Giant’s Castle is a chalet-styled camp in the Giant’s Castle National Reserve in the middle berg section of the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa. The camp is built on a ridge above and on the east side of the Bushman’s river valley. Apart from wonderful hikes and beautiful scenery, it has a treat for birders with the added attraction of a Bearded vulture hide. This hide was built and opened in 1967 in an effort to increase interest in the vulture population. The hide is located on a shelf on the east side of the Bushman’s river valley. The shelf is about 25 metres wide and there is a cliff edge on the west side of that shelf which falls off to the Bushman’s valley floor an estimated 700 metres below.

“Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterpiece, exquisitely adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?” ~ EO Wilson

The hide can only be visited by a pre-arranged booking at Giant’s Castle camp and is only accessible by a four wheel drive vehicle.

“We don’t own the planet Earth, we belong to it. And we must share it with our wildlife.” ~ Steve Irwin

The location of the hide enables visitors to watch and photograph birds (raptors, ravens, starlings and many more species) which fly along the ridge and also all the birds that land in front of the hide to feast on the meat and fat provided with the bones. Local farmers donate carcasses for the raptors and this is supplemented by two buckets of cut bones with the flesh and fat still on them which the hide visitors take up to the hide when they visit.

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, the wind, but you can change yourself.” ~ Jim Rohm

It is important to stress that baiting is not allowed in competitive wildlife photography. In addition, the bones provided by Giant Castle management which are placed by visitors in the feeding area are accessible to all wildlife around the hide including raptors, ravens, starlings and Black-backed Jackals alike. There are clear warnings in the hide for visitors not to secure the bones with wire or string and pegs or nails to prevent them from being removed. Bearded vultures feed almost exclusively on bone and can swallow bones more than 20 centimetres long. The vultures can uproot the pegs and nails and if the bones are swallowed together with the wire, nail or peg, the latter can kill the endangered vulture. In addition, the bones provided by Giant’s Castle management are free of veterinary products which are harmful to the vultures.

“We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.” ~ Stephen R. Covey

The hide attracts a wonderful diversity of birdlife and also helps the resident Black-backed jackal family. The raptors I saw from the hide were Bearded and Cape vultures, Jackal buzzards, Lanner falcons, Rock Kestrels, Yellow-billed kites and Secretary birds. I have not yet seen a Verreaux’s eagle, but I live in hope. There is a wide variety of starlings, longclaws, sunbirds, bishops, canarys, rock-thrushes, chats and the ubiquitous White-necked ravens and even Bald Ibis, which can also be seen at or near the hide.

“I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence – that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light.” ~ Lynn Thomson

In this post, I describe and show a few images of a specific raptor, the beautiful Jackal buzzard. This raptor, in my experience, is a daily visitor to the vulture hide. The Jackal buzzard is endemic to the southern Africa, and can be found in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini and the southern part of Namibia. This species lives among mountains, and on adjacent savanna and grassland. It is resident and non-migratory throughout its range. The Jackal buzzard is one of the two larger Buteo species native to Africa, alongside its close cousin, the Augur buzzard. The Jackal buzzard’s distribution overlaps that of the Augur buzzard’s only in the middle of Namibia.

Buzzards, as described in “The Raptor – Guide of Southern Africa by Ulrich Oberprieler” are essentially smaller versions of eagles but have unfeathered lower legs. There are six species of buzzard found in southern Africa of which the Jackal and Augur buzzard are the most similar.

The Jackal buzzard has strikingly coloured plumage. Its back, legs and part of its under-wing are all black (or slaty-grey to almost black). Below its chin, around the throat and chest are a rich rufous red-brown. There is considerable pattern variation on the chest which can be from pure rufous to white or combinations of those two colours.

When flying, its rufous tail and chest are clearly seen. It has a distinctive underwing pattern where the coverts are dark with the flight feathers being white with a black trailing edge and fine indistinct grey barring on the white flight feathers. The rufous tail feathers have a black trailing edge. The rest of the underparts are a slate grey to black mottled with white flecks.

Beyond its unmistakable colours, the Jackal buzzard has a short tail, broad wings, bulky body and large beak compared to most other buzzards with the exception of the Augur buzzard. Juveniles can be identified by their mainly brown colouring, with rufous on their underside and tail.

At the Bearded Vulture hide, fresh bones are provided for the days you have booked the hide. It is up to the visitor to place the bones where he or she thinks they will provide the best viewing of all the birds, raptors, ravens and passerines, as they fly in and out. When sitting in the hide you have to keep alert the whole time. You seldom get any warning that a Jackal buzzard is flying in. These buzzards normally fly in from the far end of the viewing shelf and they do without a sound.

In my experience, it is only on rare occasions that we see two Jackal buzzards in the feeding area at the same time. Normally feeding raptors in the wild would be frowned upon but this is one of several Bearded Vulture conservation projects and many other birds besides the Bearded vultures benefit from the bones. The Bearded vulture species is highly threatened in South Africa, due mainly to habitat loss, poisoning, power line collisions and traditional medicine. The conservation initiatives have led to the construction and management of Bearded Vulture hides to create safe feeding areas and raise public awareness of the threats these endangered vultures face. They also facilitate essential research into the species.

