Claire's Cakes and Coffee

Oh. My. Goodness.

Swoon!

I have been introduced to the most amazing little coffee shop. Claire's Cakes and Coffee. If anyone comes to visit, expect an outing to Claire's. Everything about it appeals to me. It is a rather small shop, with some tables and chairs squeezed in, but with the majority of the tables outside. And what tables they are! I think they are covered in wallpaper with a glossy finish, but the print is so beautiful and fresh. A floral design in baby pink and blue. If anyone has seen my kitchen curtains they are somewhat similar. I want a table like that! So after sitting down I spent some time ogling at the tables and trying to work out how they had achieved such a stunning covering! But of course this is not what first caught my attention. The first was the food! WOW. Most of the shop is food. A large table in the middle is piled with cupcakes of astounding variety, and some other treats, as well as panini lunchtime sandwiches which looked good too! The one wall had another sideboard with various treats and sweets. And then there were the cakes. And the other edible bits and pieces. I wanted to pull out my phone and take a whole bunch of photos! The combination of beautiful decor, delicious goodies and artful arrangement has made this little shop into a most pleasing hang-out and meeting spot. Or somewhere to pop in to get a sugar rush.

Lemon meringue happiness!

Tea!

The latest recruit

After my last trip to Bird Island (as it is fondly referred to by the locals) on my canoe, I found those two Kelp Gull chicks, and decided that they should be old enough to ring this past week. Kel and I had planned a bit of a girls outing, to paddle across and ring the chicks (coz that's what the cool girls do!). As it turned out, this was not possible. So on Friday morning after dropping Kate at school we, Kel, Jesse and myself, headed over to a spot on the beach where we could easily walk across to Bird Island, unfortunately arriving on the wrong side of the island to where the chicks were. So we headed out, trudging through the sand on the lagoon side which was water logged and squishy. Jesse was full of energy and put Kel and I to shame jumping and running around! Unfortunately we were only able to find one of the two chicks that I had hoped to ring. Kel held the little fluffball and I ringed it, and it left her with a big 'I don't like you' poo down her shorts! Thanks bird! Jesse let the little thing go, which was so wonderful to watch. Budding ornithologist! Before we began our walk back I picked up an old, abandoned egg which I will blow out and use as a replacement egg when we are catching the adults. We then slowly walked back to the car, along the beach side this time which was easier on the legs! There was a brief chase after two other juveniles (with the egg in my pocket!) which was aborted after I realised both had rings on already! Awesome! Along our walk back, we searched for shells. The beaches here have such beautiful, large and intact shells, it is amazing to live here! We returned home after a successful trip! 1 chick ringed, 1 egg collected, and 2 odd shells still to be identified. Later that day I realised that the egg has a crack and is slowly leaking. So I rotated it and now it sits on my desk. It will need to be a brave day for me to tackle the smelly inside!

Kel holding the chick.

The cute fluffball!

Concentration in the hand-over from mom.

Down to the floor.

Back on the ground.

Freedom!! With new bling.

Odd shells?

My leaky egg..

Raptor ringing

 Back in PMB, I had the awesome privilege of going to Raptor Rehab run by Ben Hoffman, part of the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary, to ring some rehabilitated raptors. To see these powerful birds up close is really amazing, and then to handle them and ring them, and on occasion to release them, what a pleasure! Just before I left for Plett, a group of us (Lindy, Patrick, Shane, my dad and myself) went to ring some of the rehab birds, which are at various stages of rehabilitation and will one day be ready for release. I had a wonderful time and thought it would be the last time I would ring rehab raptors.

Excitement about holding a Jackal Buzzard!

Patrick (left), Shane (front) and Lindy (back) ringing the Long-crested Eagle.

But last week I went with Mark to Radical Raptors, birds of prey rehabilitation and awareness centre, run by Dennis Robson, to ring some owls. Maybe it is their beautiful big eyes, watching everything, or the impressive snap/click type sound that they make with their beaks, but owls seem a little more aggressive and scarier in the hand than some of the other raptors I've handled. Mark and I each ringed 2 Spotted Eagle Owls that had been brought to the centre as fluffballs that people had picked up off the ground thinking they had fallen out of their nests. The birds are all under six months old and are ready for release into the real world, now with metal rings around their legs! I took the opportunity after ringing to have a quick look around the centre, it is a well kept, well presented centre although it does have a smaller selection of birds than ABoPS, but this is not necessarily a bad thing considering why the birds are kept in captivity. I am looking forward to return trips to the centre, and hopefully some more rehab birds to ring for release!

The entrance.

Measuring the owl's bill. Photo by Mark Brown.

Grumpy bird! Photo by Mark Brown.

Rock Kestrel.

Black Eagle.

