Flamingo Island Q and A

It seems that they occupy the nest for as long as the chick is on or near it. I've seen some chicks hop off at 5 days old and then the parents follow it around. The next pair can then take over the nest. Some chicks stay at the nest for longer, hop on and off, sleep on it. Some chicks jsut sleep on the ground next to the nest and the parents cover them at night. Eventually the chicks wander off to join the other chicks in the creches which have been forming in the ponds on the island.

Other birds we've noticed so far feeding along the edges of the island and wandering on the island are:

Greater Flamingo, Grey-headed Gull, Lesser Moorhen, Black-winged Stilt.

We haven't ringed any flamingos at the island yet. We decided that it's best to limit disturbance at the island during the first few years to make sure we don't stop the breeding on the island.  Another problem is that the chicks vary so much in age as breeding continues throughout summer, so there is no time when we can catch most of the chicks when they are large enough for ringing without disturbing the younger ones and interrupting incubation. We plan to ring chicks possibly next year or the year thereafter, at the very end of the breeding season when the last batch of chicks is about to fledge.

Tania, we have missed you . Thank you very much for sharing the wealth of information you have on these beautiful creatures. It is encouraging to see their numbers increase.

Tania thank you ....Great to have you back ...I'm looking forward for your next oservations from the field ...If we know when you are behind the cam we will stay with you ...using your eyes to catch the miracle ...

The story of Camfer dam is so fascinating ....and flamingos itshelf are too fascinating too ...

Thank you for making it real ...

Hi all

Thanks for all the welcome backs.

I've checked up on the Grey-headed Gull breeding season, it ranges from Feb - October in southern Africa, mostly June - August at known breeding sites.

About the other bird species seen on the island - it is Common Moorhen not Lesser Moorhen , and I've also noticed Blacksmith Lapwing which I forgot about. Sometimes Little Grebes swim and forage along the island edges too.

Thank you Tania ...this is a very extented breeding season ...Interesting ..

By the way how deep is the water around the nests ?

Hi Fani It seems that the water is about 10-20 cm deep around some of the nests being flooded along the edge of the island. Beyond the sandbags it gets deeper into the dam and is about 1.6 m deep in the deepest parts of the dam.

Thank you Tania ...now I would like to ask another question that looks so stupid ...Excuse me if it is tooo stupid ...but I was surprised when I saw some flamingos to'swim' ...All what I know until now ...from pictures and from my personal observations to some flamingos flocks they stay (but don't breed) in Greece (Phoenicopterus ruber) is that they stand continously at the swallow water or search for food with the characteristic way flamingos do ...So ...do the flamingo swim like for example a Swan does ...? and how they do it with those long legs ..or they just walk and it looks like they swim ?

The water looks very high, is there any danger that the nests or some of them will be covered with water?

Tania, can you give us a life cycle of how things go with the flamingos.

After mating, how many days till the egg is laid, then how many days till the egg hatch, how many days do the chick spent on the nest. I think that is it?

What is the data of the first eggs seen on the island every year. (asking this so we can start watching on time)

Tania, fantastic to see the eggs again, when did you see the first egg this year and how many days till hatching?

Weird falmingo ????????????

White colour ..yellow eye and pink beak !!! Is it an albino ??? or just an immature Greater Flamingo ..

The weird flamingo is a Greater Flamingo. There have been a few pairs hanging around a few nests and even standing on them, seems they want to breed. They have also been doing some half hearted head flagging as pat of their courtship display, so we hope they do breed.

First spotted an egg on 9 October this year, 3 weeks earlier than last year's breeding season. Average 28 days incubation before they hatch.

Their is no info on how long after copulating the egg is laid. Eggs take average of 28 days to hatch. The chicks leave the nest at about 6 days old and join creches after that. The first year the first egg was spotted in late November, the second year end of October and this year 9 October. So we should start watching from October from now on.

The water level has been slowly rising during winter and now after some rainfall events the stormwater runoff from town is causing it to rise quicker. The island is flooding in all its lower lying areas, some nests that weren't very high are already submerged along the edges. We hope it won't rise too much and flood too many nests. If we don't have much rain the evaporation should keep the water level steady or maybe even lower it, so we have to wait and see what happens.

Hi Fani

The flamingos do swim on Kamfers Dam and even feed while swimming. They do seem to prefer standing and feeding and this makes sense as it uses less energy. They use their legs to swim, their webbed feet help with swimming. I think they swim and feed when it is windy or has been windy and the algae/spirulina - their food - has been spread all over the dam by the wind and is no longer concentrated along the shorelines in shallow water.