The Jackal buzzards face considerable competition for the bones from the ravens in the feeding area so they often pick up a large bones with plenty of flesh still on them and fly off with them to eat in peace.

The Jackal buzzard can usually be found in a mountainous, or at least hilly, environment. It is one of the few hunting birds that can live at an altitude up to 3 000 feet above sea level. These buzzards can also be seen in open woodlands, grassy savannas, and semi-desert areas. In the next image, this adult Jackal buzzard had landed on a large rock shelf around 80 metres from the hide which was an ideal staging area. It looked around to see if it was safe to come closer and then took off to fly closer to where some of the juicier bones were placed.

Away from this type of feeding area this raptor feeds mainly on small mammals (such as mice, moles and dassies or hyraxes). It is also known to prey on lizards, snakes, smaller birds and even road-kill and other carcasses, when the opportunity presents itself.

Eagles and hawks belong to the family Accipitridae. Buzzards are included in the hawk family. The basic differences between the two families can be seen in flight. The first difference is size. Eagles are much larger, heavier looking and have longer straighter wingspans. Hawks have a similar appearance, but the wings of hawks tend to be more rounded, and they have short, broad, rounded tails and a stocky build. Both eagles and hawks have passive soaring wings with long primary feathers that spread out in flight creating “slots” that allow the raptor to catch thermals and provide stability and aerodynamic efficiency when soaring.

The Jackal buzzard has a sharp, barking call “weeah ka-ka-ka or kyaahh-ka-ka-ka” which sounds remarkably similar to the call from a Black-backed Jackal, hence the name. The female Jackal buzzard’s voice is deeper than that of the male. On occasions, the Jackal buzzard will call while flying in the Bushman’s valley and that is a signal to keep your wits about you as there is a chance of seeing this visitor suddenly appear over the edge of the cliff. The sound of the Jackal buzzard’s call carries far in the Bushman river valley which has high cliff walls and must be about two kilometres wide.

The hide provides food for the all the birds so you do not get to see the Jackal buzzard in its usual hunting mode. These buzzards normally hunt small animals from a prominent lookout perch. Once it sees its prey it swoops down onto it to make its kill. The Jackal buzzard also hunts for prey on the wing while hanging or soaring in strong winds. As can be seen from its behaviour at the hide it is also prone to scavenge when it can.

If the Jackal buzzard takes off from the far rock shelf you have time to photograph it either flying away or flying closer towards the hide. You hold your breath for the few seconds the raptor is in flight. As a wildlife photographer it is thrilling to try to capture dramatic images of this raptor flying towards you.

A perfect aerodynamic shape with those slotted primary wing feathers providing active directional control and lateral stability. The aerofoil shape of the three quarters of the wing closest to the body is clearly evident. This Jackal buzzard did not blink as it was flying towards me. Imagine moving at speed with the wind in your eyes and not blinking. With few exceptions birds do not blink by closing their top and bottom eyelids completely. They have a third eyelid, a thin semi-transparent membrane that closes sideways across the eye called a nictitating membrane. The membrane momentarily obstructs the bird’s vision, but because it is transparent the raptor never loses sight of the prey even when the membrane is drawn across the eye.

A Jackal buzzard female is larger than the male. The prevailing theory seems to be that it is because the female spends much more time tending the nest and young than the male does. Her larger size allows her to better protect them from predators. Males, being smaller, usually catch smaller prey more often. Smaller prey items are easier to come by than larger creatures, so his compactness allows him to bring home more food. The male does share some nest duties, but for the most part he is out hunting food for his mate and their offspring.

Eagles, buzzards, goshawks and Bearded vultures have anisodactylic feet meaning they have three front talons, with the middle talon being the longest, and one rear talon, a hallux. This shaped foot is found on birds that usually perch.

“The more closely you look at a bird the more you see and the more questions emerge. There is a marvelous integration of beauty, functionality, and adaptation which creates mystery and wonder.” ~ Mike Haworth

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

Mashatu Game Reserve is fondly known as the land of giants. There are seven giants which are the African elephant, lion, giraffe, the baobab tree, the eland, ostrich and the kori bustard. These giants can be found over the 31 000 hectares of rugged landscape. The animals are free to move in and out of the unfenced Mashatu and Tuli Bloc, and the Mapungubwe National Park in South Africa and the south western corner of Zimbabwe. Mashatu is a sanctuary for wildlife so no hunting or poaching is allowed.

“Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.” ~ Aldo Leopold

Elephants are master landscapers. They are bush clearers, they open up channels in the reeds of perennial rivers and dig holes in dry river beds to access the groundwater just below the surface. This young elephant bull was descending a steep bank into the Majale river. If the slope is too steep an elephant will bend his back legs and drag them down the slope controlling his descend with his front legs.

Elephants are highly social animals with a complex range of behaviours. Their herds function as a ordered, matriarchal society. Adult males and females live separately in differently structured societies. In the wild, families live in herds of 10 to 25 individuals where a dominant cow leads her female relatives and their offspring. The activity of the group and their movements are set by the ‘matriarch’. She is usually the largest cow in the herd who walks at the front of the herd, with another large female taking up the rear.

