A small group arrived at Vondeling on 17 Sep for a 2 night visit. While settling in, I noticed that weavers were coming to feed on the ground outside our cottage, so I quickly put down a spring trap. Only after catching the first weaver (mealworm bait) did I realise that I had put the trap on top of a slice of old bread (camouflaged) – the bread attracted the weavers to this spot, and then saw the mealworm. We caught 5 Cape Weavers and 2 Southern Masked Weavers (as well as a Fiscal Flycatcher) in one hour.
The next morning we mist-netted away from the cottage. In the afternoon the weather turned cold with occasional drizzle. The staff had put some left-over cooked rice on the ground near the bread from the previous day. By again placing a spring trap over the rice, we had a very productive catch, even though the weather was too miserable for mist-netting. In 2 1/4 hours we caught 26 Cape Weavers and 4 Southern Masked Weavers. After the first few weavers, there was no need to replace the mealworm – we even caught up to 4 weavers at one time.
Of the weavers spring trapped, 12 Cape Weavers and 2 Southern Masked Weavers were retraps. These had all been ringed last year or earlier this year.
Thanks to the staff for habituating the weavers to feed in this area!
Fact sheet:
Number ringed to date (SAFRING): [1948-2024]
-
- Cape Weaver 49 858
- Southern Masked Weaver 183 688
Longevity: oldest of the 2 species – Cape Weaver 17y 5m
Trip report: BDI report
Reason special: unusual to catch so many weavers in a single spring trap
