Twenty-one BirdLife Sandton members went on the Flock to Marion AGAIN! 2025 voyage, dressing up as penguins for an event while onboard. Loving the lilac penguin feet!
BirdLife Sandton has sponsored the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project with 15 hectares towards ridding the island of its albatross-killing mice, as recorded on the project’s Honour Roll. The club is one of 27 affiliated to BirdLife South Africa that in total have sponsored 408 hectares to date. MFM News got in touch with the club to learn more about its welcome sponsorship and heard back from the Club Secretary, Lynne McNamara.
Lynne writes that BirdLife Sandton was formed in 1987 and that it has a current membership of about 100. The club’s Facebook page describes itself as “a club for birding enthusiasts who live in Johannesburg” which is within the province of Gauteng in the centre of the country. She adds “Our bird club is affiliated to BirdLife South Africa and we are very aware of the rodent issue on Marion Island, so the committee and members felt it was appropriate to sponsor some hectares. We raise money from annual subscriptions. We also hold raffles at our meetings and surplus proceeds (after expenses) are added to the donation fund.”
Lynne continues “BirdLife Sandton members are keenly aware of the mouse threat to nesting birds on Marion Island and feel MFM Project’s plans to eradicate the threat should be supported. We took a poll among members towards the end of last year asking for suggestions of where our donations should go. The MFM Project was among the top three choices”.
Birding in the estuary. BirdLife Sandton members on a recent outing to St Lucia
Gauteng is a landlocked province so BirdLife Sandton’s support to help conserve South Africa’s albatrosses and petrels that are being attacked by mice on Marion Island is doubly welcomed. It’s hoped that the club’s sponsorship will encourage other inland bird clubs in the country to also support the MFM Project.
With thanks to Lynne McNamara, Secretary, BirdLife Sandton.
John Cooper, News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 27 March 2026
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A Wandering Albatross pair (female sitting, male wing-spreading) near Swartkop Point on Marion Island’s west coast, photograph by Anton Wolfaardt
The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean. The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate. For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org.
