environment

Braamfontein Spruit Maps

Braamfontein Spruit

The ridges known as the Witwatersrand form one of the main watersheds in the Rep of SA. The name means ridge of white waters, for the early travellers found 14 streams rising from these rocky ridges. These streams feed into 2 major river systems, namely the Limpopo and Orange Rivers.

The Braamfontein Spruit rises in Hillbrow, as a spring. The Spruit flows northwards and is joined by the Montgomery and Westdene Spruits below Emmarentia Dam. It continues on its way through Victory Park, Parkhurst, Craighall Park, Craighall, Glenadrienne and Bryanston joining the Klein Jukskei in Sunninghill. Together they join the Jukskei at Leeukop and continue to the Crocodile River which flows into Hartebeestpoort Dam.

Delta Park

This was originally one of 4 sewage farms developed in the 1930s. When the Sewage works were closed in 1963 the buildings lay unused for 10 years when they were developed into an Environmental Centre thanks to the forethought of benefactors such as the Bloom family.

The Delta is the largest of the parks in Joburg and is 104 hectares in extent. The park is a bird lovers paradise with over 200 species being recorded here.

Craighall and Blairgowrie

There are fascinating tales about this area. In 1891 the farm Klipfontein was bought by William Gray Rattray and renamed Craighall after his birthplace in Blairgowrie, Scotland. His estate comprised the suburbs now known as Craighall, Craighall Park and Blairgowrie.

In 1902 when plots were offered for sale, Craighall was described as offering unrivalled scenery with some of the plots to edge an artificial lake which was to cover some 20 acres! Craighall Park is rumoured to have boasted itself as being a new suburb that charged no service rates. You can imagine how people flocked to buy!

Rattray created a series of three weirs on the estate and today the remaining walls offer a fine example of dressed stone masonry. The first weir was built in 1905 and was known as the Braamfontein lake which became part of the recreational area of the Craig hall Park Hotel. The lake was stocked with trout to offer fly-fishing to the wealthy visitors who frequented the resort. The other weirs provided irrigation for the market gardens of the estate.

The Rand Epileptic Employment Association is situated on the eastern bank of the Spruit. This was opened in 1941. Today REEA grows organic veggies which can be purchased by the public and assists with funds for the care of the residents.

Birdlife

Our area is particularly rich in bird life, in spite of the fact that parts of the Spruit have become degraded. Additional information will also be found at www.deltaenviro.org.za/ or www.footprint.co.za/Braamfontein.htm (has some very attractive photos of the spruit, including the Craighall waterfall and Rattray’s Weir).

We hope that the amateur ornithologists among us will also encourage residents to take a proactive interest in enhancing the river area. Have a look at the bird list submitted by a Craighall resident and see what you can add to it.

Area Bird List

Area Bird List

compiled by Alex |Zaloumis (083 653 8800)

Key Colour Code: From September 2003	Species seen
Definites seen	118
Probable	50 minimum
Around, but not actually seen at Delta/Spruit area	70 minimum

