SIMONSTOWN PENGUIN FESTIVAL

SANCCOB BENEFIT WEEKEND

25 –  27 September 2009 

ANNOUNCING AFRICAN PENGUIN DAY 
 

Once again the annual Simons Town Penguin Festival is on the horizon so waddle your way down to Boulders Beach and help to preserve some of the most precious little tux-wearing tykes on the planet!  ALL proceeds raised over the weekend go to support SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds www.sanccob.co.za).  

This year, for the first time, penguin-lovers will celebrate African Penguin Day (26 September), a SANCCOB international initiative, to raise awareness of this much loved and ‘vulnerable to extinction’ species.  One of the highlights of this year’s festival will be a beach release of penguins rehabilitated at SANCCOB at 10am Saturday 26 September. 

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I want to let people know South American species mainly due to the great biodiversity of species here...and I wanted to start with this one, because there are so few photographs of it and a pair of good pictures...


Photo by Gastón Cassus

About the pic, Gastón Cassus  says:
I think we crossed the Magellan strait to go to Porvenir with the only objective to watch this tiny, beautiful and almost unique bird, and get a good shot.
We walked a lot (about 15 km) with a bones freezing wind and we were able to see only two birds, one of them at a big distance and this one, very close to us, going and coming with no problem of our presence. I think it well worth it, because the Magellanic Plover is one of the most scarce birds in the whole world, and found only in southernmost South America.

About the bird:
The Magellanic Plover, Pluvianellus socialis, is a rare and unique wader found only in southernmost South America; in the Magellan province of Chile, Falkland (Malvine) Islands, and up to Chubut in Argentina.
They live at the shores of lagoons and salt lakes, and at coastal sites in the winter, imitating the sand and little rocks, so it is very hard to see it. Actually it is not an endangered specie, but there are no more than about 1500 specimens.This species is not migratory.
The Magellanic Plover es a specie that posses particular characteristics, so there are discussion about their taxonomic location. Many authors clasificate them in a new family: Pluvianellidae.

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The Photo Theme of The Week for ths week is: A Bad Hair Day

If you have a photo of a bird with its feathers all ruffled out of shape, you can submit your entry for the contest in the Trekkie's Forums or in the GBT Flickr group.

Remember the winner for the month will receive a prize hamper from GBT.

photo by J. During

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Source RSPB 

“The first chicks have begun to hatch at Seaford’s Splash Point, East Sussex, indicating a successful year for this important seabird colony.

Kittiwakes, medium-sized gulls with black wing tips, only come to shore once a year to breed.  The East Sussex cliff-top colony, made up of around 700 pairs, has become increasing significant in recent years as Kittiwakes struggle to breed in strongholds along the coast of Northern England, Scotland and Wales.

Declines at these larger colonies are thought to be connected with a lack of sand-eel fish in the seas around the sites, most likely linked to climate change.  The sand-eel is the Kitiwake’s main food source.  Population declines have led to the Kittiwake being amber listed as species of conservation concern."

Photo by Sebamirum 

creative commons licence

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Vote for the winner of the June Photo Theme of The Week Contest in the poll to your right!

The winner will receive a prize hamper courtesy of GBT.

Thank you very much to  michel gutierrez for selecting this month's finalists.

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So on our last day in the Kalahari, I had a morning session with Chris, and he assured me I would get my BIF shot...I have to be honest and say I had my doubts! Up to this point in life I just had not been able to get a decent BIF shot! Of course having discovered I use shutter speeds that, to quote Chris, "are dangerous" could have been part of the problem LOL! Due to my apparently super steady hand I was, how ever, allowed a lower ISO...and lo and behold, my holy grail in photography, I got that shot

And although game and bird-wise it was a quiet morning, a lone Swallow-tailed Bee-eater posed rather nicely for us!

In closing I would like to add that it was both an incredibly enjoyable and highly educational photography course/trip. Chris van Rooyen is passionate about photography and birds and his enthusiasm is contagious. We were also taught how to process our photos  post shooting as we shot in RAW. Chris was a patient instructor and managed to convince all of us we had what it takes to be good photogrpahers, and our shots are, I think,proof of his teaching skills.  I can also think of no better way to learn wildlife photography than in one of the most beautiful parks in South Africa. All in all, definitely one of the most enjoyable trips I have yet experienced.

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Our last morning in the Kalahari arrived!

I went out for one last drive while Jackie went for her session with Chris.  There was not too much happening out in Africa though. 

We did however find these two little cuties…

AND Jackie managed to get her BIF pic!!!  Eventually it was time to leave the park and head for Augrabies where we would spend 2 nights! Our drive there was uneventful, well except for “Mrs Garmin” losing the plot and recalculating our route umpteen times until Jackie put her out of her misery and re-entered our destination!! 

We were allocated a lekker chalet with a view – so we were chuffed.  By now it was late afternoon, all the dassies were out in full force catching the last of the sunshine before the chilly night set in.  We went for a quick drive out in the park before the gates closed for the night.  Wow – the landscapes one sees at here are stunning, and Jackie got some real great shots, which I’m sure she will share with you all soon!

Unfortunately we never caught the sun in just the correct position to get good shots of the falls, but here are just 2 pics to give you a glimps of what we saw!

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