Mashatu is a place for elephants. They tend to spend the nights on higher ground and in the mornings wander down to the rivers often in family herds and in single file to drink and feed on the lush vegetation along the river. On occasions, elephant families gather to form a huge herd of over 300 elephants. I have never found out why they do this but it only happens in times of plenty.

“We face the question whether a still higher “standard of living” is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free.” ~ Aldo Leopold

One of a coalition of two male lions which have taken over the Mashatu territory. They overthrew a solitary male who had reigned for about five years. The two males are relatively young but have already sired two litters of cubs.

The dominant male lion’s coalition partner looks to have been a few fights judging from the scars on his face.

The male often sleeps away from his pride leaving the lionesses to look after the cubs. The pride comprised three females, two of which had cubs. The four cubs had just finished feeding and were lying next to their mother, some asleep and others intrigued by our game vehicle.

Lion cubs only start walking 10 to 15 days after they were born. The cubs survival rate is around one in eight. The low survival rate is due to injuries, infanticide, predation, illness and starvation. Predation occurs when hyaenas or leopards find them while their mother is away hunting. The very small cubs are also vulnerable to large raptors such as Martial eagles.

I thought this was an appropriate image of a lioness. She has to hunt every few days and the cubs are hugely demanding. She must have been very tired judging from her flattened position and she looked to be very hot so she was lying on her back with her legs open wide to cool down.

“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges.” ~ Bryant McGill

A leopardess walking along the dry bed of the Majale river. It looked like she was patrolling her territory.

One of two leopard cubs that we found in a dead fallen tree trunk next to an erosion gully a few hundred metres away from the Majale river. They were very cautious but also curious about our game vehicle.

The cubs mother returned from a hunting expedition. She did not return directly to her cubs because there were hyaenas around. She climbed a dead tree to get out of the hyaenas reach and wait from them to get bored and leave her and her family alone.

A Spotted hyaena family had their den in the rock outcrop adjacent to our camp in Mashatu. We came across them when we were returning to camp after each morning game drive. One female was rolling in the dust offering some amusing poses.

While driving through a croton grove we found this small family herd of Kudu. I am not sure whether these kudu were browsing on the croton leaves as they are known to be poisonous.

The dominant kudu bull in the family herd. It always amazes me that these bulls can get through thickly wooded areas with those large horns. The kudu bull just stretches out his neck and flattens his horns against his shoulders while he is walking through the thickets. The horns of a mature bull kudu have two and a half twists. Occasionally a bull has three full twists.

A favourite prey for lions and leopards. This family group of Warthogs were foraging for grasses, roots and bulbs. They are omnivorous and will also scavenge on a carcass when the opportunity presents itself. Warthogs usually have between two and four piglets so these parents had successfully raised their family to this point.

“People are learning to grasp the diversity of nature, to understand its unifying principles and to sweep away the hierarchies and see the real connections.” ~ Frank Schatzing

It was quite unusual to find a giraffe in the river bed browsing on the lower branches of a large Mashatu ( Nyala berry) tree. On occasions, we find Leadwood and Apple leaf trees growing alongside a huge Mashatu tree.

Driving along the dry bed of the Majale river we found a male southern African giraffe feeding on the leaves of the hanging branches of a Mashatu ( Nyala berry) tree. An adult giraffe’s tongue can be as a long as 30 to 40 cm. This tongue is highly prehensile enabling the giraffe to grasp and pull leaves off the branches, in a manner similar to an elephant’s trunk. Giraffe usually stand next to a tree and forage from the top of that tree but on this occasion this large giraffe stood in the riverbed and stretched up to feed on the leaves from an overhanging branch.

This male giraffe was enjoying the Nyala berries on the overhanging branches of a Mashatu tree. The giraffe was at full stretch to get at the berries. This was a male giraffe as evidenced by his worn and bloody ossicones. These are columular bone structures on top of the head of a giraffe. Male giraffe reach sexual maturity around five to six years of age. At this time the ossicones fuse with the underlying skull bone. Growth of the ossicones continues as bone is added to the ossicone surface beneath the skin. Male giraffe also usually have a single shallow ossicone on the forehead bone and two stunted ossicones behind the main ones on top of the head. This male must have been fighting with another male in the preceding day judging from the dried blood on the top of his ossicones. The males fighting normally removes the hair off the top of their ossicones. This male was obviously a fighter judging from all the scars on his face.

A female giraffe with her newly born calf. The calf had a small length of umbilical cord still hanging below its belly. Births occur throughout the year and the gestation period is around 14 months. A newborn giraffe can weigh 100 kilograms and be over 185cm tall. Young giraffes suckle for about eight months and remain with their mother for about a year.

A male Steenbok lying under a Shepherd tree for shade and among some fallen, dead branches for cover and protection.

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” ~ John Muir

On every game drive you are likely to see something that will catch you eye. This was a Tree squirrel stretching but downward facing on a near vertical tree trunk.

