PINELANDERS
CALLAN COHEN Meet the writer of the regular bird feature in the Muse, founder of Birding Africa, bird enthusiast and lover of nature who enjoys living with his wife Deirdre and son Finn in Scarborough. Callan Cohen has had a lifelong appreciation of birds and revels in the birding and nature tours that take him to see exotic birds worldwide. SURROUNDED BY NATURE
BIRDING AFRICA TOURS - THE BEGINNING
While studying at the University of Cape Town, Callan started his business Birding Africa. The call of nature is strong for Callan and his interests spread beyond the world of birds to flora, trees, butterflies, frogs, dragonflies and mammals. A research associate of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at UCT, Callan completed his doctorate in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley on the evolution of African desert birds. He has co authored two birding books - Southern African Birdfinder: Where to Find 1400 Bird Species in Southern Africa and Madagascar by Callan Cohen, Claire Spottiswoode and Jonathan Rossouw; and Essential Birding: Western South Africa - Key Routes from Cape Town to the Kalahari by Callan Cohen and Claire Spottiswoode.
ADVICE FOR WOULD BE BIRD WATCHERS
Firstly get yourself a good pair of binoculars. Then invest in a good book to aid with bird identification. Joining a birding group adds to the pleasure as you can travel to places together and share the experience learning from each other. Listen out for bird calls – this will alert you to the fact that there is a
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bird in the area. When looking for particular species, find the flora that they enjoy feeding from – and wait. Patience is paramount, especially if you are hoping to photograph birds, which is not easy. Good places recommended by Callan for bird watching in Cape Town include Intaka Island which is safe with plenty of birds; Rondevlei and the Cape Flats Nature Reserve at Strandfontein Waste Water Works.
LOSS OF HABITAT IN PINELANDS
Callan was a resident of Pinelands for seven years so when we hear the call of the Bokmakierie – he comments that due to lack of habitat the call is no longer heard in Pinelands.Then we hear a Cape Robin chat – but it was mimicking the Olive thrush – and we see both of these birds in Pinelands. There are smart phone apps available with the various bird calls but it is always better to hear the call in nature. Google images is also a resource used in bird identification.
LOCAL PROJECT FOR BIRDERS
The annual Wider Cape Town Birders Challenge is an annual event where birders aim to list as many birds as possible in a calender year, seen or heard within a 150Km radius of the Cape Town Stadium. This includes the Pelagic Waters South West of Cape Point. Follow on facebook.
WHAT WAS THE HARDEST BIRD TO FIND
For the tiniest glimpse of the Congo Peafowl I walked 170 km over 17 days, wading knee deep through 30km of rivers. Other rare
finds for me have been the Namuli Apalis in Mozambique, described in 1932 and then not seen since, and the Warsangli Linnets in the Daalloo mountains of Somalia.
SEEING THE WORLD WITH BIRDING AFRICA
Birding Africa now has many tour group leaders with a wealth of knowledge about birds, mammals and nature. Callan has lead more than 100 tours into 23 African countries for Birding Africa and also for British and American Tour companies. He was also a consultant for the BBC Natural History Unit showing Bill Oddie birds in Cape Town. Together with his wife Deirdre, who holds M.Sc. degrees in Ecology, they have lead more than 23 tours to Madagascar, focussing not only on the five endemic families of birds but also on primates and mammals – the many species of lemur being the favourite. Together Deirdre and Callan also host tours to Rwanda, Gabon, Tanzania and his favourite destination for birds - Uganda.
INTERESTING BIRDER TO FOLLOW
Earlier this year Callan hosted Noah Stryker, the 28 year-old ornithologist from Oregon who is aiming to see 5 000 bird species in a year. If successful he will be the first person to do so. Noah writes an interesting blog of his adventure and daily bird sightings. We look forward to more of Callan's bird features in the Muse and possibly some butterflies in our nature section.
October 2015 | the muse | 14
Interview: Glynnis Schutte Image: Glynnis Schutte
The Hub in Scarborough was the ideal place to meet - a source of free range chicken eggs for Callan, a good meal and excellent coffee, while we kept an eye open for the mother baboon with her baby clinging to her belly. Callan is Capetonian born and bred with a love for birds fuelled by the challenge of seeing the vast variety of bird species.