We stayed at Sabi River bungalows resort and used it as a springboard for our trips into Kruger Park in February this year. We usually enter the park through the Phabeni gate which is only 12 kilometres east of the town of Hazyview. Sabi River bungalows is only about four kilometres north west of Hazyview.

Once through the Phabeni gate we often turn right off the S1 onto Albasini road (S3) which takes us down to the H1-1, which is the main road from the Numbi gate to Pretoriuskop rest camp. The road is sand/gravel and is usually highly productive, from a birding point of view. The trick is to get into the park by 6h00 in summer because it is already light and the wildlife is more active before it gets too hot. The temperature can typically reach 35 degrees centigrade in this part of the world around midday.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” ~ Anonymous

The S14 Fayi Loop exits the S8 just west of Pretoriuskop. The loop is around 13 kilometres long and enters Voortrekker road just east of Pretoriuskop. The loop should take a minimum of a 45-minutes to drive, though with good sightings it could take a couple of hours. This sand road winds through terminalia woodlands and areas of sickle-bush. The start of loop is characterised by granite outcrops and coarse, reddish soil, which supports unique vegetation known as Pretoriuskop sourveld. This is habitat for sable antelope, white rhino and other wildlife.

Just at the start of the Fayi loop we were lucky enough to see an African Cuckoo-hawk in the top of a large tree. This was only the second time I have seen an African Cuckoo-hawk. The first time was in Tembe Elephant Park many years ago.

The African Cuckoo-hawk is so named because it resembles a common cuckoo in terms of shape and colour from a distance. The male is blackish-brown above with a grey mantle and chest with a blackish crest, the underparts are white marked with broad chestnut bars. The tail is black with three grey bars and grey and white tip.

The African Cuckoo-hawk is a shy raptor and little is known about its behaviour as it is not often seen and has secretive habits preferring the edges of evergreen forests and deciduous woodlands. Chameleons are known to be a significant part of the African Cuckoo-hawk’s diet, though it will also go for other reptiles, insects and even small mammals and birds.

There are several large granite outcrops at the start of the Fayi loop. We always look for Klipspringers on the rocks and even a leopard lying in the shade watching over its territory from a high rocky vantage point. At the base of these granite outcrops we found many ‘Pride of De Kaap’ bushes. Pride of De Kaap has characteristic two-winged leaves. The petals of these florescences are oar-shaped and around 40 mm long. During late summer these bushes are adorned with florescences which usually range in colour from salmon to orange and yellow to white.

The Fayi tributary starts close to the H1-1 main road from Numbi gate to Pretoriuskop rest camp. The Fayi tributary flows south for a significant length of the Fayi loop before joining the Nsikazi tributary which flows down along the south west park boundary to join the Crocodile river at the southern end of Kruger.

“I know not how I may seem to others, but to myself I am but a small child wandering upon the vast shores of knowledge, every now and then finding a small bright pebble to content myself with.” ~ Plato

We found this diminutive African Dusky flycatcher hunting insects in a bush next to the side of the sand road.

This looked to be a juvenile with its spotty crown and light brown streaks on its breast. The adult has an almost plain beige crown and similar soft dark smudges on its breast.

Further along the loop we found several Southern African giraffe browsing on the trees. One male giraffe had several Red-billed oxpeckers grooming his neck and mane.

Both Red-billed and yellow-billed oxpeckers primarily feed on ectoparasites like ticks found on large mammals, but their feeding behaviours and preferences differ slightly. Yellow-billed oxpeckers tend to focus on larger ungulates and may consume more ticks and have a higher overall food intake, while red-billed oxpeckers show more flexibility in host choice and may also feed on wounds. The Yellow-billed oxpecker feeds by plucking to remove parasites from its host whereas the Red-billed oxpecker used a scissoring technique.

The Fayi loop crosses the Fayi tributary in two places. These are normally the areas where we see rollers, bishops, canaries and widowbirds and on occasions Malachite kingfishers. We found an obliging male White-winged widowbird in the reeds and bushes along the first tributary crossing. Perhaps the reason this male White-winged widowbird was so obliging was that he was distracted by all the females in the area.