On our way to and from the camp we passed a large outcrop of rocks which are home a variety of wildlife from leopards and hyaenas to hyraxes, porcupines and klipspringers. A family of klipspringers ventured down from the rocks into the camp daily. They are not tame so are cautious around the camp but enjoy all the edible vegetation around the camp. Only the males have horns.

Sundowner time. We usually stop our afternoon game drive wanderings just before the sun sets. This is a wonderful time to get off the vehicle, stretch our legs and leisurely sip a sundowner and watch the sky change colour into vivid oranges, reds and mauves. The colour of the sky becomes increasing saturated for about twenty minutes are the sun has fallen below the horizon.

“To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” ~ Aldo Leopold

The last vestiges of light from a wonderful day exploring in the wild. At times we extend our sundowner period until the last light has gone. For safety reasons, it is wise to get back onto the vehicle once it is dark. On one notable sundowner session next to the vlei we only packed up our sundowner drinks when it was dark. A few minutes later we drove past three young lions watching us from about 100 metres from where we were sipping our sundowners. There is also lots more to see as we drive back to camp because this is the time when all the nocturnal wildlife come out to hunt and feed.

The daily routine from camp we were staying in, Rock Camp, in Mashatu Nature Reserve was a 6h00 get together for a cup of coffee and a rusk and onto the vehicle for the start of the game drive at 6h30. It was light but, being winter, the sunrise was only around 6h45, cloud allowing. The game drive would last about three to four hours depending on what we were seeing. We would get back to camp around mid morning to have a brunch. After the meal we would read or sit on the patio with binoculars watching the passing parade at the waterhole which is about 80 metres from the camp buildings. There was a wonderful variety of birds in camp attracted by the water in the bird baths.

“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor ever rising.” ~ John Muir

We would gather again around 15h30 for a cup of tea and a light snack before climbing back on the game vehicle for next three hours. At sunset we normally stopped to have a sundowner while watching the sun set for the day. The last hour of the evening game drive was usually in the dark but this can also be a productive time as there is a chance of seeing genets, porcupines, antbears and even lion, hyaena and leopards.

Explore, seek to understand,marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

Mashatu Nature Reserve has a wonderful diversity of birds. It is a dry region in south eastern Botswana but has several distinct ecozones due to its geology and rivers, the largest of which is the Limpopo on its southern border. The Majale river is the largest river coursing through Mashatu but it is seasonal. Mashatu is also visited by many migratory birds during summer, some of which are inter-African migrants and others are from Europe and Asia.

“One reason that birds matter – ought to matter – is that they are our last, best connection to a natural world that is otherwise receding. They’re the most vivid and widespread representatives of the Earth as it was before people arrived on it.” ~ Jonathan Franzen

Early in the morning male spurfowl tend to stand on a prominent perch and declare their territorial position. His brown upper and lower parts and red facial and neck skin are diagnostic. The young male Swainson’s spurfowl in the next image was no exception. His youth was evident from the spurs on the back of his legs still being relatively sharp and not having been worn down and blunted through many fights.

An adult Brown-hooded Kingfisher perched on a dead branch on the bank of the Majale river watching for insects. This kingfisher was cold which is why it had its breast and back feathers puffed out. This kingfisher is resident in Mashatu and feeds mainly on insects. We do see Pied and Giant kingfishers along the Limpopo river all through the year but seldom in winter along the Majale because there is so little water in the Majale during that period.

“In order to see birds we need to become part of the silence.” ~ Robert Lynd

The Little bee-eater is a year round resident, together with the White-fronted bee-eater. The Little bee-eater, like most other bee-eaters, hawks flying insects from a perch. This is a diminutive bee-eater with a black eye band and a cobalt blue eye line above its eye, a yellow throat and black gorget under the yellow throat and beautiful emerald green upper parts.

This trip to Mashatu was in June, which is winter in the southern hemisphere. The summer migrants had left for warmer climes. At this time of the year the days are warm and the nights cold and it is usually dry. Unusual for this time of the year, the Limpopo was still flowing strongly.

The Limpopo river is the southern border of Mashatu. A Fish eagle was feeding on the remains of a carcass in the Limpopo river. I could not see what animal had died but a pair of Fish eagles were taking advantage of the free meal. It was difficult to determine whether this was a male or female Fish eagle because I did not see them together and the subject was far away. The female tends to be larger than the male and has a larger back facing talon than the male.

A surprising find. A adult Verreaux eagle-owl resting in a large Apple leaf tree along the Limpopo river with a guineafowl that it had caught. This is a nocturnal hunter but is opportunistic so will hunt in the twilight hours too. The Verreaux’s eagle owl preys on mammals, varying from hedgehogs to mole-rats, and ground squirrels to hares, and bushbabies, vervet monkeys to baby warthogs, dik-diks, mongooses, even genets, small wild felines, and bats. This eagle-owl also preys on a wide variety of birds from herons and egrets to ducks and coots from sandgrouse and doves to guineafowl and small bustards. It is also known to prey on other owls such as Barn Owls, Marsh Owls, and African Grass Owls.

A Crested barbet is also fondly referred to as “marmalade bird” because of its colouring. This barbet is a resident species in Mashatu. It is territorial and is aggressive towards other birds when feeding and breeding. Its diet comprises mainly insects and fruit found in the wild. This is a very vocal barbet communicating with a sustained trill but does not duet like the Black-collared barbet. The Crested barbet does not have a marked tooth-edge beak like other barbets.

