Living with Owls

Of all birds, owls are one of the most easily identifiable species because as toddlers we are first introduced to them as ‘wise old owls’ that go ’who whoooooo’. How they grow up to become old or how they learn to be wise remains a mystery…..

On the estate you are likely to see two of the three species that we know are here. The one you are not likely to encounter is the African Scops which is tiny and has an amazingly camou-flaged feather pattern. They call at night with a distinct clear sound which once identified you will instantly recognize again.

Then we have the large Spotted Eagle Owls, whose eyes shine bright orange when illuminated. When travelling on the estate at night you will find them on the stone walls of bridges and the road sign posts. They are the largest owl species in the area and they are the ones that go ‘who whooooo’.

We also have Barn Owls and these are the beautifully feath-ered owls with pretty, white, heart-shaped faces.

About 8 years ago a pair of Barn Owls moved into a cavity directly above our front door and from that moment our lives on the Estate changed!

Opening our front door at night is done carefully so we don’t scare them and when returning home we approach the house carefully hop-ing to see them.

If they are on one of their regular perches we observe them a while before opening the garage.

Adult Barn Owls make a harsh guttural screech and are particularly loud when mating. As house guests they make their presence known and we have heard (rather than watched) hatchlings grow to adults. Hatchlings start with tiny ‘complaints’ that increase in volume with hunger and of course their size/age. Parents do the hunting and when they return to the nest with food the screeches of excited hatchlings drowns out the sound of the TV. The more hatchlings the harder the parents hunt.

We have watched and laughed at them gracelessly hopping around on the ground in the dark, trying to become airborne; and it is difficult to believe that in a few weeks they will turn into graceful silent fliers with formidable and prolific hunting ability.

Well it is not just about having a mouse free garden, or ‘ag shame’ moments. Owls mess! (ask our neighbours!) All that sitting, watching happens on roof corners, patio beams etc. and as with all living things what goes in, comes out. Their perches are easily identifiable by the huge white splats, bits of mouse fur and regurgitated pellets (containing the skeletal remains of their prey). To deal with this we protect our paving at their perch sites with black plastic which we put down at night and hose off, if nec-essary, in the morning.

It takes a bit of effort. It is sometimes an irritation ….. but it is a privilege and a pleasure!

Denise

J./0 ₂₀₁₆

Chairman of the Board of TrusteesChairman of the Board of TrusteesChairman of the Board of TrusteesChairman of the Board of Trustees Butch Forrester forresters@cinet.co.za

Chairman of Architectural Review Chairman of Architectural Review Chairman of Architectural Review Chairman of Architectural Review CommitteeCommitteeCommitteeCommittee Bill Crichton billcrichton50@gmail.com

Chairman of Finance CommitteeChairman of Finance CommitteeChairman of Finance CommitteeChairman of Finance Committee Mark Stockil zuydam@telkomsa.net

Estate ManagerEstate ManagerEstate ManagerEstate Manager Gappy Smythe 082 850 4227 cathkinestatemngr@mighty.co.za

EditorEditorEditorEditor Denise Preiss preiss@mighty.co.za WebsiteWebsiteWebsiteWebsite www.cathkinhoa.co.zawww.cathkinhoa.co.zawww.cathkinhoa.co.zawww.cathkinhoa.co.za

CONTACTS

I would like to thank everyone who responded to this survey by voting.

The outcome of the survey on whether or not pets should be allowed on Cathkin Estates is

“ No pets are allowed on the Estate. The Trustees may under special circumstances permit a pet or pets to be kept, such as guide dogs. This permission must be in writing and can be re-voked at any stage by the Trustees” .

This is the rule as it exists at present and does not imply a weakening of the rule. Cathkin Estates does not allow any pets and special permission from the Trustee’s is required by a home owner for exceptional cases as stated above.

Please note – visitors or tenants will not be allowed to bring pets onto Cathkin Estate – no excep-tions will be made.

The feedback received from survey has highlighted that the Trustees do need to tighten up on this rule and this will be addressed at the next Trustees’ meeting.

