in one place and wait for the birds to come to us. what sound advice. Another time I remember him saying that instead of trying to see a great many birds it would be more rewarding to select one species and concentrate on it."
Jack MacLeod was a very popular Founder Member who was at the forefront of the Club activities for many years and is still warmly remembered today. He was made an honorary Life Member in 1961.

  John Martin and Jack MacLeod.

John Martin was one of the original "3M's" and a stalwart of the Club, being made an honorary Life Member in 1970 for his outstanding work in almost every aspect of the Club's activities. Indeed for over 40 years there were few issues of the CBC Newsletter (later Promerops) without a contribution from John, often in collaboration with his wife Elsie and son Rob. From 1950 he teamed up with jack MacLeod and the pair soon became phenomenally good nest finders and very knowledgeable birders. According to an article in Promerops 201 - 6 written a few months before Johns death in August 1992, "John was always the agile one and when a nest had to be checked high in a pine or gum tree, he it was who would shin up the tree in his fifties..."

Jan Hoffmeyer, who joined the CBC in 1956 as a 21 year old university graduate has particularly warm memories of these two Somerset Westers. At the time he was working in Grabouw and he writes;

"The two people who specially stand out in my memory at that time are John Martin (a pharmacist) and Jack MacLeod (a bookkeeper at AE&CI) John was a very friendly and encouraging sort of person .Jack too, but he was a bachelor and could be gruff and crusty . Both were superb birders and they very kindly took me as a complete novice less than half their age, under their wing for about a year while I was in Grabouw.
One of our first outings was in June to brush covered coastal sand dunes near Macassar. I was not hopeful of seeing anything at all in such unpromising habitat, but how wrong I was. In about 2 hours we had recorded 31 species . What surprised me was how expert John and jack were at recognising birds by their calls. They made it seem so easy  - just a few call notes were enough for instant recognition and this was how they identified most LBJ's. I recall I got 4 lifers that day, all LBJ's (Greybacked Cisticola Barthroated Apalis, Karoo Robin, and White troated Seedeater).
They used to go occasionally on an 8 day birding camp to Verloerenvlei , and I was surprised but thrilled to be invited to join them in early September 1957. We pitched our tent on Mr von Litenborg's farm under a large minnetoka tree some 50 meters from the edge of the vlei. The weather was hot but the spring flowers were out and the veld was beautiful.
The birding was hard work as we were at it all day, but it was most enjoyable. I recall that at the end of the camp we had found 150 nests of 50 different bird species which was phenomenal. needless to say I say several lifers, but more important to me was what I was learning every day. John and jack worked in tandem when looking foe nests and they had all sorts of tricks. But basically their success was based on infinite patience, resolute determination and sharp observation. It took  several hours and even days to find some well hidden nests.
After I moved to cape Town in 1958 I sadly saw much less of my mentors but we were good friends and kept in touch. All in all I couldnt have wished for a better start to my birding career and I shall always be grateful for their time and effort which John and Jack expended on me when I was a young man."

Dirk Uys and John Martin

Dirk Uys in the 1960's.

Dirk Uys joined the CBC in 1957 and will be long remembered for his wonderful slide shows and talks and his outstanding photographs which have appeared in countless issues of Promerops over the years. he died in May last year and a full tribute appeared in our September issue (1997) so we will not repeat the details here but instead quote Dirk Uys's own report in the CBC News Letter No 59 (October 1960) in which he and John Martin step briefly out of the pages of this magazine and share with us their delight in one of their birding experiences.

Dirk Uys reported; 
"During the last long weekend the Martin and Broekhuysen families and myself visited the farm Reimerskraal in the Bredasdorp districts. This farm also lies on the De Hoop Vlei but on the shore opposite to the Hoop Farm. We were struck by the numerous Greater Flamingo present and estimated their numbers as being 1500 to 2000.
On the afternoon of Friday 7th, Dr Broekhuysen and I witnessed an amazing feat by John Martin. We were working our way along the shore of one of the peninsulas so common at this vlei, with a roaring, gale force south easter at our backs. All the time groups of flamingos were giving way on our approach , but one  with head tucked under the wing , seemed quite oblivious of our presence . Obviously the roar of the wind had deadened all extraneous sound.

photograph by Dirk Uys

John Martin with an astonished flamingo.

