Cape Bird Club Newsletter January 2015

January Newsletter

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CAPE BIRD CLUB NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2015

CLUB ACTIVITIES

There will be NO RONDEVLEI OUTING this month.

Thursday 8 January
EVENING MEETING: RAPTOR REHABILITATION

Speaker: Hank Chalmers
Meet at 20h00. Hank and Tracy Chalmers founded Eagle Encounters in 2001. This is one of the most remarkable raptor rehabilitation centres in the country. Birds found to be too damaged on rescue are euthanised but those that can be rehabilitated undergo amazing treatment, some being given flight feather implants or being taught to hunt through the use of a paper kite. Most are returned to the wild but some remain in their care for the rest of their lives. Because the Chalmers are falconers they are able to ensure that all the birds fly. Permanent residents are not condemned to flightless captivity but are used as ambassadors for conservation and education. The centre has been given space at Spier Wine Estate but all their funding is self-generated. Entrance fees and public generosity is all that keeps them going! This promises to be a most interesting evening so do come along to our first meeting in 2015.

We meet at the Nassau Centre, Groote Schuur High School, Palmyra Road, Newlands.
Tea and biscuits are served after the meeting at a cost of R4.00.
Visitors are welcome - there is a charge of R10.00 for visitors and non-members.

Sunday 18 January
OUTING: ZANDVLEI NATURE RESERVE
Meet at 08h00. This reserve near Muizenberg is normally closed on weekends, but Graham has arranged for the Club to have access. It includes wetlands, river system and estuary.
Directions: From Main Road in Retreat turn into Military Road at the ‘Lavender Hill’ sign. Continue over the level crossing. At the first set of traffic lights turn right into Coniston Road. After about 200 metres turn right onto a dirt road at the Zandvlei sign. Continue until you reach a Municipal Depot. Drive through the smaller of the two gates, over a cattle grid and past the buildings to the parking area where we will meet.
Leader: Graham Pringle (083 707 1339)

Tuesday 20 January
WEEKDAY OUTING: DIE HEL, CONSTANTIA
Meet at 08h30. It is an easy trail along a path covered with thick forest and shrubs and makes for a comfortable walk on a hot summer's day.
Directions: From the M3 highway turn into Rhodes Drive. Follow the windy road until you get to the circle at Constantia Nek. Turn left and drive down into Constantia Main Road. About 750 metres from the circle, you will find a small car park on your left. This marks the start of your walk onto the Die Hel trail.
Leader: Linda Hibbin (076 140 6667)

2014 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition

Don’t miss the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition, which will feature 100 breath-taking images of nature. It runs from December 2014 to March 2015 at the Iziko Gallery in Cape Town.

In addition to the normal entrance fee, a nominal surcharge of R15 for adults; and R7.50 for children, students and pensioners, will be included for access to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition area.

For further information contact Christopher Mason at NHU Africa on Tel: 021 422 0023, or visit www.nhuafrica.com

Alternatively, contact Lee-Shay Collison at Iziko Museums of South Africa on Tel: 021 981 3891 or email:lcollison@iziko.org.za, or visit www.iziko.org.za

BIRD COUNTS AND HACKS

The summer CWAC counts take place from mid-January to mid-February.
Please assist with these counts if you possibly can.

Sunday 4 January: Kirstenbosch BIRP Count.
Meet at 08h00
Leader: John Magner (082 881 3845)

Thursday 8 January: Wildevoelvlei Count
Meet at 08h30
Leader: Eric Barnes (021 782 5429)

Saturday 10 January: Zandvlei Hack
Meet at 14h00
Leader: Gavin Lawson (021 705 5224)

Sunday 11 January: Strandfontein Count
Meet at 08h00
Leader: Dick Barnes (021 689 1106)

Friday 16 January: Rietvlei CWAC Count
Meet at 09h00
Leader: Koos Retief (021 444 0315 (w))

Saturday 17 January: Zandvlei CWAC Count
Meet at 08h00
Leader: Gavin Lawson (021 705 5224)

Tuesday 20 January: Radyn Dam CWAC Count *
Meet at 09h00
Please note that the date and time for the Radyn Dam CWAC Count in the Malmesbury district is provisional.
For details of starting time and meeting place please contact Otto Schmidt at 021 674 2381

Thursday 22 January: Athlone WWTW Count
Meet at 13h00
Leader: Dick Bos (021 423 2546)
These counts will take place weather permitting

Saturday 24 January: Paarl Bird Sanctuary CWAC
Meet at 09h00
Leader: Yvonne Weiss (021 872 4972)

Thursday 29 January: Wellington WWTW CWAC *
Meet at 09h00
Please note that the date and time for the Wellington Sewage Works CWAC Count is provisional.
For details of starting time and meeting place please contact John Fincham at 021 919 4069.

