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Author: Les Underhill

Prof Les Underhill was Director of the Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town from its start in 1991 until he retired. Although citizen science in biology is Les’s passion, his academic background is in mathematical statistics. He was awarded his PhD in abstract multivariate analyses in 1973 at UCT and what he likes to say about his PhD is that he solved a problem that no one has ever had. He soon grasped that this was not the field to which he wanted to devote his life, so he retrained himself as an applied statistician, solving real-world problems.
Archive/Bird ringing/Birding/Birds/Citizen Science/Trip report

Bird ringing at Ouberg : 10 to 16 July 2026

Posted on 17/07/2026 by Les Underhill / 0 Comment

A total of 141 species has been recorded for SABAP2 pentad 3340_2015, the one into which Ouberg Private Nature Reserve falls. That list is based on 29 full prot...

Archive/Bird ringing/Birds/Citizen Science/Trip report/Vanrhynsdorp

Bird ringing at Botuin, Vanrhynsdorp : 3 to 7 July 2026

Posted on 11/07/2026 by Les Underhill / 0 Comment

We were bird ringing near the Maskam Mountain, Vanrhynsdorp, from 3 to 7 July. We were based at Botuin Cottages. We ringed in the Botuin garden, the Lark Site c...

Archive/Bird ringing/Birding/Birds/Citizen Science/Trip report

Bird ringing at Ouberg : 30 May to 4 June 2026

Posted on 24/06/2026 by Les Underhill

We made only two ringing visits to Ouberg Private Nature Reserve last year: 14 to 17 February 2025, and 21 to 24 October 2025. We were delighted to be back at r...

Archive/Birding/Birds/Monitoring/Robben Island

Counting African Oystercatchers on Robben Island : 13 June 2026

Posted on 17/06/2026 by Les Underhill

We counted the African Oystercatchers on the 10 km of shoreline of Robben Island on 13 June 2026. There were 420 adults and three juveniles. The previous survey...

Archive/Bird ringing/Birding/Birds

Bird ringing at Strandfontein Sewage Works : 24 May 2026

Posted on 07/06/2026 by Les Underhill

On 24 May 2026, we were bird ringing at the Strandfontein Sewage Works at a different spot to where we were eight days ago, on 16 May! Relevant permissions were...

Archive/Birds/Citizen Science/Monitoring/Trip report

Counting African Oystercatchers on Robben Island : 17 May 2026

Posted on 18/05/2026 by Les Underhill

The African Oystercatchers on the coastline of Robben Island have been counted about 190 times since 2001. The earliest counts were of around 150 birds. The end...

Archive/Bird ringing/Birding/Birds/Citizen Science/Trip report

Bird ringing at Strandfontein Sewage Works : 16 May 2026

Posted on 16/05/2026 by Les Underhill

We grabbed the opportunity presented by a calm Saturday morning to do bird ringing at the Strandfontein Sewage Works (relevant permissions having been obtained)...

Archive/Biodiversity/Bird ringing/Birds/Citizen Science/Trip report

Bird ringing at Frogmore Estate/Zandvlei : 9 May 2026

Posted on 10/05/2026 by Les Underhill

Frogmore Estate is a suburb of Cape Town, a few kilometres north of Muizenberg, and bordering on Zandvlei. The Zandvlei Trust plays a key role in the conservati...

Archive/Birds

Bird ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands SMA : 12 to 16 April 2026

Posted on 29/04/2026 by Les Underhill

This was our 12th bird ringing expedition to the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area. We arrived into a wet and windy few days at the end of what had bee...

Archive

Bird ringing at Zandvlei, brunch at Marina da Gama : 20 December 2025

Posted on 23/12/2025 by Les Underhill

Saturday. 20 December. was the Open Day for bird ringing. We had two locations arranged for the ringing, so that there was space for everyone. At sunrise, we di...

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  • Home
  • Departments
    • Research Training
      • Introduction
      • Research Themes
      • Study Sites
      • Logistics
    • Bird Ringing
      • Introduction
      • Ringing history
      • The Value of Bird Ringing
    • Science and Ecology Specialist Consulting
    • Citizen Science – Biodiversity Conservation & Research
    • Biodiversity Observations
  • About
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    • Contact us
  • News
    • Archive
    • BDI Research
    • BDI Bridge
    • BDInsight
  • Upcoming BDI events
  • Biodiversity Projects
    • Bird Feeder Project
    • Atlas of Frogs & Toads
    • Atlas of African Neuroptera and Megaloptera
    • Atlas of Dragonflies & Damselflies
    • Atlas of Butterflies & Moths
  • Karoo Research Centre

Recent posts

  • Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens)
    Cover image of Cardinal […]
  • Bird ringing at Ouberg : 10 to 16 July 2026
    A total of 141 species has been recorded for […]
  • Red-capped Lark (Calandrella cinerea)
    Cover image of Red-capped Lark Lark by Ryan […]
  • Bird ringing at Botuin, Vanrhynsdorp : 3 to 7…
    We were bird ringing near the Maskam Mountain, […]
  • Cape Grassbird (Sphenoeacus afer)
    Cover image of Cape Grassbird by Ryan […]
The Biodiversity & Development Institute is a non-profit company registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa (CIPC), Reg. No. 2015/136344/08.
Registration in terms of the Non-Profit Organisations Act: 302-671 NPO.


Directors:
Prof Les Underhill, Ms Sue Gie, Jorn Das
les@thebdi.org
072 062 1140


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