WHERE DID IT START?

I have always turned to birds as an escape from stress or just a way of relaxing. It took many years from showing a slight interest in birds to becoming an active birder. Nature has intrigued me from a very young age, having grown up with parents from farming and pioneering stock, albeit in a town. We always had vegetable and flower gardens as well as fruit orchards, chickens and geese. My parents even delved into rabbit farming and also allowed my sister to keep an aviary of budgies and pet rats and mice. Because I was forced to perform many duties with regard to making all these projects a success, I never really showed a great interest in them. I must, however, hasten to add that I did enjoy the benefits to their fullest.

When it came time for me to do my homework I would find the most comfortable spot in the garden where I could enjoy the fresh air, smells of the garden and sound of the birds. A garden without birds has never been the same to me. I would spend whole afternoons doing my homework there in between watching birds and their activities and eating fruit and raw vegetables, fresh out of the garden. Although it never entered my mind that I was slowly developing an interest in things natural and in particular birds, I secretly treasured my sanctuaries in the garden when I felt stressed or out of sorts for any reason.

By the time I was 11 and spending time on my grandparent’s farm with my cousins I started realizing that a dove was not just a dove and there were different types of sparrows. There were Egrets and Herons and the ones that really confused me were the big eagles, medium eagles and little eagles, the brown eagles, grey eagles and black eagles. Of course I know now that they are falcons, kites, buzzards, eagles, vultures and other birds of prey. Back home I would start paying more attention to my “bird watching” and try to distinguish between the different species. At this stage I never realized that there were books available to assist me in my interest, hence although I noticed differences, I was unable to identify the birds. Way back then it was also unheard of for parents to take an active interest in children’s whims and fantasies unless it was prowess in sport or an academic flair. I was well supported with my school achievements, my cricket, soccer and athletic activities but not my real interests. In retrospect I can only surmise that because my interests were not, in my parents generation’s way of thinking, career-building interests, they were not worth cultivating or encouraging. Since my bird watching interest was not shared by anyone else in the family, it was never discussed nor encouraged but still the activity continued.
Koos Myburgh | Create your badge

Reflecting

Cape Parrot

Amur Falcon

This morning I am sitting at the swimming pool reflecting on some of the missed opportunities to be with the birds. At the water feature there is a Yellow-fronted Canary having an awesome time in the running water, who can blame it when the temperature is at 34 degrees Celsius. There is a Cape Turtle dove and dark-capped Bulbul drinking water and in the trees, waiting, are some Spectacled Weavers, Cape Whiteyes and Yellow throated Petronia. A pair of Amethyst Sunbirds is chasing each other around in the Hibiscus tree while a Greater Double-collared sunbird is busily stealing the nectar for which they are competing. Around me I can hear Neddicky, Red-eyed dove, Black Cuckoo and Black-headed Oriole enjoying the summer's day. Overhead a few Lesser-striped Swallow, Greater –striped swallow, Barn swallow and White-rumped Swift are doing aerobatics that would put any World War ll air dog-fight to shame. In the distance there are calls of Helmeted Guineafowl, Black-crowned Tchagra and a Laughing dove is mournfully calling from the tree above my head.

Of course when I went to senior school there was no longer time for me to cultivate my interest in birds, especially since there were many other exciting beings to follow around; darn puberty and all that accompanies that frustrating and confusing stage of one's life. After senior school, sadly, there were once again too many other exciting interests to pursue with friends and no time for 'wasting' on birds. I met George who had suffered Polio at a young age and had no use of his legs. We had a common interest in Classical music and I spent many Sunday mornings with him listening to concerts, operas and - just music. One day during conversation he mentioned that he would love to go camping. I did not need a second invitation and we immediately set about preparing for a camping weekend. The following weekend took us to a beautiful remote campsite about 2 hours drive from home. It had all one could ever wish for, most exciting were the amazing rock pool at the bottom of a waterfall and the abundance of birds. Yes, you have it right, I was in my element and we visited this campsite many more times. Sadly, it was soon discovered by others and became commercialized to the extent that all the charm was lost. It was just the catalyst I needed to renew my interest in birds and I spent hours looking for birds in the veld, bush and vleis while George made himself comfortable around the pool.

My parents moved to a farm in the Natal Midlands and while visiting them I became aware of the abundance of birdlife in the Drakensberg foothills. The neighbouring farm was a Catholic retreat for nuns and was entirely run by these most beautiful, gentle people. There, I found my very first 'bird book'. It was a 4^th Impression of the 1940 publication of "Roberts Birds of South Africa" printed in 1944 and when the nuns saw my interest in it, they insisted that I have it. Such were their giving natures. I spent many hours with this, highly treasured, book and started identifying the birds on the farm and the more I identified the more others I found. I decided that this could be a most interesting lifetime hobby, which could occupy many idle hours.

Wattled Crane and Bearded Vulture

Cape Vulture

One day my dad took me up to the top of a neighboring farm, where there is a very large man-made lake and vast marshlands. There I became privy to one of the biggest, at the time unrecorded, flocks of breeding Wattled Crane, an endangered species. Well I remember days of trudging through the marshland in my gumboots and drizzling rain or mist following the cranes. It became an obsession and every time I went to the farm, I would spend most of my days with the cranes, counting eggs in the nests, monitoring the chicks and fledglings and witnessing the growth of the population of this flock of birds. Memory eludes me now but at the time of my interest in these regal birds, there were supposedly only about 100 left in Southern Africa and here I was in amongst 40 – 50 of them. It was during these mountain excursions of mine that I came across another bird on the endangered list, the Bearded Vulture. 