Hi all

Saw the first chick seen from the webcam, of about 6 days old, on the edge of the pond on 27 October. So eggs must have been laid from 30 September/1 October already. Two other 1 - 2 day old chicks also spotted in the crowds, but far away from the webcam and quality is lost when it is zoomed to full extent.

Thank you Tania for all your answers ..We have seen the chick ..and I felt so surprised ...Great to know its the first one !!!

Thank you also for the Greater flamingo ID ...We love to see new species ..and if you are behind the cam ...don't hesitate to zoom on them

This year the streaming cam is much better and it is so enjoyable to watch the birds ....

Thank you for all your efforts ..

Fani

Tania ...I would like to tell ...a biiiig THANK YOU ..for the great excitement we had yesterday and today ..watching the birth of the little flamingo chick and its first day in the life ....

It was one of my best sightings at nests ...It was enen more interesting as the cam changes views so makes us to be there continously ..) Thank you today for the gulls bath ...and the black winged stilt ...for the great reflections ..

I want to ask first if both parents are busy with little chick or only mother

Also we have seen this duck like birds ...can you ID them for us please

Summary season 2009 - 2010

21/10/2009 - first eggs seen by a africam member, breeding has started earlier, but this was the first pics posted of eggs.

22/10/2009 - Greater Flamingo seen on cam (first time seen on africam cams)

23/10/2009 - Black-winged Stilt (first time seen on africam cams)

27/10/2009 - first chick spotted on africam webcam by a africam member (Fani)

31/10/2009 - egg hatching, the entire process

1/11/2009 - African Shelduck (first time seen on africam cams)

4/11/2009 - Heavy raining, flooding

Hi Fani

Yes, it is so amazing watching the chicks hatch, like seeing it for the first time all over again. Both mom and dad look after the chick, they take turns so that the other has a chance to feed and bath. Both will also feed it the 'crop milk' they produce. We should see that happening soon.

The duck you saw is a female South African Shelduck. The male has a grey face, not white like the females. First time I've noticed them on the island, so we can add them to the list we started of other birds species a while back.

Enjoy watching!!

Yes Tania I saw the parents changing their position on nest yesterday ...

But today ..I logged in too late and saw the nests empty ...What happened ..a storm ...too much water ???? Is anyone of those little ones we see on cam now the 'camera chick' ...Isn't it too early to be out of the nest ..What is the chance to survive ???

Seeing the island flooded today, my question comes maybe too late, but is there anything we can do to help?

Hi Cerinthe

The two heavy storms we had in 24 hours have causedthe dam's water level to rise suddenly as the storm water, mostly from town, runs into the dam. The chicks we were watching were washed away I'm afraid, and many eggs. There are still many chicks that are okay and their parents are with them.

We are discussing our next steps to see what we can do as an emergency procedure now. There is no quick fix unfortunately. We will let you know what you can do to help once we have a plan of action.

In the meantime, you can visit the save the flamingo website (http://www.savetheflamingo.co.za) and sign the petition so long, or donate funds which will help us a lot when we need to fund any actions. We are also posting the news articles on the flamingos on the website under latest news if anyone wants more information on what's going on.

We are ready to help as much as we can ...Tania ...

Camera showed all the disaster ...and it is really different to read than to watch it

Although I was almost sure I had signed the petition last year ..I couldn't find my name ...on the table  ...so I signed  again ...Maybe I hadn't confirmed it ...So it is good all the Africam friends to search for their names ...using the search tool of IE or what else they have to be sure that their name is there and if they sign ..not to forget to confirm it via the e-mail they will recieve later ...

Also I would like to ask this, Tania ...i saw some tiny chicks to swim this morning ..From what age they can do it ???

What is the overnight temperatures there? Usually the parents keep the youngsters warm under their wings when they sit down, but now they have to stand up in the water. Won't they cool off too much?

Tania, We appreciate you keeping us updated. Very sad. Hopefully, some longterm good for these creatures will come out of the tragedy. I signed the petition last year. Checked and my name is still there.

Hi Fani, Cerinthe

There is no info in our references that say from what age the chicks can swim, but some of those small chicks appear to be only about 4 or 5 days old.

It does cool down at night, tonight may not be too cold, minimum 13   degrees C predicted. The weather is predicted to be hot tomorrow and the weekend, with some chance of rain on sunday and monday. Hopefully they can keep warm enough, the water is probably cold though. We don't know how tough they are, what they can survive.

Let's hold thumbs that they all get to a spot/nest to at least get out of the water.