This is the 101st article 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 is on the Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher.
I seldom develop a personal relationship with any birds. I imagine that the Spotted Eagle-Owl and I have an understanding, but to be honest, if so, my partner is remarkably undemonstrative. It sits looking at me in exactly the same way it looks at anything else. In any case, I am not possessive about birds and would hate to have one in a cage or trapped near me.
Part of what makes birdwatching fascinating, even addictive, is its uncertainty – birds move freely. However, one day in the reserve, a visiting birdwatcher asked me, ‘Do you get the Bluemantled Crested Flycatcher?’ I replied, ‘Not in recent years, but we did once have a visitor.’ At that, I set off down the hill and saw a movement at the broken dam. A movement alerted me and there, indeed, was the bird itself, a female. Some birdwatchers make embarrassing noises, called spishing, in an attempt to attract the attention of birds, and I made the appropriate noises whenever I saw this bird.
ALSO READ: Exploring Pigeon Valley: Getting them young
With time, the bird got used to me. A Red Duiker died (I think the victim of a Crowned Eagle) and the flies attracted the active interest of my friend, so I was able to find it readily for some time. Eventually, when I heard the bird’s call, and could distinguish it from the African Paradise Flycatcher, which sounds very similar, I would spish and the bird, if in the mood, would come and flit around me, pausing appropriately when I wanted to take a photo. Eventually, alas, the bird either left or died without finding a mate. I hope it survived and was able to breed somewhere else.
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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