The first time I saw one, the only identification I could think of was a Condor, because in the misty conditions and from a distance I would have sworn that this enormous black bird stood at least 4ft high. From reading Louis Lamour and Zane Grey Westerns, I believed the Condor to be the biggest and most feared bird in the whole world. Hello, I was only 18 at the time. Imagine my consternation when I arrived back at the farmhouse and consulted my treasured book, only to discover that there is no such bird in Southern Africa. I tried to describe the bird to a number of locals but to no avail (I was trying to learn Zulu at the time), until I met Gerard who could spoke reasonably good English and he told me that it was a "Seoli" and with the help of my trusty book I found it. What I saw in the book did not even closely resemble the bird I saw in the grey misty light.  I did, however, consequently see the bird on a number of occasions, both flying and on the ground which confirmed the identification. Later I started identifying Cape Vulture, Tawny Eagle, Yellow-billed Kite and other raptors around the farm.

African Harrier Hawk

My interest in birds was now growing at an alarming rate but I was still ignoring the Cisticolas, Larks, Pipits and other small birds. It would be years before I started recognizing the importance of the whole spectrum of the bird genus. By now, thanks to the lake and marshes I was noticing the ducks, waders, grebes and herons in the area. Looking back, I regret that I never noted my discoveries. The necessity of making notes only manifested itself many years later. I believe that, although my interest in birds was not documented in the beginning, I nonetheless, gained immense pleasure and knowledge from those years.

On the Farm

Sombre Greenbul

My next learning curve regarding birds was as a result of a career move. I left Johannesburg where I had grown up and worked and moved to the Natal Midlands where I worked as a farm manager. I was employed on a 10 000Ha farm on which we grew potatoes, maize, cattle, sheep, cabbages, pastures and timber. At this stage I was still using my trusty old "Roberts" given me by the nuns, who incidentally, were now my neighbours. Here I was able to study some of the traits and habits of the birds in the area. I managed to gain access to the source of one of the largest Natal rivers and breeding pairs of Vereaux Eagle, Bearded Vulture, Blue Crane, Grey-crested Crane and Wattled Crane there. I was devasted when in my first year in that area there was a fire which swept through the valley where the Wattled Cranes were breading. Fortunately the Eagles and Vulture were out of harm's way but three Crane nests, which I knew of, were destroyed.

Black-headed Heron

On the farm there were four trout dams which I visited daily. Here I learned about various ducks, shovelers and geese, plovers, weavers and some cisticolas. I was very excited when I discovered a Maccoa Duck on one of the dams one evening, as according to my reference book, this specie was not known as far south as we were. After keeping an eye on them for a few days, I decided to contact the local branch of Birdlife who showed great interest in my find. A delegation of birders came to the farm the following day and the first sighting of a Maccoa duck that far south was recorded. The Birdlife representatives also had a keen interest in the Pipits that were on the farm and we spent an afternoon going to spots on the farm at different altitudes and discovered a myriad Pipits and Cisticolas, Grassbird, Weavers, Red and Golden Bishops and a variety of widowbirds. My interest in birds was now truly sparked and I spent the next few years making a greater mental note of the birds on the farm.

Burchell's Coucal

We created a Vulture Restaurant on a plateau high up on the farm. The farm was widespread and stretched over an altitude range between 4700ft (1440M) and 6200ft (1900M). Since we ran a total of 4000 sheep and 1800 head of cattle there was always something to drop in the 'Restaurant' and we had Cape Vulture, Bearded Vulture and the occasional Egyptian Vulture feeding off the carrion. I observed an interesting phenomenon with the vultures at the feeding place. Whenever animals were struck and killed by lightning the vultures would not eat them and even though the carcasses were left out for a few days, they remained untouched.

Move to Natal Midlands - New Horizons, New Birds

After leaving the farm I moved into the Natal Midlands where, for various reasons, I neglected Birding for a number of years. It was after a major setback and the onset of depression that I once again went to find tranquility in birds. This time I acquired the first of my collection of current Bird Field Guides, Roberts Birds of Southern Africa version V and a pair of binoculars.  I had the great privilege of living in an area very rich in Nature Reserves, Game reserves and Conservancies which made access to some of the best birding spots very easy. I became very frustrated at times when I found similar looking birds and could not positively identify them, especially in the Winter months. At the time, a set of tapes was released with bird calls by Guy Gibbon from Birdlife South Africa. Since the birding bug had now really manifested itself in me, I went out and equipped myself with a microphone, tape recorder, sound deflector and a set of Guy Gibbon's tapes. Later I was to acquire a telescope, a 35mm Camera with a 600mm reflex lens and then a VHS Camera.

When the first Atlassing Project started, I did not have enough confidence in my knowledge of birds and I never contributed towards the Project. It was enough for me to spend a day birding in one of the Reserves and return home with a list of 50 positively identified birds. Pretty soon my life list grew to 350 and I would return with daily lists of 120 to 130 species. I met a keen birder from the UK and together we explored many parts of the Natal Midlands. He visited with me every year for four years and together we would find out of the way venues where we would camp for a few days and explore the area. With his enthusiasm and assistance my list grew to close on 500 species.

There was a pair of Verreaux Eagles nesting in the hills just outside the town where I lived and I did a two year video project on them, over two breeding seasons. I accumulated about 100 hours of material on them. I would spend many hours on the hill about 12ft (4M) from their nest observing, photographing and taking videos of these amazing birds. I watched them hunting hyrax, guinea fowl and rabbits. I watched how they repaired their nest, lining it with fresh greenery before the breeding started.  When the eggs were close to hatching I would make my way up that hill twice a day in the hope of filming the cracking.