S.:;0< =/ P0?@ Butch Forrester

Winter has arrived in the Berg - the nights are chilly and the daylight hours short. The burning of fire breaks has also started so the air is blue with all the smoke. This is all part of the change in seasons and we can already look forward to spring.

We held our AGM on the 21st May which was well attended. Chris Hyland resigned from the Trustees committee due to other work commitments he has in Cape Town. As a major shareholder he will still be involved in the Estate and be available to give us advice as and when we need it. On behalf of all the home owners I would like to thank Chris for the immense amount of work he did for the Estate, especially in the early stages of the development.

With Chris resigning we had a vacancy on the Board for a developer appointed trustee. Peter & Mark Stockil were happy to accept a proposal from the floor and Dario Raciti has accepted the position. There is no doubt that his business skills and background in engineering as well as game manage-ment will bring value to our Board of Trustees.

l would like to remind home owners that the website cathkinhoa.co.za contains all the latest changes and updates to the Conduct Rules and Building Rules as well as all the past newsletters and other useful information. If there is any other information you would like to see on this website, let us know.

I am pleased to report that we have concluded an agreement with Fidelity Guards to provide us with an armed response service from 18.00 to 06.00 each day. This service has already begun and you can read more about the details in Tim’s section of the newsletter. We look forward to working closely with Fidelity in creating another level of security and protection for all on Cathkin.

WIJ?’@ HJMM0/N/O ……………….. Butch Forrester

Another issue I would like to raise is the speeding by some home owners, tenants and contractors on the Estate. The speed limit is 40 kph but some individuals are traveling at much higher speeds than this. It is becoming a danger to kids, walkers , cyclists and game - so if you see anyone speeding please report them to Gappy or Tim immediately so that action can be taken against them. We are also going to install speed humps along Cathkin Drive as this is where most of the speeding takes place.

Enjoy the chilly weather of winter - remember that a nice log fire and a glass of red wine will help!

•

• Some vehicles and golf carts are being driven around the estate with passengers hanging off the back or clinging to the sides. Please act responsibly when driving on the estate. Remember there is no hospital nearby.

• Rubbish - Please make sure that all household rubbish is placed in plastic bags and left inside the green wheelie bins which must be placed near the tar road on collection days. (Mondays and Fridays)

• Fire season is here – this is a high risk fire area so care must be taken that outside braai fires are only made within a contained area.

• Alien plants – please help by getting rid of them before they populate other areas. I will be in-cluding pictures of the illegal plants in future newsletters.

Lantana grows anywhere and is a serious Category 1 invader species.

This plant must be eradicated immediately.

E@?J?0 H=.@0S00MN/O Tim Smythe

Most of you will have seen and hopefully read the report presented at the AGM and not a great deal has changed since then.

Building continues to flourish and it is quite encouraging to see that not everyone is despondent in these trying times. The flow of plans being presented has slowed down just a bit in recent weeks but there are still things on the go.

All the buildings under construction are moving on at a good pace and one or two should be ready for oc-cupation in the not too distant future giving us the opportunity to wel-come some new residents.

The sites for the new guard huts have been approved and construction of these should start very soon and on completion be of some comfort to residents knowing that security is of the highest priori-ty on the estate.

It should be noted that solar heating panels have now been approved for installation on roofs. How-ever, it is imperative that requests for installation should preferably be submitted in the very early stages of planning as the rules surrounding these are very strict and will certainly be enforced without exception. Should owners wish to fit panels to existing residences they must submit the details of type, location, number etc to the architectural committee for approval before any contract for supply and fitting is granted.

It should be noted that owners wishing to re-paint their houses should do so using a colour from the approved colour palette or alternatively submit a sample to the architectural committee for approval prior to starting the re-paint.

ARC—A:XIN?0X?.:JY R0;N0Z C=[[N??00 Bill Crichton

The eight houses currently

being built.

L0=MJ:\@ N/ ?I0 B0:O— CJ?ISN/ E@?J?0@

However, over the past year there has been a no-ticeable increase in leopard activity in the area.

