Hermanus Golf Club would like to express a very special thanks to Deon Langenhoven of NSRI, who was instrumental in the capture and rescue of one of our resident African Darters who had managed to get his beak tangled in the remnants of a cotton towel and plastic clip.
Upon arrival at the Club on Saturday morning, we noticed that the Darter was in trouble. He was trying desperately to shake off the cotton thread and plastic clip that was attached to his beak. After several hours of watching the bird in distress and numerous phone calls to get assistance, we finally phoned NSRI out of sheer desperation.
Deon Langenhoven arrived shortly thereafter and clad in his wetsuit happily jumped into the dam accompanied by a large net and waited patiently for the bird to settle in the reeds. After quite some time Deon caught the Darter and we were able to gently cut away the cotton thread that had wound its way around his beak and release the Darter back into his local habitat.
Along with fellow Cormorants, the Darter is again catching fish and drying his wings in an appropriate fashion on the rock in the middle of the dam.
Once again a big thank you to Deon for all your patience and determination, it most certainly paid off!
