Faerie Glen Nature Reserve closed on Wednesdays in the early morning

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

Please take note that Faerie Glen Nature Reserve will be closed every Wednesday from 26 May 2021 from 06:00 – 11:00 until further notice for game management. (by order of City of Tshwane)

Enquiries : Tel : (012) 358 1510

Lance Robinson Birding Basics Course

BirdLife Northern Gauteng is excited to be hosting well-known bird expert and guide Lance Robinson, for two ZOOM meetings and a practical outing (see attached pamphlet for details).

flyer-lance-robinson-may2021Download

• ZOOM online course on Tuesday, 25 May 2021

Time: 18h45 for 19h00

• ZOOM online course on Thursday, 27 May 2021

Time: 18h45 for 19h00

• FIELD OUTING on Saturday, 29 May 2021
Details to be confirmed during course on 25 May 2021

Invasive Plant Hack 23 May @ 7:30

Please join us on Sunday 23 May for this month’s invasive species (Lantana) hack.

Time: 07:30 – 11:00

Where: Meet @ Faerie Glen Nature Reserve main entrance

Who: Everybody is welcome!

RSVP: Please e-mail if you plan on helping

What to bring:
-Pruning shears (large and/or small)
-hand-saw / klein handsaag
-Gardening gloves
-Sun hat, old clothes (long sleeved) and closed shoes for working in the field
-Something to drink to keep hydrated

FFGNR will provide:
-Herbicide
-Tree poppers

admin@fgnr.co.za

Bioblitz City Nature Challenge 2021 on Sunday 2 May

Join us on Sunday 2 May at 10:00 in taking part in the Bioblitz City Nature Challenge 2021 along with other cities around the world to find and identify wildlife in Tshwane on Sunday 2 May 2021.

We will meet on the lawn of the main entrance of the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve.  Please wear comfortable shoes and bring a hat and water. 

Over 300 cities worldwide, including five others in SA, will try to find and record the most wildlife over a four day period (30 April – 3 May) by taking photos of as many wild and natural animals, plants, trees, birds, fungi, insects etc (not caged animals, pets, plants planted by people) as possible and submit them, using the iNaturalist app on their smart phones.  The information collected will create a valuable snapshot of Tshwane’s biodiversity.

All you need to do is download the iNaturalist app on your smart phone to take part in the Bioblitz.  Below are self-service video links as to help familiarise yourself and to navigate the iNaturalist app:

o   What are observations?

o   How to make an observation with your iPhone

o   How to make an observation with your Android

o   Adding an Observation on a Mobile Device

o   Adding an Observation via the Web

o   How to Take Identifiable Photos

o   How to Use the Identify Page

o   Geotagging DSLR Photos in the Field

o   Duplicating an Observation

o   Adding a photo or sound to an Observation

o   Exploring Observations with iNaturalist

Hack on Sunday 25 April 07:00

Please join us on Sunday 25 April for this month’s invasive species (Lantana) hack.

Time:  07:00 – 10:00

Where: Meet @ Faerie Glen Nature Reserve main entrance

Who: Everybody is welcome!

RSVP: Please e-mail or SMS if you plan on helping

What to bring:

-Pruning shears (large and/or small)

-hand-saw / klein handsaag

–Gardening gloves

 –Sun hat, old clothes (long sleeved) and closed shoes for working in the field

-Something to drink to keep hydrated

FFGNR will provide:

-Herbicide

-Tree poppers

admin@fgnr.co.za

Mini-SASS Sat 10 Apr at 14:45

We have been given the green light by CoT Nature Conservation to resume our activities.  Please note that sanitising of hands and the wearing of masks at the entrance building remains mandatory. 

We would like to invite you to a Mini-SASS (Stream Assessment Scoring System) assessment on Saturday 10 April and take part in Citizen Science.  We will be evaluating the river health of the Moreletaspruit by making use of this unique bio-monitoring tool that was designed specifically for ordinary citizens (like ourselves) and school-going children to use.

Time:    14:45–17:00

Where:  Meet @ Faerie Glen Nature Reserve main entrance

Who:     Everybody is welcome, including children

Cost:     Free

What to bring:  -Sun hat; face mask; magnifying glass

Faerie Glen Nature Reserve returns to usual opening hours

From Monday 1 March 2021, The Faerie Glen Nature Reserve will resume its usual opening hours. The Reserve will be open from 6am to 6pm daily.

Litter in Faerie Glen Nature Reserve

The Friends of the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to the ladies who usually tackle Cats Claw (an invasive creeper) and Pom Pom (another invasive flowering plant).

The rainy weather meant that herbicide could not be used, so these tireless ladies decided to clean up some of the litter that has been washed down the river to the area around the bird hide instead.

We would like to appeal to anyone who can to please assist us by cleaning up litter in the nature reserve. We are currently not able to organise group activities due to lockdown restrictions, and a large amount of litter gets washed down the river into the reserve every time it rains

Friends of Faerie Glen Nature Reserve Membership 2021

Most of us had a very difficult year in 2020, including the start of 2021. Many have lost loved ones due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The FFGNR also mourns the loss of dedicated committee member Peter Teurlings who succumbed to Covid-19. We remain grateful for the knowledge and expertise he offered the Friends of the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve.

City of Tshwane Nature Conservation has also faced numerous challenges with the Covid-19 pandemic and associated regulations. This has varied from the reserve being completely closed to a staff shortage. We have, however, as volunteers done quite a lot for the FGNR in the past year. More information will follow in the newsletter.

Renewal of 2021 membership can be done here by paying the membership fee and emailing proof of payment to admin@fgnr.co.za

New members can fill in the membership application form here: https://ffgnr.wordpress.com/membership/

Proof of payment is required. Please email it to admin@fgnr.co.za

Please consider making a donation.  If you make a donation of R1000.00 and larger, we can issue you with a Section 18A tax donation receipt.  Please contact Louise Kritzinger directly, as this payment would have to be made through WESSA’s (Wildlife and Environmental Society) bank account to which FFGNR are affiliated. WESSA is a registered NPO (Non Profit Organisation) and registered as a PBO (Public Benefit Organisation) with SARS to issue Section 18A tax donation receipts to donors. A Section 18A entitles a tax payer (individual, company, cc or trust) to deduct donations made to PBO not exceeding 10% of taxable income.

We would like to thank you in advance for your continued support of the Friends of Faerie Glen Nature Reserve. As humans we can survive without many things, but we cannot survive without nature.

Lockdown New Opening Hours At Faerie Glen Nature Reserve

We are glad to announce that the FGNR will be open between 07:00 and 18:00 from 13 January under the amended Alert Level 3 Regulations that will be in place until 15 February 2021. 

We will unfortunately not be allowed to host any group activities during this time.

We will keep everyone posted as to any changes to these regulations.