What happened at Dunefields?
The solar panels do what they do best, harvesting the energy from the sun. We have been upgraded from a 6-panel system to 24 large panels at the shed, not even to mention the upgrade at the Buettners’.
Tiaan and Holly on their way to rescue Jan where he got stuck in the sand while exploring the nature reserve. Luckily we got the car out.
Jan and Holly walking through the veld on yet another adventure to plan the new hiking trails. This specific trail will have several designated sundowner spots on Dunefields overlooking the ocean.
Planning how to improve the roads and extend the road network.
On the dune overlooking the ocean Tiaan found a cave that clearly has been occupied by animals, as can be seen by the scat in the cave. We were pleasantly surprised with our footage from our camera trap (as can be seen on the front page) which showed that this indeed is a genet den. We will continue to monitor this cave to see if others also use this rather scenic spot for a bio-break.
At dawn, an avid birder and conservationist by training, Nico Bestbier assisted Tiaan with a terrestrial bird survey. The species composition was determined through both visual and audio recordings while they walked through the nature reserve. Here they were walking past one of our several motion-detected camera traps.
The turtle stranding season has started. Tiaan and Zanri went on an early morning mission to the beach (hence the headlight) in search of loggerhead turtle hatchlings in need of being rescued. We have rescued turtle hatchlings before, and we got more training this month. We act as First Responders if turtles are found along the Dunefields coastline and beyond. We did not find any stranded turtles this time around but at least we are always ready to respond in future.
Bushbuck are specialists in the coastal landscape being able to move through dense bush, camouflage from predators and being able to eat the leaves of thicket shrubs and herbaceous plants. The above picture is of a family of four. On one given day we saw 8 individual bushbuck. Dunefields provides a safe haven for them allowing them to flourish.
The “February flower” called the King chandelier lily is a bulbous plant that has started to flower in the month of love, the same month Jan and Holly got married last year.
The vegetation here at Dunefields is diverse which allows for different feeding guilds of birds to occur here. The first photo is of a Yellow canary that is a granivore which eats seeds. The second photo is of a Southern boubou that is a generalist and can eat seeds, fruits, flowers and insects. The third photo is of a female southern double collard sunbird that eat insects and nectar from flowers.
We had a very strange sighting of geese that floated on the water surface in the ocean. This was very unusual as they are not marine birds, but freshwater birds. Also, freshwater birds’ feathers are not adapted for saltwater as it deteriorates and can hinder their flying ability. We are not sure what they were doing at sea.
For the first time in five months we observed thicknees on Dunefields… and not only have we now observed them regularly, but they seemed to have become resident. Let’s hope they nest here in the near future. Diversity is key to a healthy ecosystem so we always welcome new species.
A vlei rat sitting in a planter box snacking on some beetroot leaves. Mice and rats are a crucial part of the ecosystem as they are food for many animals, including caracals, owls, eagles, and snakes to name a few that occur on Dunefields.
Two butterflies ensuring the future population of their species continues in the year 2023. Butterflies are important pollinators for flowers especially fynbos flowers. They have a long proboscis which is like a tongue to drink the nectar from the flower and then at the same time they pollinate the flowers
How many bushbuck can you spot in this photograph? The answer is provided at the end of the monthly report. Hint: for one individual it is only the horns that are visible in the photograph.
Steppe buzzards have been sighted regularly, especially in the vicinity of the wetland. Their presence does not come as a surprise as we have enough mice and snakes to attract and sustain them. What a beautiful sighting this was.
The bottlenose dolphins have been quite active this month while not only feeding and surfing off Dunefields but also displaying mating behaviour. Also, we have been closely monitoring the bottlenose dolphin pods in search of humpback dolphins who seem to regularly take safety in the bottlenose pods (as the largest pod of humpbacks that we have observed consisted of a mere three individuals; the humpback dolphin is South Africa’s only Endangered marine mammal).
This month was the first month that we observed juvenile gannets here since they fledged from their nests on Bird Island in Algoa Bay earlier this month. Their first month at sea is the most difficult because that is when they need to perfect their hunting skills without any parental care or guidance, needless to say that not all of them make it. Seabird hospitals across the country were quite busy this month with juvenile gannets stranded on the beaches. Knowing that this was a difficult month for Cape gannets, it is so heart warming to see juvenile gannets feeding and thriving just off Dunefields. We are also beyond excited and proud about our Dunefields logo that Jan and Holly designed, a juvenile (black) and an adult (white) Cape gannet. The logo is absolutely perfect.
What a special place Dunefields is, a place where the land meets the sea. A place for terrestrial and marine research that will contribute to our understanding of these ecosystems, for we cannot protect what we don’t understand. The amount of bushbuck to be seen in the photograph is: 6. The horns of the individual that is particularly difficult to spot is on the bottom left next to the small individual. The other difficult one to spot is a female in the top right hand corner to the left of the male on the far right.