Robben Island: Birding Highlights of 2002

The view back towards Cape Town from Robben Island. The southeaster brings the "tablecloth" to Table Mountain. Lion's Head (on the right) is in shadow, and Signal Hill catches the last rays of the sun

Researchers from the Avian Demography Unit and Marine and Coastal Management frequently visit Robben Island. They record any sightings of special interest on this web page, which currently contains records to August 2002.

• Darter: One at van Riebeek's Quarry on 3 July (PAW) and 3 August (LGU).
• Great White Pelican: One flew over the island on 30 March (LGU, JEU).
• Great White Egret: On 3 February, there was one feeding in shallow water in the sheltered bay just west of Alpha 1 (LGU).
• Blackcrowned Night Heron: At about 2100 on 2 May, at three widely separated places, two immatures and one adult were hunting in the intertidal. It was about two hours after dark, with no moonlight. They were standing motionless on the edges of rock pools, using the same stand-and-wait strategy that Little Egrets use in these same pools during the day. The sections of shoreline they were using were being searched using a bright light for wader roosts; no night herons had been seen on similar searches in March and April. There appear to be no previous records of this heron feeding on open shorelines (LGU, KMC).
• Blacksmith Plover: On 17 May, there was already a pair with chicks; the eggs would have been laid in April. Breeding of Blacksmith Plovers in the Western Cape peaks six months later, in October (LGU).
• Redbilled Teal: There were 18 in "Madiba's Quarry" early in the morning on 10 April. The previous day had been rainy, the first wet day of autumn. Possibly the teal were on the move, had got lost over the sea, and were lucky to bump into the island. This is the first record of Redbilled Teal on Robben Island (LGU, KMC).

  Sacred Ibis

• Sabine's Gull: Only a handful were observed offshore this autumn; for example, there were "a few" seen from the ferry going to the island on 12 March (PAW). Last year, there were 1000s offshore, including many juveniles, for several weeks in March and April.
• Namaqua Dove: One in the settlement on 13 March (LGU).
• African Hoopoe: One on 29 March, in the settlement (LGU, JEU).
• Alpine Swift: There were 30-50 flying low around the village on 17 August (PAW), and large numbers all over the island on 3 August. These latter observations coincided with similar observations from other parts of the Western Cape reported on CapeBirdNet (LGU).
• Cape Weaver: See the report Cape Weavers on Robben Island for information about the occurrence of this species on the island.

  From the ADU side, we are grateful to Robben Island Museum for logistic support, and to Marine and Coastal Management for sharing their house on the island with us as a base for our research.