Caspian Terns

After returning from Blue Hill Escape, Mark, Selena and I made a quick trip to Keurbooms Peninsula to hopefully ring an especially exciting bird. On a previous trip with Felix searching for entangled gulls, we came across the Caspian Terns fiercely defending.. something. I was hesitant to disturb them anymore than our presence already had but managed to take some photos from afar. Once home and the photos were downloaded and magnified, what appeared to be two fluffy bundles were the objects of the tern's protection. So, more than a week later found us on the peninsula to ring Caspian Tern chicks.

Mark went to the nest to assess the contents. There was no certainty about the status of the nest, if there were in fact chicks or whether the chicks (or chick) was of ringable age. Selena and I got the wave and we headed over eagerly! There were two chicks! Perfect size for ringing!

Mark and I each ringed a chick, and after a quick photo shoot we vacated the area. I feel so privileged to have been able to ring one of these amazing birds! Hopefully these two cuties will fledge and soon join the breeding population of this threatened species!

Kelp Gulls unhappy with the intrusion of a human!

What a cutie!

They do appear to blend in very well with the nest bowl.

Mark and I, very chuffed with the days ringing!

My, what a large mouth you have!

You're so cute when you're angry!

Fly me away

Jason, King of the Sky, once again came to the peninsula to do the last drone count of the season. Here are some of the amazing aerial photos he took. All photos are copyright Jason Van Greunen.

Disheartening days

Alan Lee, a researcher from Percy FitzPatrick Institute working in Baviaanskloof joined the NVT team for a fynbos ringing session in Natures Valley. Keen to show him all the bird associated activities we undertake, I invited him to join me while I did some disturbance work with the African Black Oystercatchers and ringed one of the season’s chicks that was big enough. I was excited to show off the amazing area that I call home, but instead of a beautiful pristine beach the shocking reality of an urbanised coastal ecosystem was revealed. We saw a gull with a plastic bag wrapped around its wing, a juvenile oystercatcher with terrible avian pox (suspected cause) on its legs as well as an adult oystercatcher that appeared to have fishing line wrapped around its wing and/or leg with a length trailing behind. It was a disheartening experience.

Plastic bag wrapped Kelp Gull. Photo by Alan Lee.

Poxy juvenile African Black Oystercatcher. Photo by Alan Lee.

Oystercatcher trailing fishing line. Photo by Alan Lee.

A few days later I decided to go ‘dazzling’. Kellyn Whitehead, a new volunteer at NVT, joined me at Lookout beach one night with the intention of catching the juvenile oystercatcher with pox on its legs; I wanted to take it to the rehab centre at Tenikwa. Armed with headlamps and a spotlight we stalked the beach looking for our bird. Over an hour of traipsing through the colony yielded no oystercatcher and a few failed attempts at catching Crowned Lapwings. Then came a horrific discovery. Kellyn and I came across two dead oystercatchers. A pair. Wrapped together by fishing line. It was most likely the bird that we had seen earlier that week. The trailing fishing line had become entangled with its mate and the two had either starved or drowned, most likely the latter. It was utterly depressing. The death of two individuals of a Near Threatened species due to the negligence of our 'superior' race. This has reinforced my conviction to educate beach-goers, emphasising the care of our beaches to aid in the conservation of all the species that breed in this area.

14 years old!

The ORCA research team comprising of Chanel Hauvette, manager of the ORCA foundation, and Derek Aoki, a volunteer with ORCA from Los Angeles joined me to try and catch one of the adults incubating the last African Black Oystercatcher nest of the season. The disturbance trial went well and the trap was placed over the nest. The three of us beat a hasty retreat to sit on a washed-up log some distance away and discreetly watch the bird. It was a brave bird determined to protect her eggs and it didn’t take long before she was walking around the trap looking for the entrance. Soon the three of us were dashing over the sand to gather the agitated bird before she found the entrance of the trap. To my pleasure we had caught the adult which already had a ring on, this allowed me to explain to Derek the importance of what we were doing. We put a colour ring on the bird, and took all the usual measurements. Work done, Derek handled his first South African bird and released the oystercatcher. As soon as I got home I checked on the ring. The bird was ringed as a chick on 13 March 2000. The oystercatcher was 14 years old! A very exciting recapture for me! African Black Oystercatchers are able to live at least to 29 years old, so this bird has made good its survival thus far! It will be exciting to monitor this bird further, made easier by the yellow and black colour ring on its leg.

Derek releasing the bird after ringing.

The bird sporting its new colour ring.

White-fronted Plovers

I was very lucky while out on Lookout to come across two White-fronted Plover nests. These nests are always very difficult to find if you are not spending a lot of time watching the birds. One I found by chance moving through the colony checking up on birds and nests, and I came across the nest, which is hardly more than a shallow scrape in the sand. The eggs are very small and incredibly well camouflaged.

White-fronted Plover eggs.

While out trying to locate an oystercatcher chick I had stopped on a small dune to watch the parents and orientate myself when a pair of plovers began performing in front of me, even going to far as to attack the oystercatcher that was similarly trying to attract my attention and draw me away from their chick. At that moment plovers trumped oystercatchers and I began the search for what I assumed was a chick from the adults ardent behaviour. Looking at the size of the eggs, the chicks are likewise tiny! And terribly out of proportion! But it was really special to find a chick perhaps only a day or two old.

Fun fieldwork

They always look so cute and photogenic when they're small!

Plettenberg Bay beauty

I love where I stay!

Two cautious parents at Lookout with their successfully fledged chick.

It doesn't get better than this!

Swift Terns at Robberg.

A ray seen at Robberg.

An injured juvenile African Penguin at Robberg which was taken to Tenikwa.

Sunset supper at Robberg.

A beautiful day

We had a full day of field work, visiting both Lookout and the Peninsula (not uncommon for us) but it turned into a longer day than we anticipated and we boated back from the Peninsula later than expected, but the full moon was really just stunning as the sun was setting which made it worth it!

A new oyc chick joined the study group.

Oggling at oystercatchers

Throughout the breeding season Shirley and I were catching and ringing oystercatchers and gulls for the two projects. Whenever we had a bird in the hand we drew and inevitable crowd, most regularly children who were keen to see and touch the bird, and if they were lucky enough, given a chance to let it go once we had collected all the data. These photos were taken by Kelly Van de Voorde.

About to put a ring on.

Checking the moult.

Measuring head length.

Peninsula

Birds on the Peninsula were mostly safe from human disturbance as no-one would dare risk the wrath of the gulls in the colony, but the oycs on the beach were another story. One pair in particular were very close to the boat beaching area and were repeatedly disturbed. Shirley and I did our best to educate beach-goers to her presence, and some kind individual/s built a 'kraal' around her nest to show others that they were to stay away as she was breeding.

The oyc in her kraal.

Beautiful days.

Evidence of an octopus meal, with a colour ring from a previous project.

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.

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!