Kelp Gull Project: Ringing on the R102

In PMB, the once monthly ringing site is at Darvil, which is a bird sanctuary at a sewage treatment plant. In Plett, the once monthly ringing site is a beautiful fynbos reserve site along the garden route, talk about awesome! Once the permits for the site had come through, the first ringing day was a big event, with a variety of people, and, wait for it, a film crew (!). Mark casually mentioned the evening before we went ringing that we would meet the film crew earlier and drive through to the site from there. A little bit intimidating but cool! And when Ken and Derik from Net News arrived I felt a lot better; two wonderful, chilled guys who were easy to talk to and relax into the process of setting up for the mornings ringing. It was truly an amazing morning of ringing. The site is really stunning, the bird life is too exciting and there are all sorts of plants, butterflies and other interesting organisms around too! One of the first birds into the net was an Orange-breasted Sunbird, a much anticipated catch! At the end of the day we had a good haul of birds, including an out-of-range White-browed Scrub Robin, a White-starred Robin, Cape Sugarbirds, various sunbirds and an Olive Woodpecker. A very smart, short video clip was made by the Net News guys, which is worth a watch.

Putting up nets while chatting with the guys, and the camera! Photo by Shane McPherson.

Mark and the birds in the limelight! Photo by Shane McPherson.

Orange-breasted Sunbird. Photo by Shane McPherson.

Bar-throated Apalis. Photo by Shane McPherson.

White-starred Robin. Photo by Shane McPherson.

Beautiful Proteas. Photo by Shane McPherson.

A second trip to the ringing site, specifically with the Plettenberg BirdLife club was rained out but the Brown clan plus Shane and myself went ringing on the Sunday and had a most pleasant time! Having extra people is wonderful; there are various people that are in training for their licenses, and sharing the purely awesome experience of seeing such beautiful birds up close with a variety of birders and non-birders really uplifts the heart. That said, to have a cruisey, relaxed morning with a select group of people is also so special. We had a stunning time, catching birds, talking, laughing and eating (snacks are important!). Again we had a good catch of birds, including the much anticipated Victorin’s Warbler and Cape Siskin, a Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler and an Olive Bushshrike. And now the question remains, what birds will we catch on the next ringing session??