96 km north of Brandvlei (towards Kenhardt) is a telephone pole with a Sociable Weaver nest. This nest has been documented as the southernmost nest on the R27 for the last 4 years and it is still active. It has decreased in size due to a piece of the nest falling off, as recorded by a time-series of photos by different observers (no photo was taken in 2011 but the colony was recorded as present). The decrease is confirmed by 2 nest counts, ie 30 chambers in 2010 and 16 in 2014. The nest piece fell off between 29/2/2012 and 29/3/2013 and is visible on the ground in the 2013 and 2014 photos. Click on the thumb-nails below for more details (and a link to larger photos). The second photo is from Google streetview.

              2010                               2010                               2012                               2013                       2014              

Thanks to the observers who submitted these records (primary observers: Susie Cunningham, Amour McCarthy, Japie Claassen, Rowan Martin, and Claire Kolberg). The most recent photo was taken on the return trip from the Upper Karoo.

Please record and submit your record of Sociable Weaver nests to PHOWN (PHOtos of Weaver Nests) via the Virtual Museum upload site. Of particular interest is an annual record of the first Sociable Weaver colony along a road when you approach the range of this species. No matter if others have recorded it - rather too many repeats than missing records!