As One Group Moves Out, the Other Moves In…. But it’s Not All Sadness

by Carmel Rickard

In some ways this is a sad time of year. The migrant birds that we have come to love have started their long trek to the other side of the world.

I’m thinking in particular of the kestrels, the Lesser Kestrel and the Amur or Eastern Red Footed Falcon. This has been one of the best kestrel summers since I moved to Smithfield – they have been everywhere. On the telephone lines, on the rocks – and, best of all, in the sky.

They moved into town this year, and have been occupying two clumps of trees, and we can watch them as they prepare for sleep. In fact it’s something worth waiting for every day and I find myself actually looking forward to the late afternoons when they begin to gather in their hundreds over the town. There are now just a couple of dozen, and every night I wonder if this will be the last time we see them.

Another bird I will miss is the Yellow Billed Stork. Once, about six years ago, while I was out walking in the veld I lay down on a large flat rock to enjoy the sun. Something made me open my eyes and there, directly above me, high in the sky, were dozens of storks, flying to their other home, somewhere in the northern hemisphere. Though there was some regret that they were leaving, it was still a magical moment.

But it’s not all sadness, for in the winter we can often see birds normally hidden by the long summer grass. In mid-winter as in mid-summer, there is a special day set aside to count the large birds that we find in this area. Counting the birds during the designated afternoon you find yourself noticing the different calls and sights of the winter veld.

There’s the near-threatened padda korhaan (Blue Korhaan) with its always evocative call, and its cousin the elegant Northern Black Korhaan; we see Spurwing Geese and, if we are really lucky, cranes and secretary birds.

Not so long ago during a count Lynden Lund and I spotted two adult Blue Cranes and their half-grown baby walking in the grass near a dam. We watched entranced – but they would have been invisible to us during the summer.

These are not the only birds that tourists (and locals of course) will find worthwhile here during winter. We have a host of grassveld pipits as well, among them a special new rarity called the Kimberley Pipit.

Website for picture: http://tripreports.cliftongrovebirds.com/myPictures/lesses%20kes.jpg