Last month I wrote about some of the seedeaters frequenting the Estate, especially the four species of sparrows. This month I am continuing along this theme with a discussion on the Queleas.

The Red–billed Quelea is a common bird on the Estate though their numbers vary during the year. Since 2012, when monthly records of the birds in the Ambers were initiated, Red-billed Quelea have been recorded in every month. There are however fewer summer records than autumn, winter and spring records.

The love of Roses came to the fore on Friday afternoon June 21st at the Auditorium when the Master of Roses himself came to speak to the very large audience at Garden Club. Ludwig Taschner enthralled us all with his knowledge and enthusiasm for Roses.

Game count

Another successful game count of the greater Ambers was conducted on Wednesday 22 May. The Environmental Advisory Group is satisfied with the results and the overall condition of the game.

According to information provided by a resident who has lived in Amber Valley since the opening of our estate, there was some game on the estate before the development of Amber Valley in 2006, including a few blesbuck, impala and zebra. Unfortunately, all the zebra and impalas were killed during the fire that swept through Amber Valley in June 2007. Four blesbuck survived the fire.

During the past couple of months, the occurrence of birds in the Ambers has been analysed for a presentation to the Natural Resources Club. Some interesting facts have emerged.

One hundred bird species have been recorded in the Ambers in more than 60% of the months during the past six years. Fifty-five of these species have been recorded in over 90% of months. The following 35 species have been recorded in all 66 months: