What the flock … of Wattled Starlings!

Caroline out birding in the chilliest weather

Overcast, windy and cold – that was our weather forecast for the morning. But, research must go on come rain or shine and dressed in our warmest available layers we headed out to sample the birds at Voegelfontein. As expected most of the birds were hunkered down and keeping quiet with only a few calls from a group of CRESTED FRANCOLINS, the ringing song of the CRESTED BARBET and the ‘work harder’ tune of two CAPE TURTLE DOVES. As things warmed up on the vlei fringes we started to hear many more species beginning to sing including the ever present pair of SOUTHERN BOUBOUS, an ORANGE-BREASTED BUSHSHRIKE, EMERALD SPOTTED WOOD DOVES, BURCHELL’S COUCALS, a WHITE-BROWED SCRUB-ROBIN, GREY GO-AWAY BIRD and SOUTHERN MASKED WEAVER. The find of the day had to be the over 300 strong flock of WATTLED STARLINGS that swept through the edge of the vlei. Their calls were so raucous many of the other birds moved off rapidly as they took over trees, patches of grass and anywhere else that looked like a suitable place to land. Personally I have never seen WATTLED STARLINGS flock in such numbers but it certainly was an impressive sight to behold.

Wattled Starling Flock

Burchell’s Coucal calling

The starlings are not the only large flocking bird that is arriving back at Voegelfontein, some of the other flocks starting to arrive in the vlei include WHITE-WINGED WIDOWBIRDS, CATTLE-EGRETS, SACRED IBISES, AFRICAN SPOONBILLS, RED-BILLED QUELAS and BARN SWALLOWS. Every week we have noticed an increase in the number of swallows and swifts at Voegelfontein and this week was no exception. Given the cold weather, many a swallow was cuddled up along the fence lines and some of them huddled down on the road including GREATER- and LESSER-STRIPED SWALLOWS, WHITE-THROATED SWALLOWS, RED-BREASTED SWALLOWS and BARN SWALLOWS.

Red-breasted Swallow

Flock of Sacred Ibises

Barn Swallow

Lesser-striped Swallow

African spoonbill

The colder weather did not seem to affect the birds at the Dabchick hide too much with five AFRICAN SPOONBILLS, a GOLIATH and SQUACCO HERON, OSTRICHES, AFRICAN JACANAS, WOOD SANDPIPER, CAPE LONGCLAWS, a LITTLE STINT, EGYPTIAN GEESE, WATTLED PLOVERS AND as usual several BLACKSMITH LAPWINGS. The raptors were also not enjoying the miserable weather preferring to huddle up in the tops of trees rather than soaring in the blustering wind. AFRICAN FISH EAGLES, a BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE, BROWN and BLACK-CHESTED SNAKE EAGLES were all present, possibly taking advantage of the open vlei left by the fire.

Black-shouldered Kite

The vlei itself is making a fast recovery now that we have had some decent rainfall; the grass across the vlei has turned from the scarred, black, chargrilled devastation into a beautiful, lush, green carpet. The reeds are shooting up rapidly and some of them are already over half a meter tall.

The animals are also taking advantage of the fresh new growth with good numbers of KUDU, WARTHOG, ZEBRA, WATERBUCK, ROAN, WILDEBEEST and TSESSEBE moving through the vlei.

Male Kudu

Newly hatched Speckled Doves in the Dabchick Hide

Spring in Voeglefontein is definitely well under way and hearing all of the birds calling around Nylsvley Nature Reserve is so special. Babies are starting to appear across the reserve and the SPECKLED DOVES that are nesting in the Dabchick Hide have welcomed two little chicks into the world. We are looking forward to watching them grow up over the next few weeks.

The choir after the storm

The entrance to the Voegelfontein Hides at Nylsvley Nature Reserve – on its way to recovery

The rains have arrived at Nylsvley! We experienced a house-shaking thunderstorm that dumped around 36mm of rain on us. This induced a noticeable change in bird activity. Many species are now singing and displaying in the vlei and across the reserve. The cuckoos have come out of hiding and are all singing. We saw a beautiful RED-CHESTED CUCKOO the morning after the rain closely followed by an AFRICAN CUCKOO in a large wild seringa (Burkea africana), as well as a BLACK CUCKOO in our yard.