A Temminck’s courser is a diurnal terrestrial wader which prefers a hot dry habitat, which is why we regularly find them in Mashatu. There are three diurnal coursers in southern Africa; Temminck’s, Burchell’s and Double-banded. The Temminck’s is identified by its rufous crown and black belly. The colouring of its back is a sand colour which camouflages well with its dry terrestrial surroundings.

A female Namaqua sandgrouse. This female sandgrouse has cryptic colouring which is ideal for its preferred dry habitat. These sandgrouse feed mainly on seeds supplemented with flowers, small insects and molluscs such as snails and slugs. The Double-banded sandgrouse is also common in Mashatu.

“Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird? ~ David Attenborough

A Kori bustard. These birds are largest and heaviest flying birds native to Africa and seem to be always walking and flying away from us. These bustards have three forward facing toes so cannot perch. The female is much smaller than the male. This bustard is an omnivore and opportunistics hunter. This bustard prefers open short grass areas with patch of trees and bushes which it uses for shade. It needs the space provided by the open grassland to take off. Being a large and heavy bird, it avoids flying if possible. When alarmed it will first run and, if pushed, will take to the air by running to get enough airspeed much like a flamingo or albatross.

An African pipit with its characteristic upright stance and slender build. It has a creamy supercilium (eyebrow) which tapers near the ear. Its beak has a dark upper mandible and light pinkish-yellow lower mandible. It has a small malar stripe. Its throat and belly are beige coloured. It has long legs. It has anisodactylic feet with three toes pointing forward and one hind toe. The hind toe has a claw that is longer than is hind toe. This is typical of a pipit. It’s primary and primary covert wing feathers are dark brown with beige edges.

A Lilac-breasted roller. This is a ubiquitous roller in southern Africa. It is a perch hunter. Like most photographers, I find it difficult not to pick up my camera when I see such beautiful birds.

“Every bird, every tree, every flower reminds me what a blessing and privilege it is just to be alive.” — Marty Rubin

A male Green-winged pytilia foraging in the shade. A vividly coloured waxbill with a red beak, rump, and tail, and an olive-green back and wings. The male’s forehead and throat are orange-red. Pairs and small flocks are resident in arid thorn savanna, dry woodland areas like Mashatu. The Orange-winged pytilia differs from this species because of the yellow-golden edges on its wing feathers.

A White-browed scrub-robin. Its white eyebrow and white moustache are diagnostic as is its streaked breast and flanks. This scrub-robin prefers dry savannah and woodlands. This is a restless and shy species which is often heard and usually only seen deep in the bushes.

“Tame birds sing of freedom. Wild birds fly.” — John Lennon

A Temminck’s courser has a black eye band and a rufous crown which cover the top its head from its forehead to the back of its head. By contrast, the Burchell’s courser has a white eye band and a rufous forehead but blue-grey crown reaching to the back of its head. All coursers have a down curved beak.

A White-backed vulture grounded in the early winter morning. It was trying to warm up while waiting for the thermals to develop around mid morning.

A juvenile African Harrier-hawk. Its mottled brown and fawn colouring and its flight indicated that it is a fledged juvenile. Like all hawks, harriers have sharp curved beaks and sharp talons on their feet. Their tails are long and narrow, and their wings are quite long in relation to their body size. This harrier-hawk was cruising along the erosion gully looking for potential prey. It flew quite close to where we found the two leopard cubs which I referred to in my previous post. The African harrier-hawk is omnivorous meaning it will eat everything from fruit to eggs, mice, squirrels and birds from pigeons to sparrows. It has unique ability to climb, using wings as well as feet, together with its long double-jointed legs. It has a reversible intertarsal (“knee”) joint which can bend backward, as well as forward.  It is often seen climbing around on tree trunks and limbs, peering into crevices and holes while hanging at odd angles. This technique enables this raptor to raid the nests of cavity-nesters such as barbets and woodhoopoes for eggs and nestlings.

This was just a small smattering of the birds that can be seen in Mashatu. I am not a birder with a list but 350 different bird species have been recording in Mashatu and a successful day could yield up to 140 different bird sightings. As a photographer a sighting it not enough I need to capture a decent image of the bird.

“Creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty.” ~ Anne Lamott

I often find that while I am at a mammal sighting be it of elephants, lion or leopards if there is not much action I look around and often see a variety of different birds. Some birds follow the animals and some are just active in the area you happen to be in.

Part of the photograph fun of birds is that is that they are much more active than animals and they are usually much more vocal and colourful.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

Mashatu Nature Reserve is a private game reserve located in the Tuli Bloc in south eastern Botswana. The nature reserve covers an area of 29 000 hectares and encompasses a variety of different ecological and geological areas yielding a surprising diversity of fauna and flora. June is early winter in Mashatu and is usually a dry period but there had been good rains for an extended period during the prior summer. The good rains resulted pools of water at the bends of the Majale river. This is the main river coursing through Mashatu.

