mother lode

Atlasing Cape Town’s CBD

- GARRET SKEAD

I live in Cape Town’s City Bowl and my home pentad, 3355_1820, is one of my favourite places to go birding. Comprising the Cape Town CBD, a large swathe of Table Mountain and 40 per cent ocean, this pentad wouldn’t strike anyone as being the most bird-rich area in the country. The CBD seems to contain little more than Red-winged Starlings and Rock Doves and the local parks are dominated by dog walkers and tourists. And yet on deeper exploration, it is rich in endemic and scarce species and any birding outing is set against the magnificent backdrop of Table Mountain, urban landscapes and the Atlantic Ocean.

I share the challenges of birding this pentad with Dom Rollinson, who needs little introduction in a South African birding context. But you might not know that he is a fanatical atlaser and is also addicted to birding our home pentad. Beginning in lockdown, we have enjoyed a keen rivalry to discover new birds in the pentad and get high card totals. With just 244 full protocol cards, of which Dom and I have contributed 152, the City Bowl pentad is under-atlased compared to other local pentads, such as Strandfontein (3400_1830) with 1164 cards. This also is reflected in the number of species recorded: 143 from the City Bowl compared to 260 in Strandfontein. Yet we have had some surprising records in recent times, with both regional and national rarities, which is testimony to the value of home patch birding and demonstrates what can be found with diligent exploration.

Fynbos birds are well represented, particularly in montane habitats. Cape Sugarbirds and Orange-breasted Sunbirds are common and conspicuous along Tafelberg Road or the pipe track hiking trail and are joined by Karoo Prinias and the scarcer Grey-backed Cisticolas. Cape