SAFRING Wakkerstroom National Ringing Training Course

1-8 December 2001

This event was held for the second time at BirdLife South Africa's Wetland Centre at Wakkerstroom, Mpumulanga and was as successful as the previous one held here (December 2000) and the first one held at Witsand Nature Reserve in the Northern Cape (March 2000).

BirdLife South Africa's Wetland Centre

Attendees at a lecture

The course was attended by 35 participants, including ringers and trainees, coming from as far as Zimbabwe and Germany, as well as different parts of South Africa.

Every morning attendees left at around 4 am to put up mistnets in the vlei, forest or other sites.

Extracting birds from mistnets at the Wakkerstroom vlei

Ringing table with interested bystanders!

Cliff Swallow colonies around Wakkerstroom were enthusiastically tackled again, with many being retrapped from the ringing sessions exactly one year ago.

Dries with his team mistnetting Cliff Swallows

Ringed Cliff Swallow

A large number of weavers, bishops and widows were ringed. The males in breeding plumage are easily identified, while the females provide more of a challenge.

Adult male Masked Weaver

Female Redshouldered Widow (left) and female Red Bishop (right)

With mistnetting there is always the possibility of exciting or unusual captures, like the African Marsh Harrier that got away, and the Hottentot Teal that didn't!

Hottentot Teal

Dries Nel again led an outing to ring Bald Ibis chicks with metal and colour rings. Birders and ringers in Natal and Mpumulanga are requested to look out for these colour ringed birds and to report any sightings to SAFRING.

Ringed adult Bald Ibis

Colour ringed Bald Ibis chick, after being returned to its nest

Pied Starlings around the BirdLife homestead at Wakkerstroom have also been colour ringed by Steven Piper.

Colour ringed adult Pied Starling

If you are interested in attending a ringing workshop, watch our web page for details.

List of birds ringed, 1-8 December 2001, with a comparison of the 2002 Wakkerstroom workshop

Below are the totals for the two ringing workshops at Wakkerstroom. Ringing occurred at the wetland, forest and scrub areas on nearby farms, Cliff Swallows breeding on bridges within 10 km or so, and a Bald Ibis colony 40 km north of Wakkerstroom. The effort and specific sites varied in the 2 years. The number of ringers and trainees was 35 in 2001 instead of the nearly 60 of 2000, thus resulting in a lower total number of birds ringed. The top five birds ringed in both years were the same, i.e. Red Bishop, Cliff Swallow, Masked Weaver, African Marsh Warbler and Cape White-eye respectively. The numbers of these 5 species were higher in 2000, except for the African Marsh Warbler because of Kobie Raijmaker's superb efforts at targeting warblers more effectively in 2001.

