Blowing Hot and Cold

The latter part of the week has been quite strange. I left Giant's Castle in temperatures close to 30 degrees C and headed to the Ongeluksnek Nature Reserve in the Eastern Cape via a quick visit to Andy Piper in Underberg. Andy is the wife of the late Prof. Steven Piper, one of the foremost vulture biologists/conservationists in the world, sadly and unexpectedly passed away in March this year. He was also a great friend, mentor and support to me over the last 10 years since I decided to make birds and bird conservation my main focus. Andy and I discussed the relocation of large volumes of material related to vultures and which Steven has meticulously collected over many years, to become part of the EWT-BoPWG archives. However, when we were done with our discussions, I noticed that the wind had turned and that temperatures had dropped considerably.

Travelling to Ongeluksnek via Matatiele, clouds starting moving in and I passed several veld-fires before reaching the reserve just before dark. Here I met Dean Peinke from EC Parks Board and we discussed the planned vulture feeding site to be established on the reserve. This discussion was continued the next morning with a group from the Parks Board, Conservation Department and a community based organisation which was very constructive and should see this site becoming a reality in the near future. A feeding site here is very improtant as it fills a considerable gap in the network of feeding sites which are strategically placed to benefit the endangered Bearded Vulture as well as a considerable number of Cape Vulture colonies. The weather however had by now changed dramatically and temperatures were hovering around freezing point, even when I finally headed off to Oribi Gorge by lunchtime. Low cloud and intermittent drizzle had by now wiped away any memories of the warm temperatures experienced earlier in the week.

The drive down to Oribi Gorge was marked by a sighting of 11 Denham's Bustard near Matatiele as they were foraging in a large burnt area, one of the fires that I passed the day before. I have not seen such a large number of birds before. Other birds seen along the route were both Blue and Southern Grey Crowned Crane and two sightings of the rare African Marsh Harrier.

Although temperatures were warmer at Oribi Gorge, the overcast and drizzly conditions were very similar to that experienced at higher altitudes. Next morning, I met with Mike Neethling, a farmer from the area that runs a feeding site and has for many years been monitoring the Umtamvuna Cape Vulture breeding colony with Steven Piper. Mike will be responsible for the future monitoring of this colony with some staff from KZN Wildlife and it was good to spend some time with him to discuss options and plans for the future. We also visited his feeding site, but due to the low mist, could not see any birds there or get any views of the colony. Because the weather did not look like changing any time soon, I left the area and travelled to link up with the Bearded Vulture capture team at Monk's Cowl in the Drakensberg again.

The weather here was also not the kindest with low cloud and an icy wind prevailing for most of the morning before I headed back to Johannesburg.