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Featherbrooke News
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Roodekrans Black Eagles
Photographs by Garth Heydenrych and article by Johann van den Berg
Very Encouraging
Behaviour
During his regular Tuesday morning monitoring duties, one of our
monitors filed a very interesting report. It seemed that on the morning of
9 May, the nest was not left unattended for any period.
This information prompted Ernest and myself to try and get a better view of the nest without
disturbing the eagles, but alas, our efforts brought no results, and we could not confirm that
an egg was laid.
The weekend of 12-14 May saw Gauteng gripped in a nasty cold front, but our diligent
monitors did their duty whenever possible, and once again it was reported that the nest
was never left unattended. Another interesting fact was that photo taken by a camera trap,
depicted one of the eagles having a meal on the nest in the rain.
As mentioned in a previous report, it is not uncommon for the female to eat on the nest just
before egg-laying. This seems to be a sort of practise run for when she must feed the chick.
Subsequent reports by our monitors, confirmed that the nest was never left unattended,
which is really a good sign that there may be eggs in the nest.
As we have no idea if, and when the first egg was laid, we have no way of calculating the
hatching date. This uncertainty adds a whole new challenge.
If we can observe the first delivery of prey to the nest, and possibly see Makatsa feeding the
new chick, we can backtrack 44 days, and determine the date on which the first egg was
laid. Isn’t that just a great prospect?
We will then also be able to calculate a period for the fledging to leave the nest.
We are going to do our best to cover the period we expect the hatching to take place, and
just maybe one of the monitors will be able to see that first delivery to the nest.
Winter Gardening
While winter can be a time for closing your eyes and waiting for spring in your
garden, it can also be a time of great fulfilment and busy preparation for the
season ahead. In this article, we explore some key winter gardening tips and
ideas to get the most of out your garden.
For more information on gardening,
landscaping please contact:
Chris Williams: 083 225 7451
www.catscapeslandscapes.co.za
This is the time when the scarifying for the lawn should be booked and the spring treatments of the
lawn and gardens should be planned. The irrigation systems should be serviced and checked and
all the faulty sprinklers replaced. The wayward branches on the trees should be cut back and any
stumps on the trees should be cut level with the trunk.
Care must be taken that all the frost covers that are needed are in place.
It is a good time for all that annual maintenance on the furniture, painting the bird bath, removing
weeds from the paving, etc.
It is time to give thought to the growing season ahead. New growth, new beginnings. plan a new
garden, new water feature, try some new annuals in spring, refurbish your lawn. Careful thought
should be given to the desired theme and look of the garden. This is done through the planting,
using different texture and colours.
While some argue that all colours go together in the garden, it is important to follow the basic rules
of the colour wheel so as not to create conflict for the eyes… this is your sanctuary.
Decide on whether the theme is formal or informal, place the structures (water feature, bird baths,
benches, etc.) in place and then work around them to create balance. Decide the beds are going
to be straight or curved and prepare them accordingly. Is there going to be edging? and if so what
kind?
The structural aspects of the garden can still be installed during the cold months and will assist in
the anticipation of the season ahead and help you to visualise the future garden.
Featherbrooke News • 07 2017 • 18