Despite our doubts John Martin determined to catch this bird. He removed his shoes and stealthily waded out and we watched with bated breath as he drew nearer. Finally quite unhurried, he took a very surprised flamingo by the neck  and brought him ashore to our cries of mirth and delight. The bird an adult in beautiful plumage, some of the covert feathers now adorn my hat, was ringed and released after we had photographed him and also determined that he was not sick or infirm in any way."

Joan and Clare Robinson

Observations from one or other of these two remarkable sisters appear in almost every issue of the CBC News Sheet (later Newsletter) from 1952 until they moved to England in the mid 1960's. They lived in Plumstead and kept copious notes of the birds which visited their large garden including the Chaffinch which at that time nested there. Isobel Taylor was friendly with Clare and together they studied bird calls and taped the call of the Knysna Scrub Warbler in Kirstenbosch in 1961. Rudolf Schmidt recalls meeting them for the first time, with Bunty Rowan, wading barefoot through Jacobs Vlei on the Cape Flats soon after he joined the Club in 1952. Joan Robinson took over editorship of the Newsletter from Bunty Rowan in October 1954 and Rudolf assisted her from 1956 to 1958. The sisters also had a holiday cottage a L'Agulhas and did a great deal of birdwatching there.
That they threw themselves wholeheartedly into their birdwatching activities is illustrated delightfully by this account written by Joan Robinson in CBC Newsletter No 38. She is describing a hectic weekend at L'Agulhas in early 1956;

"I had on very amusing incident whilst lying fairly hidden in a very thorny bush watching Cape Apalis and trying to locate the nest, when I saw a nursemaid  and her three charges approaching . The two elder children  ran by without seeing me but the nursemaid spotted me and stopped dead in her tracks called the children back to her and all gazed at me for a short time  then scuttled back the way they had come, looking over their shoulders to see if they were being followed. I expect I did look an old tramp but their amazement when my sister , who had noticed their fear, came to call me and I rose from my thorny bed was amusing . Even when we happened to meet them later they kept well away from us.

Archie Brown

Archie Brown's bird ringing total of 2006 birds in 1962/63 called for special mention at the CBC, AGM in May 1963;

"As usual Mr Archie Brown is the champion among the bird ringers of the Club and in fact this time he beats all previous records. It should be stressed that the main part of the 2006 birds he ringed consists of herons and egrets, while the number of European Swallow ringed this year is much lower than the previous year. It must be realised that it is a much greater effort and requires more physical discomforts to ring  large numbers of egrets in nests surrounded by water and mud than it is to catch swallows with a net. Mr Browns performance this year is therefore  the more remarkable and we congratulate him. The Club as a token of appreciation , wards him the annual trophy for the most outstanding effort shown by a member , in contributing to any of the different research projects organised by the Club".

Alan Morris has sent us this warm tribute to Archie Brown  who influenced him greatly in his early days with the Club;

"The very first time I attended a CBC meeting (in about 1956) I met a wonderful person, Archie (A.R.) Brown. Archie took me under his wing and taught me practically  all I know about birds. He was employed in the Sewerage Disposal section of the City engineers department and so had access to Tamatie Vlei as the Strandfontein Disposal Works was known in those days and which was not open to the general public. Imagine having the whole of that vast area to yourself - it was wonderful . No cars, no other people, and it was safe.
Archie had a "magic wand", a stick he always carried and in breeding seasons a tap on a bush  with the stick would invariably  see a bird dart out, a quick check and more often than not there was a nest. That stick was a most important item of our birding equipment.
In November 1959  we found a new temporary vlei in an area surrounded by dunes with a number of small fynbos covered islands and many partly submerged trees and bushes. Here we found our first Maccoa Duck nests, four of them and so the vlei was named Maccoa Vlei. During that month we made three visits and recorded 85 nests with eggs of Blacknecked Grebe, Dabchick, Maccoa Duck and most of the more common species of duck, Moorhen, Blackwinged Stilt and a few other species. This was one of our most exciting finds. Unfortunately with the development of the works this area was bulldozed to form one of the new pans.
With Dr Broekhuysen , Archie was one of the founders of ringing in this part of the world . European Swallows came to Athlone Sewerage Works in great numbers and here we would assemble on Saturday mornings come rain or shine. The equipment was rather primitive but we managed to ring hundreds of these birds.
Birding was Archie's life and he so looked forward to his retirement. But in 1971 a few months before he was to retire he suffered a stroke and shortly after he left the City Council he passed away , never to fulfil his dreams. With his death the CBC lost a great and very knowledgeable birder."

