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Home  Birds and Birding news..
Birds and Birding news..
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Written by globalbirdtrekkers.org
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 |
Just to let you know that Saturday, 4th September 2010 is International Vulture Awareness Day. This day will focus the attention globally on vulture conservation. The aim is to focus on the dire plight of many of the world's vultures and highlight the awareness and regional activities of organisations who participate in vulture conservation. To do our bit, Eagle Encounters will be including vulture flying and information in our 11h00 & 14h00 shows, focussing more specifically on these endangered species. We are working in conjunction with the EWT's Bird of Prey Working Group & BirdLife SA in promoting this awareness initiative. As an incentive, anyone who arrives at Eagle Encounters on that day and announces: "I am here to support the vulture" will be able to watch the 11h00 and/or 14h00 shows for free (ie: they will only have to pay the R20 entrance fee, not the R20 per show). Please pass this information along to your members and anyone else who might be interested in our birds. Many thanks, Tracy Chalmers.
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Written by globalbirdtrekkers.org
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Saturday, 31 July 2010 |
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Subject: WORLD RANGER DAY, 31ST OF JULY 2010: GRAA CALLS ON GREATER SUPPORT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR AFRICA’ Media Release
In commemoration of World Ranger Day on the 31st of July 2010, the Game Rangers Association of Africa has called for greater support and acknowledgment of the valuable role of Rangers in the conservation of wildlife and protected areas on the African continent. “The general public feels very strongly about current conservation issues such as the rising tide of rhino poaching incidents in southern Africa, but seldom spare a thought for the brave men and women fighting at the forefront to try and curb this and other threats to our wildlife and protected areas across Africa” says GRAA Chairman, André Botha.
World Ranger Day was first observed in 2007, on the 15th anniversary of the founding of the International Ranger Federation (IRF) and is promoted by the 54 member associations of the IRF, the Thin Green Line Foundation and by individuals who support the ethos and work of rangers worldwide.
Although African governments often refer to the environment and tourism as a major new focal area on which to build their economies, very little resources are allocated to the proper management and care of these resources or the people who look after them. Conservationists and rangers across Africa often struggle with challenges such as poor or irregular remuneration, lack of appropriate training and suitable equipment and often lack sufficient support from senior management of conservation bodies and/or political leaders responsible for environmental affairs.
An example of this is the situation in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where more than 150 rangers have been killed by poachers and other militia over the last 5 years in trying to protect the Park’s endangered highland Gorilla, hippopotami and other wildlife from being eradicated, either for financial gain or to be used as food for warring faction troops. Many other rangers live and work under extremely difficult circumstances elsewhere on the continent, often for very little remuneration and compensation.
Further south, the very existence of certain protected areas, and by implication also the jobs and livelihoods of many rangers, guides and other staff working therein, seem to be under threat as activities such as mining, industrialization and the over-exploitation of natural resources in neighbouring areas seem to place growing on pressure on areas such as the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site, Ndumo Game Reserve ad Songimvelo Nature Reserve in South Africa.
The Game Rangers Association of Africa would therefore like to urge conservation bodies and government to provide appropriate support, training and acknowledgement to rangers and other conservation staff throughout the continent as these men and women are the custodians of Africa’s biodiversity not just on behalf of single communities, countries or even the continent alone, but fullfil their calling on behalf of the global community.
Enquiries:
André Botha
Chairman
Game Rangers Association of Africa
Mobile +27(0) 82 962 5725
E-mail:
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Written by globalbirdtrekkers.org
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Friday, 30 July 2010 |
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 Thick-billed Weaver, Lake Panic, Kruger National Park, South Africa by Jackie During PHOWN (PHOtos of Weaver Nests; rhymes with "own") is a new ADU Virtual Museum project, where weaver nests or colonies may be photographed and submitted. To take part in this project, you need to register as a virtual museum participant. Then find weaver nests and take photos and count the nests. It is currently the top item of Latest News on several ADU websites (eg http://www.adu.org.za).
You can view submissions already made (without being registered) at http://vmus.adu.org.za and clicking on "Photos of Weaver Nests" --- There are different search
possibilities - explore these yourself! There are already 23 records of a variety of southern African weavers in PHOWN.
To take part and submit your own photos, you need to register. Read more details here: http://weavers.adu.org.za/phown.php.
