This is the 25th in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article will be on the Spotted Ground-Thrush.
It is a bit strange that I wait for the middle of the year to introduce what is surely the most iconic bird of Pigeon Valley. This is an endangered species, with perhaps 500 birds in South Africa and limited numbers in small areas of north–eastern Africa. It arrives as a migrant to the reserve, usually in April, and leaves around August or September.
This is a most charming bird, with its distinctive olive–green spots. In dry conditions, you often become aware of its presence from the rustle of leaves as it searches for worms and little insects in the leaf litter. Often birds become quite confiding; the first one I ever saw in my garden stood and looked at us before sauntering up the path. I don’t feed birds generally, but this one I bribed to stay with meal worms; the day it left on its homeward trek it stood in the garden looking at me and gave a piping call.
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Last year we had a really good number in the reserve; one day in August I counted at least seven individuals, the highest I had recorded. This year, to my great concern, there has been only one consistently in the reserve, the individual shown in the photo. My guess, from its generally casual demeanour, would be that it has been here before. Why this situation arises is not clear. The gloomiest possibility is that ongoing destruction of forests has destroyed the habitat from which the Pigeon Valley birds have been coming, probably in the Transkei or South Coast. An alternative is that breeding conditions were not good in the breeding season.
Such birds attract significant numbers of birdwatchers to the area and have an economic impact. For myself, if they disappear it will be like losing a truly dear friend.
Crispin Hemson chairs the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a group that undertakes clearing of alien plants, keeps records of bird and mammal sightings and alerts management to any problems.
The Friends have a monthly walk at 7.30am on the second Saturday of each month. Email: friendsofpigeonvalley1@gmail.com.
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