Lots of feathers

As promised in earlier posts, I will introduce more bird life onto this blog, as I think it is completely wrong to just focus on the silly notion of “Big 5 only”. Our guests are usually much more discerning and educated than that, and they are not after a “zoo”-like experience, but after a true adventure and learning experience. And we want to show and teach about all of African wildlife, not just a few cliche animals and leave the rest as if it wasn’t interesting, beautiful or, even worse, unimportant. All animals are equally important to the eco-system, and in my eyes they are also all beautiful. There is nothing cuter than an up-close sighting of a bush baby, there is nothing more mysterious than an intense encounter with an owl at night, and there is nothing more elegant than a cheetah. And yet none of them rank highly on the average travel agency’s websites (ok, maybe the cheetahs do), but they tend to leave the strongest impressions with our guests. And none of them form part of the Big5, not even the cheetah.

So, in that spirit, here 3 birds we saw on our reserve over the last 48 hours, just to give you a glimpse of what one can spot here. By any stretch of the imagination, do not think that these are the only birds we saw, very, very far from it actually. We see a couple of dozen bird species every day, if not more, but I picked these as they are special, and Uyai managed really nice photos.

So, first off, the White Backed Vulture:

White Backed Vulture
White Backed Vulture

Admittedly maybe not the prettiest of all birds, but nonetheless a fascinating one, and a crucially important link in the food chain. And one that has entered the endangered list, so it is great to see them do so well on our reserve. Just 15 years ago, it was considered to be of “least concern” from a conservation point of view. Well, no more. They are in trouble now. Thank God for reserves such as ours, as they help them in a pivotal manner. You will see quite a few of these when you visit here, and it is always good fun.

Next up, the Knob Billed Duck:

Knob Billed Duck
Knob Billed Duck

OK, the photo explains the name. No further explanation is required I would say. ๐Ÿ˜‰

This is a very unusual duck species, in fact it is the only member of an entire family, the Sarkidiornis. It is not easy to spot them, and they need lots of fresh water areas to do well. And with our 30+ lakes, we are a perfect place for them. Their numbers are locally declining in Africa and Asia, but they are not considered as endangered … yet. On our reserve their numbers seem to be on the up. Great news!

Finally, a very mysterious kind of bird, the Eagle Owl:

Eagle Owl
Eagle Owl

The full name is Spotted Eagle Owl, as the Eagle Owl is a Eurasian Owl, and not present in Africa.

We sometimes get lucky, and we have a sighting of these owls just a few yards away from us. It’s always a fascinating moment to observe these elegant and silent birds in their nightly pursuits.

These owls are quite large, up to 45 cm. They mate for life! Eggs take 32 days to hatch, and it takes the chicks only 7 weeks to go to being able to fly. Wow, I wish it was that quick and easy with my own offspring. ๐Ÿ˜‰

In the wild they can live up to 10 years, in captivity up to 20. And they do make good pets, and they are very affectionate then. But feeding them is very complicated, as they need a very varied and odd kind of diet. Best left in the wild, I say.

I hope you enjoyed the introduction of these three birds. More will follow in the coming weeks and months.

 

Amazing cheetah sighting

Togara had been looking for the lions for a couple of day, and yesterday, he struck it lucky! He found them, and he spent quite a bit of time observing them with the guests.

Today was even better: cheetahs! Now that’s the cherry on top.

All reserves have their “chef d’oeuvre” sightings, like a signature type of animal that one sees often there, but is otherwise usually very rare. For us that is the cheetahs, hands down. It is rare to see these rarest of all animals as relaxed and up-close as here.

Our guests were truly ecstatic and spent a lot of time with the cheetahs, observing them going about their daily lives. Just beautiful.

2 cheetah brothers ...
2 cheetah brothers …
... out on a hunt ...
… out on a hunt …
... or just loafing around!
… or just loafing around!

Not everyone is exstatic to see these two though, this one for instance wishes he/she had not run into them.

Caught out and eaten. Just a bad, bad day.
Caught out and eaten. Just a bad, bad day.

It’s monster season – for everyone it would seem!

November and December is the time when a lot of animals on our reserve give birth to their litters, like the Wildebeest, Impala, Giraffes, Kudus, and many others. The reserve is brimming with parental care, and this makes it a particularly interesting time to visit here. Every season has something unique about itself, and spring/early summer is most surely spectacular when it comes to the way life springs back, in every way.

Here some photos taken yesterday, just as examples of what’s going on around here.

Wildebeest with their newest additions
Wildebeest with their newest additions
Mother giraffe and her little one
Mother giraffe and her little one
Even for myself, on the 4th of November, our own monsters were born: Sophie and Oliver. You won't see them on the reserve or the lodge though, they will need to wait at least 10 years to be introduced to this wild nature area ;-)
Even for myself, on the 4th of November, our own monsters were born: Sophie and Oliver. You won’t see them on the reserve or the lodge though, they will need to wait at least 10 years to be introduced to this wild nature area ๐Ÿ˜‰ at least 10 years!

First serious rain!

It has been a little quieter as of late โ€“ we had around 50mm of rain yesterday and in some parts of Leadwood up to 75mm. Great news!

Game Drives were quite a challenge as it was VERY wet โ€“ animals were hiding away. It rained nearly the whole day yesterday. We couldnโ€™t take photos as we were hiding away in our Ponchos. ๐Ÿ™‚

We have been tracking the Lions for around two days now โ€“ and searched all around the Blaauwbank portion of the reserveย  โ€“ it feels
like all the animals have migrated here.

We finally found two lionesses and spent around 45 minutes with them until it started raining. The rain chased us back to the lodge. This is rare, but it happens. Rain over here, when it happens, is usually short and strong, and more often than not it happens at night. Typical monsoon type of rain.