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” ~Edward Abbey

Together with the Sabi Sands reserve in Greater Kruger National Park, Mashatu is the only other place in southern Africa I have been to that has an abundance of leopards. The leopards in Mashatu hunt all over the reserve but tend to concentrate their hunting along the Majale river, especially in winter when the remaining water is found in the rivers. The main rivers are lined with large Mashatu (Nyala berry), Leadwoods and Apple-leaf trees and fig trees which offer plenty of shade, cover and protection for the leopard population.

“Watching a leopard move through the bush is like being let into a secret”~ Mike Haworth

Female leopards tend to be more habituated to the game vehicles than the males. One of the possible reasons is that the young male leopards get chased out of the prime hunting areas by the dominant males, which are also the best game viewing areas. As a result male leopards have much less interaction with the game vehicles and are therefore much more wary and secretive. Leopards can be seen all over the reserve but most sightings are along the Majale and Limpopo rivers and around the vlei (or marsh) area which is around a kilometre north of the Limpopo river.

Being more used to the game vehicles, the female leopards tend to not slink away at the sight and sound of a game vehicle. I have been a regular visitor to Mashatu over the last ten years. During that period the female leopard population has varied but seem to range around eight territories along the Majale river.

At or near Figtree crossing in the Majale river, we often find a solitary leopardess lying on the river bank in the warmth of the early morning sun. This female was just warming up and watching the wildlife activity and listening intently.

Young female leopards usually start seeking their independence at around 18 to 24 months.

A close up of this beautiful leopardess soaking up the warmth of the early morning sun on a winter’s morning.

Leopards’ eye colour varies from blue to yellow, but the most common colours are green and copper. Adult eye colour results from the pigmentation of the structure of the iris. Most of the genes associated with eye colour are involved in the production, transport, or storage of a pigment called melanin. The more melanin, a complex polymer that originates from the amino acid, Tyrosine, which controls the colour of skin, fur, and eyes, the darker the eyes. It is interesting to note that melanin affects the eyes and fur differently. The eye colour in melanistic leopards varies between pale blue and yellow.

” Close up you can see so much more. The looking becomes seeing. This casts a spell of intrigue, wonder and more questions.” ~ Mike Haworth

Leopards have round pupils unlike smaller cat species which have vertical slits. Researchers at UC Berkeley found that the way animals spend their day determines the shape of their pupils. The round pupils dilate allowing more light onto the retina which gives large cat species an advantage when hunting at night.

This was a different leopardess, a young female who was walking along the top of the bank of the Majale river. She walked through the croton bushes growing on top of the river bank which provided plenty of cover for her. Every now and then she would stop and just listen.

“By being still you can be more attentive. With attention you will see more and hear more.”~ Mike Haworth

This young leopardess walked quite a distance along the top of the bank. Stopping when a scent caught her attention and then adding her scent to the morning news.

This young leopardess eventually moved away from the edge of the river, walked through the croton groves and into a large section of mustard bushes.

The mustard bushes offer wonderful cover and we have often seen impala and steenbok grazing quietly in amongst these bushes. Leopards are ambush hunters so this type of terrain is ideal for them.

She was clearly looking for something to hunt. Every now and then when she came across an old elephant dropping she would roll in it in an attempt to disguise her scent. The mustard bushes tend to reduce the prevailing wind so she had to be more careful of her scent giving her position away.

We were privileged that she allowed us to follow her wanderings for about an hour before we decided to leave her in peace.

The usual way to identify leopards is using a spot pattern. The most preferable one is the pattern above the first whisker line. On the evening of the same day, we found the same leopardess some distance away from the Majale on the other side of the river. It was getting dark and she looked as though she was preparing to hunt.

The area she was in was where we regularly found lions. In the low light, just before it got dark she was on high alert. Apart from having to push up your camera’s ISO, you can usually gauge the amount of ambient light by the size of the leopard’s pupils. At this time her pupils were getting significantly larger. Leopards have exceptional night vision which is estimated to be seven time better than a humans. This makes them highly effective nocturnal hunters. Leopards hunting along the Majale have to stay alert because of the lions and hyaenas in the area.

“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” ~ Lao Tzu

On occasions we have found leopards, mainly males, hunting in the erosion gullies which lead away from the river. The gullies offer many effective ambush sites. On this particular morning, our guide, Justice, told us that the leopardess in the next image had two cubs tucked away in a fallen tree trunk. There had been a lot of hyaena activity in the area the night before so she was up a dead tree relatively close to the den site ensuring that the hyaenas had moved on.

A leopardess will keep her cubs well hidden for at least six weeks after they are born. She is usually very careful not to draw any attention to the den site.

The den site in this case was a fallen tree trunk on the edge of an erosion gully about a kilometre from the Majale river. She would regularly go to hunt and leave the cubs for many hours and in some cases up to two days. This left the cubs vulnerable so they stayed hidden for most of the time. Apart from hunting, the leopardess still needed to patrol and protect her territory.

The den site (in the image below). The leopard cubs were hidden in the split in the top section of the tree trunk. Unless you had seen the cubs or seen the leopardess you would never have known there was anything there. The leopard mother will usually have several den sites and will move the cubs every three days to a week because of the inevitable scent concentration which will attract other predators.

