Are the Oyster-catcher birds of Bigbay still allive. If they are not, shame on all Bigbay beach goers and BCA. Your disinterest killed them.

We left Cape Town in 2012.     Even then, we stopped going to the beach because it became too sad to watch the last two Oystercatchers struggling to remain on their nest while beach goers and their dogs walk over the dunes.

During the breeding season, even the male could not go to the rocks to get food, because continuous interruption from passers by kept them alert.      When the chicks were born, it was even worse because every one and his dog wanted to go and photograph them.   They were driven further and further into the bushes, just to be driven out again by dogs or other predators.

I was glad in a way that we left before we see one of the birds, after so many years surviving under the most difficult conditions, dead on the beach.  Mauled by dogs, or watch a lone bird looking for his mate.

We recorded the last days of the oystercatchers and plovers on Bigbay beach, in a hope that it would shake the conservation department of Rietvlei Cape or The BCA to arrange and monitor volunteer teams to protect the birds during breeding season.


Secondly, the fate of these birds will soon be the fate of all the birds along the coast from Melkbos to Bigbay, as this is becoming a popular sunbathing and beach-walking strip.

Have you ever compared the footprint of a human to that of an animal?   Humans cause so much damage to nature.



A new era of Oyster-catcher blogging is to start on these pages.


The Oyster-catchers of the most southern point of Africa.      Here the birds can still live as nature intended.    Happy birds!


The black Oyster-catcher reminds me of the many black children in South Africa who cannot grow up in safety, have enough food to eat or the education love and support that is the birthright of all children.

There is so much suffering among animals and birds by the hands of humans:  Canned lion hunting, cruel farming practices, rhino poaching, canned lion hunting, intolerance and misunderstanding when baboons clashes with  people who made their homes of their territory and much more ....


Therefore, for the remainder of this blog we will write happy Oyster-catcher posts.

030 Nowhere to hide.

The safety of the dunes or high-water mark does not exist on this beach.
There is nowhere for the Oystercatchers who have been visiting this beach long before people became interested in it.
Long before the decision was made to change the face of Big Bay 'The people's beach'

If these birds are to breed here in the future, we will need volunteers who will protect them during the summer months of November - February.
We need someone, over the weekends and public holidays, which will make sure the public does not disturb them while they are breeding.

Perhaps a fund can be created for this.

We should be proud of our last two Big Bay Oystercatchers.
There are no other breeding Oystercatchers between BCA and Blouberg strand.

029 The birds leave their hiding place

The birds are on the move with their chicks.   This must make the bird watchers happy when the Oystercatchers leave their place of safety, and their natural habitat and dash for the only clear road, the bush but how long before they are disturbed there too.

What happens when that person with the five dogs comes along now hat their scent is easily to follow?

Last year the birds did not manage to rear any chicks and the year before they only managed to rear one of their two chicks.

029 Then all hell breaks loose

 

 

All hell breaks loose when everyone seem to jump onto the bandwaggon and want to view the birds.

028 Fluched out by bird-watcher

A bird lover watcher comes over the dunes.  He knows about birds.

He knows how to flush them out so he can have a better look.

The birds have to find another hiding place, but they are sandwiched between the approaching perceived danger and the filming couple on the big dune.

027 Leaving hiding place.

It is time to go and the female urges her chicks to leave the cover as a new threat approaching.

A family decided to settle nearby, unaware of the birds.

026 Feeling uneasy

The female is on alert. She senses danger ahead.
 

It is a lovely warm beach day. And with the (foreign film company?) taking up the main dune, the people are choosing the smaller dunes where the birds hide.

 

She decided that she no longer feels safe where she has been hiding her chicks.

o25 took flight

February 20, 2010

The people are totally unaware of the Oystercatchers and started running over the dunes where the birds were sitting.

The birds  took to the air.

I went to ask them to please not go any closer, but they were already heading back towards Big Bay.

The Oystercatcher landed again and faced towards the bush, indicating that it was interested, not in the beach but in what it is protecting something  in the bushes.

024 - More disturbance

February 20, 2010

Apart from the people filming, the footprints on the dunes testify of constant dune traffic.

Both Oystercatchers on the dune together when they have chicks usually mean disturbance.

I noticed two people and a dog on the one side of them, and the people still filming on the other side.

023 Don't care attetude

2.20.2010

I went to the people on the hill and asked them if they were aware that there is a notice asking people to stay clear of this site because the birds are breeding.

They were foreign European visitors.
They indicated that they did know but did not care.

I saw no point in continuing the conversation as I was by that time convinced that the birds must have chicks or lost their eggs again.

022 The nesting area is deserted.

2.20.2010

We noticed that the nesting area is deserted.
There are people filming nearby so even if the birds were still on the nest, they would not be occupied.

They can possibly tolerate quiet human activity but they could not be happy with people hoisting a sail above their nest.
I also noticed that they are very scared of dogs.

021 Busy Beach

2.20.2010


The beach will be busy this weekend.

It is hot and windless on Big Bay this morning.   We expect more people to arrive later.

Many of the sunbathers come after their morning shopping spree.


I was hoping that it would be windy to give the birds a break.

020 20-02-2010 Approach to Ploverbeach

20-02-2010

We saw one Oystercatcher from a distance as we approached Ploverbeach from the Horsetrails.   It is a good sign.   It may mean that at least the nest or one of the chicks survived

 

 

019

13-02-2010

The birds wait in the distance for peace to return.
I was happy to see the male joining the alarmed female.   I do not know where he came from, but as soon as the female returned to the nest, he flew away over the sea towards distant rocks.


This is not the way the birds behaved in the past.   The male used to run away from the nest to draw people away.

The terrain does not make this an option.

It is as if these birds are breaking all rules to try and hatch their chicks.

We should all be ashamed if they do not succeed.

018

13-02-2010

 

Children playing right next to the nest

017

13-02-2010

 

We only noticed the female on the nest.   We could not see the male anywhere.

016 - The dead bird

 

13-02-2010

We did not see the Oystercatcher as we approached the beach from Horsetrails

My heart sank, especially when I saw a dead black bird next to the path.
We saw the female on the nest and I went to the man in the nearby dune and asked him if he saw the male.
He said he did.   It comes out when the nest is threatened.

He said a woman with five dogs walked over the nest earlier.  People just do not seem to care.

015

31-01-2010

 

It is not just the people and dogs that disturbs the peace on the beach

014

31-01-2010

   

Birds look on from a distance when people approach the nest.

After the disturbance the female returns to the nest.

The footprints in the sand indicates how close people walk to the nest.

013

31-01-2010

 

Disturbance around the Oystercatcher nest site.   The mound in the photographs is the site of the nest.  The bird leaves the nest when people approach.