By Nangamso Mabindla
4 May 2005

BIRDING has come alive in Buffalo City, following the launch of the City's new Birding Guide Brochure in Beacon Bay in East London on Wednesday, 4 May 2005.

The guide will go a long way in helping locals and tourists to locate the 350 bird species in the city. Tourism Buffalo City officials, councillors and members of Border Wildlife attended the launch. Graham Winch, of Border Wildlife, said the guide was a huge step forward for birding enthusiasts.

"It is an outstanding brochure and it will go a long way in promoting tourism in the city. We need to use this tool to benefit tourism and showcase our bird species in the entire city," he said.

The guide covers the whole of Buffalo City, highlighting the prime birding sites, like the Umtiza Nature Reserve, the Nahoon Estuary Nature Reserve, Nahoon Point Nature Reserve, Gonubie Amalinda, the Rooikrantz Dam and Maden Dam in King William's Town.

It also lists some of the species that can be spotted at these sites. Tourists are spoilt for choice with more than 350 bird species in the area, including Narina Trogan, Blue Mantled Crested Flycather, African Wood Owl, Little Bittern, Grey Crowned Crane and many others.

But to spot the birds, tourists need to know the best sites, information the brochure provides. It also has a map showing how to get to some of the sites. Going birding on nature reserves outside town is not always safe, so the brochure also includes safety tips.

Darby Gounden, the acting head of Tourism Buffalo City, thanked the City, the Swedish International Development Agency and Gälve for their supporting in putting together the guide.

"With the brochure we want to market the city to locals, before we open it to other tourists. We would also like to work closely with Eastern Cape Tourism and market all the bird sites in the province," Gounden said.