The team of dedicated volunteers and abseilers who recently assisted Ronelle Visagie of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) to ring a Verreaux’s eagle on the cliffs outside De Aar, this year also had to use a kayak to cross the water-filled quarry on the side of the cliff.
Recent good rains had filled the two quarries. The last time it was full of water was after the floods in 1988. For the past years, during the drought, there was little water in these man-made quarries that were used to mine ballast for the railway lines in the area.
According to Visagie the abseiling and rescue team of De Aar has assisted her since 2009.
“They abseil to the nest on the cliffs to pick up the Verreaux’s eagle chick for me to ring, and afterwards put it back safely into the nest. As far as we know, all the chicks have survived until they fledged and left the area.“
”This year offered a different experience. The quarry was full of water after the good rains and the group had to implement new measures. It is estimated that the depth of the water may be about 30 m, as it is currently fed by an underground fountain.
“The area in and around the quarry is used for 4 X 4 driving, and many people go there for a picnic or braai. The eagles are used to people being in the area.
“To reach the other side of the quarry near the cliffside where the eagles’ nest is, we used a small kayak. Cleon Lameyer rowed me over and brought all the other team members back when they were finished with the task. We wore safety jackets whilst in the boat and used two-way radios to communicate with each other.”
As the cliff is very steep, the nest is not accessible without abseiling. The team uses rescue techniques, which means that everyone and everything is doubly secured and attached at two places. Jonas Mthimunye is an experienced abseiler who also ensured the anchor ropes were secure. The chick is put in a bag on ropes and lowered to Visagie, who weighs, measures and rings the chick before she puts it back in the bag.
The abseilers then bring the bag back up, returns the chick to the nest and leave.
“Over the years many people have joined us on the ringing outing. It is always an amazing experience for others to see the chick and to listen to our conversations about the eagles and our experiences over the years.
“We used to publish it in the local newspaper, and from there it was shared with other newspapers and on the internet. We also have a WhatsApp group where we share the news about the eagles.
“After 14 years it is still worthwhile to share information about the eagles to make people aware of their responsibility towards nature,” she says.
