This is a working relationship with the City of Cape Town and the Cape Bird Club.
Alan Morris started the co-ordinated bird counts in December 1974 and they still continue at Zandvlei.
Zandvlei Upper.
At the confluence of the Sand River and Langevlei canal there was a Black shouldered Kite in a palm tree along side the road and also a few Sacred Ibis on the edge of the canal wall at the litter trap. There was high overhead cloud with swirling patterns, and a thick dark fog bank extending from the Atlantic sea through False Bay and across the Cape Flats to Milnerton in Table Bay in the north. Under the fog bank the air temperature can be icy. We had cool air temps and no wind at all. The water on the main waterbody was like a mirror, see the reflections on the water surfaces, one could say unusual for Zandvlei as there is always a breeze here. This remained so until just before 10hh00 when the SE breeze started to ripple the surface. There was a Jackal Buzzard on the overhead railway wires and Stephen Judge got a photo of a African Harrier Hawk and other birds in the Main Reserve area.
To note the water level was very high from the Full Moon closing of the estuary mouth the previous Friday for the Scouts Kontiki weekend. These levels are only seen in winter rainfalls when the estuary mouth is closed. On the western shore the pathways were more than ankle deep. These seasonal waterways still had some damsel flies present, but no dragonflies were visible, their season had come to an end. 2 species of butterflies were present Cape Autumn Widows and Silver bottom Browns. Surface moles runways were present all around the waters edge under grass ground cover. There were plenty of dew covered Funnel Web Spider nets in the low growth.
Zandvlei Lower.
The Water Thick knees were back in the scout base after the Kontiki activity last weekend. Also good to note there was a good number over on Park Island. I had noted about the same total were at the previous Strandfontein count in January 2025. The 3 White domestic ducks or quakers reported last week were seen in the Yacht Club basin today. Further down near the Thesens bridge the sand spit normally present was completely submerged by water. See the photo of a few birds knee deep on the sand spit. There was a Grey Heron in a Norfolk Pine tree on the western side of the estuary in Royal Road opposite the tree with the heron and Sacred Ibis roost and nesting tree in Axminster Road. The thick fog bank over False Bay was till visible at 11h15 we finished counting and the overhead cloud had cleared to blue sky with a SE breeze blowing. While walking back to the cars a police horse patrol passed us, long time since we last saw a police patrol on horses at Zandvlei.
Thank you to Kyran and Darren for counting the Marina canals by boat today.
Zandvlei Westlake Wetlands and Rutter Road Pond.
There was still a strong inflow via the Keysers River under the railway bridge at 1 metre per 6 seconds. While we were there 2 young women standup paddlers came around the corner which was a pleasant surprise. We also saw the Reserve staff counting in the Wetlands along side the Keysers River. The confluence is visually free of invasive water plants. There were a number of Brown throated Martins and White throated Swallows flying up and down under the railway bridge and landing on the spit where the nesting hole is located but now covered in grass hanging over the bank wall. We have not seen the African Marsh Harrier for a number of counts. Is it another specie which has gone else where? Gigi confirmed she logged a total of 43 bird species today.
Thank you to all the participants today.
Photographs by Gavin Lawson and Stephen Judge.
Gavin Lawson.
Below are the count datas for 19 April 2025.