Red-chested Cuckoo

Our survey of the vlei was the morning after the storm and bird activity was prime. The vlei was incredibly misty when we first arrived and every hole and divet was filled with water. We began at the east end of the vlei where we found many of the usual savanna suspects. WHITE-BROWED SCRUB-ROBIN and WHITE-THROATED ROBIN-CHAT were both singing beautifully (although neither ever showed itself). Three SOUTHERN BOUBOUS were also issuing high-pitched imitations of bushshrikes in the surrounding savanna. The resident BURCHELL’S STARLING perched on the fence and protested our presence loudly. As we moved into the center of the vlei, we found many of the usual denizens of the marsh. There were four AFRICAN FISH EAGLES, two adults and two juveniles as well as several BLACK-SHOULDERED KITES. WATTLED, CROWNED, and BLACKSMITH LAPWINGS were all present and very vocal. Some other highlights were the return of a few BARN SWALLOWS and a pair of EUROPEAN BEE-EATERS. GREATER-STRIPED, LESSER-STRIPED, WHITE-THROATED, and RED-BREASTED SWALLOWS were all abundant. We found several “mega-flocks” of RED-BILLED QUELEA and WHITE-WINGED WIDOWBIRD foraging in the ever-greening vlei and gathering around puddles to drink.

Barn Swallow

The area around the bird hides was busy as usual. Many waterbirds were still in the small ponds including AFRICAN SACRED IBIS, AFRICAN SPOONBILL, BURCHELL’S COUCAL, and GOLIATH HERON. Numerous AFRICAN STONECHATS have staked out territories on the long walk out the hides and always noisily defend them. LEVAILLANT’S CISTICOLAS have also been fighting for the remaining habitats and the victors make sure that their future nest site is well defended. The highlight of the walk to the hides was a SPECKLED DOVE on her nest in the Dabchick Hide. The bird rapidly flushed when we walked up to the hide and perched on the roof for much of our visit. The simple nest built of sticks was tucked in the corner of the hide on the floor. It contained two pure white eggs. As we moved back towards the margins of the vlei, we discovered a few more new species. A pair of MARICO SUNBIRDS were chattering in a tree on the west side of the vlei while a stunning male BLACK CUCKOOSHRIKE sat motionless in the top of an Acacia watching us. This survey had a record 68 species present with over 550 individuals counted. The birds were clearly excited about the rains and so are we.

Speckled Dove nest in the Dabchick Hide

On the Road to Recovery

The vlei is already recovering at an astounding rate. In a mere ten days, the grass has grown to twenty centimeters in some areas and the reeds are also beginning to resprout. Burning of old vegetation releases large amounts of nitrogen into the surface layer of the soil. This nitrogen combined with the moisture retained by the vlei allows grasses, reeds and forbs to rapidly commence post-fire growth. The herbivores of Nylsvley are enjoying this new, high-nutrient growth. Wildebeest, roan, zebra, waterbuck, reedbuck, impala, and tsessebe were all present in large numbers, munching on the bright green grass. While the game enjoyed the fresh forage, several black-backed jackals picked at the remaining casualties from the fire. Seeing the carcass of a large male waterbuck gives a sense of the speed and severity of the blaze.

            On the bird front, the number of post-fire scavengers has decreased. There was a lone CAPE LONGCLAW down from seven in the last count and both the Jackal Buzzard and the Secretarybirds have dispersed. The number of BLACK-SHOULDERED KITES has declined as well with only three present during our survey. The number of AFRICAN PIPITS has also decreased and the Buffy Pipits were no longer present.

            The middle of the vlei, near the hides, has become a haven for the remaining waterbirds. The GOLIATH HERON remains in the largest pond along with AFRICAN JACANAS, SQUACCO HERON, AFRICAN SPOONBILL, AFRICAN SACRED IBIS, and SPURWING GEESE. LEVAILLANT’S CISTICOLAS and RED BISHOPS were both present in the remaining unburned reed patches. Several species of shorebirds were also feeding in the remaining ponds and puddles. A COMMON GREENSHANK, an AFRICAN SNIPE, and a COMMON SANDPIPER were all foraging in the largest pond and two WOOD SANDPIPERS were also spotted in some of the wet areas along the pathway.  

