Kamfers Dam: on the brink of collapse?

Read about the uncertain future of this much needed haven for the Lesser Flamingo.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18851482307&v=info

Thank you very much for the update and good news that many were able to hatch.  The cam there has been down for quite some time since the flooding so we didn't know how things were going there.  I do hope next breeding season will be a good one.

Lesser Flamingos have bred on the purpose built island at Kamfers Dam
for three consecutive years: 2007/8: 9000 chicks, 2008/9: 13000
chicks, and 2009/10 a few hundred chicks (we're still analysing the
images).

The past season's breeding event was affected (in November 2009) by
the flooding of the island and the drowning of hundreds of chicks and
the loss of perhaps thousands of eggs. At one stage about 3/4 of the
island was under water. The water level has subsided a bit and more
island is now above water (with an estimated 2/3 of the island still
flooded). There are breeding Lesser and Greater Flamingos on the
unflooded part of the island.

Although we're all upset about the flooding of the island, we're
pleased that some Lesser Flamingo chicks were produced this season and
we're also very excited about the first Greater Flamingo breeding
event on the island.

Greater Flamingos have previously bred at a number of wetlands in the
Northern Cape (Lime Acres, Strydenburg, Vanwyksvlei, Calvinia), and in
fact at quite a few wetlands in South Africa (De Hoop Vlei, St Lucia,
etc.) so they are far less fussy than Lesser Flamingos (which have
only bred successfuly at Kamfers Dam).

Aerial images we took of the island on Sunday 17 January will be analised
soon, but we reckon that there are a few hundred Greater Flamingos incubating eggs/chicks.

There are fewer flamingos at Kamfers Dam at the moment, and there may be a breeding event at Sua Pan (and perhaps Etosha Pan). With this
summers' good rains, pans and dams in the central parts of South
Africa are inundated and "our" flamingos must have dispersed far and
wide.

The water quality remains poor (algal bloom at the moment), but it is
pleasing to see that the Sol Plaatje Muniicipality is upgrading the
Homevale Sewage Works.

Thanks Tania for your answer and update, and yes it's sad the cam is not working!!!!

Dances and water level

Sorry for no feedback for a while, I've been away a lot over the last month or so. The dances you see are the flamingos courtship dances - they gather close together, move together and swing their heads from side to side (head flagging) and then snap their wings open rapidly to display their underwing feathers. Sometimes they end the dance with a forward bow or a quick preen of their backs.

When I last checked the water level on 15 December it had only dropped a few centimetres. Since then I've not checked the water level and at the moment Flamcam is not working, so I can only check again once it is up and running. We suspect that most of the nest will have disintegrated and been eroded away and few will be left.

Hi Tania, it's maybe a bad question, but

please can you tell me, whats the reason that the flamingos goes suddenly close together, it looks like they are dancing, this happens since a few days. Sorry for my bad english and thanks :-)Gerlinde

Hi Tania

I have been watching the Flamingos on the cam daily and their plight has really captured my heart. Do you have any news on the chicks? and is it my imagination or is the water level dropping a little? Any news on the Flamingos and their chicks would be great.

Thank you

littlewid-x-

Hi Fani

When the water level drops and the nests are totally exposed and if they are okay and not all eroded, then the flamingos may carry on breeding. But it will depend on the state of the nests and whether they can fix them, or make some new smaller nests on the dry ground. It may take a long time for the water level to drop so much that the island dries out again, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Hi Fani When the water level drops and the nests are totally exposed and if they are okay and not all eroded, then the flamingos may carry on breeding. But it will depend of the state of the nests and whether they can fix them, or make some new smaller nests on the dry ground. It may take a long time for the water level to drop so much that the island dries out again, we'll ahve to wait and see what happens.