A lot of effort was put into the ground hornbill project during November and this has been well worth it. Within three days of hanging the new artificial nesting boxes the group of three birds had discovered the clubhouse nest and started lining it with nesting material. (This group seems to be made-up of two males and one female) I think the timing was excellent, as this has coincided with the recent rains that we have just received. This nest is in an excellent position as it can be monitored easily from the clubhouse office with very little disturbance to the birds. At the time of writing, there were no eggs in the nest yet but it was observed that the nest has been prepared with a substantial amount of leaves and nesting material. Once the eggs are laid, the incubation period will be approximately 40 days and the nestlings will be in the nest for almost 85 days. With data received from wardens and researchers of the APNR, it has been noted that very few ground hornbill nests have been active this year; seven other nests within the APNR have been observed to be active. It seems that conditions and late rains might have an influence on this. We will continue to observe the nest and keep members updated. We have also erected a nest in the drainage line near Yankee dam and another one in the big Marula on Baobab close to number 51. These sites were chosen as the birds were often observed in these areas. Another group of three birds were seen displaying courtship behaviour near the nesting box on Baobab. This confirms that we have two groups of three birds on Ndlopfu; previously it was thought that this might have been the same group. Another two birds have been seen regularly in the area of the Nyala tree on the river road. Possibly they might have a natural nesting site in the area. Members please note that the road in front of the open area running along the drainage line is temporarily closed. This was done as the birds are still a little nervous of vehicles and people, and I would like to give them a chance to settle with as little disturbance as possible. They will soon settle down and it shouldn’t be long before we re-open the road. I have included some pictures of the Clubhouse nest in the photo gallery section.