I was just wondering about the breeding pair of Black Eagles at bronkies which closes of a large section of the rock face, we used to see them all the time on our trips to the crag but then i heard something about the nest falling? Havnt seen them since.

any news? i mean the section that is a no bolting zone has huge potential for the expansion of the crag and some hard routes through some of the bigger roofs.
just a thought

it all comes down to, the eagles arent there anymore, they havent been seen in long, but according to the specialists it would bother them if there were bolting if they returned in a few years time because apparently "the always return". was awsum sending fossil fuel with a pair of black eagles landing at my head and checking out the moves, didnt seem to bother them:)

aka its like asking to bolt a 5star un-tradable line in a trad kloof...

Ebert Nel
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woooooooooo rocklands here we come:D

Hi,

there are three issues to which I’ll give take on it (personal opinions)

What is the status of the no-bolting area at Bronkies?
I am not aware of any formal request for bolting in the no-bolting area and hence in my opinion the current no-bolting policy still stands and I would like to think that the guys that bolt would respect it or engage the community and the MCSA Bolting Portfolio member to convince us otherwise.

What is the process to bolt / open the area up?
Any of the guys that are serious about bolting lines in the current no-bolting area should contact Mark Millar (contact info obtainable from MCSA JHB), the Portfolio member for Bolting on the MCSA Johannesburg Section Committee with a formal proposal.

My personal opinion: why it should not be bolted?

An update on some of the comments on the climb.co.za wiki regarding the Eagles:
Last year Walter Neser from VulPro started an application to introduce a Black Eagle chick (Verreaux's Eagle for the purists) to the area. I followed up with him in May 2011 and he stated that he had difficulties with the red tape and authorities and that he was not able to secure a chick for 2011 (the breeding season for black Eagles is already underway so it is too late already for 2011). Walter is still hopeful that a spare chick could be placed there in 2012 (it would then fledge at around Sept 2012).
Indications are that of the 13 odd confirmed breeding pairs of Black Eagles in the Magaliesberg and immediate surrounds that was known to breed there in 1984 (David Allan) declined to just 2 in a 2004 study (Craig Whittington-Jones)- bottom line: there are very few left.
The MCSA Magaliesberg Section has, via the Richard Watmough Memorial fund, commissioned an aerial survey (i.e. micro lights) of the Magaliesberg to confirm the population status of Black Eagles in the Magaliesberg area. The results are not available but would be very useful in confirming the conservation status of Black Eagles in the Magaliesberg and Gauteng and be an input to the conservation authorities and I would hope to the bolting policy at Bronkies (and other crags where Black Eagles have nested in te past such as Grootkloof).

I feel that we should not allow bolting closer to the eagle’s nest for now:
Despite the lack of Black Eagle activity for the last year, I am not in favour of opening up the no-bolting area. One of the reasons I climb is that is the natural aspect of it – I am in favour of a balance between nature and climbing. The Eagles has been there longer than us and I feel that bolting there will almost certainly prevent any successful Black Eagle resettlement and I feel that that is pushing the balance in the wrong direction when things are already pretty bad in Gauteng already. Despite the lack of (recent) scientific evidence, there is very little doubt in my mind that the number of Black Eagles breeding in the Gauteng province you can count on a sloth’s toes – I would like to see every effort being made to try and keep at least some population going in Gauteng (there was nothing cooler than to have a chilled day climbing at Bronkies with the Eagles flying above).

Furthermore, there are other sports crags accessible to Gauteng sports climbers that offer potential the potential of similar grade climbs and I don’t think that keeping bolts from 60m (or so) of rock is a loss to the Gauteng climbing community in the bigger scheme of things (just think about the potential that the good work that NeilM has done to try and secure better access to Chosspile has opened up).

This is obviously something that needs to be debated in the climbing community. Comments?

Could not have said it better myself.

Thanks for the info.

A quick update, I'm very happy to report that I saw the pair there early on Saturday morning (2012-03-17), they were flying very low. I did not see them entering or leaving the nest, but I'm guessing (hoping) they're back.

That is really good news.

Awesome!

Great news. If anyone sees the eagles again please report (here is good) how many black eagles you see and what they are doing where. At this time of year they should be busy nest-building if they are intending to breed at the old nest. More info about the details of Black Eagle activity during the year at: http://www.blackeagles.co.za/

Update: The Black Eagles (a pair) have been seen perching on the nest and circling above. No confirmed sign of nest building activity yet, so please report if you see them taking sticks etc. to the nest.

Bump: has anyone seen the Black Eagles at Bronkies during the last couple of weeks?

Yes, I saw them the weekend before the last one.

Saw a single adult on the nest Tuesday morning