When I was growing up in the forties and fifties, birding entailed trying to shoot a butcher bird, (Jackie Hanger/Fiscal Shrike) with a kettie. Why? Because they catch and kill lizards, grasshoppers and bugs and hang them on barbed wire fences.
It was also chasing the mossies, finches, doves and pigeons away from the feed I had just put out for the chickens on my uncle’s farm outside Klerksdorp.
The next phase in birding was learning how to set up a bird trap. It meant finding a suitably-sized cardboard box, a stick, a length of string and some seed. You had to balance the stick so that it supported the upended box. The length of string (around five metres) was tied to the stick. After placing some mixed seed under the box, you trailed out the string.
You held the end of the string and patiently waited for a bird to go under the box and start feeding. A quick tug on the string and down fell the box, hopefully catching the bird.
Now, I catch the birds using a birdbath and a trail camera/ camera trap. I was looking for a hobby that I could enjoy after I retired.
The plan was also to travel around South Africa and birding slotted in very nicely. Now I am “shooting” them with a camera.
Fortunately, my past neighbour at Sally Martin Park Retirement Village (SMPRV) is a fundi on photography and birding and became my mentor and a great help in identifying the LBJs (little brown jobs).
Interestingly, the Feathers Bird Club was founded by some of the SMPRV residents more than 15 years ago and is still active.
With the advancement and availability of a large variety of digital cameras, lenses and even cell phones, birders can “shoot” and record their birding experiences.
The birder can now have a pictorial life list to complement their bird tick list. Some birders have had their photos published in birding reference books as well as their own.
Birding has grown exponentially over the past 10–15 years with several resorts, farms, etc. offering birding facilities and adventures. There are quite a few in the Parys/Vredefort Dome area.
When Covid-19 brought everything to a halt in terms of travel, birding was limited to SMPRV for me. Here, my garden bird list numbers 59, with a recent, rare sighting of a Cut-Throat Finch just the other day. I have seen or heard an additional 34 birds from my stoep, which overlooks an open veld; a total of 93. My life list has now stalled at 367.
After buying or upgrading cameras and lenses, I have Gigs of photos. Sorting, deleting, editing and filing them keep me busy during the lockdown. Putting photos together for a presentation at Feathers Bird Club also allows me to share my birding adventures.
Next phase in birding
With the advent of drones, it is possible to “shoot” birds in flight beautifully. Have a look at how an eagle flies over Bali’s Barat National Park, in this award-winning image taken by a camera attached to a drone – capungaero/Dronestagram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMRmSOziiKQ.
Present phase in Birding
There are a lot of WebCam sites around the world that one can access. Many focus on birds’ nests and one can watch the cycle of nest building, mating, egg-laying, roosting, hatching, feeding and raising various birds around the world. Here are a few just to get started.
https://birdcams.live/
https://www.mangolinkcam.com/webcams/birds/eagles.html
https://klekusiowo.pl/#kamera.
Smartphone apps for birders
Smartphone apps are available to help birders.
One free app, BirdLasser https://www.birdlasser.com/, can be used to keep a record of all your sightings on your smartphone.
You can also send this info to a central database SABAP2.
SABAP2 is a citizen science project, mapping the distribution of birds. (https://sabap2.birdmap.africa/)
The latest Sasol 5 ebirds is now available to download onto a tablet or smartphone.
Happy birding to all, take care and be safe.
Feathers Bird Club contact details: Hansie Bekker – 082 820 4306 or 056 811 4754, or
Peter Killian – 083 625 8100.
