Open Day for bird ringing at Grotto Bay Private Nature Reserve : 12 September 2026
The BDI arranged an Open Day for bird ringing in partnership with the Grotto Bay Private Nature Reserve on 12 September 2026. If you missed this one you have a ...
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.
Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)
Cover image of Indian Peafowl. Photograph taken 9 December 2023, at Vondeling Wine Farm, northwest of Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa. The Indian Pe...
Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar)
Cover image of Chukar Partridge. Photograph taken on Robben Island. The Chukar Partridge belongs to the Family Phasianidae (pheasants). There are curr...
Counting African Oystercatchers on Robben Island : 31 July 2026
The survey of the African Oystercatchers on Robben Island on Friday 31 July turned out blogworthy, not so much from the perspective of the oystercatchers, but b...
Bird ringing at Nuwejaars Wetlands SMA : 14 to 19 June 2026
On 14 to 19 June 2026 we made our second visit this year to the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area, the first visit have been made in April, with blog h...
Bird ringing at Strandfontein Sewage Works : 20 July 2026
Multiple bird ringing expeditions to the Strandfontein Sewage Works have taken place since the one described in the blog for 24 May 2026. On that trip we ringed...
Bird ringing at Ouberg : 10 to 16 July 2026
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...
Bird ringing at Botuin, Vanrhynsdorp : 3 to 7 July 2026
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...
Bird ringing at Ouberg : 30 May to 4 June 2026
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...
Counting African Oystercatchers on Robben Island : 13 June 2026
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...