Net Gains

The value of ringing

- Dionne Miles

It is 06h00 and the sun’s rays are just starting to sift through the trees on a perfectly still summer morning at Helderberg Nature Reserve (HNR) in Somerset West in the Western Cape. Husband-and-wife team Francis and Cathy Hannay and friend Jacqui Badenhorst are busy unpacking poles, laying out ultra-fine mist nets and unfolding tables and chairs near HNR’s ‘Pete’s Pond’. On a table Francis carefully sets out his tools: metal rings of different sizes, digital callipers, scales, metal rulers, magnifying glass and ringing pliers. It is a routine they repeat regularly on Fridays, weather permitting, volunteering their time and expertise for the love of birds. Their purpose is to tag each bird with a unique number that will allow it to be identified in future. First though, they need to catch the birds.

This is where the mist nets come in. Francis and Jacqui fasten each net between a set of two poles that they place in three locations likely to be traversed by birds as they wake up and begin to forage. Although birds struggle to see the ultra-fine nets if they are placed in the shade, they will avoid them if placed in the sun or if they are blowing in the wind. Ringers therefore net only on calm days, make sure that they open the nets before sunrise and position them among shading vegetation. The nets are equally difficult for humans to see unless they are viewed at a specific angle to the rising sun. Fortunately the net gently slows the bird’s flight as it hits the mesh, allowing it to drop safely into a pocket created by the net strings.