Ringing weekend at the Nature College, 18-19 March 2017

2017-03-23 (773)

A team of ringers and helpers (Graeme and Jacky Furno, Loutjie and Aneldi Steenberg, Dieter Oschadleus) visited the Nature College to demonstrate bird ringing to the current students, and to continue training Jana Malherbe as a ringer.

We arrived on Friday, and Jacky caught a Pale Chanting Goshawk on a bal-chatri. Mist-nets were up on Saturday morning at the dam wall, but it became too windy so we moved our nets around the farm house for the rest of Saturday and also Sunday morning.

The top ringed species were Cape Sparrow, Southern Masked Weaver, and (surprisingly!) White-backed Mousebird. There were 13 recaptures, mostly of birds ringed a month previously by Vincent Ward. One Cape Weaver, however, had been ringed by Philip Coetzee 8 years 9 months previously (ring BE04041). One of the specials was Fairy Flycatcher, weighing in at a mere 5-6g.

Thanks very much to Jana and Francois Malherbe for hosting us so well!

scorpion — *Opistophthalmus karrooensis*

Ringing totals for the weekend:

Sp	Species	Latin	Ring	Retrap
165	Pale Chanting Goshawk	Melierax canorus	1
391	White-backed Mousebird	Colius colius	30	3
402	Brown-hooded Kingfisher	Halcyon albiventris	1
432	Pied Barbet	Tricholaema leucomelas	1
498	Pearlbreasted Swallow	Hirundo dimidiata	1
543	Cape Bulbul	Pycnonotus capensis		2
570	Familiar Chat	Cercomela familiaris	2
581	Cape Robin	Cossypha caffra	2
583	Karoo Robin	Erythropygia coryphaeus	1
646	Levaillant’s Cisticola	Cisticola tinniens		1
651	Karoo Prinia	Prinia maculosa	1
665	Fiscal Flycatcher	Sigelus silens	2
678	Fairy Flycatcher	Stenostira scita	2
686	Cape Wagtail	Motacilla capensis	2
707	Fiscal Shrike	Lanius collaris	2	1
746	Pied Starling	Spreo bicolor	6
760	Southern Double-collared Sunbird	Nectarinia chalybea	2
784	House Sparrow	Passer domesticus	4
786	Cape Sparrow	Passer melanurus	40	2
787	Southern Grey-headed Sparrow	Passer diffusus	2
799	Cape Weaver	Ploceus capensis	16	2
803	Southern Masked Weaver	Ploceus velatus	38	2
805	Red-billed Quelea	Quelea quelea	11
808	Southern Red Bishop	Euplectes orix	17
865	White-throated Canary	Serinus albogularis	1
	Totals		185	13