	Roberts	Species	Location	Season	Comments
Y	8	dabchick	delta	all year
Y	55	cormorant white breasted	delta/spruit	all year
Y	58	cormorant reed	delta/spruit	all year
Y	60	darter	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	62	heron grey	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	63	heron black headed	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	64	heron goliath
	65	heron purple
	66	egret great white
Y	67	egret little	spruit	all year
	68	egret yellow billed
	69	egret black
Y	71	egret cattle	delta/spruit	all year
	76	night heron black crowned
	78	bittern little
Y	81	hammerkop	delta/spruit	all year
	84	stork black
Y	91	ibis sacred	delta/spruit	all year
Y	94	hadedah	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	95	spoorbill	delta/spruit/house
	96/97	flamingo
Y	99	duck whiteface	spruit/house	all year
	100	duck fulvous
Y	102	goose egyption	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	103	goose SA shellduck	spruit/house	all year
Y	104	goose yellow bill	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	105	goose black river	delta/spruit	all year
	106	teal cape
	107	teal hotentot
	108	teal redbill
Y	feral	teal mallard	spruit		sometimes
Y	feral	teal ruddy shellduck	spruit/house	all year
Y	feral	teal carolina	spruit/house	all year
Y	feral	teal mandrin	spruit	all year
Y	111	shoveller cape			sometimes
	112	pochard southern black			sometimes
	115	goose knob bill
	116	goose spurwing
	117	maccoa
	122	vulture cape
Y	126	kite yellow bill	delta/spruit/house	all year
	127	kite black shouldered			look for it
	131	eagle black
	148	eagle fish
	165	harrier african marsh
	181	kestrel rock
	182	kestrel greater
Y	199	francolin swainsons	delta/spruit	all year
	200	quail common
	205	kurrichane button quail
Y	203	guinea fowl	spruit/house	all year
	210	rail african
	213	black crake
	223	gallinule
Y	226	moorhen	delta/spruit	all year
Y	228	coot red knobbed	delta	all year
	242	snipe painted
	248	plover killitz
	249	plover 3 banded
Y	255	plover crowned	delta	all year
Y	258	plover blacksmith	delta/spruit	all year
Y	260	plover wattled	delta	all year
	264	sandpiper
	286	snipe ethiopian
	294	avocet
	295	stilt
Y	297	dikkop cape / spotted	delta/spruit	all year
Y	315	gull grey headed	delta/spruit	all year
	338	tern whiskered & whitewinged
Y	348	pigeon feral	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	349	pigeon rock	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	350	pigeon rameron	spruit/house	all year
Y	361	pigeon green	house	all year
Y	352	dove redyed	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	354	dove cape turtle	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	355	dove laughing	delta/spruit/house	all year
	356	dove namaqua			confirm
Y	366	parakeet roseringed	delta/spruit	all year
Y	368	lovebirds rosy faced			sometimes
Y	373	lourie grey headed	delta/spruit/house	all year	all year
Y	375	cuckoo africa	house		confirm which – 374?
Y	377	cuckoo red chested	house	summer
Y	378	cuckoo black	house	summer
Y	382	cuckoo jacobin	house	summer
Y	385	cuckoo klaas	house	summer
Y	386	cuckoo diederick	delta/spruit/house	summer
Y	391	coucal burchells	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	392	owl barn	delta/spruit/house	all year
	393	owl grass			confirm
	395	owl march			confirm
Y	401	owl spotted eagle	delta/spruit/house	all year
	402	owl giant			confirm
Y	404	nightjar european		summer
	405	nightjar fierynecked			confirm
	406	nightjar rufouscheeked
	408	nightjar freckled
	411	swift european			confirm
	412	swift black			confirm
Y	415	swift white rumped	spruit	all year
	416	swift horus		all year
	417	swift little			confirm
Y	421	swift palm	spruit	all year
Y	424	mousebird speckled	delta/spruit/house	all year
	425	mousebird whitebacked
Y	426	mousebird redfaced	riverclub	all year
Y	428	kingfisher pied	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	429	kingfisher giant	delta/spruit/house	all year
	430	kingfisher halfcollared			confirm
	431	kingfisher malachite			confirm
Y	435	kingfisher brown hooded	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	438	bee eater european	spruit	summer
	440	bee eater bluecheeked		summer
Y	443	bee eater white fronted	spruit	summer
Y	444	bee eater little	spruit	summer
Y	451	hoopoe african	delta/house	all year
Y	452	hoopoe red billed	delta/house	all year
Y	464	barbet black collard	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	470	barbet yellow fronted	house		confirm
Y	473	barbet crested	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	474	honey guide greater	house		confirm
	476	honey guide lesser			confirm
	483	woodpecker goldentailed			confirm
	486	woodpecker cardinal			confirm
	487	woodpecker bearded			confirm
	489	wryneck redthroated
	494	lark rufousnaped
	495	lark clapper
	498	lark sabota
	506/7/8
	515	finchlarks
Y	518	swallow european			confirm
Y	520	swallow white throated	spriut	all year
	524	swallow redbreasted
	526	swallow greater striped
Y	527	swallow lesser striped		summer
	528	swallow cliff
Y	529	martin rock	spruit	all year
		martin brownthroated/sand
	534	martin banded
Y	541	drongo forked tail	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	543/4	oriel golden/european	spruit
	547	crow black
Y	548	crow pied	delta/spruit/house	all year
Y	554	tit southern black	spruit/house
Y	560	babblers arrowmarked	riverclub
Y	568	bulbull blackeyed		all year
Y	577	thrush olive	delta/spruit/house	all year
	580	thrush groundscraper
	586	chat mountain
	589	chat familiar
	593	chat mocking
	595	chat anteating
	596	chat stone
Y	601	robin cape		all year
	621	titbabbler			confirm
Y	628	warbler great reed			confirm
Y	630	warbler african marsh			confirm
	634	warble european sedge
	635	warbler cape reed
	638	warbler cape sedge
	643	warbler willow
	651	crombecs longbilled
	664-7	cisticola fantailed/desert/cloud ayres/wailing
	670/2/7/9	cisticola rattling/levaillants/lazy
	681	neddikkie
	683	prinias tawny flanked
	685	prinias blackchested
Y	758	myna		all year
Y	759	starling pied	riverclub	all year
Y	764	starling glossy		all year
Y	769	starling redwing		all year
Y	683/5	prinias			check
Y	689	flycatcher spotted			check
	698	flycatcher fiscal
	701	batis chinspot
Y	710	flycatcher paradise		all year
	711	wagtail pied
Y	713	wagtail cape		all year
	716-9	pipits richard/longbilled/plainbacked
	727	longclaw orangethroated
Y	732	shrike fiscal		all year
	733	shrike redbacked
Y	740	shrike puffback
Y	741	shrike brubru
Y	759	starling pied		all year
	760	starling wattled			confirm
	761	starling plumcoloured			confirm
Y	764	starling glossy		all year
Y	769	starling redwinged		all year
Y	775	sunbird malachite
	779	sunbird marico			confirm
Y	785	sunbird greater dbl collard
Y	787	sunbird white bellied
Y	792	sunbird amathest/black
Y	796	white eye cape		all year
	799	sparrow weaver – whitebrowed
Y	801	sparrow house		all year
Y	802	sparrow cape		all year
	804	sparrow grey headed			confirm
Y	813	weaver cape		all year
Y	814	weaver masked		all year
	821	quelea redbilled

