A new leader for Birds and Renewable Energy
A transition to renewable energy is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, yet renewable energy can also present an unintended but potentially significant threat to biodiversity. For more than a decade, BirdLife South Africa’s Birds and Renewable Energy Project has therefore worked towards a nature-friendly roll-out of renewable energy. To read about the project’s many successes during this period, see birdlife.org.za/10-years-10-successes-of-the-birds-and-renewable-energy-project/.
Looking ahead, however, the pace of renewable energy development in South Africa is likely to increase dramatically over the next decade, driven by the electricity crisis and the need to transition to cleaner energy sources. Indeed, the Department of Energy plans to increase the share of renewable energy in the national energy mix from 11% to 41% by 2030. If our Birds and Renewable Energy Project is to keep up with this rapidly escalating pace of development, we need to increase its capacity. We are therefore delighted to have recently expanded the project by recruiting of a new project leader.
John Gibbs stepped into this important position this month. Originally from the United Kingdom, John has lived in Johannesburg for the past 10 years, where he has worked as a financial adviser supporting the development of renewable energy and other infrastructure projects in various countries. In South Africa he worked extensively with the Independent Power Producer Office on the design and implementation of the Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme.
John’s experience in the renewable energy space and his longstanding passion for conservation and the birds of southern Africa make him an exciting addition to our team. In his new role, he will be responsible for providing strategic leadership to the Birds and Renewable Energy Project, while Sam Ralston-Paton will continue to support nature-friendly renewable energy by providing evidence-based advice.
The addition of John’s expertise to the team will help us to secure the resources needed to sustain and scale up our work, enhance our collaboration with key stakeholders (such as renewable energy financiers) and encourage renewable energy operators to contribute positively to biodiversity conservation. We are confident that his background will serve him well in these tasks and we wish him every success in his new position. We are also grateful to the Lewis Foundation, whose support has enabled BirdLife South Africa to expand this project and enhance its contribution to a nature-friendly transition to renewable energy.
DR MELISSA LEWIS, POLICY AND ADVOCACY PROGRAMME MANAGER, AND SAM RALSTON-PATON, BIRDS AND RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT MANAGER
Baobabs & Birds
With its November 2023 birding expedition sold out, Baobabs & Birds has opened two new dates for its privately guided tours in northern Kruger National Park. Six spots are available in each of January and February 2024 for a four-night excursion to Makuleke, staying at Pafuri Luxury Tented Camp in a prime position on the Luvhuvhu River.
BHS Safari Company maximises birding opportunities in the field, gets input from experts and adds on activities led by industry legends to optimise your time in this magnificent birding area. Join us in January or February, when we venture into the north-eastern corner of South Africa to immerse ourselves in a world of birds that sees a peak every summer when the migrants are here. Specialist birding guide Brett Horley leads this exclusive trip for a group of just six passionate birders, and will be joined by selected area experts.
This experience is aimed at birders, whether you’re just starting out or your life-list is well advanced. We would love you to join us and explore this truly extraordinary territory with a specialist birding guide who knows his way around Pafuri and its highly sought-after bird species.
As well as being a specialist birding guide, Brett Horley is the founding director of BHS Safari Company, which has been leading birding expeditions into Africa for more than 10 years. As a team, our experience surpasses 50 years of arranging bespoke itineraries, offering honest advice and expert planning support, and organising expeditions centred on birds.
To make enquiries or book your spot in January or February, e-mail hello@bhs-safari.co or visit our website bhs-safari.co to find out about upcoming birding expeditions or start designing your own.
BRETT HORLEY, SPECIALIST BIRDING GUIDE, BHS SAFARI COMPANY
Monitoring vultures in the Eastern Free State
Steven Segang, Linda van den Heever and I have recently monitored Bearded and Cape vultures at Kerkenberg, near Sterkfontein Dam, and at Nelsonskop in the Upper Wilge Protected Environment on behalf of the Bearded Vulture Task Force. Approximately 140 Cape Vultures were counted on the day at Nelsonskop, and 46 were recorded in gale-force winds at Kerkenberg.