This morning it was still overcast and quite windy but we managed to track down some Rhinos on Leopards bend and spent quite a considerable time with them. The sun peeked out of a couple of seconds which made for some great photos. We also saw Giraffe, Zebra and I managed to snap a quick photo of a Grey Duiker. That’s rare actually, as they are chronically skittish. Great work!

Overall, despite the rain and all, looking through the photos, it’s been a great 24 hours, and our guests had an amazing time.

Lionesses hanging out in the rain
Lionesses hanging out in the rain
Super rare crash of Rhinos!
Super rare crash of Rhinos!
Rare shot of a Grey Duiker!!
Rare shot of a Grey Duiker!!
What an unusual giraffe sighting ;-)
What an unusual giraffe sighting ๐Ÿ˜‰

This is my land!!

Given that land for wildlife is scarce, very scarce actually anywhere in the world, and also in Africa (only 1-2% if African land is still available to wildlife, sadly enough), one can understand why male rhinos defend their territories so ruthlessly. This is of course not the reason at all, they are always territorial, especially male rhinos. It is in their genetic code.

Rhinos are, in general, solitary animals that prefer to live an independent life. White Rhinos tend to be a little more social. However, they all demand their own territories, particularly male rhinos. In order to ensure that they can secure their territory, certain behaviors patterns have been established. This behavior is sometimes aggressive, and sometimes displayed merely as a warning.

As rhinos have poor eyesight, mock charges can go wrong, and end up in a tree or a bush. And often an attack ends up being deadly. Even female rhinos get regularly killed by aggressive males (not very romantic, in my opinion).

In general males “control” an area of 1-4 square kilometres, so that’s not that much. This territory, however, is fiercely defended, and also marked, by means of urinating on trees and bushes, as well as spreading dung. This sends “boundaries” to other rhinos, so if they don’t get it that way, then … good luck.

Here two photos taken a few days ago, of this phenomenon. Fascinating stuff.

As you can see, our rhinos are all de-horned to protect them against the scum of the earth: poachers.

Territory marking
Territory marking
Male Rhino up-close
Male Rhino up-close

Turn around ….

… and there is a herd of elephants!

Every sighting is always a bit of a surprise, especially when the bush is as thick and lush as it is already now. But for a herd of elephants to creep up right behind you is definitely unusual. That said, elephants can be surprisingly silent. I have driven past a bull elephant more than once, that was literally 5 yards away, and did not see him standing behind a bush. They blend in much better than one would suspect, and they know how to be discreet.

We found this herd just south of an area we call “Big Dam”. We were tracking them for a while, and we knew they were close … but that close? Yet another great sighting, well done.

See for yourselves!

Turn around ...
Turn around …
... herd pf elephants right behind you!
… herd pf elephants right behind you!

 

Elephant up-close!
Elephant up-close!

Eagle feathers

While I report often on the fascinating (and plentiful ) amounts of impressive large game, it is often forgotten that in reality, this reserve is about so much more. One of the most astonishing facts is the sheer amount of bird wildlife here. We have over 400 species of birds on this reserve. We have more different types and Eagle species on this 36,000 acre reserve than in the whole of North America! So the message to our fellow birders out there: this is heaven for you guys! We have some of the world’s rarest bird species here too (saddle billed stork, for one …), and while the photos don’t reveal it, but some of these birds are HUGE. Think several meters of wingspan, that sort of huge.

We spotted a beautiful Eagle yesterday, and Uyai managed some nice shots of this bird: a Wahlberg Eagle

Wahlberg Eagle ....
Wahlberg Eagle ….
... in full flight!
… in full flight!

Wahlberg Eagles are medium-sized raptor birds, weighing in at a little below a kg, so they are light. But the wingspan can still reach up to 1.5m! It feeds on other little birds, reptiles and small mammals. It is quite common, and in general not considered to be under threat. The name of the Eagle was coined after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg (sounds German though, doesn’t it?). Wahlberg was a keen African explorer, and he sent thousands of specimens back to Sweden for taxonomy reasons, over almost 2 decades of travels in Southern Africa. He was tragically killed in Botswana by a wounded elephant in the Okavango area, in 1856. He died doing what he loved. But he is one of those rare people having left a mark on this world, and 4 animals species and one tree type have been named after him, one being the Wahlberg Eagle.

A sighting as rare is it gets

Yesterday was a very unique day … but then again every safari game drive is unique. But this one was really special!

There are sightings in our line of work that are considered so rare that even seasoned rangers consider them real privileges. Wild dogs is one of them, but then there is another one …

Yesterday’s late afternoon/evening game drive was already unusual enough, with a hyena pup sighting, so everyone was happy and having fun.

Nearing the lodge, on the way back, Uyai spotted something moving in the bushes on the side of the road and guess what?

A PANGOLIN!!! It is one of those sightings that some guides wait their whole careers for! I know guides that have waited 20 years to see one. It was fabulous. I sent Christopher and Janus to go and see it too, as they have never seen one. We spent quite some time with it, and while our guests were maybe not fully aware of the extraordinary nature of this sighting, we certainly were … and our guests really enjoyed inspecting and observing this highly unusual animal.

Pangolins are very shy, and they are also heavily hunted for the scales, as some Chinese &%^#&$ seem to believe they have some curative powers. They don’t actually, but nonetheless … can’t trump “tradition” I suppose.

Pangolins’ name is derived from a Malay word meaning “something that rolls up”, and one can see how that name came about.

This is the second such sighting this year alone, and the third ever on our reserve, so this super rare animal seems to be thriving on our reserve. Yet another conservation success …

What's that?
What’s that?
.... a super rare Pangolin!
…. a super rare Pangolin!