we did fence checks the weekend of the 24 of June. we got branches for the wildlife center and did wildlife monitoring. we counted the animals we saw and checked for unusual things in die bush. on Friday we did welcoming until 9pm. it was very cold but we did our work. 

Red-billed Quelea

Description:
Size: 15 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in)
Body: golden-brown with dark brown markings. Face: chocolate brown. Beak: red. There is a red rim around the eye. Legs: pinky-brown. The plumage of the cock bird turns dull after the breeding season.
Has a pale yellow beak.

In this study, various alternative control methods were evaluated. These methods included

(a) lethal control methods (chemical and explosives) and (b) displacing the birds with

repellents or by destroying their habitats. For roosting and breeding, quelea preferred to use areas

of the common reed Phragmites australis. Potential breeding sites were destroyed by cutting

the reeds using hand implements only, or mechanically by using tractors and brushing

equipment. For the manual cutting, trials of both single-handed cutting and working in

groups were conducted. The mechanical control was repeated at four different farms. In

all cases, the time taken, manpower needed and type of equipment used, were recorded.

The running cost and labour costs of the four different farmers were compared using

local financial norms. The methods used for repelling birds included canons, physical and

mechanical means, and bird X-pellers.

Because the start of the rainy season and amount of rainfall varies annually across the quelea’s African habitat, forecasting where colonies will roost and breed and what areas they will select as foraging sites is exceptionally difficult. To help control quelea populations, and to guide the use of pesticides, researchers have developed short-term forecasting models that take into account the location and size of seasonal quelea populations, as well as current and recent rainfall. The models compare this information to data from previous years then predict the threat level of quelea infestation in specific areas. A major limitation of these models, however, is reliable data collection and reporting for seasonal location and size of roosting and breeding colonies.

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Red-billed Quelea is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Red-billed Quelea is about 12 cms and its weight is about 20 gms

You will find that the male Red-billed Quelea plumage and colours are different to that of the female Red-billed Quelea

• Head is brown.
• Eye is red.
• Bill is brown.
• Throat is brown.
• Back is brown.
• Legs are pink.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Most control operations are focused on roosts of

non-breeding birds that threaten commercial grain

crops, especially wheat and rice grown under irrigation.

In such areas, rapid communication systems between

farmers and control teams, and efficient reporting

methods are already in place. Damage to subsistence

crops such as millet and sorghum, however, is caused by

juvenile birds that have fledged recently from breeding

colonies established in relatively inaccessible areas

remote from the croplands themselves and which consequently

remain unreported.

Food items

During the study year, across both ecological zones, queleas consumed some 30

types of wild grass seeds, all five cultivated cereals, 10 non-grass seed items, and insects,

primarily beetles and grasshoppers. Those food items,

comprising 1.0% or more of the yearly diets within each sampling zone, are presented

Bulrush

a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats. These plants are known in British English as bulrush, bullrush, or reedmace, in American English as cattail, punks, or corndog grass, in Australia as cumbungi or bulrush, and in New Zealand as raupo. Typha should not be confused with other plants known as bulrush, such as some sedges

Description

Typha leaves are alternate and mostly basal to a simple, jointless stem that eventually bears the flowering spikes. The rhizomes spread horizontally beneath the surface of muddy ground to start new upright growth, and the spread of Typha is an important part of the process of open water bodies being converted to vegetated marshland and eventually dry land.
Typha plants are monoecious and bear unisexual, wind-pollinated flowers, developing in dense spikes. The numerous male flowers form a narrow spike at the top of the vertical stem. Each male (staminate) flower is reduced to a pair of stamens and hairs, and withers once the pollen is shed. The very large numbers of tiny female flowers form a dense, sausage-shaped spike on the stem below the male spike — in larger species this can be up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 1 to 4 centimetres (0.39 to 1.6 in) thick. Seeds are minute, 0.2 millimetres (0.0079 in) long, and attached to a fine hair. When ripe the heads disintegrate into dense cottony fluff, from which the seeds disperse by wind. Typha is often among the first wetland plants to colonize areas of newly exposed wet mud; it also spreads by rhizomes, forming dense stands often to the exclusion of other plants.

Edible uses:

Typha has a wide variety of parts that are edible to humans. The rhizomes, underground lateral stems, are a pleasant nutritious and energy-rich food source that when processed into flour contains 266 kcal per 100 g. They are generally harvested from late autumn to early spring. These are starchy, but also fibrous, so the starch must be scraped or sucked from the tough fibers. The bases of the leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, in late spring when they are young and tender. In early summer the sheath can be removed from the developing green flower spike which can than be boiled and eaten like corn on the cob. In mid-summer, once the male flowers are mature, the pollen can be collected and used as a flour supplement or thickener.Typha has also recently been suggested as a source of oil.However, the plant's airborne seeds have also been known to create skin irritation and can trigger asthma.

