Birding club opens in Amanzimtoti
There has been tremendous growth in birding on the Upper South Coast.
After much planning and strategising, the Sapphire Coast Birding was launched with much excitement at Amanzimtoti Sports Centre last month. Sapphire Coast Birding is a satellite club of Birdlife Port Natal (BLPN).
“Over the last few years, there has been tremendous growth in birding on the Upper South Coast, so it was a natural progression to have a base for birding in the Sapphire Coast area,” said Adam Cruickshank. The Sapphire Coast area stretches from the Mbokodweni River in the North, to the Mahlongwa River in the South and about 9km inland from the coast.
“The launch was held at Lords and Legends in Amanzimtoti, which will be a base for the club in the area. People came to the event from all over the greater eThekwini area with a large contingent travelling from Scottburgh. The evening was truly a festive occasion right from the start. Once the evening got started there were 59 people in attendance, which shows much of the growth that is currently happening in BLPN – the future of the club is looking very exciting.”
The evening was kicked off by David Allen, the honorary president of BLPN. In his own humorous way, he shared on the momentum there is in the club now and how the club is moving forward in many ways. Next up was BLPN chairperson, Nicolette Forbes, who explained why taking up membership with BLPN is so important, and the impact of the contributions that people make by joining the club. Nicolette also explained the concept of a satellite club and why it was such exciting news for BLPN.
READ ALSO: Amanzimtoti conservation festival draws large flock
After the customary raising of the glasses to formally launch the club, Adam was then given an opportunity to speak and he shared on the importance of being a satellite club and emphasised why it is important that it stayed connected to BLPN.
Nicolette was also the speaker for the night with a fascinating talk on KZN Birds titled: ‘KZN Birds – What, where and How?’. During the talk, she masterfully took the listeners on an enthralling journey through the different habitats that the province has to offer and showcased the birdlife that the area has to offer. The talk was the kind of talk that would make one want to get out into the field and find the amazing birds that she spoke about.
To end the night there were some prizes that were given away, courtesy of Bargain Books, which ensured that some lucky people did not go home empty-handed. Reverend Andrew Manning, the chairperson of Toti Conservancy, took a moment to share on how excited he was that BLPN was investing in the Amanzimtoti area and how having the club will have an impact on conservation efforts that he is a part of.
“The night was a tremendous success and we want to extend our deepest thanks to all those who contributed to the night in any way – especially all those from the committee who went over and above to make sure that event went off with no hitches,” said Adam.
READ ALSO: Bird lists needed ahead of Sapphire Coast birding route launch
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