George and Les Underhill

George Underhill was a quiet, patient man with a wonderful , dry, sense  of humour and greatly missed on his death just over a year ago. e was a veteran CBC member for 40 years and was accorded honorary Life membership in 1994. He was the organiser and recorder of the Clubs nest record scheme, and his annual reports and exhortations to members to do their bit appeared in our AGM records for the past 25 years. 
But perhaps his greatest achievement was as a dedicated bird ringer who used to rise at 4 am several times a month to ring birds at his favourite sites, regularly travelling to Langebaan Lagoon to assist with wader ringing sessions which sometimes lasted all night. his ringing totals ranged from 3500 to 4900 annually and his career total eas no less than 40 000 birds.
In the following account Les Underhill gives his impressions of the early days of the Club after joining as a young school boy with his father in 1957. (Since then Les has gone on to forge a distinguished career and is now Head of the Avian Demography Unit at UCT.)

"My Dad's collection of CBC Newsletters starts with number 43 of May 1957, so that must be the date when he and I joined the Cape Bird Club. That would have been my Standard 3 year. His motivation was tot each his son a bit about nature  -he told me later that he had had an ambitious plan to spend a year on birds , a year on plants a year on reptiles etc, but we didnt get beyond the birds.
Glancing over Newsletters 43 there is a plea that the club members get involved in bird ringing  appropriate because 1998 is also the jubilee of bird ringing in South Africa. Also a report by professor Winterbottom on an official visit to Cape Nature Conservations newly acquired  "game farm" at de Hoop where the highlights were a Redbacked Shrike and a Forktailed Drongo. The former would still be newsletter worthy the latter is now common place there.
Primary school recollections of the content of the Friday night meetings are a blur of slides films and talks. But some memories are sharp . These include Professor Broekhuysens 16mmm films of sugarbirds and orangebreasted Sunbirds which bred in the protea garden next to the old zoology Building  - the thermometers in the nests made a big impression! Another Professor Broekhuysen evening was a talk on gull nesting he had spent a sabbatical in England with the famous Dutch behavioural ecologist Tinbergen who was then a Professor at Oxford University . The indelible memory is slides of gull nests with seashells and flash bulbs in them. they had done experiments to determine what range of sizes of seashells the gulls would drag into their nests from close by, and what size seashells they would remove if inserted into their nests.
There was spontaneous ovation when it was announced that Archie Brown had ringed several hundred European Swallows one summer at the Athlone Sewerage Works (which was then a sewerage works of the old fashioned bird paradise variety) Mist nets had not yet come into use and swallows were caught one at a time . Archie and his brother Alf lay on a grassy bank between pans at the sewerage works as a swallow flew low over the bank they swung a fish net into position to catch it.
An abiding memory is the hard wooden benches of the old Zoology Lecture Theatre over the road from where the Club now meets (and where the seats are equally uncomfortable!).
Other youngsters in the bird club then included Peter Lor, Steve Pringle, David Pelteret and Beau Rowlands. All have retained an interest in birds. Later on, in high school my own involvement in the bird club waned - it was certainly not fashionable in those days for a teenager to have an interest in birds of the feathered variety. The bird club on Friday night and rugby matches on Saturday morning were incompatible activities.
During a vacation job in Pretoria a few years later I met up again with Peter Lor. He invited me to join a group of swallow ringers. reflecting back, this was a direction -in-life setting evening.
Returning to Cape Town I was drawn into Jack MacLeods swallow ringing group, and then into what became the Western cape Wader Study Group. Later on, I wrote the computer programmes for the Cape Bird Club 's Atlas, which became the basic software for The Atlas of Southern African Birds. Gradually a career in statistics and a hobby in birds merged - the university generously calls this "Avian Demography".

