Weaver ringing trip to the bushveld, 20-28 Feb 2009
A team of 5 ringers went on a ringing trip to the bushveld; for me to target some specific weavers and for the others to target bushveld birds in general. Mike Ford, Peter Nupen and Dieter Oschadleus travelled from Cape Town and camped at Suikerbos near Potchefstroom. We ringed at Prozesky with Rita Marais, Lucia, Neels and two trainees. Then we travelled to Vaalkop Dam where Alan Brooks and Klaus Kreft joined us for the rest of the trip. Only a few birds were ringed at Vergenoeg as we decided to pack up early. Planning this trip was doen by looking at the SAFRING database (where birds had been ringed previously) and the book The Chamberlain guide to birding Gauteng.
The dates (in February 2009) and ringing sites were:
21 OPM Prozesky, Potchefstroom, North-West Province
22-23 Le Boheme farm, Vaalkop Dam, North-West Province
24-25 Wolfhuiskraal farm, Limpopo Province
26 Buffelsdrif farm, Rust de Winter area, Limpopo Province
27 Vergenoeg Mine, Gauteng
 Suikerbos camp site near Potchefstroom |
 La Boheme ringing station |
 Wolfhuiskraal ringing station at farm house |
 Wet road from Wolfhuiskraal to Buffelsdrift |
 Buffelsdrift accommodation on Elands River |
 Vergenoeg Mine ringing station |
Southern Masked Weaver
The Southern Masked Weavers from the Western Cape to Gauteng are large with birds west and north of this diagonal belt are smaller. This is easily seen even within NW Province with birds in Potchefstroom similar to birds in the Western Cape but weavers from Vaalkop Dam much smaller (see data in tables below). Thus the mean wing length is 8-9 mm shorter at Vaalkop Dam than in Potchefstroom or the Western Cape, with no overlap in extremes.
 Adult male |
Adult males (in full breeding plumage)
Locality Wing length (mm) Vaalkop Dam 75.5-77.9-80 (n=9) Potchefstroom 85-87-88 (n=3) Western Cape 82-86-90.5 (n=75) |
White-winged Widow
 Adult female |
Four birds were caught, 3 females and one recently fledged juvenile. Males in breeding and non-breeding plumage show yellow wing patches with white bases, while females do not have the white bases. |
Red-billed Buffalo Weaver
 Adult male |
Two were caught, one male and one young bird. Buffalo Weavers are unique in the bird world in having a phalloid organ but the function of this is not fully understood yet. |
Other weavers
 Red-headed Weaver nests suspended from a farm shed roof |
Scaly-feathered Finches and Southern Red Bishops were also caught. Red-headed Weavers were not seen or caught although there were deserted colonies at some sites. |
Southern limits along the N14 for some weavers
 |
The first Whitebrowed Sparrow-weaver colony seen along the N14 was north of the first two quarter degree squares in which this species had been recorded during the first SA atlas project. No birds were seen at the colony although there may have been some foraging in the area. Click here for larger map |
 |
The first Sociable Weaver colony seen along the N14 was within the first quarter degree square in which this species had been recorded during the first SA atlas project. This colony was on a telephone pole and it was active (birds flying in and out) and was 15 km south of the Orange River. Click here for larger map |
Full ringing totals
Key:
P=OPM Prozesky
V=Vaalkop Dam (La Boheme farm)
W=Wolfhuiskraal farm
B=Buffelsdrif farm
M=Vergenoeg Mine
| SAFRING | Species | P | V | W | B | M | Total |
| 161 | Little Banded Goshawk | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 174 | Crested Francolin | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 183 | Natal Spurfowl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 185 | Swainson's Spurfowl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 242 | Crowned Lapwing | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 245 | Blacksmith Lapwing | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 314 | Red-eyed Dove | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 316 | Cape Turtle Dove | 5 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 317 | Laughing Dove | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 339 | Grey Go-away Bird | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 365 | Pearl-spotted Owlet | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 390 | Speckled Mousebird | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 397 | Malachite Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 398 | Pygmy Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 399 | Woodland Kingfisher | 2 | 5 | 7 | |||
| 401 | Grey-hooded Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 402 | Brown-hooded Kingfisher | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 424 | Grey Hornbill | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 425 | Red-billed Hornbill | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 426 | Yellow-billed Hornbill | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 431 | Black-collared Barbet | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 439 | Crested Barbet | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | ||
| 442 | Lesser Honeyguide | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 446 | Bennett's Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 451 | Bearded Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 493 | Barn Swallow | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 495 | White-throated Swallow | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 502 | Greater Striped Swallow | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 504 | S. A Cliff Swallow | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 517 | Fork-tailed Drongo | 4 | 4 | 8 | |||
| 533 | Arrow-marked Babbler | 4 | 11 | 5 | 20 | ||
| 536 | Southern Pied Babbler | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 545 | Dark-capped Bulbul | 1 | 5 | 6 | |||
| 552 | Kurrichane Thrush | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 576 | African Stonechat | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 582 | White-throated Robin | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 588 | White-browed Scrub-robin | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 599 | Willow Warbler | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 603 | Great Reed Warbler | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 604 | Lesser Swamp Warbler | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 606 | African Reed Warbler | 41 | 41 | ||||
| 608 | Sedge Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 609 | Little Rush Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 621 | Long-billed Crombec | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 628 | Grey-backed Cameroptera | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 637 | Neddicky | 1 | 11 | 12 | |||
| 641 | Tinkling Cisticola | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 642 | Rattling Cisticola | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 649 | Tawny-flanked Prinia | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 650 | Black-chested Prinia | 6 | 6 | ||||
| 654 | Spotted Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 658 | Chestnut-vented Titbabbler | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| 661 | Marico Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 664 | Southern Black Flycatcher | 6 | 6 | ||||
| 708 | Red-backed Shrike | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 709 | Southern Boubou | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 711 | Crimson-breasted Shrike | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 719 | Orange-breasted Bush-shrike | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 724 | Magpie Shrike | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 737 | Glossy Starling | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 745 | Red-winged Starling | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 763 | White-bellied Sunbird | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 4142 | Southern Grey-headed Sparrow | 5 | 4 | 9 | |||
| 779 | Red-billed Buffalo Weaver | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 789 | Scaly-feathered Finch | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 803 | Southern Masked Weaver | 12 | 26 | 2 | 40 | ||
| 808 | Southern Red Bishop | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 814 | White-winged Widow | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 830 | Green-winged Pytilia | 18 | 18 | ||||
| 835 | Jamieson's Firefinch | 8 | 8 | ||||
| 837 | Red-billed Firefinch | 2 | 5 | 7 | |||
| 839 | Blue Waxbill | 7 | 15 | 5 | 27 | ||
| 840 | Violet-eared Waxbill | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 841 | Black-faced Waxbill | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 843 | Common Waxbill | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 874 | Golden-breasted Bunting | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Totals | 76 | 100 | 126 | 59 | 7 | 368 |
Bearded Woodpecker at Vergenoeg Mine
Just about the last bird ringed on the trip!
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the ringers that helped organise sites and helped with the ringing:
The team: Mike Ford, Peter Nupen, Klaus Kreft, Alan Brooks, Dieter Oschadleus
Ringers and trainees in Potchefstroom: Rita Marais, Lucia du Preez, Niel van Rooyen, Rindert Wyma, Tina
Darryl Detlefs and Nic Bezuidenhout, NW Parks Board for accommodation at La Boheme
Permission to ring at sites: NW Parks Board (La Boheme), Danie Opperman (Wolfhuiskraal), Dave Howcroft (Buffelsdrift), Dennis Cooke (Vergenoeg mine)