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| Bird Hide Walk - 3
February 2008 |
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Saturday
2nd
February
was
World
Wetlands
Day,
to
commemorate
this
day
we
had
a
walk
to
the
Bird
Hide
on
Sunday
3rd
February.
February
is
Wetlands
Month.
The
Ramsar
theme
for
Wetlands
this
year
is
"Healthy
Wetlands,
Healthy
People"
-
this
basically
means
that
having
healthy
well-functioning
wetlands
can
only
enhance
the
health
of
people
the
world
over.
Wetlands
cleanse
water
and
improve
its
quality,
they
prevent
flooding,
and
they
can
counter
the
effects
of
droughts.
Wetlands
also
support
a
large
variety
of
living
organisms
and
is
important
in
many
aquatic
and
terrestrial
food
chains.
As
such
wetlands
are
important
sources
of
food
for
local
communities
in
many
parts
of
the
world,
either
directly
in
the
form
of
fish,
or
indirectly
where
crops
are
planted
and
grown
on
the
floodplains
during
dry
seasons
-
these
floodplains
are
allowed
to
flood
during
the
wet
seasons
during
which
time
the
soil
is
enriched
by
nutrients.
There
were
about
10
people
on
the
walk
to
the
Bird
Hide
at
Rietvlei.
The
strong
south
easters
of
the
previous
days
(or
weeks!)
had
died
down
and
the
weather
was
really
pleasant
for
walking.
When
we
started
off
it
looked
as
if
it
could
rain,
but
this
soon
cleared
up.
Join
us
for
the
walk
in
the
following
pages.
Click here
to
go
to
the
pictures. |
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We
start
off
on
our
walk. |
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A
fish
eagle
had
hung
up
its
lunch
on
this
branch
of
the
dead
tree
on
the
eastern
shore
of
North
Lake. |
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A
closer
look
at
the
lunch.
It
was
a
Hartlaubs
Gull;
note
that
it's
intestine
had
been
looped
over
the
branch
at
the
top
to
hang
it
up. |
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Pausing
for
a
chat
along
the
way. |
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View
over
central
pan
with
the
Chevron
refinery
in
the
background. |
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The
central
pan
is
gradually
drying
up,
but
the
pipes
are
in
place
and
the
pumps
have
already
been
tested.
We
hope
that
this
will
prevent
the
severe
dust
problems
when
the
water
level
in
the
pan
drops
further. |
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The
group
pausing
along
the
way. |
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On
the
boardwalk
to
the
bird
hide. |
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From
the
bird
hide
we
saw
this
mixed
group
of
spoonbills
(white),
spurwing
geese
(black
&
grey
in
the
background)
and
Egyptian
Geese
(brown/grey
in
the
right
foreground). |
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The
view
over
central
pan
from
the
bird
hide
-
you
can
see
the
red
pipe
for
pumping
water
from
North
Lake. |
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We
had
earlier
noticed
2
fish
eagles
soaring
above
-
they
later
perched
on
their
favourite
branches
right
at
the
tip
of
the
peninsula
between
North
and
South
Lakes. |
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The
group
on
the
shore
of
South
Lake. |
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Still
on
the
shore
of
South
Lake. |
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Pelicans
sheltering
from
the
wind
on
the
northwestern
shore
of
South
Lake.
The
effects
of
the
fire
that
burnt
there
on
21
January
can
clearly
be
seen. |
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A
pied
kingfisher
on
the
lookout
for
a
snack. |
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The
view
over
South
Lake. |
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The
south
shore
of
North
Lake.
Hope
you
will
join
us
for
our
next
walk. |
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