Project Title

Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC)

Project Executant

Prof Les Underhill

Animal Demography Unit

University of Cape Town

Rondebosch, 7701

Tel: (021) 650-3227

Email: les.underhill@.uct.ac.za

Project Coordinator

Mr Marius Wheeler

Animal Demography Unit

University of Cape Town

Rondebosch, 7701

Tel: (021) 650-4698

Email:

Progress Report

October 2009

Project summary

The Animal Demography Unit (ADU) launched the Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC) project in 1992 as part South Africa’s commitment to International waterbird conservation. This is being done by means of a programme of regular mid-summer and mid-winter censuses at a large number of South Africanwetlands. The project records information for all the non-passerine species of birds associated with wetlands. All the counts are conducted by volunteers; people and organisations with a passion for waterbird conservation. It is one of the largest and most successful citizen science programmes in Africa, providing much needed data for waterbird conservation around the world. Currently the project curates waterbird data for 640 sites.

South Africa is a member of Wetlands International (WI) and a signatory to the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention), the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). CWAC forms part of the activities which give expression to these commitments. The results of the project are mainly communicated via the CWAC website: ( A comprehensive report waspublished in 1997, summarising the data collected since the inception of the project in 1992.

Project Mission Statement

Goal

To act as an effective long-term waterbird monitoring tool, benefiting conservation efforts worldwide.

Objectives

  1. Ensure effective project management through working closely with a host of national and international stakeholders; steadily updating and integrating this network of people;
  2. Coordinate, prioritise and expand waterbird surveys on a national scale with the emphasis on long-term monitoring;
  3. Ensure effective data management throughout the project;
  4. Manage, maintain and expand the project database;
  5. Undertake effective IT development within the project, including the upkeep and expansion of the project website;
  6. Disseminate data and results through the project website, reports, scientific papers, popular articles, direct liaison with stakeholders, or any other useful means;
  7. Promote and facilitate the use of census data specifically for policy, planning and research purposes;
  8. Raise awareness and promote the project through the website, popular articles, newsletters, interviews, talks, or any other appropriate means;
  9. Submit census data towards the African Waterbird Census Programme in part fulfilment of South Africa’s contribution to international agreements such as Ramsar, Bonn and AEWA.
Progress

Coverage (October 2009)

A total of 640sites are currently registered with the CWAC project. Of these, an average of 384 sites(60%) are surveyed bi-annually; the remaining sites either having been discontinued or have had their counts suspended due to various reasons. These figures are based on estimates from previous years. Currently there are many counts still outstanding for the 2009 CWAC year. This includes summer and winter counts and as a result calculating overall coverage is impossible. Those provinces for which large amounts of data are still outstanding include the Northern Cape (NC) and Free State (FS). The counts are coordinated by approximately 125 compilers or site coordinators and approximately 600 observers take part during each count. Allcensus data collected are processed and stored in aSQL database at the ADU based at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Summer 2009

A total of 322sites were surveyed during this period. This excludes data for approximately 80 sites situated within the Northern Cape and Free State Provinces. This data is still outstanding for reasons beyond the projects control. Fortunately the bulk of the outstanding NC and FS data have been collected and attempts are underway to recover the outstanding counts; confirmation to this effect has already been received from FS Province.

The summer 2009 season was not as wet as the previous year with more sites (16) being listed as dry; particularly in the eastern parts of the country.

A total of 4 new sites were registered during the summer reporting period. The table below indicates in which province’s these fall and who the compilers were:

Site Name / Province / Compiler
Kleinemonde West River: Mouth - 4km upstream / Eastern Cape / Anne Williams
Blaauwklip / Western Cape / John Jones
Berg River 17: Berg River Mouth Tern Roost / Western Cape / Keith Harrison
Cape Columbine Tern Roost / Western Cape / Keith Harrison

Some of the highlights for the 2009 summer season include:

Droëvlei:

Situated close to Malmesbury in the Swartland, this meduim sized farm dam can be home to particularly high numbers of Egyptian Geese. A total of 5250 birds were counted of which 4507 were Egyptian Geese. Thanks to Mrs Mariana Delport for coordinating this count.

Wadrif Saltpan:

This site situated on the West Coast between Lamberts Bay and Elandsbaai can easily qualify for Ramsar status with figures such as this: Black-necked Grebe (639), Greater Flamingo (1219), South African Shelduck (242), Cape Shoveler (509) and Maccoa Duck (103). When wet this site regularly supports high numbers of important waterbirds. It should be afforded formal protection status. Thanks to Mr Kevin Shaw from Cape Nature for undertaking regular surveys.

