Events - Sasol birds and birding fair

Introduction

The sasol birds &birding fair will be held at the Johannesburg Zoo in Gauteng from 1-2  May 2010. The focus will be on the variety of birds associated with marine and fresh-water habitats. One of these wetland specialists, the Lesser Flamingo, is BirdLife South Africa’s Bird of the Year, and the sasol birds & birding fair marks the beginning of BirdLife South Africa’s National Bird Week (3-9 May 2010).

Both days of the fair are jam-packed with activities for children, topical lectures, workshops and guided bird walks. As always, there will be wide variety of exhibitors displaying their wares in the area around the bandstand. Binoculars, camera gear, bird books, bird feeders and much more will be for sale!

Learn more for FREE!

The sasol birds & birding fair is the ideal event at which to brush up on one’s knowledge about birds and to learn about some of the conservation measures being taken to conserve our country’s birds. There will be free talks and half-day workshops on variety of topics, these will take place daily in the Education and Discovery centres, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Win big with the sasol birds & birding fair

The main prize for 2010 is a 4 day photo safari in the Kruger National Park with Chris van Rooyen and Albert Froneman.

Join Chris or Albert and three other photographers on this exciting instructional safari to photograph birds and other wildlife in the Kruger Park. This event is suitable for both experienced as well as beginner photographers as there will be ample time for personal tuition on how to refine both your practical photographic technique and digital image processing.

Second and third prizes will be signed and framed photographs of Lesser Flamingos by Mark Anderson. The prize draw will take place at 16:00 on 2 May.

Highlights of the fair

Programme subject to change

Photographing waterbirds

Have you ever opened a book or magazine and looked at one of Chris van Rooyen’s photographs and thought to yourself ‘how does he do it?’? If so, then you must attend his workshop! This renowned bird photographer will give expert advice on the techniques use to capture those award-winning images.

Sleeping with the birds

Calling all novice and seasoned campers! Spend Friday night listening to the sounds of wild animals and nocturnal birds as you camp in the grounds of the Johannesburg Zoo. The campers will be greeted by the zoo’s staff at 17:30 on Friday evening, allowing time to pitch tents before the 19:30 guided night-tour. At 07:00 on Saturday morning there will be a guided walk with Mark Anderson, BirdLife South Africa’s Executive Director.

Sasol and birds

Sasol has committed itself to sponsoring a variety of bird projects. These include the sasol birds & birding fair, the popular Sasol Birds of Southern Africa field guide, bird hides and birding weekends in places like Kruger and West Coast national parks.

Sasol supports the development of BirdLife South Africa’s bird guides and the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Birds of Prey Working Group and Southern Ground-hornbill project.

Sasol aims to foster enthusiasm for the preservation of our country’s precious wildlife.

Bird of the year: Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor)

This year the fair celebrates what is probably South Africa’s most attractive and majestic waterbird, the Lesser Flamingo. It is found over much of sub-Saharan Africa, and marginally in India and Pakistan.  Large numbers frequent the Great Rift Valley Lakes and various pans, lakes, lagoons and estuaries in southern Africa. Gatherings of tens or even hundreds of thousands of Lesser Flamingos is one of Africa’s wonderful spectacles.

Interestingly, despite numbering several million individuals, the Lesser Flamingo only breeds at six sites worldwide. In Africa these are Lake Natron (Tanzania), Etosha Pan (Namibia), Sua Pan (Botswana) and Kamfers Dam (South Africa). Breeding is irregular and infrequent, and climate change is expected to further reduce the frequency of the breeding events.

The Lesser Flamingo is listed as “near-threatened” in The Eskom Red Data Book of Birds of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, with a declining population caused by low recruitment through human-induced threats at the breeding sites being responsible for the species’ current precarious status.

The Johannesburg Zoo has reduced the entrance fee to R25 per person for each of the days during the sasol birds & birding fair (the cost is usually R41).

For more information about the sasol birds & birding fair, please contact Sadie Halbhuber on 011-789-1122, 079-502-8379 or events@birdlife.org.za

Click here to download full program for the fair