An Affiliate Member of Birdlife South Africa
Our Mission
To enhance our knowledge of all birds, their behaviour and their habitats and to introduce the public to the conservation and science of our avian heritage through enjoyable participation by club members.
Tygerberg Bird Club Silver Jubilee Celebration
The Tygerberg Bird Club celebrated its 25th birthday on Friday 15 April at its monthly meeting at the Kristo Pienaar Environmental Education Centre in the Tygerberg Nature Reserve, Bellville.
Messages of congratulations and good wishes were received from long-standing members who could not attend, from our neighbours, namely the Cape Bird Club, and also from the Western Cape Birding Forum. Two sentiments were noted in all of the messages and these touched on the expertise within the club, but especially the vibrant and friendly nature of the members.
Wendel Du Buy, a long-standing member and previous committee member, designed and crafted wooden Chairman’s Gavels which were presented to the main founder member, Jan Hofmeyr, and to previous chairpersons, who in chronological order are John Philogene, Mariana Delport, Lesley Teare and Brigid Crewe (de Kock).
The speakers for the evening were Vernon Head and Mel Tripp from the Cape Bird Club. It was deemed appropriate to have the Silver Jubilee presentation performed by members of the CBC because their club is where the TBC found its roots 25 years ago.
The presentation described their pilgrimage to the Galapagos Islands and covered aspects like geography, geology, archaeology, meteorology and vegetation. AND the birds, of course. The duo’s quest to see the endemics was shared in such an enthusiastic way that we all wanted to pack our bags and head for the Islands.
A merry celebration followed in the foyer where liquid refreshments and ample snacks were provided. Visitors to our meeting commented on the amount of food on the tables and could hardly believe that each TBC member brought a plate of savoury or sweet snacks. This is, once again, evidence of the spirit within the club. A very big thank-you is due to all of those members who contributed so generously.
The TBC has come a long way over the past 25 years. It is the committee’s goal to build on the platform created by previous office bearers. Plans are in the pipeline for increasing the membership and presenting courses on bird identification and planting gardens for birds.
Whether members are casual birdwatchers, keen birders or serious twitchers, the TBC caters for all categories. Please remember to record our next meetings, outings and camps in your diaries for the next 25 years.
Gerald Wingate
Chairman
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Tygerberg Bird Club.
Birdlife South Africa (BLSA) has chosen the Barn Swallow as the "Bird-of-the-Year", much to the delight of the Tygerberg Bird Ringing Unit who have made great strides in ringing and recovering these summer visitors. For more information about these activities, go to "Bird Ringing" in the menu bar.
BLSA is also focussing on Important Bird Areas (IBA's) and the TBC is proud to promote its ongoing support of this conservation effort by undertaking Co-ordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC's) at the Botriver Lagoon. These counts have been done for the past seventeen years and this time-series is a major contribution to waterbird research.
