The Heights of Vulture Conservation
Are you curious about studying extra about volunteering at our Southern Drakensberg venture, which highlights Vulture conservation? Learn on! The beneath weblog, written by Mark Henson after visiting Wildlife ACT’s Southern Drakensberg venture, delves deeper into this distinctive venture. This weblog initially appeared on SafariKZN.com.
I typically describe myself, utilizing a part of the title of a Simon Barnes ebook, as a nasty birdwatcher. My internal birder was launched by Godfrey Symons, my spouse’s’ grandfather, on his farm street when he noticed an enormous chicken sitting in a thorn tree. That chicken turned out to be a marabou stork, the primary he had ever seen on the farm in his seventy plus years. That afternoon we sat in his cosy and I listened to all issues birds. I learnt of his travels and expeditions and his ardour for wildlife and wild locations. On my bookshelf I nonetheless have ‘Barrier of Spears’ by R O Pearce, a present from my spouse, that options Godfrey. There’s a chapter that tells the story of a workforce expedition into the Drakensberg Mountains in 1958. The workforce have been there on the lookout for proof that the Bearded Vulture, a then uncommon and endangered chicken, nested within the KwaZulu-Natal sections of the mountains.
Studying that Wildlife ACT have been launching the Southern Drakensberg Conservation Undertaking I dropped them an e mail. I’ve hung out with them over time on a number of of their initiatives in Zululand. I’ve been privileged to be on monitoring initiatives involving African Wild Canine, Leopards, Lions and Cheetahs. However now right here was a venture devoted to the monitoring of endangered and critically endangered Vultures, most notably the bearded vulture. I’ve hung out in Drakensberg Mountains and had seen Bearded Vultures at Giants Citadel and at Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge. However now right here was the prospect to get entangled with precious analysis and knowledge assortment and naturally stroll within the footsteps of Godfrey.
Mountain climate is unpredictable, and this meant we needed to anticipate a window of alternative earlier than we might make any try and ascend into the heights of the Southern Drakensberg. When that chance got here, we have been up at 4am and at our begin level earlier than 5am. The forecast was for low cloud, clearing into the morning, with an opportunity of rain and storms rolling in early afternoon. Being a boy from sea stage I typically battle at altitude. And this uphill hike was no totally different. Lower than an hour in I used to be having to cease each couple of minutes and catch my breath. Phillip, the venture coordinator and my information, was very affected person and understanding. He regularly waited and smiled and supplied me encouragement. You do want a sure stage of health right here and mine was simply sufficient. It’s fairly robust going, steep, and no path to comply with. I used to be impressed with Phillip as he took us additional and additional up utilizing his information of the mountain and his expertise to get us the place we wanted to be. He started to level out our vacation spot which for a while appeared to by no means get any nearer. However when there my reduction got here within the type of beetroot-coloured cheeks and sweat.
We sat on a rock plateau, almost two thousand meters above sea stage, and Phillip assembled the optical scope full with cellphone, digital camera, attachment. I made tea and took the burden off my ft. Phillip then identified the placement of a Bearded Vulture nest the place a pair had not too long ago and efficiently raised a chick. The nest was in a crevice on a sheer cliff face roughly a thousand meters away from us. It was clearly marked by a thick line of white guano (chicken poop). Our job was to watch, so I sat and watched the sky over the mountain peaks, above, and both aspect of the nest website. After an hour we rewarded as a vulture appeared straight over the nesting website. Even at a distance you possibly can respect the sheer dimension of this previous world vulture with a wing span of almost three meters. Phillip rapidly recognized and confirmed that this was a (Gypaetus barbatus) Bearded Vulture. After hovering and circling the chicken landed on a ledge a couple of hundred meters to the left of the nest. Right here via my binoculars and Phillip’s scope we might clearly see the chicken’s distinctive white face and brow and golden-brown chest. This was a really magnificent sight, and I couldn’t assist of consider Godfrey and the workforce he was a part of. I used to be in some methods right here in his footsteps.
Phillip has many duties inside the venture together with the maintenance of a Vulture feeding website. Right here he not solely observes from a disguise, however he additionally maintains the cameras that supply a dwell feed, and retains the location stocked with meals. The meals right here is mostly donated by native farmers. It was from the dwell feed that we have been alerted to vultures being there and feeding. On arrival we have been greeted by roughly ninety Cape Vultures. This turned out to be the top of the primary sitting, feeding session, and we sat and noticed their last feeding earlier than one after the other they took to the sky. From inside the disguise I used to be amazed by the sounds of the woosh and beating of wings. I had by no means been this shut to those large and majestic vultures and the extent of noise clearly mirrored the facility of their wings. I watched all of them take the identical flight path, away low to our proper, they picked up a thermal and commenced to circle and climb. They shaped essentially the most wonderful flock and regarded spectacular set among the many gathering storm clouds and distant mountain peaks. (Phillip and I chatted and got here to the conclusion that flock was an underwhelming time period for such magnificent birds. Google now tells me that when resting as a gaggle they’re known as a committee, when feeding they’re a wake and when flying in formation, they’re a kettle. I just like the time period a Vesuvius of vultures)
The second sitting didn’t actually occur as one other fifty to sixty Cape vultures walked into view. They got here nearer and nearer to the meals on supply. Nevertheless, after almost an hour they adopted the identical flight path as the primary flock. This created our second spectacular kettle, or to me Vesuvius.
We hung out strolling within the mountains on land being monitored by digital camera traps. One other key function of the venture is to function, keep, and examine digital camera traps and file what they seize. Being on foot within the mountains signifies that when checking the traps you additionally get an actual really feel for the setting. The encompassing views and large and daring. There’s open grassland, scree slopes, boulders and rocks of all sizes and shapes and naturally distant peaks. The flora varies vastly, many types of Protea, Eternal daisies, Erica’s and delicate lilies. When again on the Wildlife ACT base all of the reminiscence playing cards from the traps are gone via and all wildlife is recorded. We obtained to see Eland antelope, Mountain Reedbuck, Jackals, Baboons, Porcupines, Serval cats and a big number of birdlife. I don’t usually, in my articles supply thanks, however thanks Wildlife ACT for establishing this venture and for letting me go to. Phillip, thanks for getting up and down the mountain slopes safely and being so affected person with an chubby, not as match as he thinks, man. Lastly, thanks to that Marabou Stork that created a lot pleasure with Godfrey which led to a nasty birdwatcher being created, me.
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