The Heights of Vulture Conservation
Are you curious about finding out extra about volunteering at our Southern Drakensberg challenge, which highlights Vulture conservation? Learn on! The underneath weblog, written by way of Mark Henson after visiting Flora and fauna ACT’s Southern Drakensberg challenge, delves deeper into this distinctive challenge. This weblog at the beginning seemed on SafariKZN.com.
I continuously describe myself, the use of a part of the identify of a Simon Barnes ebook, as a foul birdwatcher. My interior birder was once launched by way of Godfrey Symons, my spouse’s’ grandfather, on his farm street when he noticed a large fowl sitting in a thorn tree. That fowl became out to be a marabou stork, the primary he had ever observed at the farm in his seventy plus years. That afternoon we sat in his comfortable and I listened to all issues birds. I learnt of his travels and expeditions and his hobby for flora and fauna and wild puts. On my bookshelf I nonetheless have ‘Barrier of Spears’ by way of R O Pearce, a present from my spouse, that includes Godfrey. There’s a bankruptcy that tells the tale of a crew expedition into the Drakensberg Mountains in 1958. The crew had been there in search of evidence that the Bearded Vulture, a then uncommon and endangered fowl, nested within the KwaZulu-Natal sections of the mountains.
Studying that Flora and fauna ACT had been launching the Southern Drakensberg Conservation Undertaking I dropped them an e mail. I’ve frolicked with them through the years on a number of in their initiatives in Zululand. I’ve been privileged to be on tracking initiatives involving African Wild Canine, Leopards, Lions and Cheetahs. However now right here was once a challenge devoted to the tracking of endangered and severely endangered Vultures, maximum particularly the bearded vulture. I’ve frolicked in Drakensberg Mountains and had observed Bearded Vultures at Giants Fortress and at Witsieshoek Mountain Hotel. However now right here was once the danger to get entangled with precious analysis and information assortment and naturally stroll within the footsteps of Godfrey.
Mountain climate is unpredictable, and this intended we needed to look ahead to a window of alternative sooner than lets make any try to ascend into the heights of the Southern Drakensberg. When that chance got here, we had been up at 4am and at our get started level sooner than 5am. The forecast was once for low cloud, clearing into the morning, with a possibility of rain and storms rolling in early afternoon. Being a boy from sea stage I continuously combat at altitude. And this uphill hike was once no other. Not up to an hour in I used to be having to forestall each and every little while and catch my breath. Phillip, the challenge coordinator and my information, was once very affected person and working out. He frequently waited and smiled and introduced me encouragement. You do want a positive stage of health right here and mine was once simply sufficient. It’s slightly tricky going, steep, and no trail to apply. I used to be inspired with Phillip as he took us additional and extra up the use of his wisdom of the mountain and his revel in to get us the place we had to be. He started to show our vacation spot which for a while gave the impression to by no means get any nearer. But if there my aid got here within the type of beetroot-coloured cheeks and sweat.
We sat on a rock plateau, just about two thousand meters above sea stage, and Phillip assembled the optical scope whole with telephone, digital camera, attachment. I made tea and took the load off my ft. Phillip then identified the site of a Bearded Vulture nest the place a couple had lately and effectively raised a chick. The nest was once in a crevice on a sheer cliff face roughly 1000 meters clear of us. It was once obviously marked by way of a thick line of white guano (fowl poop). Our activity was once to look at, so I sat and watched the sky over the mountain peaks, above, and each side of the nest website online. After an hour we rewarded as a vulture seemed at once over the nesting website online. Even at a distance you’ll respect the sheer dimension of this previous international vulture with a wing span of just about 3 meters. Phillip temporarily known and showed that this was once a (Gypaetus barbatus) Bearded Vulture. After hovering and circling the fowl landed on a ledge a couple of hundred meters to the left of the nest. Right here via my binoculars and Phillip’s scope lets obviously see the fowl’s unique white face and brow and golden-brown chest. This was once a really magnificent sight, and I may just now not lend a hand of recall to mind Godfrey and the crew he was once a part of. I used to be in many ways right here in his footsteps.
Phillip has many tasks inside the challenge together with the maintenance of a Vulture feeding website online. Right here he now not most effective observes from a disguise, however he additionally maintains the cameras that provide a are living feed, and assists in keeping the website online stocked with meals. The meals this is most often donated by way of native farmers. It was once from the are living feed that we had been alerted to vultures being there and feeding. On arrival we had been greeted by way of roughly 90 Cape Vultures. This became out to be the top of the primary sitting, feeding consultation, and we sat and seen their ultimate feeding sooner than one after the other they took to the sky. From inside the disguise I used to be amazed by way of the sounds of the woosh and beating of wings. I had by no means been this with reference to those massive and majestic vultures and the extent of noise obviously mirrored the ability in their wings. I watched all of them take the similar flight trail, away low to our proper, they picked up a thermal and started to circle and climb. They shaped probably the most superb flock and regarded impressive set a number of the accumulating hurricane clouds and far-off mountain peaks. (Phillip and I chatted and got here to the belief that flock was once an underwhelming time period for such magnificent birds. Google now tells me that once resting as a bunch 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 one sitting didn’t actually occur as every other fifty to sixty Cape vultures walked into view. They got here nearer and nearer to the meals on be offering. On the other hand, after just about an hour they adopted the similar flight trail as the primary flock. This created our 2d impressive kettle, or to me Vesuvius.
We frolicked strolling within the mountains on land being monitored by way of digital camera traps. Some other key function of the challenge is to perform, take care of, and take a look at 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 surroundings. The encompassing perspectives and large and impressive. There may be open grassland, scree slopes, boulders and rocks of all sizes and styles and naturally far-off peaks. The plant existence varies vastly, many kinds of Protea, Permanent daisies, Erica’s and gentle lilies. When again on the Flora and fauna ACT base all of the reminiscence playing cards from the traps are long gone via and all flora and fauna is recorded. We were given to peer Eland antelope, Mountain Reedbuck, Jackals, Baboons, Porcupines, Serval cats and a big number of birdlife. I don’t in most cases, in my articles be offering thank you, however thanks Flora and fauna ACT for setting up this challenge and for letting me seek advice from. Phillip, thanks for buying up and down the mountain slopes safely and being so affected person with an obese, now not as have compatibility as he thinks, guy. Finally, thanks to that Marabou Stork that created such a lot pleasure with Godfrey which ended in a foul birdwatcher being created, me.
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