Fynbos ringing

After returning from Cape Town and doing an initial check on the colonies I got sick. 10 days and a large number of manufactured nest tags later I felt strong enough to take on the bimonthly bird ringing session at the fynbos site. It was also an auspicious day as Shirley, the Dutch student and my new semi-housemate, was arriving from the Netherlands. Despite concerns for foul weather arriving from Cape Town we had a beautiful day out. It seems to be Cape White-eye season, and we’re catching flocks of them! It took me almost 2 months to catch the White-eyes I needed for my 3^rd year project, and we’re catching five times the number I needed in a morning! We had three firsts for the site, a Cape Weaver, an Olive Thrush and a pair of Cape Siskins were added to the bird list. Yet another Victorin’s Warbler was caught, and I regretted the last minute decision to leave my rings at home. It was a productive day and Shirley safely joined the team, bringing with her ‘stroopwafels’ some seriously good biscuits!

Getting ready to bleed the Cape Weaver to measure blood glucose.

Babalwa watching as MatomE extracts a bird.

Me at the centre of attention.

Eliska measuring nectar volume in Erica flowers.

A pair of Cape Siskins, female on the left, male on the right.