Name	Type			Comments
Acacia caffra	tree	7m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia karoo	tree	7m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia robusta	tree	8m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia tortilis	tree	5m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia xanthophloea	tree (Fever tree)	8m	deciduous	Not indigenous to the highveld but is a spectacular specimen tree
Aloe arborescens	succulent	2m	evergreen	Densely covered with orange flowers in winter. Much loved by sunbirds & bulbuls
Aloe marlothii	succulent	2m	evergreen	Striking specimen plant, attractive to sunbirds & bulbuls
Brachylaena rotundata	tree	6m	semi-deciduous	Fast-growing. This is the silvery leafed tree prominent on Linksfield ridge
Carissa bispinosa	shrub	1m	evergreen	Not indigenous to the highveld but does well in sheltered spots
Celtis africana	tree	8m	deciduous	Fast-growing. Excellent shade tree
Diospyros lycoides	shrub	2m	deciduous	Pretty shrub with bright red berries
Erhetia rigida	shrub	3m	deciduous	Pretty shrub with sweetly scented flowers & bright orange berries
Erythrina capensis	tree	6m	deciduous	Not indigenous to the highveld but does well in sheltered spots. Spectacular red flowers
Euclea crispa	tree	4m	evergreen	Highly recommended. Requires plenty of sun
Greyia sutherlandii	tree	4m	deciduous	Commonly found in the Drakensburg but does OK in Jhb. Spectacular red flowers
Halleria lucida	tree	5m	evergreen	Unusual tree, orange flowers grow directly from the trunk. Prefers forests so plant amongst other trees
Kiggelaria africana	tree	8m	evergreen	See comments above
Leucosidea sericea	tree	3m	evergreen	Likes lots of water but well worth it
Olea europea, var africana	tree	8m	evergreen	Fast-growing if well-watered
Rhus undulata	tree	3m	evergreen	Fruit eaten by birds
Rhus pyroides	tree	3m	evergreen	Fruit eaten by birds
Rhus leptodictya	tree	5m	evergreen	Beautiful shade tree. Prune side branches when young to encourage taller growth. Fruit eaten by birds
Schotia brachypetala	tree	5m	deciduous	Spectacular but very slow. Worthwhile if you want to leave a monument to yourself!
Tecomaria capensis	shrub	2m	semi-deciduous	Densely covered with orange flowers. Requires full sunlight

