Five teams from WESSA and Birdlife Harties tackled their 16th year of summer water bird count at the Hartbeespoort Dam last weekend.

Birders busy with a summer bird count.

“Fortunately, the weather was clear, and the teams got off to a good start at 05.30. It was a relatively low count with only 4484 birds counted,” said John Wesson.
“There was a marked lack of waders due to the hyacinth and no maintenance of the shoreline. Safe heronries around the dam seem to have recovered with numbers of birds like Western Cattle Egrets, African Darters and Sacred Ibis showing an increase. The deeper water of the Crocodile River resulted in no sandbanks that would normally attract birds that feed in the shallows. Birds that feed on small surface fish were virtually non-existent.”
He said there was also a marked decline in Egyptian geese. “Residents need to be on the lookout for illegal hunting or trapping of the birds. Illegal gill netting of fish goes on unabated.”
White-breasted Cormorants have shown an increase possibly due to safe permanent nesting sites around the dam especially towards the dam wall. “Smaller birds like wagtails have shown a decline over the years probably due to the toxicity of the water as they feed along the dam edge and are exposed to all toxins or bacteria. The dam’s resident African Fish Eagles remain secure in their protected nesting sites in areas like the Ifafi Meerhof Bird Sanctuary conservancy which is part of the Biosphere buffer.”
The Hartbeespoort Dam is a registered protected nature reserve with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). “Harsh penalties should apply to illegal activities. Hopefully, there will be less hyacinth in the winter count, where bird numbers tend to double the summer count,” Wesson said.