Vaalkop Dam (25202728) | |
|---|---|
North West | |
| CWAC status | REGISTERED-COUNTED REGULARLY |
| Authority | Private |
| Management status | LOCAL GAME/NATURE RESERVE |
| Conservation status | PARTLY PROTECTED |
| IBA information | SA025 - MAGALIESBERG & WITWATERSBERG |
| Ramsar information | |
| Heritage information | |
| View Cards | Click here |
Information |
|---|
| Date_registered |
| 1993-07-25 |
| Brief_description |
| A dam on the Elands River, partly within Vaalkops Nature Reserve; it has some fringing reedbeds, and several islands. Holds a good variety of waterbirds, but small numbers of most waterfowl and shorebirds. A nationally significant count of Great Crested Grebe was recorded in winter 1995. Numbers of grebes, cormorants, herons, African Spoonbill, Whitefaced Duck, and Egyptian and Spurwinged Geese, are higher in winter and the biomass graph reflects the concentration of these large waterbirds in this season. The high total count in winter 1997 reflects the presence of 895 Redknobbed Coot. Blacksmith Plover is fairly common all year, and Black Crake and Purple Gallinule are recorded. Low flying by microlight aircraft is a serious threat; boating, and pollution with anglers' waste, are also problems. |
| Spp | Common name | Taxonomic name | Min | Avg | Max | IBA | Subregional IBA | RAMSAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 256 | Calidris pugnax | 1 | 38.79 | 476 | ||||
| 72 | Scopus umbretta | 1 | 4.00 | 32 | ||||
| 269 | Avocet, Pied | Recurvirostra avosetta | 1 | 8.40 | 29 | |||
| 67 | Bittern, Little | Ixobrychus minutus | 1 | 2.17 | 4 | |||
| 212 | Coot, Red-knobbed | Fulica cristata | 1 | 554.95 | 3667 | 2500 | ||
| 9638 | Cormorant, Great | Phalacrocorax carbo | 219 | 219.00 | 219 | 130 | ||
| 50 | Cormorant, Reed | Microcarbo africanus | 3 | 245.90 | 1901 | |||
| 47 | Cormorant, White-breasted | Phalacrocorax lucidus | 2 | 314.88 | 1793 | 130 | ||
| 203 | Crake, Black | Zaporina flavirostra | 1 | 7.34 | 40 | |||
| 52 | Darter, African | Anhinga rufa | 2 | 91.00 | 379 | 250 | ||
| 95 | Duck, African Black | Anas sparsa | 1 | 2.56 | 5 | |||
| 10006 | Duck, Domestic | Anas platyrhynchos domesticus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 101 | Duck, Fulvous Whistling | Dendrocygna bicolor | 1 | 4.50 | 13 | |||
| 91 | Duck, Knob-billed | Sarkidiornis melanotos | 1 | 67.05 | 482 | |||
| 103 | Duck, Maccoa | Oxyura maccoa | 3 | 3.00 | 3 | |||
| 10014 | Duck, Unidentified | Anas sp. | 1 | 6.00 | 11 | |||
| 104 | Duck, White-backed | Thalassornis leuconotus | 1 | 1.75 | 3 | |||
| 100 | Duck, White-faced Whistling | Dendrocygna viduata | 1 | 129.83 | 1845 | |||
| 96 | Duck, Yellow-billed | Anas undulata | 1 | 33.22 | 208 | |||
| 58 | Egret, Great | Ardea alba | 1 | 18.28 | 87 | |||
| 60 | Egret, Intermediate [x] | Ardea intermedia | 1 | 9.34 | 84 | |||
| 59 | Egret, Little | Egretta garzetta | 1 | 34.18 | 494 | |||
| 982 | Egret, Slaty | Egretta vinaceigula | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 61 | Egret, Western Cattle | Bubulcus ibis | 1 | 197.14 | 1050 | |||
| 14799 | Egret, Yellow-billed | Egretta brachyrhyncha | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 149 | Fish Eagle, African | Haliaeetus vocifer | 1 | 8.96 | 27 | |||
| 86 | Flamingo, Greater | Phoenicopterus roseus | 1 | 12.30 | 25 | |||
| 87 | Flamingo, Lesser | Phoeniconaias minor | 1 | 4.50 | 15 | |||
| 205 | Flufftail, Red-chested | Sarothrura rufa | 2 | 2.00 | 2 | |||
| 265 | Godwit, Black-tailed | Limosa limosa | 4 | 4.00 | 4 | |||
| 89 | Goose, Egyptian | Alopochen aegyptiaca | 1 | 249.53 | 1024 | |||
| 88 | Goose, Spur-winged | Plectropterus gambensis | 1 | 62.14 | 384 | |||
| 4 | Grebe, Great Crested | Podiceps cristatus | 1 | 21.48 | 106 | 50 | 25 | 100 |
| 6 | Grebe, Little | Tachybaptus ruficollis | 1 | 105.73 | 503 | 500 | 250 | |
| 263 | Greenshank, Common | Tringa nebularia | 1 | 5.09 | 33 | |||
| 288 | Gull, Grey-headed | Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus | 1 | 30.47 | 125 | |||
| 10010 | Gull, Unidentified | Lanus sp. | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 64 | Heron, Black | Egretta ardesiaca | 1 | 15.23 | 161 | |||