A single Bearded Vulture was seen feeding on a ledge at Nelsonskop before it retreated into a pothole that would have been suitable for a nest. To confirm whether one was there, however, we would have needed either a drone or a helicopter, or someone would have had to climb the mountain. The first known record of a Cape Vulture breeding at Nelsonskop was also recorded, as we observed two adults switching incubation duties. Although BirdLife South Africa has been monitoring this mountain since 2015, this is the first active nest recorded on the mountain. The number of Cape Vultures roosting on Nelsonskop has also increased steadily each year, with up to 200 individuals recorded recently.
The results from the monitoring of both species show the probable effect of conservation in the Eastern Free State over the past 20 years. In 2004, Brian Colahan reported that the Bearded Vulture population in the Free State was estimated at two or three individuals, and they were probably visiting the Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve feeding site from Lesotho or KwaZulu-Natal. The species was rarely seen elsewhere in the province. It can now be spotted, albeit infrequently, at Nelsonskop and Sterkfontein Dam and in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
For Cape Vultures at the same time, Brian’s report stated that there ‘are no regularly used Cape Vulture cliff roosts left in the Free State’, and ‘when they do roost in the province, it’s often in small numbers’. The situation has changed significantly since then, with annual roost counts at Nelsonskop revealing more than 130, sometimes closer to 200, Cape Vultures. Other roosts in the region, such as at Scheurklip and Mount Everest and on pylons at Ingula and near Memel, support even more of these birds. According to the report, no pairs were known to be breeding in the Eastern Free State at that time, which makes the discovery of breeding at Nelsonskop very positive for the species.
The last confirmed breeding of Bearded Vultures in the region was in 2018, with the species present again more frequently in the Upper Wilge Protected Environment since 2022.
The increase in Cape Vulture numbers, the new breeding record and the recent return of Bearded Vultures to the area shows the impact that our conservation work, especially with landowners through Biodiversity Stewardship in the region, has made in recent years.
CARINA PIENAAR, INGULA AND GRASSLANDS CONSERVATION PROJECT MANAGER
European Rollers need your help
The European Roller, a charismatic migratory bird, is in decline and needs your help. If you’re in a position to help contribute to the annual monitoring of the population in southern Africa, please let us know. Citizen science has the power to assist in long-term bird monitoring to prevent the continued decline of migratory bird populations.
European Rollers undertake an impressive journey each year, travelling more than 10 000km from their breeding grounds in Europe to their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. To address the population decline, BirdLife Hungary developed a Species Action Plan for European Rollers that has highlighted crucial gaps in our knowledge. These gaps include a lack of monitoring at overwintering grounds and a limited understanding of the rollers’ habitat use along migration routes and at overwintering sites.
As a migratory bird, the European Roller is also one of the flagship species for monitoring along the East-Atlantic Flyway, a major migratory route used by millions of birds each year. This flyway covers a vast area, stretching from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south and encompassing the coasts of Europe, Africa and the Americas. Like many sites around the world, the flyway faces numerous threats, including habitat loss, climate change and pollution, while the birds themselves face the peril of being shot by hunters. The East-Atlantic Flyway Initiative (EAFI), through a partnership between governments, NGOs and other stakeholders, aims to address these threats and promote the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats along their route.
The EAFI recognises that it is crucial to monitor the movements, population trends and habitat use of European Rollers and other migratory birds along the East-Atlantic Flyway if we are to understand the drivers of species’ population declines and develop targeted conservation strategies. By focusing on the European Roller as a flagship species, the EAFI can help raise awareness of the importance of migratory bird conservation, while also providing a focal point for monitoring efforts and conservation initiatives.
In 2021, BirdLife South Africa, in collaboration with dedicated stakeholders, took proactive measures to bridge the knowledge gaps identified in the European Roller Species Action Plan. A monitoring project was initiated in key locations, including the Kruger National Park and several private protected reserves in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal. Long-term monitoring can provide invaluable insights into population trends, migratory routes and crucial stopover sites. We are looking forward to the start of our third monitoring season this November and invite you to stay tuned for future updates!
If you’re interested in learning more or getting involved, please contact me at jessica.wilmot@birdlife.org.za. Together, through the power of citizen science and collaborative efforts, we have an opportunity to create a positive impact on declining bird populations.
