Birders only 55 shy of world record
A new Guinness World Record attempt to count more than 360 bird species in 24 hours failed
BARBERTON – A new Guinness World Record attempt stopped 55 short for Team Hamerkop, after recording 300 bird species in a 24-hour period.
But, “What an experience it has been,” says Johan Eskteen, one of the four-member team.
Their attempt kicked off on Friday at midnight with the team identifying various owl species in the Mbombela area and Kruger National Park (KNP).
From the park they flew by helicopter to the Mountainlands Game Reserve near Barberton, where Lowvelder met up with them.
Pedlar’s Bush, an indigenous woodland on the Bulembu Pass, high in the mountains above Barberton, was also on the itinerary.
Team Hamerkop recorded 215 avian species in the Lowveld, before leaving for Cape Town where the remaining 85 were recorded.
Johan says, “We were blessed during this time by seeing the Big 5 in KNP, as well as African penguins at The Boulders in Simon’s Town. Very few people can fit this into one day.”
Team Hamerkop will definitely take this on again, in a few years’ time, according to the other team members, Ehren Eksteen, Duncan McKenzie and Lourens Grobler.
The four birdwatchers were participating in the annual Birding Big Day which is held countrywide on the last weekend of November.
The verified results of all the sightings, are incorporated into the database of the South African Bird Atlas No 2 at the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of Ornithology at the University of Cape Town.
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