Peninsula

We had some interesting happenings on the Peninsula. Firstly an oystercatcher which was steadfast in her incubation, regardless of how close the people got! And a Kelp Gull which had become rather confused! It appears that it brought an oystercatcher egg to its nest.. Very interesting! I will be writing up a short note about this..

Spot the oystercatcher!

The cracked oystercatcher egg that was adopted.

A broody bird.

Robberg

Mark joined Shirley and I for the first time to do field work at Robberg, we had some good fun and got all the work done!

Shirley and I at the rest stop after some climbing!

There are no walls to hold up at Robberg but signs sometimes need a hand.

Photo bomb!

An unsuccessful attempt at sliding down the dune on plastic bags!

An injured Sandwich Tern captured at Robberg.

Come see!

Part of what NVT was hoping to accomplish over the holiday season was public awareness of the breeding birds that share our beaches and how important they are. The signs we put up at Lookout beach was a good start, as well as the various articles in local newspapers. What we also did was run the first of two open days in December targetting holiday makers. I was so worried that we wouldn't have anyone that would come to our advertised open day but we ended up with a good little crowd. Mark gave some introductory remarks and passed over to Shirley who ran through her disturbance work. We also were able to ring two oystercatcher chicks and show them off up close and personal, bringing home what we were talking about. Finally I spoke about everything that I was busy with, although there was not much data to look at just yet.. All in all it was a success and we hoped the second one would go as well!

Mark explaining what NVT is all about.

Shirley running through a disturbance simulation.

One of the chicks we ringed.

Checking out the sign.

Notice this notice!

Mark was given some funds by BirdLife South Africa to put up a sign about the breeding birds on Lookout beach. Between the two of us we designed this sign and managed to get two out of the money we were given for this purpose. CapeNature donated the poles for the frame and helped us put the signs up, one on each side of Lookout beach. We are very proud of our efforts, and hopefully the signs made a difference over the breeding season making holiday-makers more aware of the breeding birds.

Assembling the frame on the beach.

Fitting the sign into the holes and straightening it out.

Filling up the holes.

The sign, standing straight and proud!

Aerial attack!

To get an idea of what is happening up above me while I continue with the research, I strapped a GoPro to my head, and angled it heavenward. These photos need no more explanation.

After a solid poo hit to the GoPro I called it a day.

Research team to the rescue!

After a wonderful and short fieldwork session at Lookout beach, including some distraction with bees, Shirley and I headed back to the car. Along the way we passed a fisherman and a small group of bystanders, and Shirley and I joined to see what the interest was all about. The fisherman had managed to catch a Spotted Gully Shark, and had no idea what to do with it! So Shirley and I decided to rescue the snared shark. It took two attempts for us to pull the shark up into shallow water and stay its thrashing to be able to pull the hook out of its mouth. Despite the small size, it was strong and we struggled but managed to get the hook out and quickly turned it around and pushed it back out into deeper water. We turned to grin victoriously at the little group of onlookers who were impressed with our actions, but were quite concerned with the presence of SHARKS in the estuary. These Spotted Gully Sharks would not take small dogs, or small children, and although we explained this, they were not convinced. Shirley and I left the beach, quite happy with our productive day.

A small willing worker.

Busy bee.

Research team to the rescue!

Come fly with me

When it was time for another monthly drone count Jason came through for me again and brought his drone to the peninsula. The Browns joined me for the outing and Jesse was very interested in the drone, a budding pilot perhaps?! The gulls were still in full breeding mentality, making counts a little more difficult. The count went well, nevertheless, and we returned to the safety of the beach unharmed and free of poo.

Protecting the pilot!

Gulls harassing the 'newcomer'.