JESSICA WILMOT, FLYWAY AND MIGRANTS PROJECT MANAGER
Sign up to the newsletter
Penguins breed again at De Hoop
Last year saw African Penguins breeding successfully at De Hoop Nature Reserve and this year, too, a pair is raising two chicks at the new colony. The chicks were seen at the end of June sitting just outside the nest that was occupied last year. African Penguins return to the same colony, and often the same nest, each year so that they can find their mate again. By examining the spot patterns on the parents, we were able to confirm this is the same pair that raised chicks last year.
African Penguins bred at the original colony from around 2003 until 2008, when predation by caracal caused them to abandon it. BirdLife South Africa, CapeNature and SANCCOB are working to re-establish the colony and have protected the area by constructing a predator-proof fence to serve as its landward border. Decoys and a speaker playing penguin calls simulate an already thriving colony and juvenile penguins are released there so they will imprint on the area and return when they are ready to breed. Penguins first returned to the colony in June 2022 and the first chicks were found in October that year, the first time penguins had bred there in 15 years.
The current chicks are starting to lose their downy feathers, so we estimate they are one-and-a-half to two months old. They are likely to fledge towards the end of July to mid-August. There are three other potential nest sites where pairs of penguins have been seen sitting regularly, so we are hopeful that these two chicks will be joined by others before much longer!
This project is generously supported by the Isdell Family Foundation and a vehicle is provided by Scottfin Finance.
CHRISTINA HAGEN, PAMELA ISDELL FELLOW OF PENGUIN CONSERVATION
Taking paths less travelled
What do birds on the hunt, a resourceful bush-shrike, a well-known ornithologist and a chance to win a birding trip to Morocco have in common?
Answer: You’ll find them all, along with trips to the northern Kruger National Park and the San Sebastian Peninsula in Mozambique, in the latest issue of African Birdlife…
Informing habitat management for Ingula
Earlier this month, Malcolm Drummond (representing the Ingula Partnership), Steve McKean (Conservation Outcomes–BirdLife South Africa Partnership), Kyle Pieterse and Kuraisha Coetzee (Nambithi General Services) and Steven Segang and myself from BirdLife South Africa conducted a pre-burn field assessment of the Ingula Nature Reserve.
BirdLife South Africa provides input into this Eskom-owned reserve and Ramsar Wetland of International Importance not only for the management of the bird species found in the reserve, but also for looking after the available habitat effectively. Using satellite imagery, I can determine the health of the vegetation and the moisture content of the soil using the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Normalised Difference Moisture Index (NDMI). This year, however, we also used a disc pasture meter to take physical measurements of the above-ground biomass. The disc pasture meter is a tool widely used to estimate grass biomass in a rapid and non-destructive manner, simply by letting a calibrated disc fall onto the grass. The measurement taken is then converted to kilogram/hectare biomass.
By combining the biomass with average NDVI and NDMI scores, we are better able to advise on fire management in the reserve during 2023 and show areas that either need to be rested from overgrazing or that need to be grazed a little more or burned during the winter to maintain conditions for healthy vegetation.
CARINA PIENAAR, INGULA AND GRASSLANDS CONSERVATION PROJECT MANAGER, AND STEVE MCKEAN, CONSERVATION OUTCOMES
BioSCapes begins
In an exciting development for the conservation of biodiversity in fynbos, the BioSCapes project, sponsored by NASA, has officially begun its operations in South Africa. This multidisciplinary initiative aims to apply data and scientific outcomes to real-world conservation decisions – and it’s an endeavour BirdLife South Africa is proud to be part of.
The first weekend of July marked a significant milestone for the project, as international collaborators Leo Salas from Point Blue and principal investigator Matthew Clark arrived in South Africa, bringing with them more AudioMoth devices. These specialised acoustic monitoring devices will play a crucial role in the BioSoundSCapes project (a component of BioSCapes), capturing the rich array of sounds in our ecosystems to gain valuable insight into the presence, behaviour and interactions of species.
