A short ringing trip to Haas Vlakte farm with only 3 people, still yielded a few interesting species, including a juvenile Southern Boubou. A Blacksmith Lapwing flew into a net next to the river, and promptly 2 others were caught when they came to see what the fuss was (another one or two did not get caught). Although Malachite Kingfishers are often caught in wetlands, it is still amazing to hold this tiny jewel in the hand each time one is caught. Barn Swallows were flying around in numbers, getting ready to migrate north. They can easily see the nets during the day, but fortunately we did catch 2 adults and 2 young birds.
There were 6 recaptures, some of which were ringed on our first visit to the area in October 2024.
| Sp no | Count | English |
|---|---|---|
| 245 | 3 | Blacksmith Lapwing |
| 314 | 1 | Red-eyed Dove |
| 397 | 2 | Malachite Kingfisher |
| 493 | 4 | Barn Swallow |
| 606 | 1 | African Reed Warbler |
| 609 | 1 | Little Rush Warbler |
| 646 | 1 | Levaillant’s Cisticola |
| 665 | 5 | Fiscal Flycatcher |
| 682 | 1 | African Paradise Flycatcher |
| 686 | 1 | Cape Wagtail |
| 707 | 2 | Common Fiscal |
| 709 | 1 | Southern Boubou |
| 746 | 1 | Pied Starling |
| 799 | 18 | Cape Weaver |
| 803 | 3 | Southern Masked Weaver |
| 808 | 9 | Southern Red Bishop |
| 1172 | 2 | Cape White-eye |
| 4142 | 1 | Southern Grey-headed Sparrow |
While driving back from a potential future ringing site, we noticed large numbers of Barn Swallows following a tractor that was cutting down weeds in a field. EVen though there was lots of dust, the swallows foraged happily on the disturbed insects.