Lourens River Estuary:

A small tidal estuary just west of Strand situated in the Western Cape. This site regularly supports high numbers of roosting terns. Thecount total was 5909 birds with 45 Caspian Tern and 5500 Common Tern included. A tribute goes out to the family ofMrGordon Scholtz who recently passed away. Gordon has been instrumental in surveying this site on a regular basis with no less than 50 counts conducted there.

Wilderness Lakes: Touw System:

This Ramsar site once again supported a high species diversity (45) and total count (7788). Some of the species highlights include: Great Crested Grebe (312), Little Grebe (254), White-breasted Cormorant (185), Reed Cormorant (271), Cape Shoveler (499), Yellow-billed Duck (1036) and Red-knobbed Coot (4416). Thanks to Mr Ian Russell from SANPARKS for his continued monitoring support at both Wilderness Lakes.

Rooiwal Sewage Works:

Exceptionally high numbers of Glossy Ibis (650) and Southern Pochard (548) were observed during this very wet count. Only 2 Yellow Wagtailswere counter during this count but it is likely that more birds were present in the surrounding area.

Springbokkamp PanMarrick Pan:

Both sites reported good numbers of Black-necked Grebe and South African Shelduck. Springbokkamp Pan’s figure (2227) included 387 Black-necked Grebe and 305 South African Shelduck. Marrick Pan’s figure (1655) included 312 Black-necked Grebe and 262 South African Shelduck. Thanks to Mr Eric Herrmann from the Northern Cape Department of Tourism, Environment and Conservation for monitoring both these sites.

Winter 2009

A total of 294sites were surveyed during this period. This excludes data for approximately 46 sites situated within the FS Province, 10 sites in the Eastern Cape (EC) Province, 6 sites in Mpumalanga (MP) Province and 32 sites in the NC Province. Reminders and follow up correspondence will be directed to those compilers still needing to submit their outstanding winter data.

A total of 5 new sites were registered during the winter reporting period. The table below indicates in which province’s these fall and who the compilers were:

Site Name / Province / Compiler
Teal Dam / Gauteng / Craig Whittington-Jones
Penwarn / KwaZulu-Natal / John Crowson
Goukou River: Melkhoutfontein - Cobb Hole / Western Cape / Jean du Plessis
Nagenoeg Dam / Western Cape / Sheila Walker
Meerlust Dam / Western Cape / Sheila Walker

Some of the highlights for the 2009winter season include:

SandpanBullfrog Pan:

Both Sandpan (3400) and Bullfrog Pan (2500) close to Benoni in Gauteng supported large numbers of breeding Grey-headed Gull. Thanks to Mr Peter Huggins for monitoring both these important sites.

Nsumo Pan:

A total count of 1517 birds with 13 different species present. This included 754 Pink-backed Pelican (200 breeding pairs) and 323 Yellow-billed Stork (100 breeding pairs). Thanks to Mr Beka Nxele from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for monitoring this special site.

Lake Eteza:

This site once again delivered good numbers. A total bird count of 5851 included 35 different species. The most significant numbers included: 1700 Great White Pelican, 507 African Spoonbill of which 122 were breeding, 806 Spur-winged Goose and 778 White-faced Duck. Our sincere appreciation to Mrs Caroline Fox and the whole Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife team involved in monitoring this and many other KZN CWAC sites.

Barberspan:

Barberspan had an exceptionally good winter count. A total bird count of 14734 included 52 different species. Highlights included: 274 Little Grebe, 400 Spur-winged Goose, 3484 Egyptian Goose and 8856 Red-knobbed Coot. All four species surpassed Regionally Important Bird Area (IBA) levels. Thanks to Dr Johan Botha and his team from North West Parks and Tourism Boardfor all their assistance.

Hartbeespoort Dam:

The Hartbeespoort Dam surveys were suspended in 1999 primarily as a result of human disturbance, increased housing development and water quality deterioration. None of the early counts indicated any significant numbers of birds or species present (data was limited however). Ten years later BirdLife Harties has taken up the challenge and started monitoring again. The second count was conducted this year on the 18th of July. A decent total count of 5485 included important species totals such as: 42 Great Crested Grebe, 457 White-breasted Cormorant, 342 Reed Cormorant, 113 African Darter, 1107 African Sacred Ibis, 1336 Red-knobbed Coot and 24 Caspian Tern. This site is renowned for its poor water quality, but it is still encouraging to see such numbers of birds. Further monitoring is recommended.

