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From the Hide |
At the time of writing,
very little rain has fallen in the Table View/Milnerton
area, so there is no water in the back pan and therefore not
much bird life. The north and south lakes support their
usual birds, and a few Greater Flamingos have moved into the
south lake. Let's hope we have some good rain in the next
few months.
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Annual General Meeting |
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Thanks to those members
who attended our AGM. We had a good turnout of around 33
people. The three Nature Conservation students told us about
their projects for the year and Kelly Greenwood's fish
survey is already well under way. Rob Robertson and Louis
Raubenheimer gave us amusing updates on their projects which
include the long suffering expansion plans for the Waste
Water Treatment Works and the equally long term alien
vegetation removal plans. We are still appealing for
committee members as our committee of four is battling to
stay afloat and up to date with all the environmental
monitoring we are committed to. Please contact Nelis Visagie
on 082 777 5708 or myself, Margaret on 557-4990 if you are
willing to give a little of your time to a very worthy cause
- the protection of the Rietvlei Wetland Reserve. |
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Due to our small committee being somewhat inundated with
work, we are having to make a few changes and cutbacks. The
newsletter will now be sent out every second month, unless
someone is prepared to assist with its preparation.
Remember, we welcome any contributions from you, our
members, for our newsletter. |
We have had to abandon the membership card system. We don't
have anyone who has the time to process these and post them
out - plus the cost is prohibitive. We will revert to the
previous method of handing a membership list to the Water
Rangers at the Milnerton Aquatic Club gate. When members
arrive at the gate to go on a walk to the bird hide, the
Rangers will take their names and membership details and
check their lists to see that they are, in fact, members.
These members will then be allowed free entry into the vlei,
just as though they had presented a membership card. This
system will only start operating at the end of July, when
those members who have not renewed their membership will be
removed from the list. Until that time, you may continue to
use your membership cards.
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Committee |
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The Committee members retain their portfolios as follows: |
Chairman: Nelis Visagie Tel. 082 777 5708
Secretary: Pauline Potton Tel. 557-6920
Treasurer: Margaret Maciver Tel. 557-4990
Conservation: Pat Titmuss Tel. 557-3748 |
All Committee members will also assist with the education
portfolio
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Snippets |
Education Centre
We are still awaiting the end of the appeals process and
will let you know as soon as we have any news regarding our
Education Centre. |
Potsdam Waste Water Treatment Works Expansion
The appeals process for this venture has also not been
finalised yet, and is still ongoing. |
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Our three Nature Conservation students have begun planting
indigenous shrubs in the cleared area near the bird hide,
and we await some rain to help them grow. |
Update on Student Projects
Kelly Greenwood's fish survey is going well and Marine and
Coastal Management are assisting with this project and
provided the boat. The winter survey is almost complete and
another will be done in summer. Jeremy Keyser is progressing
well with the vegetation project and Bronwen Foster has
conducted three schools on educational visits to Rietvlei. |
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Our next evening talk will be on Thursday 25th September -
further details to follow nearer the date. |
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We also hope to be joining the Friends of the Blaauwberg
Conservation Area for evening talks and daytime outings in
August/September - we will give you more details in our next
newsletter. |
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| This newsletter comes to you with the kind
assistance of Caltex. |
