Located between Underberg and Kokstad in the south of KwaZulu-Natal, Ntsikeni Nature Reserve protects an area of 9500 hectares and is home to a high-altitude wetland that is not only one of the largest in South Africa, but has also been declared a Ramsar site. The reserve falls within the Umzimkhulu Local Authority, which was transferred from the Eastern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal in 2006, and it is now managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW).
Spanning as it does an entire local catchment, Ntsikeni supplies water resources to many downstream users. The reserve is also a key component of the protected areas system and is highlighted as a crucial node in both national and provincial protected area expansion strategies because of its proximity to Tuduma Forest, uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park and iGxalingenwa, Kwa Yili and Coleford nature reserves. It is bordered to the south and east by many villages within the Harry Gwala District Municipality. The name ‘Ntsikeni’ was given to a mountain on the reserve’s eastern boundary and derives from intsika, which means ‘pillar’, referring to the roof support structure in most traditional huts.
Ntsikeni is special for many reasons, including that it is one of a few sites in South Africa that protect the Critically Endangered White-winged Flufftail, a species that was heard there by Kyle Lloyd during recent acoustic surveys. Other records exist, including sightings in recent years by the then local Community Bird Guide and EKZNW employee, Dalu Ngcobo. It is for the presence of this elusive species, and other threatened and endemic birds, that BirdLife South Africa has developed a specific interest in the long-term conservation of the reserve and surrounding communities.
Esta historia es de la edición January/February 2023 de African Birdlife.
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Esta historia es de la edición January/February 2023 de African Birdlife.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
