Archived News

BirdLife South Africa (BLSA) held its Annual General Meeting (“Flock at Sea”) this month at sea for the first time. Sailing from Cape Town in the 58 000-tonne cruise ship MS MSC Opera, 1116 bird watchers travelled to Walvis Bay in Namibia and back over four days. It seems this number of birders going to sea on a single vessel may be a first, still to be verified by Guinness World Records.

During the AGM the ACAP-listed Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena was declared as BLSA’s “Bird of the Year” for 2014. The Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross breeds only on Gough and Inaccessible Islands in the South Atlantic, islands part of the United Kingdom’s Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and is occasionally recorded in southern African waters (click here).

A colour-banded Tristan Albatross at sea off southern Africa

Photograph by Meidad Goran

“Bird of the Year is one of BirdLife South Africa’s annual initiatives for creating awareness about birds and bird habitat conservation. The aim of the initiative is to choose a bird species and focus various activities and events on that species during the year. It is an important initiative to improve public awareness about the species and the need to protect the species (and related species) and their habitats.” (click here). Proceeds from the cruise are intended to go to BirdLife’s Albatross Task Force.

Also at the AGM Robert Crawford, recently retired from the position of marine ornithologist at the South African Department of Environmental Affairs, was awarded the society’s Gill Memorial Medal by its outgoing President, Peter Ryan, Acting Director of the University of Cape Town’s FitzPatrick Institute (and a member of ACAP's Taxonomy Working Group). The Gill Memorial Medal is BirdLife South Africa's most prestigious award, made for outstanding lifetime contributions to ornithology in southern Africa.

Rob Crawford has for many years managed seabird research and monitoring at the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands, including on ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels. He has represented South Africa at every meeting of the Albatross and Petrel Agreement and its Advisory Committee that have been held since the agreement's inception, and led the local team that hosted the Fourth Meeting of the Advisory Committee held in South Africa in 2008. The ACAP Secretariat extends its congratulations to Rob and wishes him well in retirement.

Robert Crawford holds his Gill Memorial Medal certificate as Peter Ryan displays the medal

Photograph courtesy of BirdLife South Africa

This is the second time (and the second year in a row) that the Gill Memorial Medal has been awarded to a marine ornithologist associated with ACAP (click here).

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 8 March 2013