I’ll have
to admit, I was a bit nervous starting the big Karoo surveys in the middle of
July, and thus theoretically the middle of winter. Certainly, cold was on my
mind as I passed the snow-capped Swartberge on my way to Cape Town, especially
since much of the trip is camping in remote locations; but my other concern was
that I would be too early for the birds. But it’s a big area to cover with an
ambitious target of point counts to complete, thus needing lots of time, so an
early start was needed. Turns out so far, I’ve been wrong on both accounts:
temperatures have been mild to hot, hitting 30C at Vanrhynsdorp; and birds have
been prolifically active and showing many signs of making the most of the
‘early’ spring. Cape Weavers defending nests, Red and Yellow Bishops in full
breeding plumage, and some migrants are already here: Common Quails calling
from the pastures, a Klaas’s Cuckoo, and Alpine Swifts dancing in the hills.
Lark calls have filled the air all day all month, making every 10-minute point
count a flurry of activity from start to finish. At some stage during the
winter survey the temperature may have fallen to 9 degrees, but certainly not
much less.
The target
is to conduct 20 point counts across 60+ pentads (survey blocks of roughly 80
square kilometers), stretching across the range of the major Karoo endemics,
with a focus at the moment being Cape Long-billed Lark and Karoo Larks. Both
were certainly plentiful in our first coastal pentad towards the south of
Namaqua National Park. To do the 20 counts in a pentad in a day, I share the
load with field assistant Eric Herrmann, each of us do 10 counts on different
routes, one in the vehicle and one on the bicycle or on foot. Points are
ideally 1km apart. The afternoon is for travelling to the next pentad to do it
all over again.
Birding
highlights so far have been a Cinnamon-breasted Warbler in the Taaiboschkraal
campsite near Kamieskroon, and birds feeding in Kruidjie-roer-my-nie flowers.
Other wildlife has included Meerkats among other game, but certainly the
highlight was an African Wildcat. I was cycling through the white sand dunes
(or rather pushing the bike through them), when I noticed fresh cat tracks over
our vehicle tracks from earlier in the morning. Shortly after I had to stop for
a count. I climbed to a dune top for a view; and noticed Karoo Larks and Chat
Flycatchers paying a certain bush a lot of attention, which was attracting a
lot of other birds too. After my 10 minutes of recording the hectic activity
(the spot seemed to be visited by every bird in the vicinity), I approached the
bush, and sure enough, an African Wildcat burst from cover and disappeared in a
few bounds over the dunes and out of sight.
Certainly,
part of the bird activity has to do with the rains this year, together with the
temperatures. The region experienced some late summer rains, and then good
early winter rains in June. Compared to surveys in the drought-stricken regions
last year, the veld is fresh and green this year. So, the flowers were out
starting early July: but then came the strong north-easterly winds. These are
the hot winds in this area. As such, many of the people we spoke to were
concerned that the early flower show would also come to an early end, and
certainly there were signs of some of the plants showing stress: wilting and
missing petals. The main tourist season for the flowers here is August to
September, which could mean some people will be too late: unless some follow up
rains occur.
By the time
we hit the old mining town of Kleinsee, the winds had died down and weather was
cooler again. Some were heard to comment that they were glad winter was back!
Then,
leaving Port Nolloth at the end of July, suddenly winter, very definitely, WAS.
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