As soon as Shane set dates for coming to visit he also started organising his Western Cape ringing permit so we could go out raptor trapping. It ended up that Mark, Shane and myself went out early one morning to see what raptors we could catch. We left at 5am and started up the pass that the family and I had arrived into Plett on, which seemed remarkably shorter than I remember. First bird spotted was an owl which flew off before we had any real chance of trapping it. And that set the tone for the day. Roughly 300 km over 8 hours with many birds seen, and many trap drops done, and we caught a grand total of 1 bird, a Jackal Buzzard. For some reason I am more comfortable handling the Crowned Eagles that Shane and I had been ringing back in PMB and I was nervous about handling this bird. In the end I ringed the bird while Shane held it and then there was a huge debate about how to hold raptors and then I got to hold it and handle it while Shane checked my measurements, and then release it after some photos! I am starting to feel more confident about handling raptors, and ultimately every outing and raptor ringed and handled adds to my experience.. Soon I'll be a pro, hopefully!
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| Beautiful bird! |
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| Freedom! |
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| The view across from the road |
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