This is my first post in seven months after an extensive home renovation which was a complete and prolonged distraction.

Helen and I visited Marievale Bird Sanctuary in mid-September. This bird sanctuary is about 45 kilometres south of Johannesburg in the Highveld region of South Africa. Marievale Bird Sanctuary is a protected wetland area and a Ramsar site. It is about 15 km² in size, and constitutes the southern half of the Blesbokspruit wetland, which extends from near the town of Springs to the town of Nigel. The Blesbokspruit is a major perennial river in Gauteng and is flanked by extensive floodplains. Surrounding the Marievale sanctuary are the old mine dumps left over from an erstwhile thriving gold mining community.

The Blesbokspruit wetland is designated as an Important Bird Area with almost 300 bird species recorded, according to the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA). Helen and I have been visiting Marievale for about 15 years. It is a wonderful place to practice bird photography skills and to see and learn about new birds and bird behaviour.

Mid-spring on the Highveld in South Africa was a time when the temperature started to warm up but it was very dry. The rains were only expected to start around mid-November and turned out to be late. The weather on this particular day was variable. It was cool in the early part of the morning with plenty of wind but it warmed up by late morning. It was partly cloudy dictating that the photographic light and colour was variable.

A view from the access road looking east across a dry pan in front of the Flamingo hide. This was the first time I had seen this pan bone dry.

From a hydrological perspective, wetlands have many functions. Although often viewed as waste lands they play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of both flood and drought conditions in a watershed. Wetlands act like a sponge and in so doing help store and release water relative to the amount of water in the surrounding area. They also filter and clean polluted water, recharge ground water, provide habitats for wildlife, and provide recreational value.

Natural water regimes dictated by rainfall and groundwater flow provide a pattern of wetting and drying which are the key to the health of rivers, wetlands and floodplains. High flows and floods connect rivers to floodplains and wetlands, moving nutrients around, allowing seeds to germinate and supporting breeding and movement of birds, frogs, fish and other animals. Low flows keep rivers flowing, allowing fish to migrate and breed. Dry periods where there are no flows can be important too and don’t necessarily indicate a wetland is not healthy. (Source: Wetlands and changes in water flows, Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water Wetland publications).

On the South African highveld, late spring and early summer was a particularly dry period which reduced the water levels in the Marievale Bird Sanctuary to the lowest I have seen in the years I have been visiting this bird haven. The intriguing aspect of the water levels in the wetland waterways is the profound effect it has on which birds you are likely to see and photograph.

An African rail, skittish as usual, running away to hide in the reeds.

Prolonged low water flows have an important impact on wetlands such as reduced carbon absorption through loss of river bank vegetation; increased algal blooms; decreases in waterbird populations—when wetland habitats are lost or reduced and water is not available at the right time for breeding or feeding; increased pest fish species (such as carp) leading to loss of native species—when the patterns of flow favour introduced species over native species.

The unusually low water levels meant that the water’s edge was further from the hides so longer lenses were needed to capture the small birds.

On this particular visit we saw more African snipe than in all our previous visits combined. Usually when the water levels were higher we found African snipe foraging at the edge of the reeds because the water was too deep for them. On this occasion, the depth of the water was ideal for them given their short legs and long beaks.

This snipe’s plumage looks cryptic from above. Its upperparts, head and neck are streaked and patterned with bold dark brown stripes and gold edges to the feathers forming lines down its back. The belly is white, with some brown barring on the flanks. Its beak is dark brown, long (for the bird’s size), straight and fairly robust. The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to greenish-grey. The sexes have similarly coloured plumage.

It was very unusual to see these African snipe wading around in the open water areas. The image below on the right hand side shows several African snipe together in just small area. Usually, we only see an individual.

Ruffs are often the first Palearctic migrants to arrive at Marievale. These large sandpipers have their non-breeding plumage in the South African spring and summer months. They are plain-looking waders, with a longish neck and small head. Non-breeding birds are a pale fawn-brown all over, with a paler belly. These waders have a slightly de-curved beak and long yellow-orange legs.

Ruffs are usually found foraging either in shallow water or exposed mud flats. They feed mainly on insects but will also go for spiders, crustaceans, worms, small fish, frogs, and seeds.

Little stint stretching its wing. This diminutive wader forages for mainly small invertebrates such as midges, crustaceans and gastropods, like slugs and snails. This diminutive wader does most of its foraging in very shallow water or mud.