We think the cubs were around seven to eight weeks old. One cub was definitively more brave, and more inquisitive, than the other.

Leopard cubs are born with their eyes closed, and they only open about ten days after birth. When cubs are still young, their irises don’t contain enough melanin to display their true colour. It’s only as they develop that their eyes begin to produce the melanin that creates their true colour, which typically starts around seven weeks old. New born leopard cubs usually have blue eyes but you can see the image below shows the cub’s iris colour had turned to a fawn colour.

It was clear that the cubs were very inquisitive and presumably had seen many game vehicles since they were born.

It was interesting that the cubs only peeked out of the hiding place in the fallen tree trunk at certain times of the day. This probably had something to do with when their mother usually returned to the den site.

Leopard cubs are known to suckle for around 12 weeks, so these two cubs were totally dependent on their mother for nutrition.

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” ~ Franklin D Roosevelt

On occasions both cubs came out of hiding and climbed on top of the fallen tree trunk. They were still a little uncoordinated so manoeuvring around the Shepherd tree branches at the back of the fallen tree trunk was challenging.

At their young age these leopard cubs already had sharp claws. It appeared that learning to sheath and unsheathing them was still needed.

We never saw the cubs on the ground. They only moved a couple of feet away from the entrance to their hiding place. Even when the cubs were playing they never made a sound. Our guide told us that the cubs did come down onto the ground when they were allowed to suckle from their mother.

Cub mortality rate is high among leopards. The main threats are male leopards, lions, hyaenas, baboons and snakes. The opportunity for disaster is created when their mother is away patrolling or hunting. If the cubs survive their first year, they will be learning to hunt small prey up from 18 months to two years after which they will be forced by their mother, or circumstance, to fend for themselves.

“Watching the leopard cubs instilled wonder and hope, and showed nature’s innate fragility.” ~ Mike Haworth

The wonderful aspect of wildlife photography is that you can see close ups of your wildlife subject. This helps identification and being able to see much more detail which inevitably raises questions about colour, pattern and physiology.

“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.” ~ Anonymous

Explore, see to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

The Maluleke Contractual Park is now owned by the Maluleke people. These people were forced off their land in 1969 by the government of the day and the South African National Parks who wanted to extend the Kruger park to the Limpopo river. In 1996, the Maluleke people created the Community Property Association and after a prolonged legal challenge have had 22 000 hectares of land between the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers returned to them. The mediated settlement returned full ownership of the land to the Maluleke people in return for the guarantee to use the land in a manner compatible with the protection of wildlife. The agreement also gave them full rights to commercialise the land in a manner consistent with the wildlife management policies of SanParks. Today, the Maluleke Contractual Park is managed by the Maluleke Joint Management Board which includes Maluleke Community Property Association and SanParks representatives.

” Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success” ~ Henry Ford

The Joint Management Board created a zoning framework in which two private sector operators were given the right to Build-Operate-Transfer several upmarket lodges. An ecotraining camp was also set up in the Contractual Park. The three concessionaires are Return Africa who operate the Pafuri Tented Camp, Rare Earth which operates The Outpost and Pels Lodges and Ecotraining which has a camp on the Limpopo floodplain.

“Cooperation is the root of civilisation.” ~ Jerry Haworth

On the last leg of our northern Kruger adventure we stayed three nights at Pels Post. The view from our room looking west and the vista was spectacular. We looked down over the Luvuvhu river and across to a forest of Baobabs and the Mutale sandstone ridge.

A female fish eagle perched in one of the large trees adjacent to our room. She had an excellent view of the river and its fishing potential.

Another view from our room at Pels Post this time looking east down river.

Down below us in the river was this Goliath heron hunting among the reeds for its next meal.

One morning after we had returned from the game drive and finished a “scrummy” breakfast we returned to our room to relax and enjoy the spectacular view. The view was dynamic with wildlife moving on the ground and raptors riding the updrafts. We watched a pair of African hawk-eagles riding the updraft on our side of the valley. They gave us a wonderful display for about ten minutes.

“Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.” ~ William Wordsworth

The weather was mercurial, at times it threatened to storm and the cumulus clouds looked heavy with rain and at other times it was partly cloudy with filtered sunlight. The weather did not disturb an elephant bull on the far side of the river from foraging on the large trees.

Another bull joined the first bull elephant. They seemed to be adolescent males as they were still play fighting and pushing each other around to establish who was the strongest.

Our morning drives were highly productive. One morning we crossed the main tarred road and drove down onto the Limpopo side of the ridge. We saw numerous pairs of Namaqua doves. The male is the more beautiful of the pair with his black face mask and black chest marking and his pinkish beak with a yellow tip. The pair of Namaqua doves were foraging for seeds on the gravel road.

The only bee-eater species we saw was a gorgeous Little bee-eater but they were numerous. I know there were White-fronted bee-eaters down near the Limpopo river because we could hear them but I never saw one.

” Outer beauty turns the head, but inner beauty turns the heart.” ~ Helen J Russell

We watched the Little bee-eaters successfully hawking insects and bees.