Saturday 31 January: CAR Count
All day

The Sound of Laughter Fundraiser Evening

The Club had a successful fundraiser evening at the Theatre on the Bay on 4 December 2014.

Our official photographer, Julian Hare took photographs of the theatre goers.
These can be viewed on Facebook by clicking in the following link www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.749051611829908&type=1

If you have not yet joined the Cape Bird Club group you can browse the other posts in the group using the link
www.facebook.com/groups/263638220371252/

You can apply to join the group by using the buttons on the upper right hand side after using the above link. Give the administrators and day or two to process your application.
If you have any difficulty, ask anyone under the age of thirty!

Thanks to Julian Hare for the photos below which are just a taster of those that can be seen on FaceBook.

MEETING COORDINATOR

On behalf of the members of the Club, the committee would like to thank Heather Howell for coordinating our evening meetings for many years.
Unfortunately, Heather has decided that it is time to hand over this responsibility to someone else.
We therefore require a meeting coordinator to organise the program and speakers for the evening meetings.
Heather will organise the meetings until March 2015, so the new person will be required to organise the program from March onwards in time for the next edition of Promerops.

Heather will share tips and ideas to make the task less daunting.

If you are willing to take over this important portfolio please contact a committee member.

ADVERTISING FOR PROMEROPS

The Committee would like to thank Jo Hobbs for sourcing advertising for Promerops in addition to her editorial duties. As Jo and Otto are retiring as editors, we urgently need someone to take on the task of contacting potential advertisers as soon as possible.
This is not a particularly onerous task, as we do not want to have too many adverts, but it is important because the adverts in Promerops are important to help keep the costs down.

If you are willing to take over this important task please contact a committee member.

SASOL STRETTON'S WADER BASH

West Coast National Park

When: 20 to 22 February 2015
Contact:
Pam Rutledge : 071 160 2822 / 022 772 2787
Noeline van den Berg: 072 250 0045
waderbash.wcnp@gmail.com

Visit: www.sanparksvolunteers.org/west-coast-region

BIRDATHON FESTIVAL 2015

The 2015 Birdathon/Festival will take place in the False Bay Nature Reserve on the 28th of March.
This is an annual event organised by the City Council, BLSA and the CBC.

It is aimed at making school children and their families more aware of the importance of the area and its bird llife.

Briefly the participants will walk a route through the birding area ranging from 2.5 to 5.5km (depending on age).
Along the route they will be asked a number of questions and the those answering all questions correctly could win a prize. Significant prizes are also offered to schools in a variety of categories.
On completion of the walk there will be a variety of activities and exhibits to entertain the participants including raptor, reptile and amphibian exhibits as well as food stalls.

Members of the club are asked to seriously consider assisting us in registration of members, marshalling along the route or manning the question tables.

It is a major event on the club's calender in terms of educating the youth .
This year we are hoping to have a CBC tent where the objectives of the club are explained and membership will be offered to interested individuals.

Please consider this seriously, it is a fun event with an important educational input.
If you feel moved to assist us please contact Dave Whitelaw at davesue@mweb.co.za for more details or to indicate that you will be available.

Contributions for the Newsletter

Please send any contributions for the newsletter (interesting sightings, photographs or any interesting news items) to Cheryl Leslie at cdleslie@kingsley.co.za.
Photographs should not exceed 1MB in size.

Postal and Email addresses

Please ensure that we have your correct postal and email address, otherwise you may not receive the Bird Club newsletter or reminders.

Address changes: Please notify BirdLife promptly by post at P O Box 515 Randburg 2125 or fax to 011 789 5188 of any change in address to ensure that you continue receiving Promerops.Email changes:

Please contact BirdLife at membership@birdlife.co.za if you change your email address with a copy to ackroyd.joan@broadwalk-mews.co.za

Copyright © 2014 CAPE BIRD CLUB, All rights reserved.

You can also contact the club on info@capebirdclub.org.za
Visit our website at www.capebirdclub.org.za
Visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/263638220371252/

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