Positives

  • The project’s goal and objectives have recently been revised by the project Advisory Group (AG). The new mission statement is reflected higher up in this progress report. This recommendation has been dealt with as identified as one of the aspects needing attention by the 2007 project review process. Thanks to everybody that contributed to this process.
  • The ADU has appointed a dedicated data capture person that has worked through the backlog of CWAC paper census submissions for 2008/2009. Currently we are up to date with all paper digitisation.

Negatives

  • The2007 project reviewhighlighted the need for collecting additional wetland information and the role that CWAC can play in this process. The scope of such information can range from very basic to very detailed and includes the collection of biotic and a-biotic parameters. The collection of such information is very much dependant on the knowledge, expertise and willingness of the observer and as such can be regarded as subjective.

Furthermore it was decided that our (CWAC)collection protocols should be brought in line with National Policy as set by the Wetlands Inventory Programme (WIP). Unfortunately the National process has been dragging on since early 2008, and still there seems no light at the end of the tunnel. Currently the WIP has some field data collection protocols but they are very basic and incomplete. It seems to me that the WIP has no clear goal as to when and how it will implement its “data collection” phase.

Given the lack of National direction on this issue, the subjectivity of such a data collection exercise, the extra workload it will create on both the project manager and data capture, and the fact that it does not really align with the CWAC project objectives, I feel that this process should be put on hold in the medium to long-term. Another important issue is that the current database would need re-configuration to allow for additional data to be collected; however that is not my major concern.

It is an important issue and should remain on the table but perhaps should be looked at in more detail at a later stage, or when the WIP has reached finality on its wetlands attribute data collection process.

Short-term planning

  • The 2009 winter data is currently being captured and vetted. This process will require at least another month.
  • Data extraction for Wetlands International for the 2008 year. Currently WI has all SA data up to and including 2007.
  • Preparation of the January CWAC Newsletter – for distribution before the new summer surveys start.
  • General project administration and data management is of an on-going nature.

Medium-term planning

  • Processing of 2010 summer data.
  • Prioritisation of CWAC sites around the country. This has also been identified as one of the 2007 review recommendations. This process has been delayed for a long time now and needs urgent attention. The criteria for the identification of such priority sites have already been defined; some of which have already been incorporated into the existing CWAC website. Our proposal is to produce an overall index of the “global value” of each wetland to waterbirds by dividing the count for each species by the 1% threshold for the species, and summing these over all waterbird species occurring at the site. This process needs to happen in conjunction with the next web upgrade.
  • A CWAC Gap Analysis is planned in order to identify specific priority areas around the country where CWAC counts can / should be expanded. This should help the project to target the right areas when it comes to identifying new sites.
  • CWAC website upgrade. Depending on time from the IT department.

Constraints

  • Time constraints are one of the biggest factors for the CWAC project. As the project coordinatorI can vouch for the fact that my time is extremely limited. Database management, including data management is taking up the bulk of my time. The rollout of the new Excel census forms certainly speeds up data turnaround time, but it also requires much more of my time in terms of simply dealing with the electronic data sheets, on an individual basis, as they come in via email.
  • One of the biggest constraints is the lack of Information Technology (IT) capacity within the ADU. Unfortunately many of the ADU projects, including CWAC, are reliant on only one IT person within the unit. Although a large amount of IT progress has been made, specifically in the development of database management software, much more needs to be done, especially in terms of website output. This remains one of the biggest challenges for CWAC.
  • Financial constraints are of an on-going concern. The need to secure reliable long-term funding for the project is very important to ensure its sustainability. Very little time and capacity exists within the ADU, or with me personally, to apply / secure project funding.

Acknowledgement of donors

The following donor has financially assisted towards the CWAC project. The Animal Demography Unit is grateful for this assistance.

  1. South African National Biodiversity Institute.

Acknowledgement of participating organizations and people

The Animal Demography Unit is particularly grateful for the logistical help received from the following conservation organizations:CapeNature, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Northern Cape Department of Tourism, Environment and Conservation and the Free State Department of Tourism, Environmental and Economic Affairs.

Lastly, the ADU would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every CWAC participant, including the many SA BirdLife members, for the substantial contributions they have made during the past six months. We really appreciate your support and can assure you that this data will benefit waterbird conservation worldwide.

Prepared by

Marius Wheeler

CWAC Coordinator

Animal Demography Unit