| 55 | Heron, Black-headed | Ardea melanocephala | 1 | 8.21 | 66 | |||
| 56 | Heron, Goliath | Ardea goliath | 1 | 5.30 | 21 | |||
| 54 | Heron, Grey | Ardea cinerea | 4 | 36.49 | 170 | |||
| 57 | Heron, Purple | Ardea purpurea | 1 | 3.42 | 10 | |||
| 62 | Heron, Squacco | Ardeola ralloides | 1 | 14.50 | 202 | |||
| 63 | Heron, Striated | Butorides striata | 1 | 4.33 | 20 | |||
| 81 | Ibis, African Sacred | Threskiornis aethiopicus | 1 | 23.76 | 151 | |||
| 83 | Ibis, Glossy | Plegadis falcinellus | 1 | 7.32 | 35 | |||
| 84 | Ibis, Hadada | Bostrychia hagedash | 1 | 5.81 | 20 | |||
| 228 | Jacana, African | Actophilornis africanus | 1 | 28.07 | 184 | |||
| 395 | Kingfisher, Giant | Megaceryle maxima | 1 | 1.55 | 3 | |||
| 396 | Kingfisher, Half-collared | Alcedo semitorquata | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 397 | Kingfisher, Malachite | Corythornis cristatus | 1 | 5.54 | 31 | |||
| 394 | Kingfisher, Pied | Ceryle rudis | 1 | 28.77 | 92 | |||
| 247 | Lapwing, African Wattled | Vanellus senegallus | 1 | 4.45 | 27 | |||
| 245 | Lapwing, Blacksmith | Vanellus armatus | 10 | 70.63 | 323 | |||
| 509 | Martin, Brown-throated | Riparia paludicola | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 210 | Moorhen, Common | Gallinula chloropus | 1 | 6.96 | 27 | |||
| 69 | Night Heron, Black-crowned | Nycticorax nycticorax | 1 | 3.64 | 30 | |||
| 172 | Osprey, Western | Pandion haliaetus | 1 | 1.14 | 2 | |||
| 230 | Painted-snipe, Greater | Rostratula benghalensis | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 233 | Plover, Common Ringed | Charadrius hiaticula | 2 | 2.50 | 3 | |||
| 237 | Plover, Kittlitz's | Charadrius pecuarius | 1 | 20.64 | 181 | |||
| 238 | Plover, Three-banded | Charadrius tricollaris | 1 | 17.71 | 104 | |||
| 102 | Pochard, Southern | Netta erythrophthalma | 1 | 9.45 | 36 | |||
| 282 | Pratincole, Black-winged | Glareola nordmanni | 37 | 579.00 | 1200 | 100 | 50 | |
| 197 | Rail, African | Rallus caerulescens | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | -1 | ||
| 258 | Sandpiper, Common | Actitis hypoleucos | 1 | 4.00 | 18 | |||
| 251 | Sandpiper, Curlew | Calidris ferruginea | 1 | 5.29 | 15 | |||
| 262 | Sandpiper, Marsh | Tringa stagnatilis | 1 | 7.13 | 23 | |||
| 264 | Sandpiper, Wood | Tringa glareola | 1 | 6.28 | 33 | |||
| 90 | Shelduck, South African | Tadorna cana | 1 | 2.14 | 4 | |||
| 94 | Shoveler, Cape | Anas smithii | 1 | 5.70 | 24 | |||
| 250 | Snipe, African | Gallinago nigripennis | 1 | 2.90 | 7 | |||
| 85 | Spoonbill, African | Platalea alba | 1 | 50.06 | 314 | 150 | 75 | |
| 270 | Stilt, Black-winged | Himantopus himantopus | 1 | 18.47 | 90 | |||
| 253 | Stint, Little | Calidris minuta | 1 | 26.45 | 118 | |||
| 73 | Stork, Marabou | Leptoptilos crumenifer | 1 | 8.20 | 28 | |||
| 80 | Stork, White | Ciconia ciconia | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 76 | Stork, Yellow-billed | Mycteria ibis | 1 | 10.75 | 52 | |||
| 208 | Swamphen, African | Porphyrio madagascariensis | 1 | 1.55 | 3 | |||
| 10007 | Swan, Black | Cygnus atratus | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | |||
| 99 | Teal, Blue-billed | Anas hottentota | 1 | 4.85 | 13 | |||
| 98 | Teal, Cape | Anas capensis | 2 | 3.30 | 8 | |||
| 97 | Teal, Red-billed | Anas erythrorhyncha | 1 | 32.91 | 186 | |||
| 290 | Tern, Caspian | Hydroprogne caspia | 1 | 14.00 | 37 | 20 | ||
| 10009 | Tern, Unidentified | N/A N/A | 7 | 77.20 | 129 | |||
| 305 | Tern, Whiskered | Chlidonias hybrida | 2 | 26.08 | 190 | 150 | 75 | 85 |
| 304 | Tern, White-winged | Chlidonias leucopterus | 2 | 246.82 | 1126 | 1000 | ||
| 274 | Thick-knee, Water | Burhinus vermiculatus | 1 | 3.18 | 8 | |||
| 10008 | Wader, Unidentified | N/A N/A | 1 | 18.47 | 102 | |||
| 685 | Wagtail, African Pied | Motacilla aguimp | 1 | 3.16 | 9 | |||
| 686 | Wagtail, Cape | Motacilla capensis | 1 | 9.38 | 39 |
Sunday 05 April 2026 06:12
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Department
of Biological Sciences - University of Cape Town
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