Action and antics

So on my first solo trip into the colony I took the opportunity to sit and watch the birds. Within the colony there is some action, and I enjoyed watching all the antics, especially two fluffy cute chicks. But my attention was soon drawn to the beach where many adults and the fledged juveniles generally hung out. It was a wonderfully warm day (hence my t-shirt tan!) and the birds were often in the water bathing and having a good old time! And then when I got home I realised that some of the diving was not solely for a bath, but for food! These creatures have such character and I’m loving working on them, and watching them! I feel a bit like the paparazzi, every time I see a gull I want to whip my camera out! But here it paid off and I’m chuffed with some of these shots!

Mom coming in for landing. 

Mom and her two chicks.

Finding shadows to keep cool in!

Under....

Up....

And shake!

Checking things out.

A good start..

Down and under!

Got it!!

The Green Machine

The day was warm. The tide was high. The water was calm. All until the Brown clan plus one (me) arrived with The Green Machine. Dum dum duuumm! This is the sturdy craft that will convey me to my Keurbooms study sites along with traps and an assortment of assistants throughout the breeding season. My flotation device was kindly loaned to me for the duration of the project by Cape Nature.

Lugging it down to the water.

YAY it floats!

Testing out The Green Machine!

Everyone had a turn!

And my supervisor took me for a ride.

Low tide.. no chance of paddling!

Parked and locked up.

Packed and ready for a trip to re-trap ringed adults.

Investigating Robberg

Probably on one of the hottest days of my parents stay it was decided that we would go for a walk at Robberg Nature Reserve. The 5 hour walk was deemed too long (thank goodness!), and so we settled for a shorter walk to the ‘Seagull nursery’, another of my study sites. The view as you arrive is stunning, and we saw a pod of dolphins which set a positive tone for the rest of the day. What an amazing downhill trundle! Except for the ants.. They bite! The sun is warm on your back as you wander along the trail that starts as fynbos and descends through cliffs and eventually reaches the beach. A description is so inadequate of the beauty of everything. I cannot properly convey the warmth of the sun as you march along, hot but not yet a scorching burn, and then to move into the coolness of the cliffs, where amazing little flowers of yellow and purple grow, precariously clinging to the small ledges and somehow flourishing. And then to reach the beach at the bottom and throw off hot takkies to plunge bare feet into rather cold water. It is an amazing place that I will be frequenting as a study site! Also on the beach were my subjects. With six fledged juveniles in total. This is a nice relatively small colony that I hope to monitor closely. I hope to ring all the adults of the colony, as well as all the juveniles. This is a breeding site that experiences high predation by genets and otters, and I am keen to put up some cameras to catch the culprits in action in the next breeding season! After exploring the beach, and after copious photos, it was time for a swim! Another benefit of this field site is a stunning channel to dip into after a downward hike with heavy packs and after a hot few hours chasing and ringing gulls. But, man, the water here is cold! Hopefully I’ll toughen up after enough dips into the sea! Refreshed, we headed to investigate the little kopje that was the ‘Seagull nursery’. A pleasant walk around showed that the birds had finished breeding for this season. And then what goes down must go up. Up, up, up, huff and puff. In the very hot burning afternoon sun. With none of the refreshing cliff coolness. We all collapsed into the car and headed home for a much needed lunch and juice. Tired but refreshed; you cannot leave views like that and not feel buoyed.

'Seagull nursery' is the kopje on the mid-right.

A fantastic view back to Plett.

Still to be identified plants.

African Oystercatcher.

I love the yellow flowers forming a bit of a blanket.

Nic walking along the beach to 'Seagull nursery'.

My subjects!

White-breasted Cormorant.

White-breasted Cormorant catching some rays.

A little starfish I found.

Unidentified lizard.

More cool plants.

Swallow success

Sitting and chatting on the Brown’s stoep with the family one night, we all watched as small flocks of Barn Swallows flew overhead, off to settle in for the night in their roosting spot. After a comment from Mark about how he would love to find their roosting spot to be able to catch the swallows, Dad and Mark were suddenly off on a mission: Find the roost! They returned surprisingly quickly. The roost was not far off, in a reed bed, which had a convenient boardwalk through it, perfect for mistnets! Plans were hatched and the next evening found the entire Brown and Witteveen clans at the boardwalk. Nets were erected, and immediately we starting catching birds, one of the first being a Cape White-eye, a species that has a special place in my heart after using them as a study species for both my 3^rd year and Honours projects. With the nets open sometime before dusk, we caught a few flocks of Cape Weavers, most of which were juveniles, as well as a few Cape Bulbuls, a new species for me (Stoked!) and a juvenile Black-bellied Starling, among others.

Sunset on the nets.

Nets up and ready.

Cape Bulbul.

Black-bellied Starling.

And slowly the swallows started circling in the sky. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see this, it is well worth the time to go to a Barn Swallow roost and be a spectator! Large flocks circle in the sky, and smaller groups break off and dive down to the roost, in this case the reeds. It is truly amazing! We caught 31 swallows that night which were taken home to be ringed there and released early the next morning, and have since been again and aim to continue to go once a week for the next few weeks. Hopefully we will get a bird with a foreign ring! But to be out and bird ringing, and to start learning my birds of the Western Cape, is awesome!

Birds heading home for ringing.