Pollution, the lack of maintenance, disturbance and alien vegetation have impacted the bird life in Hartbeespoort, and it is hoped that the attempts to stop the pollution in the catchment areas and the dam remediation project and an integrated management plan will in time see the return of many species.

This was the finding of the Coordinated Waterbird Count (CWAC) on Hartbeespoort Dam last week.
“Generally birds that dive for their food like fish, numbers have remained fairly constant despite the loss of breeding trees. These are White-breasted Cormorants, African Darters, and Reed Cormorants. Two heron species, Grey and Purple Heron, numbers have also been constant. The Grey Heron nests in heronries in the Blue Gum trees. The Purple Heron nests in heronries in reeds where there is a large group that has been breeding for some time on one of the established stable floating islands,” said John Wesson.
The Black-headed Heron had not been so fortunate, and declining numbers can be attributed to the loss of nest sites and more disturbed areas away from the dam. These are herons seen in fields away from water.
Wesson said that the Western Cattle and Great Egrets have also shown a marked decline due to the destruction of heronries either by disturbance or cutting down of reeds which destroy both roosting and breeding sites. “More safe breeding sites need to be secured, and places like the Ifafi Bird Islands cleaned and repaired.”
A reduction in Sacred and Hadeda Ibis numbers has also been detected. “These birds feed in the highly polluted areas and contaminated mud on all forms of invertebrates and insects, opening themselves up to toxins like Botulism and E.coli etc. The same applies to the decline in Cape and Pied Wagtails. Spoonbill that also feeds in the muddy shallows has also notably gone.”
He said the loss of the bay due to floating vegetation at the old fishing site on the south shore, along with the overgrown conditions of the shoreline, led to the loss of the Greater Flamingo. “The Greater Flamingo that were there for a number of years reached up to 200 birds at one stage. In recent years, the Crocodile River area, before it enters the dam, has silted up and become ideal for shallow feeders like Lesser Flamingo and large numbers of Pied Avocet and Black-winged Stilt. The migrant waders that used to be seen in large numbers are also absent due to the overgrown, uneven shoreline and lack of mud flats.
Birds like Egyptian Geese who utilise many of the estates’ grassy areas as feeding spots, White-faced Whistling Duck, Yellow-billed Duck and Southern Pochard are still found in large numbers. “Fortunately there are still up to five African Fish Eagles in the area with key breeding spots in the Meerhof\Ifafi Bird Sanctuary conservancy and Biosphere buffer which is critical for many species of wildlife around the dam.”
Red Knobbed Coot occur in large numbers and utilise the dam as an overwintering area. They feed mainly on aquatic plants including the surviving Water Hyacinth.
Grey-headed Gulls still occur in fair numbers and are scavengers that can survive anywhere.
“Special birds like the Caspian Terns have not been seen for many years with reduced numbers of other tern species possibly due to the lack of shoals of small fish near the surface in the deeper parts of the dam. Many of the kingfisher species have declined, especially those relying on fish close to the surface,” Wesson said.
CWAC is a project started in 1992 as part of South Africa’s commitment to international waterbird conservation.
Citizen scientists conduct bi-annual counts of water birds at registered waterbodies across South Africa and Kenya. The data is curated by the University of Cape Town’s FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology.
Regular mid-summer and mid-winter counts take place at numerous wetlands and water bodies, contributing to this unique data set.