Making the most of an unusually beautiful day after the particularly wet June across the Western Cape, Leo Salas and I joined the Cape Town-based volunteer team in the Silvermine section of Table Mountain National Park. Trekking 15km through the stunning fynbos, we deployed 10 AudioMoth devices. This adventurous field day set the project in motion, blending the joy of nature exploration with the purpose of biodiversity conservation.
The journey continued as Leo and I headed to Nuwejaars Special Management Area to meet Eugene Hahndiek. We spent a day collecting AudioMoths that Eugene and Christina Hagen had deployed the previous week. When collecting AudioMoths, we also do a ‘point count’ to determine how many birds there are around us, and will ultimately feed this information into population estimates that are vital for the Regional Red Listing project. Meanwhile, Matt and his travel companion Tom coordinated a day out in Jonkershoek with Andrew Turner from CapeNature, before setting their course towards the Cederberg.
As we embark on this exciting journey, the enthusiasm and anticipation among the team members are palpable. It’s important to remember that we’re still in the learning phase of this project, and challenges are expected as we navigate the new terrain. For instance, Leo and I had a close encounter with a poplar tree that fell on our vehicle while we were deploying an Audiomoth – yet another reason to be ridding the fynbos of alien vegetation! But every step forward brings us closer to our shared goal: to make significant strides in biodiversity conservation through the power of data and technology.
We are exceptionally grateful to all those volunteers who are making this happen, our partner CapeNature, and to Johan Huisamen for coordinating it all. We hope to share some of their stories and adventures over the rest of the year. Stay tuned for more updates on the BioSCapes project, and join us as we explore the sounds of South Africa’s vibrant ecosystems!
As always, thanks go to sponsors Afrit, Ekapa, Eskom and Italtile and Ceramics Foundation.
DR ALAN LEE, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION PROGRAMME MANAGER
Selati’s Verreaux’s Eagle Project goes live!
The Selati Wilderness Foundation invites all bird enthusiasts to join it on an exciting journey of discovery by following the live stream of a pair of Verreaux’s Eagles that nest on the Selati Game Reserve.
To better understand the breeding behaviour of this iconic species, the Selati Wilderness Foundation has installed a live-streaming camera system at a nest. This will make it possible to document the birds’ breeding cycle from nest preparation through hatching to the fledgling’s inaugural flight, all with minimal disturbance to the birds.
Having experienced the magic of watching these magnificent eagles rear new life, the organisation wishes to share this exclusive opportunity with bird enthusiasts worldwide and offers them the chance to learn more about Verreaux’s Eagle.
Membership is complimentary and members have access to the action on the nest via live-stream video. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about these fascinating birds and help them to survive and thrive in their natural habitat.
If you’re inspired by the project and wish to contribute further, you have the option to assist the Selati Wilderness Foundation by making a donation, which will play a vital role in supporting its conservation efforts.
To register or to find out more, please visit: https://selatiwf.org/verreauxs-eagle-project-landing-page/
CIT McWILLIAM, MaRKETING MANAGER, SELATI WILDERNESS FOUNDATION
Protect the Flock with the MyForest campaign
With fewer than 1800 individuals in the wild, and as South Africa’s only endemic parrot, the Cape Parrot is listed as Endangered and is under threat of extinction. The Cape Parrot Project, which is one of BirdLife South Africa’s Species Guardians for this Endangered species, prides itself in partnering with local communities to restore forest, the threatened breeding and foraging habitat of the Cape Parrot.
It does this by supporting local community members who grow seedlings, which the project then buys. Together with members of these communities, it plants these seedlings back into appropriate degraded forest areas.
You can help the Cape Parrot Project bring these important forests back to life and in doing so, help to conserve the beautiful Cape Parrot, BirdLife South Africa’s Bird of the Year 2023. Your contribution to the MyForest Campaign will help to restore and protect local Afromontane indigenous forests through firstly the management of alien vegetation so that natural forest can regenerate; and secondly the supplemental planting of indigenous species where appropriate.
Help restore important forest habitat by visiting https://www.wildbirdtrust.com/projects/cape-parrot-project
RUKSHA MAHARAJ, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, WILD BIRD TRUST
You can access previous entries from 2023 using the buttons below
If you’d like to read our archive, you can visit our e-newsletter archive.