The low water levels suited the Lesser flamingos. Lesser flamingos have a much finer beak filter than Greater flamingos and are surface feeders that skim the top layer of water for nutrients like blue-green algae and diatoms. Lesser flamingos and Greater flamingos can feed in the same water sources without competing for food because they have different diets and feeding methods. By contrast, Greater flamingoes forage by sifting food from the lake bed of shallow water bodies consuming mainly crustaceans like shrimp, mollusks, and other invertebrates but will also feed on small organisms like plankton, tiny fish, and fly larvae.

Lesser flamingos have a carmine red beak and pink plumage whereas Greater flamingos have a pink beak with a black tip and its plumage is white with pink tinges. Its wing covers are pink and its primary and secondary wing feathers are black.

A group of Lesser flamingos walking through the shallows. It was cold so the front flamingo was puffed up and had pulled its neck in to keep warm.

A pair of Cape shovellers with their unique shaped bill.

Glossy ibises were the only species of ibis we saw at Marievale on this visit. Glossy ibises have a purple and green iridescent gloss on the feathers. In the breeding season, the head and neck have a reddish brown plumage. When non- breeding, the head and neck are a duller brown with white streaks and the plumage loses its iridescence and so is duller.

There were quite a few Pied avocets enjoying the relatively shallow water. Avocets use their long, up-curved beaks to feed by sweeping them from side to side in shallow water to stir up prey.

Avocets feed on aquatic insects, worms, crustaceans, and sometimes seeds. They are good swimmers and are able to dabble when the water is too deep for them to stand in. The food that this species feeds on is small so they have to forage for long periods to ingest sufficient nutrients.

There were several pairs of Red-billed teal swimming in the open channels of water feeding regularly. Red-billed teal are a type of dabbling duck. The species is the largest of all the teal family, and slightly smaller than a Yellow-billed duck. The Red-billed teal and Cape teal look quite similar but the Red-billed teal has a brown crown, forehead and nape where as the Cape teal has a pale, mottled gray head and neck, with distinctive pink rather than red bill. 

A Black crake walking across the muddy remains of an erstwhile channel in front of the Hadeda hide. The wetland birds looked quite scruffy due to all the mud. This member of the rail family usually has a vivid yellow beak and bright pink-red legs. As usual this Black crake was skittish and dashed for the reeds as soon is it saw us.

The only Marsh sandpiper we saw was also enjoying the relatively shallow water which enabled it to forage over a larger area. This is a relatively large sandpiper which feeds by probing in the shallows. The Marsh sandpiper is easily mistaken for a Greenshank but the former has longer legs, is more slender and has a longer neck and beak. The Marsh sandpiper is a Palearctic breeder so it migrates to Southern Africa in our summer season.

The ubiquitous Black-headed heron in the wet and marshy areas along side the water ways. This voracious hunter seeks rats, mice, frogs and insects in the undergrowth and grasses. It does not usually venture into the water or even hunt along the water’s edge like a Grey-headed heron.

A Cape wagtail walking in the shallow water in front of the Otter hide. This wagtail forages on tiny insects on the surface of the water and sand and mud on the water’s edge. The Cape wagtail has a grey head and back and a distinctive black “v” shaped collar. All wagtails forage for food while walking along the ground, bobbing its head and tail constantly.

A White-throated swallow perched on a falling log in front of Otter hide. We always see a pair at this hide because they have built their mud nest in the roof of the hide. The White-throated swallow has distinctly different markings to the Barn swallow in that its throat is white and it has a dark blue necklace.

A male Long-tailed widow bird with its non breeding plumage. Outside the breeding season, the males of this species lose their long black tail feathers and black body and wing plumage. These seedeaters are normally seen around many females but we saw very few females on this visit.

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is the largest wetland area in South Africa but the largest and most unique wetland in southern Africa is the Okavango Delta. To better understand the dynamics of one the main rivers feed the delta, Dr Steve Boyes and his research team’s journeyed from the source of the Cuito river in the Angolan highlands to the Okavango Delta. En route they encountered a huge peatland which is a unique type of wetland which is estimated to be 1634 square kilometres in size in the Cuito river basin (Source: Jennifer M. Fitchett etal, Angolan highlands peatlands: Extent, age and growth dynamics). Through carbon dating the team revealed that for thousands of years this living landscape has been absorbing carbon dioxide. Peat layers are estimated to contain between 4 and 25 times more carbon than the trees. Healthy peatlands capture CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. Because the plants that grow on peatlands do not fully decompose under wet conditions, they do not release carbon which would otherwise be returned to the atmosphere as CO2. The peatland is also a massive sponge which regulates water flow of water from the Quito river into the delta.

The Marievale wetland is less than 1/100 th of the area of the Cuito peatland but plays an important role in the urban highveld environment and is a wonderful place for avian enthusiasts to enjoy a large variety of species up close.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike