The first 3 months of the 'natal dispersal' project have elapsed and here is a quick rundown of the stats for 1 August - 31 October. A total of 401 chicks have been ringed. The effort to reach this number was 2657 kms driven and 160 hours spent driving, searching for, and ringing chicks. On average it took 6.6 km and 24 minutes to ring each of these 401 chicks. The northern most chicks were ringed at the Diep River near Blauuberg Road and the southernmost chicks in Kommetjie, a north-south distance of 37 km (but much further by road). Monthly totals of ringed chicks may be found here.
During these 3 months limited mist-netting has resulted in 324 birds to be caught, of which two had been ringed as chicks. The peak breeding season has passed, but it is hoped that at least another 100 chicks will be ringed during November and December. Mist-netting efforts will increase, especially during 2010 to recapture the ringed chicks and determine how far different species dispersed from the colonies where they hatched. The dates for these bird ringing events will appear on this calendar.