After returning from Cape Town and doing an initial
check on the colonies I got sick. 10 days and a large number of manufactured
nest tags later I felt strong enough to take on the bimonthly bird ringing
session at the fynbos site. It was also an auspicious day as Shirley, the Dutch
student and my new semi-housemate, was arriving from the Netherlands. Despite concerns
for foul weather arriving from Cape Town we had a beautiful day out. It seems
to be Cape White-eye season, and we’re catching flocks of them! It took me
almost 2 months to catch the White-eyes I needed for my 3rd year
project, and we’re catching five times the number I needed in a morning! We had
three firsts for the site, a Cape Weaver, an Olive Thrush and a pair of Cape
Siskins were added to the bird list. Yet another Victorin’s Warbler was caught,
and I regretted the last minute decision to leave my rings at home. It was a
productive day and Shirley safely joined the team, bringing with her ‘stroopwafels’
some seriously good biscuits!
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| Getting ready to bleed the Cape Weaver to measure blood glucose. |
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| Babalwa watching as Matome extracts a bird. |
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| Me at the centre of attention. |
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| Eliska measuring nectar volume in Erica flowers. |
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| A pair of Cape Siskins, female on the left, male on the right. |
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