On the 25th of May 2000, a Cape Robin found herself trapped in the Delta Park Environmental Centre. Thankfully, Geoff Lockwood was there, he caught her, tagged her and released her.
18-Years-later, to the date, the sweet little Cape Robin has reappeared. Geoff Lockwood shared the exciting news of her reappearance with the Randburg Sun and confirmed she has broken the record for the oldest Cape Robin in the park.
“When she first flew into the centre all those years ago, she accidentally flew through our front door and trapped herself inside the building.
I managed to catch her, and as a permitted ringer, I thought before we let it go we should tag her with a ring, without any hope that it would lead to anything.
“18 years to the day after I first tagged her, she appeared at our doorstep again.”
Geoff said that depending on the size of the bird, chances are rather slim when getting information back from the tag. However, the Cape Robin has proven to have led a healthy life in the park over the last 18 years. Geoff confirmed that she had an injury to her tail feathers at some point, which led to those feathers turning white. This gave her a distinctive appearance.
She became the record holder back in 2016, outliving a Cape Robin in Cape Town. Unlike many other tagged birds, she has been spotted many times throughout the 18 years at the park.
“This particular bird, unlike the previous record holder in Cape Town, was not only tagged but observed regularly at the centre.”
Thanks to Parks like this one, birds and other animals have a safe place to live out their lives.
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