“To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books.” ~ Dan Brown

He was very busy trying to impress all the passing females, flying back and forth displaying his white and yellow wing coverts and fanning his tail feathers. He was also very vocal calling to all the females.

As we were driving down the hill towards the second tributary crossing we saw this Common buzzard. It was scouring the area from a high vantage point in a dead tree.

The Common buzzard is a summer visitor to this part of the world. The Common buzzards that migrate typically breed in the colder regions of Europe and Asia and migrate south for the northern hemisphere winter.

This species prefers the higher rainfall eastern and southern areas of southern Africa with grasslands and open savanna with tree cover. The Common or Steppe buzzard can be identified by the pale horizontal band across its breast which separates the streaked upper breast from the banded underparts. Common buzzards exhibit significant colour variations, with plumage varying from very dark to almost completely white.

In certain diffused light the iridescent blue-green sheen on the Greater Blue-eared Glossy starling really shows. The Cape, Blue-eared and Black-bellied glossy starlings are tricky to tell apart as they have a simmar GISS (general impression of size and shape) and all have the glossy iridescent sheen on their plumage and orange eyes. The Cape and Blue-eared glossy starlings occupy the same habitats. The Blue-eared is the most iridescent of all the glossy starling species and has a distinct patch of dark blue feathers on the ear coverts.

In the reedbeds along the Fayi tributary we found several very active Red-collared widowbirds who was also busy chasing females.

Male widowbirds typically display from a prominent position during the breeding season to attract females and establish territories. The displaying male will usually chase any other males away from his territory. This male Red-collared widowbird displayed his scarlet red collar and long black tail feathers to great effect.

Next to the bridge at the second crossing of the Fayi tributary we saw several canaries bathing and drying themselves on the grass stems next to the open water. I am not sure what this species was but I think it was a Streaky-headed seedeater because of its prominent long curved white eyebrow, fine streaks on its brown crown, grey-brown upperparts and beige underparts.

A Striped kingfisher perched in a dead tree next to the sand road. This species is an insect eater not a fisherman. It is identified by its black eye band and broad white collar. It has the kingfisher-type powder-blue upper tail coverts and blue tail feathers. Importantly for identification, this species has a black upper mandible and red lower mandible. It also has a small chubby GISS and a short tail.

As we were driving on the Sand road towards the end of the Fayi loop through the terminalia woodlands we found this slow moving Common flap-neck chameleon. Having just stepped out of the green grass at the edge of the road it had not yet adjusted its camouflage. Chameleons have a laterally compressed body shape with turret-like eyes which can move independently and in opposite directions.

Chameleons are adept climbers with a long prehensile tail which acts as an extra limb and opposable digits for grasping branches and twigs. Chameleons can hear, although they don’t have external ear openings. They have a pterygoid ear, which is most sensitive to sounds between 200 and 600 Hz, so their hearing is limited.

Chameleons feed on insects like grasshoppers, beetles, flies and butterflies. This reptile has many enemies not the least of which is the African Cuckoo-hawk and the Southern ground hornbill.

This young Tree squirrel had found an edible berry next to the road and ignored us as it was trying to break through the hard outer shell.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

As you might expect along the Fayi tributary, the Waterbuck were never far from water. Waterbuck are highly dependent on water because the drink daily and seek refuge from predators in the water.

We saw a Klipspringer family on virtually every granite outcrop along the Fayi loop. Klipspringers have specially adapted hooves to grip onto rock faces. Their hooves are cylindrical, blunt, and have rubbery, cartilaginous pads on the tips, which act like a suction cup, providing extra grip and shock absorption and in doing so provide excellent traction. They also walk on the very tips of their hooves, which enhances their grip and allows them to navigate rocky terrain with agility and speed.

The Fayi loop must have taken us about three hours to complete mainly because there was so much to see. Not only was there a wonderful variety of mammals, reptiles and birds but the flora is unique around the granite outcrops. The Fayi loop follows the Fayi tributary for a long section which is where you are likely to find mammals coming down to drink and many birds that are attracted by the water and reeds.

“Travel is not reward for working, it’s education for living.” ~ Anthony Bourdain

The next post will show images from Pretoriuskop rest camp which we usually stop at for fuel and because there is a remarkable variety of birds in the camp.

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

Have fun, Mike