We had neglected our Vanrhynsdorp ringing sites since November last year, so this visit was overdue! You can read the report on that trip here. This blog summarizes the bird ringing at Botuin, Vanrhynsdorp, March-April 2025. Vanryhnsdorp is on the N7 national road, about half way between Cape Town and Namibia.
The table below shows that we handled 399 birds of 53 species. If you click on any of the species in red, you get taken to the structured text for the species on the BDI website. Try a few species, and see how these texts are structured, with the most important information about the species first. We are slowly expanding the number of species for which there are structured texts.
We handled lots of sparrows, weavers, bishops and doves. This is a good thing, because it is for these species that we will get lots of retraps, and be able to estimate high quality survival rates. The data we collect from the bird-in-the-hand is especially valuable; these include age, sex, weight, measurements and moult. We also take lots of photographs. These are valuable for the production of visual ageing guides.
| Species | Number |
| Yellow-billed Duck | 1 |
| Cape Teal | 11 |
| Pale Chanting Goshawk | 2 |
| Cape Spurfowl | 1 |
| Three-banded Plover | 2 |
| Blacksmith Lapwing | 1 |
| Speckled Pigeon | 1 |
| Red-eyed Dove | 2 |
| Ring-necked Dove | 1 |
| Laughing Dove | 48 |
| White-backed Mousebird | 8 |
| Red-faced Mousebird | 1 |
| Malachite Kingfisher | 1 |
| Hoopoe | 1 |
| Karoo Lark | 1 |
| Large-billed Lark | 3 |
| Red-capped Lark | 1 |
| Rock Martin | 1 |
| Brown-throated Martin | 1 |
| African Red-eyed Bulbul | 6 |
| Karoo Chat | 3 |
| Familiar Chat | 3 |
| Ant-eating Chat | 3 |
| Stonechat | 1 |
| Cape Robin-chat | 2 |
| Karoo Scrub Robin | 9 |
| Yellow-bellied Eremomela | 2 |
| Rufous-eared Warbler | 2 |
| Grey-backed Cisticola | 2 |
| Levaillant’s Cisticola | 3 |
| Namaqua Warbler | 4 |
| Chestnut-vented Warbler | 4 |
| Fairy Flycatcher | 1 |
| Fiscal Flycatcher | 2 |
| Cape Wagtail | 8 |
| Southern Fiscal | 3 |
| Bokmakierie | 3 |
| Common Starling | 3 |
| Pied Starling | 1 |
| Southern Double-collared Sunbird | 3 |
| House Sparrow | 10 |
| Cape Sparrow | 70 |
| Cape Weaver | 35 |
| Southern Masked Weaver | 48 |
| Southern Red Bishop | 24 |
| Common Waxbill | 2 |
| Cape Siskin | 1 |
| White-throated Canary | 9 |
| Yellow Canary | 2 |
| Streaky-headed Canary | 1 |
| Cape Bunting | 21 |
| Cape White-eye | 13 |
| Karoo Prinia | 7 |
| Totals 53 species | 399 |
The remainder of this blog consists of photos of two of the ringing sites, and then a selection of head and shoulders of birds-in-the-hand.
Ringing places 1 : Gifberg Larksite
For most ringers, the favourite place in the district is the “Larksite”. This is in spite of the fact that if the ringing total reaches double figures we are ecstatic! We keep going back to this site for two reasons. It is the only place where we get to see a number of species in-the-hand. Secondly, it is so harshly beautiful, and every time we go it is different.
The “Larksite” starts where the disturbance ends, right up against the base of the Gifberg. There, the agricultural impact stops, and vegetation starts to become natural.
During this visit, we had an impressive thunderstorm. We got caught out in the rain in the late afternoon putting the mistnets up for the next morning.
Arriving at the Larksite before dawn
Looking northwest towards the town of Vanrhysndorp, there is still rain hanging in the air.
In spite of the heavy downpour, the reality is that the preceding six months have been hot and dry, and the landscape is pretty parched.
This table gives numbers of birds handled at the Gifberg Larksite. 72 birds of 25 species. The number of ringing trips there is getting close to 10! The 18 species in bold are rarely, if ever, caught at our other ringing sites in the district. That is why we keep going back to this “unproductive” site. Unproductive in terms of quantity, not of quality!
| Species | Number |
| Namaqua Dove | 3 |
| White-backed Mousebird | 1 |
| Karoo Lark | 3 |
| Large-billed Lark | 6 |
| Spike-heeled Lark | 2 |
| Grey-backed Sparrow-lark | 6 |
| Red-capped Lark | 2 |
| Red-eyed Bulbul | 1 |
| Karoo Chat | 2 |
| Capped Wheatear | 1 |
| Familiar Chat | 2 |
| Sickle-winged Chat | 3 |
| Karoo Scrub Robin | 5 |
| Yellow-bellied Eremomela | 1 |
| Rufous-eared Warbler | 4 |
| Grey-backed Cisticola | 1 |
| Southern Double-collared Sunbird | 1 |
| Cape Weaver | 1 |
| Red-billed Quelea | 2 |
| Southern Red Bishop | 3 |
| White-throated Canary | 9 |
| Yellow Canary | 3 |
| Lark-like Bunting | 2 |
| Cape Bunting | 5 |
| Karoo Prinia | 3 |
| Total: 25 species (18 in bold) | 72 |
Ringing places 2 : Vanrhynsdorp Sewage Works
There is only one photo of our second favourite ringing site in the vicinity of Botuin!
Birders, ringers included, are sewage works enthusiasts. There are probably people who keep life lists of the sewage works at which they have birded. This photograph shows the high-energy, business part of the sewage works at Vanryhnsdorp. At this spot, the impact on eyes and nose is not good. But most of the real work of the sewage works is done quietly, efficiently and unobstrusively out on the pans, by sun and by microbes, and the water is rehabilitated. Out on the pans, the waterbirds make a negative contribution to the sole objective of the sewage works from the perspective of management, but, from the perspective of ringers, make a positive contribution.
Some birds
Yellow-billed Duck, ringed at the Vanryhnsdorp Sewage Works. We also caught Red-billed Teal on this visit.
This is how the white in the wing of the Ant-eating Chat actually works. Larksite
Cape Bunting. Larksite
Bokmakieire. Larksite
Cape Siskin, with its white-tipped tail. Larksite
Large-billed Lark. The yellow base to the bill is diagnostic. Now you can see how it works. Larksite
Rufous-eared Warbler. Larksite
Rock Kestrel
These are the two mousebirds in the area: White-backed Mousebird and Red-faced Mousebird.
Cape Robin-chat. In the garden at Botuin
Southern Fiscal at Botuin. That beak is a dangerous weapon.
Wrap
There is a set of reports about previous BDI ringing events on this website. There is a list of upcoming BDI events here.
There is a discussion on the value of bird ringing to research and conservation here.
The team of ringers for this trip consisted of Dieter Oschadleus, Dembo Jatta, Jade Wilding, Oliver Fox, Roger Walsh and myself. Jade, Oliver and Roger were visiting ringers from the UK. They are intensely involved in the Kartong Bird Observatory in The Gambia and transferred to us lots of skills gained in The Gambia and the UK. Dembo is also from The Gambia, and had just completed an MSc in Conservation Biology at the FitzPatrick Institute.
We are hugely grateful to Salome Willemse for hosting us at Botuin. It is an amazing place.
