BirdLife Overberg Newsletter

We started the year with a Flight for Birders course at Elgin and several people from that area joined our club since then. We have arranged several morning outings to that area for this year and we hope that we can get a strong group together there. Welcome also to everyone from Hermanus who had joined in January. There are quite a few members on the road at the moment: ensure that you follow the girls in Kruger (now working under the operational name of the “FOUR GREY TITS” - THEIR DECISION) and Wilfred and Marcia in Namibia (as from 11 February). BirdLife South Africa's CEO Mark Anderson will be our guest speaker at our AGM on 14 February. Please ensure that you RSVP with Helé as early as possible as we need numbers for catering purposes (birding@southernartceramics.co.za). We will be presenting a Flight for Birders course at Fernkloof on 5 and 6 March specifically to raise funds for our club. Kindly join us as the course had been changed considerably in recent months and get your friends and family members to participate - details below. 

Regards. Anton

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GENERAL NEWS:

• Announcement for AGM
  
• Chairman's report
  
• Kindly support us with BirdLife Overberg's annual golf day on 24 February
  
• Flight for Birders at Fernkloof on 5 and 6 March

TRIP REPORTS:

• Mike Graham travels to Plet, Addo National Park and Wilderness
  
• Our first morning outing in 2011: Many birding delights in Onrus
  
• Ferdie Endemann and MC Botha gave us a beautifully illustrated talk on their adventures during their “Pelican chase” on Jutten Island at our January public meeting
  
• Day by day report on Mike and Margaret Graham's trip to Namibia
  
• The girls in Kruger
  
• The Crous's in Namibia

CONSERVATION:

• Kindly sign the petition against the import of African Grey's into SA
  
• Read about the role that Important Bird Areas could play in creating awareness about birds
  
• SABAP2 – become involved in the atlasing project as it is far more than just about birds
  
• Energy supply seems to be changing direction to wind energy
  

EVENTS:

• 2011 at a glance: We review what BirdLife Overberg activities are being planned for the rest of the year
  
• Morning outing on 5 February to the new Rooisand bird hide
  

Important announcement:
We have managed to get conservationist and co-auther of “The Raptor identification guide for Southern Africa” to visit Hermanus on 23 and 24 July to present his famous Bird of Prey identification course. There will be limited space available, with the result that we are requesting BirdLife Overberg members to register with Anton (birding@overberg.co.za) asap before we open it up to the public.

We still have several other ways of informing our growing membership of our events: Our regular "What's happening" newsflash will still be sent out to our members on a monthly basis. Emergency messages, birthday wishes, etc. will be sent out in sms format via Skype. Forthcoming events are regularly highlighted in the "Times Diary" in the 'Hermanus Times'. Also visit our club website. Kindly ensure that you use these various forms of communication to stay abreast of happenings and events.

Join BirdLife Overberg now. Download the registration form