Page 142 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Flaminkvlei 1991 0 9
Coordinates: 32.7823 S, 18.1449 E
Description: Marsh land on the lower reaches of the Berg 1992 0
River at Velddrif. 1993 300 0 18
Conservation status: It is not protected but falls within the 1994 0 23
Berg River Estuary IBA (Marnewick et al. 2015). 1995 0
Species and numbers breeding: Two pairs of Kelp Gull
bred there in 2013 (Whittington et al. 2016). 1996 0
1997 0
Saltworks on the lower Berg River 1998 0
Coordinates: Cerebos 32.7971 S, 18.1666 E; Kuifkop 1999 0
32.8098 S, 18.1956 E; Kliphoek 32.8319 S, 18.1993 E
Description: Three saltworks on the lower Berg River 2000 0
before it reaches Velddrif. Birds nested between and on 2001 0
islands in salt pans. In 1979, Caspian Terns nested on a 2002 0
small, sparsely-vegetated island (Hockey and Hockey 2003 207 0
1980). The wetland is an important breeding locality for this
species in South Africa (Velasquez et al. 1990). 2004 83 101
Substantial numbers of Great White Pelican occur regu- 2005 25 69
larly on the lower Berg River, which is a key foraging and 2006 0 0
roosting area for the Dassen Island breeding population
during their non-breeding season (Marnewick et al. 2015). 2007 0 0 0
Approximately 250 bird species have been recorded on 2008 0 0
and adjacent to the lower Berg River, 127 of which are 2009 67 0 0
waterbirds. The most important habitats for foraging birds 2010 82 0 0
are the estuarine mudflats and ephemeral floodplain pans,
while the main breeding habitats are the riparian marsh- 2011 44 0 0
es and the commercial salt pans. On average, more than 2012 48 63 3 0
12,000 non-passerine waterbirds occur at the estuary in 2013 46 0 0 0
summer and 6,000 in winter. In combination, the estuary
and floodplain regularly support more than 20,000 birds 2014 43 0 0 0
(Marnewick et al. 2015). 2015 0 0 0
Conservation status: The saltworks fall within the Berg 2016 33 0 0 0
River Estuary IBA (Marnewick et al. 2015). However, they 2017 0 14
are not protected although access is restricted. The princi-
pal threat to this estuary stems from inadequate water flow 2018 2 0 0 55
volumes and an unnatural flow regime of fresh water com- 2019 0
ing down the Berg River from its catchment, due to high 2020 0 21
levels of water abstraction along the river’s course and to
the Berg River Dam (Marnewick et al. 2015). A draft plan Note: The saltworks have supported up to 13% of South
for management of the estuary by Cape Nature was drawn Africa’s population of Caspian Tern (Marnewick et al. 2015).
up.
Species and numbers breeding: Kelp and Hartlaub’s Hannas Bay rock
gulls and Greater Crested and Caspian terns. Maxima ob- Coordinates: 32.7521 S, 18.0205 E
served were 82 pairs of Kelp Gull in 2010, 600 pairs of Description: A rock offshore of Hannas Bay village, which
Hartlaub’s Gull in 1989, 101 pairs of Greater Crested Tern is on the coast of St Helena Bay.
in 2004 and 55 pairs of Caspian Tern in 2018. Details of Conservation status: The rock is not protected.
numbers of pairs breeding in different years are shown on Species and numbers breeding: Bank and White-breast-
the following table. ed cormorants have bred on the rock. Numbers of pairs of
these species nesting in different years are shown on the
Greater following table.
Kelp Hartlaub's Caspian
Year Crested
Gull Gull Tern Bank White-breasted
Tern Year Cormorant Cormorant
1973 1
1977 174 2018 12 20
1979 15 2019 6 9
1981 6 2020 3
1984 2 2021 13
1987 30 12 0 1
1988 65 142 0 32 Sandy Point
1989 26 600 1 9 Coordinates: 32.7467 S, 18.0098 E
1990 0 30 Description: A purse-seine fishing harbour and factory in
St Helena Bay.

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