Page 232 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Cape Recife Notes: Three adult African Penguins and a single nest
Coordinates: 34.03 S; 25.69 E were present at Cape Recife in May or June 1981. The out-
Description: Cape Recife is a headland on the western come of the breeding attempt was unknown (Every 1983).
edge of Algoa Bay, Eastern Cape Province. It includes One pair of Damara Terns may have nested in 1999/2000,
rocky headlands and two sand dune systems. SANCCOB because adults were feeding a juvenile on 5 January 2000
runs a seabird rehabilitation centre inside the entrance of after sightings of adults at the locality in September and
the Nature Reserve. The headland is an important roost for December 1999 (Tree 2000). One Damara Tern nest was
Kelp Gulls, terns (including Common, Sandwich, Antarctic, found on the headland by-pass dunefield west of Cape Re-
Roseate, Damara, Greater Crested and Caspian terns) cife during December 2001; the chick was ringed and suc-
and Cape and White-breasted cormorants. cessfully fledged. A further three recently fledged juveniles
Conservation status: The 366 ha Cape Recife Local observed on 5 January 2002 indicated that there may have
Nature Reserve was proclaimed in 1973 and is under the been up to four breeding pairs. On 15 October 2003, a call-
control of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. All of the ing adult carrying a fish was seen flying around the dunes
seabird breeding sites are within the nature reserve. behind The Pati beach on the west side of Cape Recife. It
Species and numbers breeding: seemed to lose the fish and then went back out to sea, but
African Penguin it may have been feeding a chick. Two adults in breeding
plumage, in a party of 13 birds at Cape Recife Point on 28
Year No. of pairs September 2006, were observed courtship feeding (Craw-
1981 a 1 ford et al. 2009). Since then, despite searches in several
years, including in 2009 and on 14 December 2018, there
a Every (1983) has been no further evidence of breeding by Damara Terns
at this locality. The chick that was ringed in December 2001
Roseate Tern
was found breeding at the Alexandria Dunefields colony in
Year No. of pairs February 2010 (Whittington et al. 2015).
1963 a √ Swartkops Estuary and saltpans
1964 a √ Coordinates: Bar None 33.83 S; 25.55 E; Chatty 33.85
1966 a √ S; 25.57 E; Redhouse 33.84 S; 25.58 E; Brickfields 33.85
1967 a 39 S; 25.60 E; Port Elizabeth power station 33.87 S; 25.60 E;
1968 a 71 Fishwater Flats 33.87 S; 25.62 E; Tippers Creek 33.86 S;
25.61 E.
2011 b 0 Description: The seabird breeding sites are located within
2012 b 0 the 2,880 ha Swartkops estuary – Redhouse and Chatty
2013 b 0 Salt Pans Global Important Bird Area (Marnewick et al.
2015). The estuary is tidal for 16 km and, despite the close
2014 b 0 proximity of urban areas, with its extensive mud and sand
2015 b 0 banks and saltmarshes, especially in the lower reaches, it
2016 b 0 is the most important estuary for birds in the Eastern Cape
(Martin and Baird 1987; Marnewick et al. 2015). The com-
2017 b 0 mercial saltpans adjacent to the middle reaches of the es-
2018 b 0 tuary (two of which have ceased to be operational) are/
2019 b 0 were important wetland bird feeding and breeding habitat
(Martin and Randall 1987, Martin 2018, Marnewick et al.
a Randall and Randall (1980) 2015). Seabirds have bred at seven sites in this system:
b Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment the Bar None, Chatty and Redhouse commercial saltpans,
(unpublished information) the Port Elizabeth power station pan and the estuarine salt-
marshes (amongst the largest in South Africa) at Fishwater
Damara Tern Flats, and Tippers Creek and Brickfields Island. Redhouse

Year No. of pairs Saltpan is situated on the north bank of the river in the
1999 a 1? Zwartkops Valley Nature Reserve and has three islands
that are 9.9 ha, 1.3 ha and 0.5 ha in size where the seabird
2001 b 1-4 colonies were located (Martin and Randall 1987, Barnes
2003 c 1? 1998). The Bar None Saltpans are located on the
2009 d 0 south bank of the river upstream of Redhouse Village and
2018 e 0 have several islands. After approximately 60 years of
operation as commercial saltpans the Redhouse and Bar
The year shown is that in which the split-year breeding None saltpans were abandoned in 2018 and dried out.
season starts In October 2021 freshwater from the adjacent Motherwell
a Tree (2000) storm-water canal was diverted into the Redhouse saltpan,
b Martin and Taylor (2002) filling it, and it is currently a freshwater dominated system
c Crawford et al. (2009) (Wasserman et al. 2022). The Chatty saltpans are to the
d Whittington et al. (2015) south of the river between the villages of Swartkops and
e Martin AP (unpublished information) Redhouse and remain operational (Martin 2018).

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