Other uses:

he disintegrating heads are used by some birds to line their nests. The downy material was also used by some Native American tribes as tinder for starting fires.
Some Native American tribes also used Typha down to line moccasins, and for bedding, diapers, baby powder, and papoose boards. One Native American word for Typha meant "fruit for papoose's bed". Today some people still use Typha down to stuff clothing items and pillows. When using Typha for pillow stuffing, dense batting material is used, as the fluff may cause a skin reaction similar to urticaria.
Typha can be dipped in wax or fat and then lit as a candle, the stem serving as a wick. It can also be lit without the use of wax or fat, and it will smolder slowly, somewhat like incense, and may repel insects.
The down has been used to fill life vests in the same manner as kapok.
Typha can be used as a source of starch to produce ethanol, instead of cereals. They have the advantage that they do not require much, if any, maintenance.
One informal experiment has indicated that Typha is able to remove the poisonous element arsenic from drinking water. Such a filtration system may be one way to provide cheap water filtration for people in developing nations.
The boiled rootstocks have been used as a diuretic for increasing urination, or used mashing, to make a jelly-like paste for sores, boils, wounds, burns, scabs, inflammations, and smallpox pustules.

Location: Scirpus: Throughout much of North America in dense stands in shallow I water around edges of reservoirs, marshes and swamplands.

Season: Provides edibles throughout the year.   

Edible: Young shoots in spring and fall; seeds in fall; rootstalk throughout the year.

Preparation: Harvest young shoots by following the rootstalk which bears the shoots. Shoots should be peeled and eaten raw or cooked. Rootstalk pith (core) is excellent baked. The rootstalk and stem can be dried and pounded t into flour and mixed with the seeds for baking. In fall the seeds can be ground into meal.

Notes of Interest: While the mature stems are too tough to be eaten, they can be used for weaving materials-mats, containers, cordage, etc.

Firebreaks prevent that fire jumps from one side to another but it can cause that erosion takes place. They used a bulldozer to clean the area for the firebreak. The whole way where the firebreak was done are straight and this is a better chance for erosion because it is a straight line and not a lot of twist and turns.

Description
The violet tree is a small to medium-sized tree that grows up to 6 m high, with characteristic pale grey, smooth bark. Leaves are variable in size and shape, alternate, often in clusters or crowded on dwarf spur branchlets which are sometimes spine-tipped. They have very fine hairs when young but they lose them as they mature. Flowers are sweetly scented, in short bunches, pink to purple and are produced in early summer. They are about 10 mm long and are each borne on a long, slender stalk (peduncle). Terminal and axillary sprays are about 30-50 mm long, appearing with the very young leaves. The fruit is round, with a distinctive membranous wing up to 40 mm long, purplish green when still young, becoming pale straw-coloured, and can be seen between April and August.

A way to make firebreaks.

Drip torches drip lighted fuel onto dry grass, and are mostly used for line or perimeter ignitions. As a management tool matches tend to be used primarily by Indigenous land managers for setting small scale, patchy fires. Capsule launchers propel incendiaries from a vehicle and are useful to widen firebreaks.
Aerial fires involve dropping incendiaries from aircraft. This type of approach is useful for remote areas which are difficult to access by road, and can be used to place strategic fire breaks to help prevent the spread of late season wildfires.

a fence needs to be strong but not that strong because there is no big 5 on the farm. the fence needs to be placed up correctly. you need to put a line down where the fence is gonna be set up. there is no electrification on the fence because its a cattle camp and there is no big 5 on the farm. if there was a river you could build a fence that can fold when the river starts flowing. we took off the lines and rolled it up because it can be used again. you remove them from post to post. you need yo check the fence regularly and report any broken fence. if a fence broke you need to wright a report on what happened and what you did to fix it. you need to place something on the fence for the animals to see it. if there is holes under a fence you need to close it but for warthogs you can build a highway.if animals gets through the fence and not many lines brake you need to place more lines on the fence. you need to communicate with your neighbors so if something is wrong you can work on it.a fence needs to be fixed and fine at all times. if a fence brake on a river you need to fix it. if a fence is weak, like hanging you need to fix it so that it can be in its best shape and working.if you get something like that you need to pull the wire tightly and tie it to something like the corner post.     

fencing at catlle camp

giraffe ran trough the fence and +- 200m was broken. we removed the broken fence and rolled it up. we took new wire and stretched it the +- 200m and used the wire puller  to tie it. we did it 15 times for 15 wires. we used binding wire to tie the wire tightly to the droppers and y-standers. we use one height for every line to keep it straight. all the offcuts needs to be picked up because its a big hazard. animals can get hurt and tires can get punctures and its for neatness as well. one wire snapped and we used the wire puller to get the ends back together and used gripples to keep them together or we used a 90*. we used a hummer to put the droppers in place and pliers to tie the binding wire to the y-standers and droppers. we used side cutters to cut the old wire off. we used the wire puller to pull all the wires tightly. if you want to start you need to clean the area first so that there is nothing in the way. you need to mark the spots where you want to set up your fence. make sure there is no bushes in the way. all the poles need to be the same level so when the fence line gets erected it is in one line and not different levels. you need corner poles and y-standers and droppers to set up a fence..      

Problem plants

we removed problem plant. bull rush is a big problem on the farm because it takes over. if you don't take control the whole dam will be covered with bull rush. we sprayed it with roundup and we cut some of it out. in a smaller dam the grass grew on the water and there was no place for the animals to drink water in that dam. we removed the crass with hand. we rolled the grass outwards because its to heavy to pickup.

we did fire drills.if the alarms go off you need to run to the fire station and put on all the clothing for protection. you need a mask, helmet, the clothes, and a flap or a backpack spray. you get on a tank car and then you go off to fight the fire. on the 07/06/2011 there was 2 fires and all of us went out to the fire station. the 2nd fire was at night.   

EM

 

 we use EM to spray in taps and around places to prevent bad smells. its done once a week. it is not poison, if you want to you can drink it.