            The edge of the vlei, where marsh meets savanna, also were becoming more active. A long AFRICAN HOOPOE was singing away on the east side of the vlei along with EMERALD SPOTTED WOODDOVE, BURCHELL’S STARLING, and GREY HORNBILL. Our first AFRICAN PALM SWIFT of the count also flitted overhead. On the west edge, a group of ARROW-MARKED BABBLERS made their presence known with their typical rattling call. They were joined by a noisy pair of CRESTED FRANCOLINS and the fi-wheep call of HELMETED GUINEAFOWL. MARICO and PALLID FLYCATCHERS hawked insects from their perches over the road.

Overall, we found a total of 62 bird species in about two hours of surveying which is one more than last week. There was a marked increase in the overall abundance. We counted around 450 individuals up from about 350 in the previous survey. In addition, the bird activity seemed to be on the rise as well. The bird life in the vlei appears to already be on the road to recovery. 

After the shock it’s time to get to work

We returned to Nylsvley Nature Reserve late on Sunday afternoon after receiving word that the reserve was burning. As we turned off of the Roedtan road we could not believe what we saw in front of us. The air was thick with smoke and flying bits of ash and the once lush bushveld was dramatically transformed into a black, smokey, ash-covered barren landscape. Fences had been toppled by large trees that had burnt to the point of collapse and parts of the road were now blocked by these fallen giants that had been reduced to smoldering piles of charcoal. It is difficult to describe the shock one felt as you stared uncomprehendingly at the absolute devastation that surrounded you. We drove down to the Voegelfontein hides and were heart-broken to find that three out of the four hides were raised to the ground and where thick grassy plains once stretched out across the land, only patches of blackened ash remained. The areas that still had some water left were mostly spared from the brute force of the flames but did not escape complete damage. Shell-shocked and feeling rather dazed we returned to our farmhouse for dinner.

We had been sitting for only a few minutes when the idea came up to use this fire as an opportunity rather than a hindrance to the work we were doing in Nylslvey. We hashed out a few possible study opportunities and decided that a birding project would be the best way forward. We decided to assess how the fire has affected the bird communities within the wetlands along the Voegelfontein road. Once a week we will head out and conduct point-counts along the road and at the remaining Dabchick hide.

The following Tuesday we headed down to the vlei to begin our work. The Acacia woodland border to the wetland had many of the usual subjects including ARROW-MARKED BABBLERS, TAWNY-FLANKED PRINIA, CHESTNUT-VENTED TIT-BABBLER, OSTRICH, SOUTHERN BOUBOU, WHITE-BROWED SCRUB-ROBIN and GREY GO-AWAY BIRDS. As we moved further into the burnt vlei we found a few surprise visitors including a pair of SECRETARY BIRDS, a hungry JACKAL BUZZARD, BUFFY PIPIT and CAPE LONGCLAWS. There were also several BLACK-SHOULDERED KITES and a small army of BLACKSMITH and CROWNED LAPWINGS making use of the shortened grass. The bird abundance increased as we approached the Dabchick hide where a small patch of water still remained for the SPUR-WINGED and EGYPTIAN GEESE, AFRICAN JACANAS, COMMON MOORHENS, GOLIATH, GREY and SQUACCO HERONS, RED-BILLED TEALS, AFRICAN SNIPES and LEVAILLANT’S CISTICOLAS. The LESSER- and GREATER-STRIPED SWALLOWS seemed unperturbed by the fire damage and continued to perch on the fences along the road, along with the RED-BREASTED and WHITE-THROATED SWALLOWS. A flock of RED-BILLED OXPECKERS flew over in search of the now dispersed game and shortly after that a flock of WATTLED STARLINGS also passed over us. As we moved from the water zone back towards the outlying savanna  boundary we began to encounter SWAINSON’S SPURFOWL, HELMETED GUINEAFOWL, BLACK-HEADED ORIOLES, BURCHELLS AND CAPE GLOSSY STARLINGS, as well as COMMON FISCAL.

We have had a good start to our weekly monitoring and we are looking forward to seeing what the weeks ahead will hold for us.

Please get in touch if you would like to join us on our monitoring sessions or would like more information about the ‘rising from the ashes project’.

Until next week!

M and C