Committee Members over the years

Apart from the personalities already introduced, there were many others who played important roles over the years. Col. Morris Hallack was Chairman during the 5 year period from 1951 - 54, and his large sloping handwriting fills several pages of our oldest minute book. Mariette Broekhuysen acted as Club Treasurer for no less than 14 years before handing over to Stan Clarke in 1963, and also organised the annual Club dinners in the 1960's. Stan Clarke who joined the Club with Rudolf Schmidt in 1952, found himself on the Committee in 1954 and was joined by Rudolf in 1955. Both in their long years of service to the club wore innumerable hats, figuratively speaking. Stan was Recorder for several projects, Outings Organiser 1960 -1, Treasurer for some years from 1963 and became Programme Co-ordinator (Outings and Meetings) from 1968 for almost 20 years. Rudolf Schmidt became Assistant Editor of the News Sheet in 1954 and full Editor from 1958 - 1976, as well as being Vice Chairman for several years from 1963. Both of them still attend meetings regularly and can usually be seen sitting together near the middle of the second row. Keith Morgan was Secretary from 1963 to 1971 and Treasurer from 1971onwards before becoming Chairman after Gerry Broekhuysen's death in 1975.
Although not committee members, the tealadies also feature largely in the AGM reports and names which keep cropping up include Hilda Troughton, Marjorie Winterbottom, Elizabeth Chaundy, Dorothy Clarke, and Norah Williams.
Norah Davis also typed most of the stencils for the CBC Newsletter over the years.

This 1963 renewal notice , sent out while Stan Clarke was Treasurer, was found tucked into one of our old minute books.

Projects and activities

Once the club was formed , no time was lost in organising projects and activities for members. Census work was already under way at Zeekoevlei and Rondevlei. (According to Richard iversidge this had started as early as 1947 and Gerry already had teams doing wader counts every week, sometimes involving walking around the whole area up to their armpits in freezing cold water for which they got no sympathy from Gerry!). Richard had acquired  a special "bird study" permit in 1947 in order to census the Black River and Valkenberg area (to avoid the risk of being mistaken for one of the patients as had apparently happened on one occasion to Miss Edith Stephens the mushroom expert). New bird counts were started in 1949 at Kirstenbosch by Vivienne Marchand (later to become Vivienne Liversidge) and Pixie de Wet.
Ringing started in earnest in 1949 and by 1951 field cards had been printed and recorders had been appointed for Migration ringing, Distribution and Nesting reports, with the later addition of, General behaviour, Bird Road Casualties and Red Bishop Bird Survey in 1959.
In addition there were evening meetings and excursions and occasional weekend camps, the favourite being to Skrywershoek on Langebaan Lagoon. The first of these was in 1953 or 54, and they were organised regularly throughout the 1960's.

 Stan Clarke recalls;

"We felt we were really pioneers going to Langebaan Lagoon in those days. The Great Trek had nothing on us. The west coast road had yet to be built,  so the route went through Malmesbury, then on to Darling and then halfway to Ysterfontein before turning off to Langebaan Lagoon. This was a dusty white limestone road and horribly corrugated and potholed. The early camps were at Skywershoek and I can still recall huge flocks of waders performing aerial manoeuvres overhead. The ground sloped down to the shore and there was not much suitable space for camping and not everyone put up tents. It was a source of amusement that some members would not be advised that the lagoon was tidal and insisted on putting their camp beds on the beach, only to wake up later to find themselves surrounded by water. In the 1960's we began camping at Bottelary Farm with the kind permission of Mr W.J.Basson. He never refused us and we were always grateful to him."

Richard Liversidge also remembers and amusing occasion when a marathon late night wader ringing session happened to coincide with a CBC week end camp;

"Vivienne Marchand Pixie de Wet, Tony Thesen and myself had spent the night until about 3am at Langebaan catching waders with torches to ring them and then collapsed into our sleeping bags next to a sand dune. As it was cold and a damp sea mist was swirling in, we then spread a large groundsheet over ourselves for added protection . The next morning at about 9 am we woke up and to our absolute horror there was Miss Hamer, the Misses Clare and Joan Robinson and other stalwarts of the club standing in a ring around us looking down with very disapproving looks and comments. However the Club survived the scandal and so did we!"

