Page 237 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Caspian Tern Coega River saltpans
Coordinates: 33.78 S; 25.67 E
Bar Description: These commercial Saltpans are located near
Year None Chatty Redhouse Total the mouth of the Coega River between the Port of Ngqura
saltpans saltpans saltpans and the N2, within the Coega Special Economic Zone
No. of pairs (Morant 2013). There are one or two small islands but most
2005 47 b 47 of the seabird colonies have been on the berms between
the pans in the middle to inland sections of the saltpans.
2006 1 b 1 Conservation status: The saltpans are located within the
2007 0 b 0 Coega Special Economic Zone and the long-term planning
2008 1 c 18 b 19 is for the Port of Ngqura to expand inland into the area cur-
2009 e 2 rently occupied by the saltpans. The Coega Open Space
Management Plan protects conservation-worthy areas
2010 28 d 28 from development and includes the thicket vegetation on
2011 e 11 11 the steep slopes on the east bank of the Coega River. The
2013 e 2 0 0 2 Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area
gazetted on 23 May 2019 covers much of Algoa Bay east
2016 e 40 1 1 42 of the Port of Ngqura below the high-water mark.
2020 e 0 0 0 0 Species and numbers breeding:
2021 e 0 0 0 0
White-breasted Cormorant
a Martin and Randall (1987)
b Crawford et al. (2009) Year No. of pairs
c Tree (2010) 2003 a 7
d Tree (2011) 2004 a 65
e AP Martin (unpubl.)
2007 a 105
Notes: 2016 was the last time large numbers of Caspian 2008 b 110
Terns nested in the Swartkops Valley. From 2017 (Bar 2009 c 0
None) and 2018 (Redhouse) pumping operations ceased
and the pans dried out. 2010 c 0
2011 c 0
Further Notes: Hartlaub’s Gulls were first seen in the Port 2012 c 1
Elizabeth vicinity in 1977 (Nicholls 1977). The record of
a pair of Hartlaub’s Gulls breeding at the Chatty saltpans 2015 c 3
in 1982 was the first for this species in the Eastern Cape 2016 c 3
(Crawford et al. 2009). In this vicinity it also formed hybrid a
pairs with Grey-headed Gulls (Crawford et al. 2009). b Crawford et al. (2009)
Crawford et al. (2013)
Grey-headed Gulls were present in the Port Elizabeth c Martin AP (unpublished information)
area in 1951 but were considered to be uncommon until the
late 1960s (Skead 1967, Crawford et al. 2009). The first re- Notes: The large colonies were located on the berms
cords of breeding by this species in the Eastern Cape were
at Fishwater Flats in 1979 (Hosten 1981) and on the small between the saltpans. It is thought that Caracal (Caracal
caracal) and/or Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)
island at Redhouse Saltpan in 1982 (Randall and Hosten disturbed the colony, causing it to be abandoned. The three
1983). The 834 pairs of Grey-headed Gulls breeding in the nests in 2015 and 2016 were on the top of wooden
Swartkops River valley in 2022 was > 90% of the overall electricity pylons in the water and on an old brick structure
population in the Benguela upwelling ecosystem (Crawford
et al. 2024). in the middle of one of the pans, where the nests were
inaccessible to terrestrial predators.
Kelp Gull
Year No. of pairs
2003 a 30
2007 a 97
2008 b 124
2009 b 176
2010 c 243
2011 c 148
2012 c 174

Coega saltpans (photo AP Martin)

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