Atlasville, 1 Jan 2006
Thought I’d get my 2006 list going early with a visit to the Marievale Bird Sanctuary. Marievale is a RAMSAR site and one of the best-known wetland sites in South Africa, probably because of its proximity to the large urban areas of the Witwatersrand which make it easily accessible to a great number of birders. For me it is only a 40-minute drive from home and I regard Marievale as my ‘home patch’. It is unusual in that the Blesbokspruit winds its way through an old gold mining area and wherever you are at Marievale you can see old mine tailings dumps and waste rock dumps, and even an operating mine. While this is primarily a birding venue there are some small mammals to be found, such as mongoose, otters, reedbuck and the species that gave the Blesbokspruit its name. The Blesbok female and calf that I first saw here a month ago were still easy to find today.
This is ‘prime time’ at Marievale, mid-summer, with all the Palearctic and intra-African migrants present, and all the resident species showing off their breeding plumage. Today was my 12th visit to Marievale and so far this 15 km² reserve has provided me with 109 different species. I was also here on five separate occasions last month as I am still trying to master my new Canon.
Most abundant of the summer visitors is the Barn Swallow, however, from a photography perspective it was the resident species that provided me with the best photos today. African Darter could be found drying their wings and also showing why in many parts of Africa they are known as the snakebird. The Squacco Heron were present in large numbers this morning, and it seemed that this Goliath Heron may have bitten of more than it could chew with its catfish catch. Others photographed were White-breasted Cormorant (now regarded as a sub-species of Great Cormorant), Southern Fiscal, Western Cattle Egret and Pin-tailed Whydah.
Marievale is an ever-changing environment and you rarely see the same mix of birds on consecutive visits, even if only a few days apart. Rainfall and therefore water level, temperature, season, wind, time of day, all play a part. So it was in December. As I’m still getting to grips with the camera I tended to photograph everything I was able to, so as to learn what sort of shots are possible and what are not advisable. So what I photographed were the most prominent birds of the day.
On 4th December it was flight shots of African Palm Swift, Horus Swift and Brown-throated Martin, while on and around the water it was Fulvous Whistling Duck, Red-knobbed Coot and African Spoonbill. The grasslands and reed-bed margins teemed with Southern Red Bishop and African Stonechat. The stonechats, both male and female find some very precarious perches.
A rather striking plant seen was the Ploughbreaker (Erythrina zeyheri), which gets its name because in winter when the red flowers and leaves die away an extensive woody tuberous root remains.
On 9th December it was Common Moorhen, Red-billed Teal, Greater Flamingo wading and in flight, Common Myna, Hadada Ibis, White-throated Swallow, Greater Striped Swallow both adults and juveniles, and an African Spoonbill flight shot. Overall number of species and total for any one species were well down on five day’s previously.
Only two days later, on 11th December, there was a great increase in both species and total numbers. Birds of the day were Cape Longclaw, several large flocks of Glossy Ibis, Ruff, Helmeted Guineafowl, Wood Sandpiper, Common Moorhen, Whiskered Tern, African Stonechat, Southern Red Bishop, Yellow-billed Duck, Great Crested Grebe with one pair performing their courtship dance, Brown-throated Martin and Common Myna.
Five days later, on 16th December, a Public Holiday here in South Africa, the photographed species were Western Cattle Egret, Blacksmith Lapwing, Barn Swallow with many immature birds present, Little Stint, African Swamphen, Yellow-billed Duck, Little Egret, Black Heron, Mountain Chat, Marsh Sandpiper and Pin-tailed Whydah.
Finally, on 29th December, I added Speckled Mousebird, Southern Masked Weaver, Levaillant’s Cisticola, Cape Shoveler, Barn swallow and Curlew Sandpiper.