Indigenous Trees & Alien Plants

If you’d like some information about suitable indigenous trees and shrubs to plant, consult our list.

Indigenous Trees

Residents have asked about indigenous trees that are evergreen, fast growing and attract birds.

Highly recommended in this category is Kiggelaria africana.It is very attractive and fast growing, especially if given plenty of water. The most fascinating thing about this tree is that it attracts swarms of orange butterflies that lay their eggs on the leaves. These hatch in spring, and the Diedrick cuckoos, which live on caterpillars, arrive in their hordes and generally stay until the end of summer. Incidentally, the caterpillars do not do any damage to other plants as they seem to be specific to Kiggelaria. For best results, plant 2 or 3 specimens. Male and female flowers occur on different trees; recommended planting is 1 male and 2 females. The latter produce very pretty fruits that attract Cape Turtle Doves and Red-eyed Doves when ripe.

Name	Type			Comments
Acacia caffra	tree	7m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia karoo	tree	7m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia robusta	tree	8m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia tortilis	tree	5m	deciduous	Attractive shade tree. Used by mossies and weavers as nesting sites
Acacia xanthophloea	tree (Fever tree)	8m	deciduous	Not indigenous to the highveld but is a spectacular specimen tree
Aloe arborescens	succulent	2m	evergreen	Densely covered with orange flowers in winter. Much loved by sunbirds & bulbuls
Aloe marlothii	succulent	2m	evergreen	Striking specimen plant, attractive to sunbirds & bulbuls
Brachylaena rotundata	tree	6m	semi-deciduous	Fast-growing. This is the silvery leafed tree prominent on Linksfield ridge
Carissa bispinosa	shrub	1m	evergreen	Not indigenous to the highveld but does well in sheltered spots
Celtis africana	tree	8m	deciduous	Fast-growing. Excellent shade tree
Diospyros lycoides	shrub	2m	deciduous	Pretty shrub with bright red berries
Erhetia rigida	shrub	3m	deciduous	Pretty shrub with sweetly scented flowers & bright orange berries
Erythrina capensis	tree	6m	deciduous	Not indigenous to the highveld but does well in sheltered spots. Spectacular red flowers
Euclea crispa	tree	4m	evergreen	Highly recommended. Requires plenty of sun
Greyia sutherlandii	tree	4m	deciduous	Commonly found in the Drakensburg but does OK in Jhb. Spectacular red flowers
Halleria lucida	tree	5m	evergreen	Unusual tree, orange flowers grow directly from the trunk. Prefers forests so plant amongst other trees
Kiggelaria africana	tree	8m	evergreen	See comments above
Leucosidea sericea	tree	3m	evergreen	Likes lots of water but well worth it
Olea europea, var africana	tree	8m	evergreen	Fast-growing if well-watered
Rhus undulata	tree	3m	evergreen	Fruit eaten by birds
Rhus pyroides	tree	3m	evergreen	Fruit eaten by birds
Rhus leptodictya	tree	5m	evergreen	Beautiful shade tree. Prune side branches when young to encourage taller growth. Fruit eaten by birds
Schotia brachypetala	tree	5m	deciduous	Spectacular but very slow. Worthwhile if you want to leave a monument to yourself!
Tecomaria capensis	shrub	2m	semi-deciduous	Densely covered with orange flowers. Requires full sunlight

Alient Plants

Are you harbouring these aliens?

Invasive plants compete with indigenous plants and acceptable exotics for space, sunlight, water and nutrients. They seed aggressively and spread quickly. You may not be aware you have them.