Another highlight of the Clubs calendar was the annual dinner. The first one on record seems to have been held in May 1962 at the Constantia Nek Restaurant, at a cost of R1.35 per person (including wine!). Mariette Broekhuysen organised these dinners until 1970 when Norah Davis took over. There was always a guest speaker including Bunty Rowan, Jack Winterbottom and Douglas Hey, among others. From 1966 the venue was changed to the St James Hotel, which seems to have been a popular choice. By 1969 the cost per person had risen to R2.20.
John Perry, the well known bird artist, used to provide hand painted menu covers for these dinners. These were awarded to fortunate dinners on a lucky draw basis and were always much sought after and triumphantly framed for display afterwards. A request in Promerops for examples to be reproduced here produced 5 or 6 offers. Thanks to all especially those who were even prepared to take them out of their frames for this purpose.The annual dinner in 1973 being a special occasion provided a checklist instead of a menu, offering such delights as prinia winter bottomii (Wintermelon Cocktail) and Potagus semirufus (Cream of Tomato Swallow) and ending up with Promerops cafe, which needs no translating. Philip Tongue, who was acting editor at the time reported in the Newsletter No. 104 in his inimitable style;
"On Friday May 18, it being the 25th anniversary of the Club , the SAOS Annual Dinner took place in co-operation with the CBC at St James Hotel. A record number of 87 diners was present and there is no doubt that the traditional good  time was had by all. The hotel provided an excellent meal and subsequent protest by l'Union Francaise des Copositeurs de menus (menu writers) has been ignored by the organisers. En passant it might be mentioned that the Prinia winterbottomii was nothing like as basically frigid as might have been expected."

According to the committee minutes of the day the cost of this dinner to members was R3.00 a head, with the club carrying the cost of wine at R1.50 a bottle.
Those were the days!!

Impressions of the early days

Roy Johannesson (a prise winning film maker and excellent bird photographer) has happy memories of these days. he writes;

"I remember it as if it were yesterday, the Annual dinner at Constantia Nek Restaurant. Raymonde and I were seated with Nico Myburgh and his wife Ella, and John Perry and his wife. Each year John painted the menu cover and the originals were presented to lucky draw ticket holders. At this particular dinner Nico invited Raymonde and me to visit his farm, Klawervlei and so began a lifelong friendship.
The many hours spent at Klawervlei with Nico and his family and friends are treasured memories that will never be forgotten. Dr Ray Viljoen and his family together with all  the Myburghs, would meet every weekend on the farm to braai  and chat and when time allowed we took our photographs at the setup that Nico had arranged near the river.
Once a year I was invited to show a new film and slides taken the previous year, to CBC members.
"John Perry - Artist was a very successful film, which included Gerry Broekhuysen. The film documented John painting an Orangebreasted Sunbird."

One of our earliest members must have been Dorothy Greenshields who writes;

"Whilst on a visit to England in 1947  I heard that the Bird Club was to be formed and I joined as soon as I returned in 1948. I was privileged to meet a number of real experts whose aim seemed to be to share their knowledge with novices like I was - always helpful  always kind. The leading light and among the most enthusiastic was Gerry Broekhuysen. So on the first possible occasion I attended the Friday night meeting, listening to fascinating talks and watch slides. Because the numbers were smaller then there was a very friendly clubbish  atmosphere in the lecture theatre in the old Zoology Dept.
Then I went on monthly outings to many places, come rain or shine on wet days being lucky enough to finish  up at some lovely place like Dr Skaifes house at Hout Bay drinking hot tea and now and again mulled wine - before going home. The Somerset West members were a particularly keen bunch , among them Jack MacLeod John Martin and others and when we went top places like Vergelegen it was like going on a tour of "desirable residences" for these keen members had been on a reece in the days before and had discreetly marked each nest they found so that we could be shown these on the day of the outing. It made the outings so very  interesting and instructive. The CBC has always had enthusiastic leaders and I have always enjoyed being one of its members."
And nearly fifty years later Dorothy is nearly the first to book for our annual party!

Another member with happy memories of the early outings to Vergelegen is Elizabeth Chaundy who writes;

"Maurice, my late husband and I were introduced to the CBC in 1952, by Bertus and Bunty Rowan who had recently  returned from Tristan da Cunha. This introduction was a gift, which gave us great joy and 46 happy years of learning ad enjoyment.
The very first of our expeditions remains most vividly in my mind. It was to Vergelegen to see the nests of the Cape sugarbirds in a stand of proteas on a hillside. The nests had been found and marked previously by John and Elsie Martin and Jack MacLeod  who were in charge that day. We all gathered in a natural hide formed by a nearby plantation of pine trees and the group included among others Jack and Marjorie Winterbottom, Gerry and Mariette Broekhysen, Walter Stanford, our friend Dorothy Wiley the Misses Robinson , Jane Ethelstan and Bunty and Bertus Rowan. Oh, also, Stan Clarke and Rudolf Schmidt. (How is that for a roll call!)
John and Elsie ushered us one by one  so that we did not upset the nesting birds to creep between the proteas and peep into the nests. As they returned to the hide each viewer would make some knowledgeable comment and when it came to Maurice's turn he felt it behoved him to do likewise . "Hmm" he said "slightly more spotted than usual ", The cognoscenti raised their eyebrows and one after the other  went for a second look. Blow me down, but apparently  they were more spotted than usual and all the experts looked with respect at this unknown newcomer! Maurice tried to look bland but being honest as well as a great tease admitted he had never seen a sugarbird before let alone looked in a nest. This broke the ice and was the forerunner of many happy outings and long lasting friendships over the next 46 years".

