A Bird in Hand is Worth More Than Two in the Bush

"A bird in hand is worth two in the bush"- A very well known quote among birders world wide and one which I never really quite understood until I tackled the highveld grasslands with Mark and Alisha Kirk with our main purpose being to target, capture and ring some owls.  When speaking to birders, in particular birders who keep lists, they will continuously make reference to the fact that once the listing bug bites it bites hard, now this I learnt the hard way (not that I'm complaining) however I didn't think that there was another type of bug which I had to keep my eye open for and that's the 'ringing bug'.

Belonging to various birding groups on Facebook and having friends who are involved in the art of bird ringing (I say art because it is exactly that, an art which one cannot simply learn at the drop of a hat but instead a practice which needs to be perfected through hours spent in the filed being mentored by experienced ringers, learning the 'tricks of the trade' per say) themselves it was inevitable that my news feed would be filled with posts of birders sitting in weird and wonderful localities from across the world holding some or other exotic species of bird in the famous "ringers clasp" and posing ever so nicely, bird in hand, with a smile of pure joy and excitement along with the words "I'm doing all of this whilst you sit behind your office desk in the city"...Ok so maybe this text wasn't present at all but we all know the mind tricks which jealousy plays on us!

The South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING)

With the picture of a friend of mine holding a Snowy Owl in hand and another picture of a gentlemen in India having just rung an Indian Pitta I fought back the nausea and asked around for further information on how exactly I could go about obtaining my ringers license and learning more about this intricate art. It was through these endeavors which allowed me to get into contact with Mark and Alisha Kirk (two of only six people who have ever managed to record 800 species of southern African birds in a calendar year) being seasoned ringers having done extensive wader ringing on the coast of Namibia, along with various other localities, where in one night they ringed over two houndred Black Terns! Mark and Alisha agreed to take me under their figurative wing and help mentor me in my ringing quest.

So before I knew it we were off, making our way down to the southern extremities of Gauteng province to the highveld grasslands around the small town of Devon a well know location for a variety of owl species which include the likes of Marsh, Western Barn, Spotted Eagle and even African Grass Owl. We arrived in Devon and were welcomed by a crisp three degree Celsius breeze which resulted in jackets and the car's heater being put on faster than Bolt running the 100's.

Driving at a casual 25km/ph we scanned every single fence pole, telephone poll and road sign in the hope of the cars spotlights illuminating a feathered figure sitting, waiting and watching. After roughly 35 minutes and a few Owl's having been flushed from the road side verges, we finally got onto a single Spotted Eagle Owl sitting atop a fence poll. Immediately the excitement levels in the car rose to an all time high as the prospect of catching one of these magnificent raptors started to dawn on us. We cautiously ambled up to the pole with each inch gained our nerves reaching an all time high, concern that the bird would be frightened off and take flight. But caution and tactical driving on mark's part proved successful and we got into a reasonable spot whereby we would place the moudry trap; we did so making sure that the owl would be able to see the trap and slowly reversed making sure that there was enough space between the trap and our vehicle which would allow the owl to feel comfortable enough to fly down to the trap. We stopped the car, turned off the engine and dimmed the headlights awaiting the characteristic spring of the trap shutting (I would just like to stray slightly and highlight the fact that the particular trap used is in fact one of the most ethical methods of capturing raptors out there and is practiced by acclaimed professionals internationally causing the bird no harm).

My first raptor in the hand, a gorgeous young
 female Spotted Eagle Owl

The suspense kept on building as the temperature kept on dropping and after a few minutes passed, which truly did feel like hours, the grey'ish figure of the owl came gliding in landing mere centimeters away from the trap whereby it began the 'assessment' process whereby it examined the trap, all of it's features and the fact that there was movement in the cages trap. Generally speaking one is to wait until the bird takes the plunge but in this case we picked up the headlights of a car speeding along the dirt road just behind the horizon and thus we had no option but to switch the car on and drive toward the trap in order to rescue it, and force the bird to move off, saving both from an unfriendly encounter with the front of one of the local farmers cars. Just as we pulled up to the trap the owl decided it wasn't about to let his supper go so easily and hopped into the trap, springing it. We had him! It was into action as quick as possible Mark, and his son Sean, hoping out of the car to grab the trap in order to bring it to safety, I ran into the road backed by our vehicles headlights in an attempt to flag and slow down the approaching vehicle, thankfully it did just that and after a quick conversation with him expressing the purpose for our presence on their roads we got underway with 'the process'. Whilst Alisha started to set up the ringing station and get all of the equipment out and ready Mark managed to safely take the owl out of the trap whereby he gave me a brief lesson on how to handle raptors and then passing me the bird, ever so gently.

It was in that moment whereby I fully understood the quote "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush" in fact I wanted to make my own slight edit and recommend it be changed to "A bird in hand is worth five houndred in the bush" because holding that Spotted Eagle Owl in my hand, looking into those deep yellow eyes, you could practically feel the gears turning as it took in every single possible detail that it could, it's head constantly fixated on the person holding it and it's gorgeous feathers like silk against your skin. Having this beauty in hand allowed me to take in details which I had never done before whilst viewing this species in the field such as the shear size of its talons, "the meat and patatoes" according to Mark and undoubtedly a part of this bird which I most certainly didn't want to get on the wrong side of, a sense of empathy creeping in for the small mammals which these birds prey on. One was able to see that we were dealing with a young bird with juvenile plumage mixed in among new emerging adult plumage a cleaner, more defined and refined feather in comparison to the dull, worn, brown older feathers.

Immediately assuming the role of student listening to teacher the absorption of pure knowledge that was spoken among the Kirk family was imperative and crucial toward my learning, knowledge which isn't gained from reading books but instead from hours and hours spent working in the field and of course thousands of bird ringed. This was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my birding career thus far and I cannot help but allow the excitement for my next ringing session to start building up as it will provide an opportunity to appreciate the birds we often take for granted.

Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo africanus)

                                               The ringing bug has most definitely bitten...