There have been two sightings at River Crossing in Cathkin Park and another by locals living in the ar-ea, of a leopard on a gravel road in the Culfargie area (believed to be the same resident leopard) . A photograph was taken but the authenticity of it has been questioned.

In 2015 guests at Wits End, neighbouring the es-tate, reported they saw a leopard chasing a troop of baboons through the Hattingspruit, a stream on their boundary with Cathkin Estates. More recently Mark Robertson, the Conservation Manager ( Ezemvelo– Monks Cowl) reported that his son, Daniel, got the fright of his life while he was explor-ing, when he saw a leopard emerge on to the heli-copter pad at Monks Cowl!

And now on our doorstep on Cathkin Estates last month, we had a report of a sighting of what was described as possi-bly a young female crossing the road in Village 5.

With these exciting accounts comes some evi-dence to back up the claims: One week after the sighting on the helicopter pad at Monks Cowl, fresh scat was found in that exact area, that measured from 25 to 30cm in length and a diameter of ap-proximately 4.5cm (deemed too big to be from ser-val or caracal). Photographs and samples were sent to KZN Wildlife Head Office in Pietermaritz-burg for testing whereafter the specialists reported back to Mark stating that the scat belonged to a leopard. Since then according to Mark, regurgitated fur balls have also been found containing adult reedbuck fur in it which can only belong to a rather large cat (large caracal or leopard)!

Tim Smythe

When I think of leopards I immediately picture the lowveld. Looking at reports however I think it’s safe to say they exist almost everywhere in South Africa. There have been recent sightings (last 7 years) in various places like Pretoria, Hilton, Richards Bay, and in mountainous areas such as Cape Town.

The Drakensberg is no exception, however due to the shrinkage of habitat due to the ever expanding encroachment of human activities sightings are few and far between. Leopards are generally extremely elusive and secretive cats that are known to be more active during the night and therefore chances of ever spotting one in the berg are very slim.

Note:

this photograph was NOT taken on Cathkin Estates.

Coming from a tropical garden filled with palms and bromeliads to a indigenous garden in a drought and frost area in the mountains has been a very steep learning curve for me.

My love of azaleas has changed to the anticipation of the opening of the aloe buds. The many different oranges and yellows of these gorgeous winter blooms set against the different browns of all our mountain grass-es makes a stunning show. My love of nature has just been extended to these winter gems.

The use of these plants makes a lot of sense these days as they are more adapted to our local conditions. Aloes can survive in harsh climates if they are planted correctly. They need good drainage, an abundance of sun and lovely rich soil. They will survive on rocky outcrops but for a healthy plant a good soil is required. Aloes flower in Winter at a time when most gardens are looking dismal. The different colours are gor-geous but also attract our pretty little sunbirds and many other species to our gardens.

There are many different species of aloes from very large aloe trees to the newer varieties which are much smaller and so suited to our smaller gardens on Cathkin Estate or even grown in pots on patios.

If all homeowners planted a couple of aloes each winter we would soon have a wonder-ful array of colours on our estate.

(There is a super article on aloes in the June 2016 Gardener magazine.)

Happy planting !

PYJ/? TJYS …... Jill Forrester

The helipad scat at Monks Cowl The Cathkin Estates scat Village 5

Scat was also found in Village 5 about a week after the leopard sighting at Cathkin. This is believed to belong to either a very large serval or a young leopard. The scat in both species is very similar in shape, both containing bone fragments and fur. However the size of bone fragments and size of the poo does help in determining which species may have left it.

Of all the large cats the leopard adapts best to human presence and its ability to avoid detection is unparalleled. Attacks on humans are rare and in areas outside of the lowveld virtually unheard of. The thought of having leopards in and around Cathkin Park is an exciting prospect and a boon for conser-vation. There is nothing more exhilarating than to walk these trails knowing that one of Africa’s most iconic predators (and a member of the big 5) is wondering these same forests and valleys.