A sunset just before we went on hippo watch.
All photographs by Erica Essig.
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 euthaniasing 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 20kmph 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.
