Department of Zoology
University of Cape Town
| Animal Demography Unit
Department of Zoology University of Cape Town |
|
ADU travels, expeditions and eventsAFRING Waterbird Ringing Course, Zambia
|
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Arrival at Lusaka International Airport, the initial meeting point for all the delegates. From here we travelled north to Fringilla Lodge, our first venue. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Our accommodation units at Fringilla. The Lodge is located close to the main road but provided comfortable and clean accommodation and delicious meals. | |
 Photo D.M Harebottle | The theoretical part of the course was held in the lodge's conference centre which was situated adjacent to the sleeping units. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Lizanne started the course with a presentation on Zambia and it's avifauna, which placed in context the significance of this south-central African country for waterbirds in the sub-region. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle |
Practical demonstrations on setting up mist-nets and walk-in traps were held on the lawns alongside the conference centre. Here Chris explains the construction and setting of a wader walk-in trap... | |
 Photo M. Remisiewicz | ...while Doug demonstrates extracting a bird from a mist-nest, and how to store it in prepartion for processing. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Delegates assembling a walk-in trap for ducks... | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | ...while others were taken through the ins and outs of operating mist-nets. Each person was given an opportunity to erect a net, and take it down. They were also shown how to correctly furl a mist-net. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Here Magda runs through her presentation on the basic measurements to take when processing the bird in the hand. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Data usage and analysis is an important aspect to bird ringing, and here Yahkat explains to delegates how useful ringing data can be and describes some of the basic analyses that can be done. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Bernard Amakobe, one of the delegates, but who is currently the East African Ringing Coordinator and an experienced ringer, gave an overview of ringing activities in East Africa and described the development and challenges of the East African Ringing Scheme. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Breakfast and dinner were held in the cosy dining room of the lodge. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Here a bunch of delegates enjoy their lunch which was served outside. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Yahkat explaining to Mweene Cheelo, one of the Zambian vets, how to correctly measure the wing length. | |
 Photo M. Remisiewicz | Here Sydwell Setuki and Amos Koloti, the South African delegates, assist Doug in ringing one of the Dark-capped Bulbuls caught at Fringilla. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | A Scarlet-chested Sunbird - one of the birds we caught around the lodge. | |
 Photo M. Remisiewicz | Paradise Flycatchers were common in the lodge grounds and we managed to catch a female, shown here. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | One of the dams on Huntley Farm. Here the 'wader' group set up their nets and traps. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | The 'duck' group setting and baiting the duck walk-in trap at the other large dam on the farm. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Duck nets were also erected at the second dam to increase our catching opportunities...over 2000 Comb Duck were a common sight around the dam, as were White-faced Duck (200-300) and Hottentot Teal (100). | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Ringing at Huntley was done mainly during the night and/or the few hours before sunrise. Here Bernard shows Veruka Tjitemisa (one of the Batswana delegates) the way in which to measure tail length correctly. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | One of the many Blacksmith Lapwings caught at the Huntley dams. This is a juvenile, identified by the remanant brown mottled plumage. | |
 Photo M. Remisiewicz | Magda with Foster Gyamfi (from Ghana) and 'their' African Jacana. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Hottentot Teal was the most frequently caught duck during the course. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | After our stay at Fringilla, we departed for Blue Lagoon National Park. En route, we stopped at the Arcades Shopping Centre in Lusaka for lunch and to buy some personal supplies | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | The road to Blue Lagoon NP. The 150 km trip from Lusaka takes about 3.5 - 4 hours due mainly to the 'pot-holed'' gravel roads leading to the park. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | The old, rather run-down farmhouse which used to belong to the Crenchley family. This was used by Vernon Wright and his team from Africa Original Expeditions (our catering hosts) as the base for the kitchen, and our dining room for the week. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Most of the group were accommodated in two lodges... | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | A causeway was constructed in honour of the Crenchley's and extends about 4 kilomteres into the Kafue Flats, a vast ??? square kilometre wetland (and IBA). The ringing sites were located a few hundred meters from the end of the causeway. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | A marquee was set up by Vernon and his team at the end of the causeway as our ringing base. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Setting up the mist-nets at one of the channels. Our visit coincided with the end of the dry season/beginning of the wet and open water was restricted to pools and the channels running through the marsh. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | One of the pools at which we set up our duck and wader mist-nets. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Waturu Tokura (Japan/ZAWA) and William Mgoola (Malawi) processing one of the many African Jacana's caught during our week at Blue Lagoon NP. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Griffin Shabangu (Zambia) looks on as Fadzai Matzvimbo (Zimbabwe) processes a Collared Pratincole. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Lizanne overseeing Griffin ringing and processing an African Snipe. We used the course to detail the ageing of this species, an aspect which has not been adequately documented. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Foster examining the wing moult of an African Snipe. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Verukua measuring the tarsus of a Collared Pratincole. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | A Hottentot Teal caught in one of the duck nets. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Three Common Sandpiper were caught during the week. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | One of the 10 Collared Pratincoles that was caught and processed. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | We were fortunate to catch a Cattle Egret (pictured here) and a single Squacco Heron. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | On the Wednesday we were treated to a sumptious braai. Here Leonard Lungu from Africa Original Expeditions serves up portions of boerewors, chicken, steak and baked potatoes to Cornelius Mundia (Zambia). | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | We also managed to catch a few Painted Snipe, which provided a nice comparison with the African Snipe. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Wattled Lapwings were common in the area, and on the last night we were lucky enough to catch a single bird. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | A single mist-net at a small pool - aimed at catching a Wood Sandpiper - caught these Square-tailed Nightjars which provided good photographic opportunities. | |
 Photo Foster Gyamfi | On the last evening a huge thunderstorm hit, and we scrambled to furl the nets in the pouring rain. The strong winds and pounding rain also blew the marquee around, bending some of the poles and loosening some of the guy ropes. Most of the participants ended up drenched! | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Our chinese laundry! Most of the bird bags got wet during the storm and these had to be dried the following morning. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Packing up. Fadzai and William taking down the mist-nets on the last morning. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Our final view of our ringing site and the Kafue Flats - a site abounding with waterbirds! | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | A closing ceremony was held and certificates were handed out to all delegates, trainers and our hosts, Africa Original Expeditions. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Our last evening was spent enjoying a traditional Zambian meal. On the menu was nshima (cooked maize meal) served with the following relishes: rape, sweet potato leaves (known as kalimbla) and pumpkin leaves (known as chibwabwa). These leaves were flavoured with ground groundnuts, a great favourite in Zambia. There was also a beef stew, pretty standard with tomato, onion etc. And, of course, the final delicacy...deep fried caterpillars (mopane worms)...(in the bowl being held by Leonard). | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | The Southern African AFRING ringing training group. Back (l to r): Lizanne Roxburgh (Zambia), Griffin Shabangu (Zambia), Chris Wood (Zambia), Mweene Cheelo (Zambia), Wataru Tokura (Japan/Zambia), Verukua Tjitemisa (Botswana), Front (standing l to r): Magda Remisiewicz (Poland), Yahkat Barshep (Nigeria), Innocent Magunje (Zimbabwe), Fadzai Matsvimbo (Zimbabwe), Cornelius Mundia (Zambia), Foster Gyamfi (Ghana) and William Mgoola (Malawi) Seated (l to r): Doug Harebottle (South Africa), Bernard Amakobe (Kenya), Edwin Olatotse (Botswana), Amos Koloti (South Africa) and Sydwell Setuki (South Africa). | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Vernon and his team packing up their equipment (incl. freezer), which was brought on this 4-tonne truck. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Bidding a fond farewell to our catering hosts who did a splendid job in feeding and accommodating the group at Blue Lagoon National Park. | |
 Photo D.M. Harebottle | Although the sun sets on another AFRING training course, everyone left with new skills, improved knowledge and some memorable experiences of Zambia and its people.... |
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the European Union through the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) which provided funding for AFRING and contributed to half of the costs for this course.
 |
 |