Isobel Taylor was an enthusiastic member in the 50's and 60's and writes;

"Looking back to the 1950's is rather like peering through the wrong end of binoculars ,everything seems small and far away. Some events remain crystal clear while some events become fuzzy round the edges. Meetings were held at UCT in the old Zoology lecture theatre. It was an uncomfortable place , hot and stuffy in summer and cold and draughty  in winter. The benches were hard and the back supports didnt seem designed to accommodate the human form. Many members brought their own cushions. Dr Gerry Broekhuysen and Dr Dirk Uys gave many excellent slide shows which helped us to identify birds and get to know their habits. Other  names which come to mind regarding slides and films are Terrence Stafford Smith, Roy Johannesson and Peter Steyn
It is strange how names conjure up images. In my mind Peter Steyn is always associated with putting a dead penguin in his mothers refrigerator. when I heard this tale I thought "Poor mother " but it makes sense if one needs to preserve something temporarily. years later I thought of Peter and his penguin when I too stored a dead bird in my fridge wrapped in plenty of newspaper of course.
I also remember being given a lift to an outing by a member whose other passenger was a visiting university student who hailed from Westminster in the Free State near the Lesotho border. He impressed me with his quick identification of birds. For instance I remember seeing a number of Pied starlings in flight he glanced up at them and said "Pied and wattled Starlings". I remember nothing more about that day and never saw the student again. But isnt it strange ? I actually remember his name it was Gordon Maclean" (Now Prof Gordon Maclean).

And now we will leave it to Anne Lomberg to sum up;

"It was in the mid fifties that I migrated to the Cape from Pretoria. I immediately fell in love with its mountains, seas, fynbos, seasons and likeminded people.
it was not long before I was introduced to the CBC by Maurice and Elizabeth Chaundy. A flamingo feather from the Rocher Pan  area found its way into the magpie memorabilia on my desk at that time. We did a spring time trip up the West Coast with the Club. The birds were a joy. Gerry Broekhuysen , John Martin and the others were friendly guides and mentors to all. Boffins and amateurs were of one mind in one place. Mariette Broekhuysen  always friendly always elegant looked much like Mrs Miniver with a big hat swathed in mosquito net to protect her from the sun and midges. It was magic.
This friendly , learning atmosphere spilled over to the evening meetings . here Gerry Broekhuysen  introduced us to Konrad lourenz and Nikolaas Tibergen and concepts of imprinting and displacement movements . Every  speaker kept our interest. We followed the breeding success of the owls on the ledge opposite the Zoology dept with avid interest and enjoyed Dr Broekhuysen's slide record.
We shared sightings. Having waded waist deep in the Berg River on Martin Melcks beautiful farm to see spoonbill you can imagine the excitement when Isobel Taylor  and I saw a spoonbill on the lagoon at Milnerton. We phoned Jack Winterbottom  and that evening we heard of the spoonbill on the regional news! Scientists shared their knowledge  and gave their time freely to birders. the era of aids to bird identification was yet  to come and help from members like Dr Winterbottom was eagerly sought and much appreciated. I have a happy memory of spending time at the S.A.Museum with Isobel Taylor where Dr Winterbottom used material from the selection of skins to iron out some difficulties we were experiencing in the field.
Terence Stafford smith and Roy Johannesson were making fine films which opened up a whole new world to members and as the photographic skills of Club members.
The club was founded on a firm foundation and given a rich inheritance. I have happy memories of these early days and of the camaraderie which so greatly enriched my life."

It a pity that we have no other photo of Richard Liversidge, who was secretary for eight of the early years and whose drive and enthusiasm was greatly missed when he moved from Cape Town, but on reflection perhaps this one best illustrates what our Club is all about and is a fitting last look at the earlier years as we turn to our next chapter and head towards the future.

                 photograph by Roger Jefferies

Richard Liversidge photographing the
first ever Chestnut banded Plover nest
at Bredasdorp in 1948.