Number	Name	Latin name	2001	2000
82	Bald Ibis	Geronticus calvus	5	5
84	Hadeda Ibis	Bostrychia hagedash		1
96	Yellowbilled Duck	Anas undulata	1
99	Hottentot Teal	Anas hottentota	1
130	Blackshouldered Kite	Elanus caeruleus		1
152	Jackal Buzzard	Buteo rufofuscus	1
154	Steppe Buzzard	Buteo buteo		2
189	Common Quail	Coturnix coturnix		4
247	Wattled Plover	Vanellus senegallus		1
316	Cape Turtle Dove	Streptopelia capicola	1	2
317	Laughing Dove	Streptopelia senegalensis	4	3
322	Cinnamon Dove	Aplopelia larvata	2	3
343	Redchested Cuckoo	Cuculus solitarius		1
344	Black Cuckoo	Cuculus clamosus		2
351	Klaas's Cuckoo	Chrysococcyx klaas	1
352	Diederik Cuckoo	Chrysococcyx caprius	2
367	Cape Eagle Owl	Bubo capensis		2
368	Spotted Eagle Owl	Bubo africanus		4
383	Whiterumped Swift	Apus caffer	10	17
385	Little Swift	Apus affinis	1	2
390	Speckled Mousebird	Colius striatus	11	6
395	Giant Kingfisher	Ceryle maxima	2
397	Malachite Kingfisher	Alcedo cristata	5	4
431	Blackcollared Barbet	Lybius torquatus	4	10
440	Greater Honeyguide	Indicator indicator	1
442	Lesser Honeyguide	Indicator minor	1
443	Sharpbilled Honeyguide	Prodotiscus regulus	1	3
445	Ground Woodpecker	Geocolaptes olivaceus	1
450	Cardinal Woodpecker	Dendropicos fuscescens		2
452	Olive Woodpecker	Mesopicos griseocephalus	3	2
453	Redthroated Wryneck	Jynx ruficollis		1
474	Spikeheeled Lark	Chersomanes albofasciata		1
493	European Swallow	Hirundo rustica	18	1
495	Whitethroated Swallow	Hirundo albigularis	18	10
502	Greater Striped Swallow	Hirundo cucullata	4	5
504	South African Cliff Swallow	Hirundo spilodera	196	305
506	Rock Martin	Hirundo fuligula	2
508	Sand Martin	Riparia riparia	2
510	Banded Martin	Riparia cincta	2	4
517	Forktailed Drongo	Dicrurus adsimilis		2
521	Blackheaded Oriole	Oriolus larvatus	1	1
527	Southern Black Tit	Parus niger	2
542	Bush Blackcap	Lioptilus nigricapillus	11	20
545	Blackeyed Bulbul	Pycnonotus barbatus	14	27
551	Sombre Bulbul	Andropadus importunus		2
552	Kurrichane Thrush	Turdus libonyana		1
553	Olive Thrush	Turdus olivaceus	9	17
569	Buffstreaked Chat	Oenanthe bifasciata		1
573	Mocking Chat	Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris	1
575	Anteating Chat	Myrmecocichla formicivora	5	1
576	Stonechat	Saxicola torquata	3
578	Chorister Robin	Cossypha dichroa	11	5
581	Cape Robin	Cossypha caffra	33	55
589	Starred Robin	Pogonocichla stellata	5	26
595	Garden Warbler	Sylvia borin	2	1
599	Willow Warbler	Phylloscopus trochilus	5	10
604	Cape Reed Warbler	Acrocephalus gracilirostris	18	13
606	African Marsh Warbler	Acrocephalus baeticatus	132	84
607	European Marsh Warbler	Acrocephalus palustris		3
608	European Sedge Warbler	Acrocephalus schoenobaenus	4	2
609	African Sedge Warbler	Bradypterus baboecala	39	24
610	Barratt's Warbler	Bradypterus barratti		7
618	Grassbird	Sphenoeacus afer	4	1
622	Barthroated Apalis	Apalis thoracica	9	14
627	Bleating Warbler	Camaroptera brachyura	1
629	Fantailed Cisticola	Cisticola juncidis	1	26
634	Ayres' Cisticola	Cisticola ayresii	1	3
635	Palecrowned Cisticola	Cisticola brunnescens	2	9
637	Neddicky	Cisticola fulvicapilla	1	1
642	Rattling Cisticola	Cisticola chiniana		1
646	Levaillant's Cisticola	Cisticola tinniens	28	13
648	Lazy Cisticola	Cisticola aberrans	2	3
1049	Drakensberg Prinia	Prinia hypoxantha	3	8
655	Dusky Flycatcher	Muscicapa adusta	1
665	Fiscal Flycatcher	Sigelus silens	1	2
666	Yellow Warbler	Chloropeta natalensis	5	3
671	Yellowthroated Warbler	Phylloscopus ruficapillus	2	7
672	Cape Batis	Batis capensis	9	10
682	Paradise Flycatcher	Terpsiphone viridis	7	9
686	Cape Wagtail	Motacilla capensis	2
688	Longtailed Wagtail	Motacilla clara	2
692	Grassveld Pipit	Anthus cinnamomeus	1	2
701	Yellowbreasted Pipit	Hemimacronyx chloris		3
703	Orangethroated Longclaw	Macronyx capensis	2	2
707	Fiscal Shrike	Lanius collaris	5	12
708	Redbacked Shrike	Lanius collurio	1
709	Southern Boubou	Laniarius ferrugineus	1	3
712	Puffback	Dryoscopus cubla	1
717	Olive Bush Shrike	Telophorus olivaceus	3	1
722	Bokmakierie	Telophorus zeylonus	1	2
734	Indian Myna	Acridotheres tristis		1
735	Wattled Starling	Creatophora cinerea		1
736	Plumcoloured Starling	Cinnyricinclus leucogaster		3
745	Redwinged Starling	Onychognathus morio	1
746	Pied Starling	Spreo bicolor	6	16
751	Malachite Sunbird	Nectarinia famosa	8	2
758	Greater Doublecollared Sunbird	Nectarinia afra	2	8
760	Lesser Doublecollared Sunbird	Nectarinia chalybea	6	9
772	Black Sunbird	Nectarinia amethystina		4
775	Cape White-eye	Zosterops pallidus	54	68
787	Southern Greyheaded Sparrow	Passer diffusus	4	1
788	Yellowthroated Sparrow	Petronia superciliaris	1	1
799	Cape Weaver	Ploceus capensis	48	43
803	Masked Weaver	Ploceus velatus	149	110
805	Redbilled Quelea	Quelea quelea		12
808	Red Bishop	Euplectes orix	422	550
812	Golden Bishop	Euplectes afer	5	19
813	Redcollared Widow	Euplectes ardens	6	11
816	Redshouldered Widow	Euplectes axillaris	49	18
818	Longtailed Widow	Euplectes progne	46	28
833	Bluebilled Firefinch	Lagonosticta rubricata	1	2
843	Common Waxbill	Estrilda astrild	12	23
846	Pintailed Whydah	Vidua macroura	3	4
854	Cuckoo Finch	Anomalospiza imberbis	1
857	Cape Canary	Serinus canicollis	6	8
858	Forest Canary	Serinus scotops	2	7
859	Yelloweyed Canary	Serinus mozambicus		2
874	Goldenbreasted Bunting	Emberiza flaviventris		3
	Total ringed		1523	1795