Any weaver species (Ploceidae family) may be photographed.
To register, go to http://vmus.adu.org.za , click on "Registration" down the left hand side menu, and fill in your contact details (if you have an ADU number, use this and your email to obtain your password). Your password is emailed to you. You use your email address and password to "LOGIN" (the bottom item on the same left hand side menu). Once you have done the LOGIN, the left hand side menu gets longer, and you can do "Data upload".
PHOWN (PHotos Of Weaver Nests) is a monitoring project aimed at determining the distribution of colonies or nests of all weaver species globally. Counting weaver nests and taking photos allows tracking of changes in weaver breeding effort. Many weavers are common and this project provides an easy way of monitoring them, while some weaver species are threatened and this project would help their conservation.
The software for the ADU Virtual Museum projects were written by Rene Navarro and the current software allows users to submit photos directly to the web, rather than emailing photos as was the case with the first project (SARCA, Southern African Reptile Conservation Assessment). PHOWN is the fourth Virtual Museum project and is being launched in time for the 2010 breeding season. In the Western Cape Southern Masked and Cape Weavers have started to build nests.
So take your camera while birding!
Dieter
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Dr H. Dieter Oschadleus
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Bird-ringing Coordinator, SAFRING
Animal Demography Unit, Dept of Zoology tel: (021) 650-2421
University of Cape Town fax: (021) 650-3434
Rondebosch 7701 RSA After-hours: 083-285-6889
SAFRING: http://safring.adu.org.za
Weavers: http://weavers.adu.org.za
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Written by Jackie During
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Thursday, 29 July 2010 |
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Sent to GBT by Scott Ronaldson of EWT... . Thought you might be interested in writing something about this very rare occurance; this picture was taken by Jane Ludlow on the 28/7/2010 on the S128 near the junction with the S30/S29.What is interesting is that the group has two females and one male. Normally there is only one female with an alpha male with helpers which normally consists of male birds. Females get kicked out after 3/4 years. Regards Scott  PHOTO BY JANE LUDLOW
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Written by globalbirdtrekkers.org
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Thursday, 22 July 2010 |
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Delay decision on nuclear power station Proposed nuclear power station threatens penguins, sharks and whales
Trust calls for halt until marine environment impact is known The Dyer Island Conservation Trust believes that the proposed nuclear power station at Bantamsklip threatens the unique populations of penguins, sharks, whales and other marine species of this fragile area of the Western Cape.
These seas are the home of the endangered African Penguin (with one the few remaining nesting colonies on nearby Dyer Island) and the world's densest population of Great White Sharks as well as providing an important breeding area for Southern Right Whales each winter. Additionally, the protected area has visiting dolphins (notably the rare Humpback dolphin) and other whale species along with a large colony of Cape Fur Seals and many seabird species.
These easily accessible populations are a focus of important international marine research and exist alongside an eco-tourism industry which annually attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world. Marine impact of project inadequately studied to-date The proposed power station would cause permanent changes in this fragile and complex marine environment with increased water temperature, chemical contamination and sediment pollution.
The impact of such changes on the sensitive marine and bird populations is unknown and could be devastating. These risks have not been adequately investigated in the Environmental Impact Assessment which has been conducted to-date.
Therefore, we believe that no decision can be taken on the project until a full evaluation of the likely impact on the populations of penguins, whales, sharks and other species has been successfully conducted. We have proposed appropriate research goals in a letter of our concerns sent via the public participation process to Acer (Africa) Environmental Management Consultants for review by Eskom.
Until this research has been completed the Dyer Island Conservation Trust calls for a halt to the planned nuclear power station at Bantamsklip. DICT's document outlining a programme of recommendation research
Research on sharks and penguins
Save Bantamsklip.org
Please help us now by donating to our research. 
To learn more visit www.dict.org.za
Dyer Island Conservation Trust delivers unique conservation and research programmes in the fragile and critically important marine eco-system at the southern-most tip of Africa. Here we strive to protect the largest surviving colonies of the endangered African Penguin – whose numbers are at an all-time low; the globally important breeding and calving grounds of the Southern Right Whale; and, one of the world's largest populations of the mysterious Great White Shark.
Phone: +27 (0) 82 9075607 | Email:
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| PO Box 78, Gansbaai 7220, South Africa | Reg No:1881/413/14/8
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