Smithfield News

Smithfield is for the Birds

by Carmel Rickard -

Birding history is being made in South Africa at the moment – and now in Aliwal North as well. A major project is underway, officially entitled the South African Bird Atlasing Project No 2 (SaBap, for short). The last time birders made an “atlas” of South Africa was 15 or 16 years [...]

Smithfield is for the Birds - Overshadowing Our Flamingo Story

by Carmel Rickard
WHEN people from Smithfield want to boast about the birds here we sometimes talk about the flamingos. On a good day there might be a few dozen “roomys voëls” trawling the edges where the little spruit feeds into the town dam, we say proudly.

Smithfield is for the Birds - Marabou Visits Smithfield

by Carmel Rickard

It had been raining and I was having an afternoon nap when the phone rang.  Irene Swanepoel’s cheerful voice cut through a dream. “Willie’s seen Malibu,” she said, or rather that’s what I thought she’d said. Maybe Willie was in a dream haze, not me. So what’s he doing in the United States, [...]

Smithfield is for the Birds

By Carmel Rickard
A rare visitor from the northern hemisphere has set the South African birding world alight because it has chosen Bloemfontein, no less, for a summer holiday.
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was first seen on February 20 by a birder who was checking the water fowl at Krugersdrift Dam. He immediately alerted the rest of the [...]

Smithfield is for the Birds - Rich Prizes for a Bird-Friendly Smithfield

by Carmel Rickard
THE visit by BirdLife Free State last November was exactly what Smithfield needed.  We increased the number of birds on the official village list from just over 100 to 200, among them some highly sought-after species. “Well,” I thought, “what more could we ask? Now Smithfield can boast that we are a good [...]

Smithfield for the Birds

Rick Nuttall, the national president of BirdLife South Africa, and Janine were delighted by the range of birds found in the Smithfield area during the recent birding weekend.

Smithfield is for the Birds

by Carmel Rickard
We all suspected it, but now it’s been confirmed by the experts – Smithfield is for the birds! Some top birders including the national president of BirdLife South Africa, Rick Nuttall, spent a weekend here early in November, and they were delighted by the range of birds they found in the [...]

Birding Experts Excited by Smithfield Sightings

by Carmel Rickard

Rick said afterwards that he had a total of 127 species on his list of birds seen and/or heard on the day he spent in Smithfield, and added, “That’s excellent by anyone’s terms!”
BIRDS in and around Smithfield have never been so much admired and so closely studied: over the last week two of [...]

Birding Experts — here for a Weekend

By Carmel Rickard
BIRDING enthusiasts take note: the birding visit by Birdlife FreeState is definitely on and Smithfielders can expect an influx of bird experts over the first weekend in November.