Flowering in Iphithi

Spring rains have finally arrived, and wildflowers are celebrating! Water loving ferns and iconic Arum lilies are revelling in the moist earth along wetland edges, with soft blue and mauve Sticky-leaved Monopsis, Monopsis stellaroides, softening the sword-like leaves of reeds and rushes. On grassy banks, a few wildflowers have popped their heads above the grass fronds. Though the grasses are in need of fire to burn off dead thatches and revitalise the flowering forbs, there are a few out on display for us.

Sticky Broom & Brushes

Paper Plume

Climbing Canthium

Mickey Mouse Bush

Dwarf Thunbergia

Arum Lily

Adder’s Tongue

Everlasting family

Bushman’s Tea

Silver-leaved Vernonia

Red Catkins

Cranesbill family

Annual herb

Sticky-leaved Monopsis

Wildlife Releases in Iphithi

Wood owl

Over the last couple of months we have had 2 wildlife releases in Iphithi. CROW and The African Bird of Prey Sanctuary have agreed to use Iphithi to release certain rescued/ captivity bred species as our varied habitats are so suitable. This has all been arranged by Frans Schutz, a supporter and past committee member, whose home borders the reserve. In August, CROW released a young blue duiker that had been caught in a fence in the suburbs. These little animals become so stressed that, unless they can be released within hours, they are simply put down. They usually do not survive in captivity for long as they often break a number of limbs in a desperate attempt to escape. As can be seen by the fleeting image of the duiker in full flight, this was a ‘quick’ release. Image by Martin Schutz.

Today, a beautiful young wood owl will be released. It has been hatched in captivity at the Bird of Prey Sanctuary and was brought down to a holding cage in Frans’ garden 10 days ago. Today Frans will open the release door and allow ‘Frikkie’ to find his own way out. Having enjoyed meals of day old chicks, he may well come back for breakfast over the next few days, but will hopefully make his home in Iphithi.

This brings to attention the enormous responsibility of the home owner! This little owl will only survive to adulthood, and grow the Iphithi family of wood owls, if we all stop using poisons, especially rat poisons, immediately! Wood and barn owls are fantastically efficient hunters and will soon keep our rodent populations down if given the chance.

To those who walk their dogs in the reserve: our numbers of bush buck, duiker and dassies have recently increased so please ensure you keep your dogs on a tight leash to keep our mammal population safe!

CROW staff carrying the cage to the release site

Duiker making good his escape

Duiker bolting

 

The Story of Iphithi and the Calendar

The Story of Iphithi and the infamous Calendar

Derivation of the name: Iphithi means blue duiker in Zulu.

The story of Iphithi Nature Reserve is an inspiring one, and tells of how a small group of residents changed a 9 ha piece of ground, abandoned by local government and overrun with invasive trees and shrubs, into an urban wildlife sanctuary. One of four areas short listed for the 2011 Mayoral Biodiversity Award, Iphithi began its transformation in 2000 when an advert was placed in the local newspaper inviting all interested parties to take part in a discussion on the banks of the stream; the topic: the potential future of this piece of land as a Nature Reserve. As romantic as this may sound, the stream was in fact a mere trickle, and the stream banks were overgrown with bug weed, American bramble and other alien plants, or, under the towering exotic Gums, Camphor’s and Wattles, completely denuded of all vegetation.

Your Community groups are Uniting on all fronts

Gillitts Conservancy, Iphithi Nature Reserve and Gillitts Park Community Association have begun to work together for the benefit of all residents of Gillitts. While Iphithi has always been a part of the Conserancy and is indeed its flagship green area, it has been seen by many as an entirely separate reserve. Gillitts Park Community Association (GPCA), run by Jill Clark and her excellent group of volunteers, has been focusing on the safety of Gillitts. Our suburbs open spaces, in much need of preservation and upliftment, play a significant part of crime protection initiatives and to this end, GPCA will be assisting Gillitts Conservancy on many levels. The noticeboard in the carpark at Iphithi Nature Reserve has been handed over to GPCA and will help to keep residents updated. Gillitts Conservancy will also make use of this board as well as the board inside the gazebo within the grounds of Iphithi.

For all of our organisations to be successful we need as much resident support as possible. To become a pro-active member of your community please make use of the contacts below.

Please contact:

GPCA :

Jill Clark: admin@gillittspark.co.za

Gillitts Conservancy:

Chairman Martin Gardiner: gardiner@vodamail.co.za
Vice Chairman: Elaine Kool: elainekool@gmail.com

Iphithi Nature Reserve:
Chairman: Anno Torr: iphithinr@gmail.com