“It is better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times.” ~ Asian Proverb

An unexpected surprise. A young rock python was lounging in a small tree along side the road at around our eye level. We stopped and sat and watched it for about twenty minutes and it was motionless during that time.

Driving further down the ridge towards the Limpopo floodplain we found a very inquisitive family of Dwarf mongooses. On several occasions they all scattered and hid, and each time one-by-one they came out onto the rock to see if we were still there.

Driving down the rock ridge we passed numerous rock figs which had their roots firmly anchored into the crevices of the rock. The white to yellow roots and stems of the large-leaved Rock fig were conspicuous. This tree is well adapted to attaching itself to rock faces and and is known to split rocks.

Down on the edge of the flood plain, among numerous Baobabs we found a herd of Kudu. Kudu are mainly browsers but some members of the family were foraging on the grass. There was so much food for the herbivores down on the floodplain.

An adult Purple roller. We also saw the ubiquitous Lilac-breasted rollers but never got to see Racket-tailed roller which is usually only found in this area of South Africa, as it is the most southern part of its range which extends up to Tanzania. Like all rollers the Purple roller is a perch hunter and feeds mainly on insects and lizards.

“Nature is one of the most underutilised treasures in life. It has the power to unburden hearts and reconnect to that inner place of peace.” ~ Janice Anderson

The second morning we drove from our lodge along the ridge down to Lanner Gorge. The view is spectacular looking down on the sandstone gorge that the Luvuvhu river flows through on its way to join the Limpopo.

With the thick vegetation and rocky outcrops around Lanner Gorge, we found a lone Tree hyrax. The Tree hyrax is nocturnal and not as social as the Rock hyrax. The Tree hyrax has four-toed front feet and three-toed back feet with rounded nails, and rubbery soles that help it climb. By contrast, the Rock hyrax lives in colonies of about 50 in the natural crevices of rocks or boulders. Rock hyraxes are active in the daytime and can be seen feeding or sunning themselves near the entrances to their shelters.

The florescence of a Cleome Hitra with its delicate and beautiful mauve petals. I am often stopped by the incredible colour, elegant complexity and design of nature’s flora. The striking yellow marking on the flower’s mauve petals are diagnostic.

A Brown-headed parrot. This parrot has bright green body feathers and a brown head. These parrots feed on a variety of seeds, berries, flowers, fruits and nectar. I last saw Brown-headed parrots feeding on the flowers of a coral tree at the Paul Kruger gate of the Kruger park many years ago. I was looking out for, but never saw, a Grey-headed parrot which looks similar but has an orange-red forehead and several orange-red secondary feathers on each wing.

“To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ~ Terry Tempest Williams

Another view looking down into Lanner Gorge with its huge sandstone cliffs and dense vegetation. The walking trail along this section of the Luvuvhu river must be wonderful experience.

An adult male Sharpe’s Grysbok. Only the male has horns. This was a first sighting for me. It is a shy antelope but its thick rufous-coated coat with grey flecks gives it a wiry grizzled appearance which is diagnostic. This species is smaller and stockier than the Cape Grysbok.

Sharpe’s Grysboks are nocturnal feeders and spend the day in the cover of tall grass or shrubs. This antelope is a browser and feeds on anything from grass shoots to fruits flowers and leaves from shrubs and bushes.

On our last evening we drove down onto the Limpopo floodplain. Adjacent to the Limpopo river was a band of large trees from figs to leadwoods and Lala palms. The floodplain away from the river is covered in a variety of grasses. There is another Fever tree forest in one section of this section of the flood plain. This triangle between the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers is also referred to as the Pafuri triangle, which is said to be about 1% of the Kruger park but is home to around 75% of the park’s biodiversity.

“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.” ~ Jo Walton

Sundowner time with a drink in hand watching the sun set behind a hill covered in Baobabs. Once the sun had fallen below the horizon we did not linger. There was plenty of long grass around the opening we were standing in and we did not want an unexpected visit from a “dagga boy” (an old male buffalo).

On our way back to camp we came across several Bronze-winged Coursers on the gravel road. This is a large (almost the size of a lapwing) nocturnal courser. It has dark brown upper parts and a white belly. The head has a distinct cream-white supercilium. Its forecrown, and posterior eyeline, upper neck and throat are white. The facial lores and ear-coverts are darker brown-black. This species of courser is predominately solitary, only pairing for breeding.

Even though the sun had set there was still much to see and hear in the bush. Driving back to camp we could hear the Spotted eagle owls calling. It is intriguing to think that while we are calling an end to the day the nocturnal fauna is just getting started at this time of the evening.

Our time in the northern Kruger was richly rewarding. The photography was more challenging because of the dense vegetation in places but the biodiversity of flora and fauna is amply evident. This is a place you need to travel very slowly through. There is much to see but at nature’s pace. We saw a small part of life in this area of the park. This means we will have to return many times to fully appreciate it biodiversity. This is definitely a place we will return to at different times of the year.

“The wilderness is a place of rest — not in the sense of being motionless, for the lure, after all, is to move, to round the next bend. The rest comes in the isolation from distractions, in the slowing of the daily centrifugal forces that keep us off balance.” ~ David Douglas

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike