After a long break I am looking forward to getting back to sharing my wildlife experiences and knowledge I have gained along the way.

When visiting Kruger Park, Helen and I usually stay at either Sabi River Sun resort near Hazyview or Pine Lake resort just outside White river in Mpumalanga. The quickest access in the Kruger Park from the Sabi River Sun resort is via the Phabeni gate. This post shows some of the birds we saw on our rain soaked drive along the S1 from Phabeni gate to Skukuza camp.

“Expectations imprison the soul, break free and witness the extraordinary unfold in the simplicity of the present.” ~ anonymous

Quite by chance as we were driving along in light rain we saw a Green pigeon fly into a bush ahead of us next to the road. We stopped and to our amazement there was a small flock of Green pigeons feeding on berries on that bush. These pigeons prefer riparian forests, woodlands, and savannas.

All pigeons have beautiful coloured plumage but the Green pigeon especially so. They have bright orange/red legs and feet; their thighs are covered with vibrant yellow feathers; the bottom part of their body and the head and neck area are greyish green in colour; the back and tail has a more olive green to yellowish green colour; and finally, you will see their white eyes and their bright red and white beak. This species of pigeon feed on fruits, berries and figs. They are particularly acrobatic when feeding and clambour around the branches like parrots to access the fruit and berries.

A little further along the tarred road we came across a somewhat bedraggled adult Tawny eagle perched on top of a dead tree stump. It was keenly surveying the surrounding area for food. It’s crop was not extended so it was probably hungry after not being able to hunt during the rain.

The Tawny eagle is a medium sized eagle but its plumage is highly variable. Its plumage can vary from dark brown, mid-brown, a creamy rufous to almost white. It has a yellow lined gape which stops below the centre of the eye, which is diagnostic. This species of eagle has a highly varied diet which ranges from small mammals (rodents, hares and very young antelope), birds such as francolins and hornbills. It will happily feed on a termite emergence but is also an adept scavenger at predator kills and road kill.

“Rainy days can bring surprises and in the bush it never dampens our spirit.” ~ Mike Haworth

We encountered a lot of rain in the early part of the drive. I always try to get into the park at opening times to get the best light but on this occasion it was overcast and drizzling. Unless it is a downpour the birds are still out and about in the light rain. The birds just have to cope with it. This African Long -tailed shrike retracted its neck and lowered its head onto it shoulders to reduce the rain ingress on its neck. Due to its black and white coloured plumage it is also called the Magpie shrike.

This species prefers the open savanna where it can hunt from a perch. You can often find this species in a gregarious group calling to each other. Most prey is caught on the ground, but flying insects are sometimes caught in mid air. The diet consists of arthropods, insects, lizards, small mammals and fruit.

Being mid summer in southern Africa, the migrants had come down for the warmer climes and greater abundance of food. This European roller was perched on top of the remains of a dead shrub. This species is also a perch hunter so prefers the bushveld, woodlands and grasslands with scattered trees in the warmer lowland areas where there are plenty of insects, small reptiles and frogs on which to feed.

Like all the rollers this species is strikingly coloured and immediately recognisable in the bush. Its body and underwings are a powder blue with a wide edge to its primaries and secondaries which is an electric blue. It has an orange-brown rufous back and an electric blue rump. Birdlife South African using pioneering satellite technology has shown this species can fly along the east coast of Africa from South Africa to middle Asia in a migratory journey of over 12 000 kms one way.

“When rain speaks, it tells stories only quiet hearts can hear.” ~ anonymous

After the rain many birds perched in the warmth when the blue sky was starting to break through the clouds. Although slightly smaller than the Mosque swallow, this Red-breasted swallow was perched on a flimsy stick and needed to balance itself in the light breeze. It has brick red underparts and dark blue upper parts. This species is also a summer visitor which has migrated south for the abundance of insects.

This species of swallow breeds in southern Africa constructing a closed mud nesting chamber with a long tubular mud tunnel. It prefers the open woodland areas where it can hawk insects in flight.

Another bedraggled raptor due to the rain. This is a white morph Wahlberg’s eagle. Like Tawny’s, the Wahlberg’s plumage can be highly variable from the common brown plumage to a dark brown morph and also a pale morph where its head and neck is mainly creamy white with blackish streaks on the crown and around the eye. This eagle is also a summer visitor from North Africa to feed and breed. The mating pair of Wahlberg’s eagle will hunt together cooperatively.

“Rain conjures possibility, unlocking doors patience alone could not open.” ~ anonymous

This is a small eagle with a distinctive crest at the back of its small head It has a small beak with a large gape. Its relatively small beak size is suited to its diet which is mainly reptiles such as snakes and lizards, small mammals like squirrels, mongooses and hares, and small birds. It will also feed on insects such as termites, grasshoppers and beetles.

I have thousands of Lilac-breasted roller shots but cannot resist taking photographs of these gorgeous rollers in the bush. This particular roller had caught an insect and was clambering up a dead tree stump to its mate.

The pair of Lilac breasted rollers perched on to top of the dead tree trunk for quite a while. Since this species is not sexually dimorphic, it was difficult to tell the male and female apart. I assumed from the behaviour of the lower partner offering the insect to the higher partner that he was a male. For some reason when the (supposed) female bent down to take the offering the male would not give it to her. He eventually ate it, flew off and caught another insect which he proceeded to feed on himself.

” Sharing strengthens bonds. For humanity it is the root of civilisation.” ~ Mike Haworth

This particular journey was filled with migrants. As we were driving back from Skukuza toward Pretoriuskop there is a open grassland area with numerous dry small bush stumps. We saw three Jacobin cuckoos in this area. The Jacobin cuckoo can be identified by its black upper parts and white underparts and the small somewhat scraggy crest on the back of its head. The Striped cuckoo looks similar but has dark stripes on its white breast

Jacobin cuckoos prefer savanna and woodland habitats where they can find plentiful caterpillars. Like most cuckoos this species is a brood parasite primarily targeting bulbuls (like Cape, Red-eyed, and Dark-capped Bulbuls) and shrikes (like the Common Fiscal) in southern Africa.

On our way on the S3 gravel road from Pretoriuskop to Phabeni, we stopped when we heard a distinctive cuckoo call. It is very difficult to tell the difference between an African and Common Cuckoo. Two factors made me think it was an African cuckoo. The first was that distinctive cuckoo call (but not as distinctive as the Common Cuckoo) and the second was the large orange yellow base to its beak.

This was a first for me as they are usually so hard to see and more often only heard. This individual flew from its open perch to a well wooded branch where it was much better camouflaged. It remained dead still for ages, so needless to say I took many images mostly in the same position. The African cuckoo brood parasites a wide variety of small birds, with common hosts including weavers, bishops, warblers, sparrows, sunbirds, and robins.

We did not get to see many mammals due to the rain and thick lush vegetation but the birdlife was certainly on show. For many of the cars following us along the road, when we stopped to view and photograph a bird, passersby would ask us what we were looking at, when we said we were looking at a bird, most cars quickly moved off as many tourists seem to want to see the big mammals, not these interesting birds.

“Often the best way to find birds in the bush is to listen. The ears can often locate better than the eyes.” ~ Mike Haworth

Listening for birds can be as important as seeing them. Often, once you hear a bird you can usually pinpoint its location and with a little searching you can see it.

“One who listens learns, and one who learns listens.” ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

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

Have fun, Mike

When entering the Kruger Park through the Phabeni or Numbi gates we usually stop in at the Pretoriuskop rest camp for fuel and to wander around with a camera. We have found the birding to be highly productive in this rest camp.

Often some of the best sightings are on the lawn next to the rest camp reception. Across the drive in front of the reception is a lawn with trees behind the fuel station.

“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.” ~ Roman Payne

A juvenile Southern black flycatcher landed on the lawn in front of me to grab an insect it had seen. This juvenile still had its fawn coloured spots on its head and neck and a few of its coverts. When fully mature this flycatcher will be entirely black.

While Helen was making a cup of coffee I strolled across the driveway onto the lawn in front of the reception only to see a female Violet-backed starling foraging for insects in the grass.

This was an exciting find because the female is usually paired with the male. While the female has striking plumage the male has exquisite amethyst or iridescent purple upper parts which includes his chin, throat and wings. He has a black throat band and his beast and belly are white. As hard as I tried I could not see the male.

While wandering around the same section of lawn I heard the distinct sound of a woodpecker hammering at a wooden branch. After a bit of scouting I found this female Cardinal woodpecker digging earnestly among the lichen on a branch high up in a tree.

A female Cardinal Woodpecker has white underparts which are heavily streaked. She has a white face and black crown, forehead and nape. Unlike the male’s red hind crown and nape, the female has a fully dark top of her head. This female seemed unperturbed by the presence of a Woodland kingfisher. In recent years we have seen a pair of Woodland kingfishers nesting in a hole in the trunk of a figtree opposite the reception office.

By now we were enjoying a cup of coffee and a hot cross bun and sitting on the benches in the lawn adjacent to the reception. By sitting quietly we saw a wonderful select of birds. One visitor was a Southern black tit in a tree above the reception office. This species of tit is all black except for its white shoulders, white edgings to the wing feathers, and a barred gray-and-white undertail. Ebird accurately indicates this species is often detected by its noisy buzzing and chirping vocalizations, including a sweet-and-scratchy “diddy-dzee-dzee-dzee-dzee-dzee.”

“When I sit quietly I hear nature’s symphony. Then a single bird’s song stands out calling for attention. That is when you know what to look for.” ~ Mike Haworth

As the bird sighting were getting better and better, a chattering family of Retz’s helmet-shrikes arrived and noisily darted in and out of the trees above us. This species of helmet-shrike is often seen in this area and it has a distinctive black plumage with a red-orange eye wattle and yellow eye. Its beak and legs are a bright red colour.

The Retz’s helmet-shrike has white under tail coverts and its under tail feathers are white. When not in breeding season the gregarious helmet-shrike groups can become much larger than five or six members and the group sometimes includes White helmet-shrikes.

Just when we thought it could not get better a male Bearded woodpecker arrived in the tree in front of us. He gave us a sustained display while energetically searching for grubs in holes in tree branches and grubs under the bark.

The male Bearded woodpecker has a black forehead with white spots and a red hind crown and black nape. Its underparts are fine fawn bars on a grey background. The female looks similar to the male but has a black hind crown.

The Bearded woodpecker is noticeably larger than the Cardinal woodpecker.

“Sometimes the woodpecker will show up just to stimulate new rhythms. Rhythm is a powerful means of affecting the physical energies” ~ Ted Andrews

The red eye of the Bearded woodpecker is noticeable in the next image. Generally because this species of woodpecker is usually under a branch in the shade you do not notice its red eye.

In the trees behind the reception office we heard the distinct call of an Orange-breasted bushshrike. Its call sounds like ” coffee-tea-or-meeeee”.

This species of bushshrike has a striking grey crown, nape and cheeks. It has green upper parts. It has a striking yellow eyebrow and forehead, yellow neck and yellow underparts with a vibrant orange breast. Its eyes and lores are black.

After a productive and fun hour watching all the birds around us at Pretoriuskop rest camp we decided to head out and wander around the sand roads in the park outside the rest camp. Being February we were lucky enough to get a good sighting of an Amur falcon. This diminutive species of falcon migrates from its breeding grounds in Siberia and northern China to their wintering grounds in Southern and East Africa. Their migratory journey involves a spectacular mass migration across India and a non-stop flight over the Arabian Sea to Africa, covering a distance of about 22,000 km. 

“Migratory birds connect people, ecosystems and nations. They are symbols of peace and of an interconnected planet.” ~ Antonio Guterres

Visiting Pretoriuskop rest camp has always been productive from a birding perspective. We often see Green pigeons, Purple crested turacos and if we are lucky enough Brown-headed parrots. The Drongos, Groundscraper thrushes are always around as are a selection of Glossy starlings.

“The key to a wonderful life is to never stop wandering into wonder.” ~ Suzy Kassem

I have no doubt if we spent a many hours wandering around the grounds of this rest camp we would see many more species. This part of the Kruger park is highly productive from a birding and bird photography perspective.

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

Have fun, Mike

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

The weather was variable in the week we visited Kruger at the end of February this year. It was overcast and raining for periods on most days and very windy on some days. Both mammals and birds do not like the windy conditions because it disrupts the hearing and smelling senses making them more vulnerable to predators.

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo

The vegetation was very thick in mid-summer making mammal sightings more difficult. The area from the Numbi gate to Skukuza had very thick bush. This meant that sightings of mammals was restricted, in large part, to the sides of the roads.

“It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility. ” ~ Rachel Carson

There was good grazing on the sides of the roads which attracted Burchell’s zebra. The southern Burchell’s Zebra has a distinctive shadow brown stripe in the white stripe, a characteristic which diminishes the further north they occur.

Zebras have a dark circular patch on the inner forelegs which is designed to accommodate the sharp end of the hoof when lying down. The white fur represents an absence of melanin; white is not its own pigment. Since white stripes only exist because pigment is denied, black is understood to be the “default” colour of a zebra.

One of the most productive drives during our week in Kruger was along the H3 from Skukuza to Malelane. The bush was more open so the mammals were more visible. Near Renoster Pan we saw a large bull elephant walking towards the road. As soon as he saw the cars on the road he walked parallel to the road until he found a quieter place to cross. He was clearly avoiding unnecessary conflict with humans.

“The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery, not over nature but of ourselves.” ~ Rachel Carson

Further down the H1 towards Malelane we found a large herd of buffalo spread out either side of the road. The buffalo were grazing and wandering through the mopani bush making it difficult to photograph them as a herd so I picked out one of the larger bulls at the back of the herd. You can see how smooth the top of his boss was indicating he had done his fair share of head butting and fighting over the years.

We travelled down to the Berg-en-dal camp to have a look around. I was surprised to see the dam in front of the camp was empty which meant there was no game close to the camp. There were a few Vervet monkeys hanging around probably waiting to try and steal food from visitors sitting having a meal on the camp’s restaurant deck.

After a brief look around Berg-en-dal camp, which looked in need of maintenance, we decided to drive on the Matjulu loop which took us through the mountainous south western section of the park. We found quite a lot of mammal and bird life on this loop. Close to the road we found three adult giraffes sitting in the grass chewing their cud. Giraffes actually have four stomachs, similar to cows so have to regurgitate the grass and leaves and rechew them. Giraffes occasionally sit or lie down, but not for long. They fold their legs under their bodies when sitting down, but they maintain their necks lifted high. They are very vulnerable to predators when sitting down.

Further along the Matjulu loop we found a pride of lions lying next to the waterhole where they had killed a buffalo. This lioness had a dirty face after feeding on the several day old carcass.

“Nature has introduced great variety into the landscape, but man has displayed a passion for simplifying it. Thus he undoes the built-in checks and balances by which nature holds the species within bounds.” ~ Rachel Carson

The pride at the Matjulu waterhole was large with two fully grown males and a large young male with a mohican style mane. According to the informative Londolozi Blog, humans have around 10,000 taste buds on average, while most carnivores have far fewer, being around 470. Carnivores are responsive to bitter flavours but cannot taste sweetness. Bitterness enables carnivores to distinguish between meat that is spoiled and meat that is still safe to eat. Their digestive system is far better at processing meats and can tolerate bacteria that would cause immediate and severe stomach issues in humans.

The males had already fed well from the carcass leaving the lionesses to pick over the remains. The carcass stunk to “high heaven” so we positioned ourselves upwind to be able to spend some time watching the lions interacting. The smell was strong enough to make us nauseous. It was still early and cool enough for them to be out in the open.

The next day we visited Lake Panic which is close to Skukuza camp. There is a bird hide at the south-west end of Lake Panic. There are several fallen dead tree trunks in the section of the lake in front of the hide. A few Serrated hinged terrapins climbed onto the fallen tree trunk to warm up. This species is the largest hinged terrapin. To protect themselves Serrated Hinged Terrapins secrete a very foul smelling odour when threatened. This did not seem to worry an African darter that pecked at one terrapin’s legs to get it off the fallen tree trunk.

As has often been the case, on the second last day in Kruger the sun came out. We stopped at Shitlhave dam for a cup of early morning coffee. The resident pod of hippo which had been very docile when the weather was overcast were now more playful in the sun. Two young hippos were sparring and testing each other’s strength.

Hippo bulls are territorial in water but not at night on land. Bulls defend territories for mating rights not food. Play fighting among young hippos can be fun to water and photographically productive. When a bull hippo is threatening others, the display is much more obvious with yawning, water scooping and head shaking combined with rearing and lunging.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Our mammal sighting were limited by the cool, rainy and windy weather. A long time ago, I learnt that the weather can be a photographer’s friend. Overcast skies filter the harsh sunlight. Rain-filled cloud formations can provide wonderful backgrounds. Often the cooler weather allows predators to be more active later in the morning. I would never stay indoors in a game reserve because of overcast rainy weather.

“You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.” ~ Nate Berkus

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

Have fun, Mike

We visited Kruger National Park in February this year. Our focus was in the southern western section of Kruger including Pretoriuskop, Berg-en-dal and Skukuza camps. That time was late summer in southern Africa and the migrant birds were enjoying the warmth and abundance of food that summer conditions brought.

Kruger Parks’ slogan – Custos Naturae which means Guardian of Nature

Our base was Pinelake Resort next to Lake Longmere just outside White River and we travelled into Kruger through the Numbi gate. After looking around Pretoriuskop camp we drove to Shitlhave dam. The area around the dam is open grassland which attracts rollers and a variety of avian insect and seed eaters. There are normally a selection of waders, ducks and storks which remain around the dam.

“Nothing but breathing the air of Africa, and actually walking through it, can communicate the indescribable sensations.” ~ William Burchell

One of the more colourful migrants see at the dam was the European roller. This is the only member of the roller family which breeds in Europe. This species is usually seen perched on top of a prominent bush or tree. It prefers woodlands, bushveld and grasslands, and avoids open dry areas in the west of southern Africa. Its food comprises of insects, small mammals, reptiles and frogs.

While sitting quietly with a cup of coffee and a rusk watching all the avian activity around the dam, this Marsh sandpiper strolled along the edge of the water in front of us. It was foraging in the grass for edibles.

While gazing over the Shitlhave dam we suddenly heard the cackle from Hammerkops. To our left on a rock next to the water edge were a pair Hammerkops mating. Both male and female birds have a specialised opening at the base of their tail feathers known as an avian vent, or cloaca. This opening connects to a chamber where the sex organs lie – testes in males, ovaries in females. The act of passing sperm from male to female is known as the “cloacal kiss”. The males does not have a penis. The male and female press their cloaca’s together for a few seconds to transfer sperm to the female.

An adult Southern Carmine bee-eater perched on a dead branch in the heat of the morning facing Transport dam. This species is an intra-African migrant visiting in summer from Equatorial Africa. In summer, we have always found Southern Carmines in this area. There is a plethora of flying insects from bees to wasps and dragonflies. Carmines hawk from a prominent perch and usually return to the perch with their prey which they proceed to beat to death against the perch.

“My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature”. ~ Claude Monet

The lighter, faded coloured Southern Carmines are fledged juveniles. The juveniles were accomplished hawkers.

A Grey heron drying it wings after a early morning cloud burst. It was facing east directly into the morning sun. The weather was warm so it would have dried its wing feathers quite quickly.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

A Rattling cisticola – although it was difficult to see the red panel on its primary wing feathers and pale tip on its tail feathers. Its rufous cap was evident. This is a common species in open savanna and scrubland habitats and likes to sing on open perches.

A Common sandpiper walking on a fallen log in front of the hide at Lake Panic near the Skukuza camp. This species has green-brown upper parts and a white throat which has light brown streaks. Its belly and undertail coverts are white. It has a short straight grey beak and green-yellow legs. Common sandpipers have white wing bars and white tips on the secondaries and inner primaries. They have a conspicuous white eyering and a dark eye stripe. A key diagnostic feature is the white section above its shoulder.

A pair of Malachite kingfishers were very busy fishing from the reeds in front of the hide at Lake Panic. This is the smallest fish eating kingfisher. The smallest kingfisher in southern Africa is the Pygmy kingfisher but it is insectivorous.

“Light is a thing that cannot be reproduced, but must be represented by something else – by color.” ~ Paul Cezanne

A Grey heron standing on the back of a hippo bull which was sleeping with his head in the shade in the pool in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The bull hippo seemed completely unfazed by the heron walking around on his back. The hippo gave the heron access deeper into the pond to hunt fish and frogs.

A pair of Pied kingfishers were successfully hunting from higher perches in front of the hide at Lake Panic. This species also beat their prey against their perch to kill it and then throw their prey up in the air to rearrange its position so it can be swallowed head first. This prevents the dorsal fin of the fish getting caught in its throat.

Tucked away inside the bush overhanging the pond in front of the hide at Lake Panic was a nest with two newly hatched Green-backed herons. We watched the Grey heron get closer and closer to the nest but nothing happened. The outcome could have be very different if it had been a Black-headed heron.

“Nature is ever at work building and pulling down, creating and destroying, keeping everything whirling and flowing, allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion, chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.” ~ John Muir

There was a colony of Lesser masked weavers nesting in the large tree overhanging the pool in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The Lesser masked weaver has a black mask that extends halfway up the front of its crown and its eyes are whitish. All the bird activity caught the attention of Diederick’s cuckoos, Gabar Goshawks and Little sparrowhawks.

The next day we decided to travel down to Berg-en-dal camp from Pretoriuskop. We started down Voortrekker road but found it too rough and corrugated so we took the longer route on a tarred road using the HI-1 road and turned right onto the H3 tarred road. A few kilometres south of the Afsaal picnic site we found a family of Southern Ground hornbills foraging through the grass and over a rock outcrop next to a dry riverbed.

The Southern Ground hornbill is the size of a turkey, and is the largest species of hornbill. The species is immediately recognizable by its jet-black feathers, yellow eyes, and bright red throat and wide red eye ring. The male and female mostly look the same but the female has a purple-blue patch of skin on its throat. The male’s throat is uniformly red.

A Red-billed oxpecker preening itself while sitting on the back of an impala ewe. This species has dark brown upper parts and beige under parts. It has a red eye with a yellow eye ring and a vivid red beak. Oxpeckers have stiff tails feathers and sharp claws to be able to balance and hang on to their moving host. Red-billed Oxpeckers feed on ticks and clean up wounds in the tissue of the host’s hide.

The following day we drove along the Waterhole road between the H1-1 and S1 tarred roads. This is usually a productive drive from both a mammal and avian sighting perspective. We found a muddy Burchell’s Coucal skulking in the bushes along the gravel road. This species’ under parts are usually a light beige in colour. The barred upper tail coverts are a distinguishing feature. Coucals are a members of the cuckoo family but do not engage in parasitic breeding behaviour.

A Bronze mannikin looking after its hungry chicks. The adult Bronze mannikin has a grey beak and black-dark brown head. Its underparts are white and it has brown barring on its sides. Immature birds are a more plain buffy brown, with dark grey-brown upper parts and a black beak.

“This world is but a canvas for our imagination.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

A Jameson’s firefinch identified by its red plumage with a brown back and upper wing coverts, and blue-grey beak. This little finch was close to the Bronze mannikins in a bush along side a rivulet with water.

A Red-backed shrike. This is a beautiful small shrike. The male has a distinctive blue-grey head, black eye band and white underparts and fine scalloping on its breast. Its back is a rusty-red. It prefers thorny bushes which it uses as a larder to impale its prey on the thorns. This species is a Paleartic breeder and migrates to southern Africa during our summers.

A female Giant kingfisher perched on a fallen tree trunk in the pool in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The sexes can be distinguished by the position of their chestnut frontal plumage. The male has a chestnut breast band while the female a has a chestnut belly and undertail coverts. This is the largest kingfisher in Southern Africa and feeds on fish, frogs, insects and crabs.

A Woodland kingfisher with its bright red maxilla and black mandible. It has a white head, neck and underparts. Its shoulders are black and the back and flight feathers are a vivid cyan-blue colour. This kingfisher has a beautiful trilling call which is only heard in summer as it is an inter African migrant. It moves north during the winter months in southern Africa.

An interesting interaction between a large terrapin and an African darter on a fallen tree trunk in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The terrapin was quietly sunning itself and minding its own business when this darter flew in and landed on the fallen tree trunk. The darter waddled over to the terrapin and started to peck at its legs.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life”. ~ Henry David Thoreau

This large Serrated hinged terrapin stood its ground by retracting the legs being pecked at. Eventually the terrapin slid off the log to get some peace and the darter walked further along the log to sun itself.

The weather was variable in the week we spent driving around the southern section of Kruger. We found a small flock of Red-breasted swallows sitting on the ground with their breast feathers puffed up because it was quite cold. This looked to be a juvenile because its tail streamers were still quite short. This large swallow has a brick-red rump and underparts and dark blue upper parts and crown and face mask. This is an inter African summer visitor.

A Southern Black flycatcher is a slim glossy-black flycatcher. It can be mistaken for a Fork-tailed drongo but the former is smaller, has a square tail and a smaller beak. Its eyes are dark brown whereas the drongo has a deep red eye colour.

A fledged juvenile Brown snake-eagle. The adult has dark brown overall appearance but in flight the underwing is silver grey. The juvenile has paler brown feathers and the edges of the feathers are paler and white giving it a scaly look. The head and breast often show white feathers bases.

Late in the afternoon, we travelled on S118 loop down near Malelane. It has several waterholes adjacent to the road. We found this Dark Chanting goshawk perched on a dead tree trunk scouring the area for any prey. This species is a tall, long-tailed, slaty-gray hawk with pink-orange legs and beak and the tip of its beak is black. The flight feathers and wing tips are dark on both the upper and under wings, creating a uniformly dark wing pattern in flight. By contrast, the Pale Chanting-Goshawk has pale inner flight feathers and dark wing tips, which creates a strongly contrasting wing pattern.

The sightings of mammals can be variable but you are always likely to see a wide variety of birds in Kruger. The sightings are affected by the weather. The birds are less active in cold and windy weather, as are the mammals. The wind can be an advantage when taking images of birds in flight. A bird flying into the wind will always fly slower making the photography easier. The birds of prey also seem to be disturbed by too much road traffic and they usually fly deeper into the bush so I prefer to stay off the main roads. Long lenses ensure that I can give most birds enough ‘fight-flight’ space, usually around 30 metres.

“Few can sojourn long within the unspoilt wilderness of a gam sanctuary surrounded on all sides by its confiding animals, without absorbing its atmosphere; the spirit of the wild is quick to assert supremacy, and no man of any sensibility can resist her.” ~ James Stevenson Hamilton

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at it 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

We were fortunate enough to spend three nights at Pafuri Tented Camp which is positioned on the northern bank of the Luvuvhu river. Within the Pafuri area is the Makuleke Concession, the ancestral home of the Makuleke people and the most diverse and scenically attractive area in the Kruger National Park.

“Pursue something so important that even if you fail, the world is better off with you having tried.”
~ Tim O’Reilly

The Makuleke Concession is not accessible to the ordinary tourist visiting the park. This area belongs to the Makuleke community, who were removed in 1968. After a lengthy legal process, it was finally returned to the community in 1998. Wisely, the Maluleke community retained and developed its conservation and ecotourism objectives. This has turned into one of the most constructive outcomes from the land claim and land reform process in South Africa.

“The earth has music for those who listen” ~William Shakespeare

We had a dawn start from the Pafuri Tented Camp to drive to the location where the Pels Fishing owls had last been seen. It was a misty sunrise with lots of moisture after a heavy rain during the night.

After a half an hour’s drive we arrived at a fishing camp in a thick forested section on the north bank of the river. We found a juvenile Pels Fishing owl high up in the canopy. I never managed to get a decent image as this Pels never moved into a clearing. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see this elusive owl.

A Nyala bull is a spiral-horned antelope endemic to southern Africa. Only males have horns, which vary in length from 60 to 80 cm in length and are yellow-tipped. This species exhibits the highest sexual dimorphism among the spiral-horned antelopes. The adult male’s coat is a dark brown or slate grey, often tinged with blue.

Nyala females and juveniles are rufous brown with ten or more white stripes on their sides.  Nyala are mainly active in the early morning and the late afternoon and feed on foliage, fruits and grasses, and requires daily fresh water.

A juvenile Martial eagle showing its pure white belly and white head and chest. The adult is uniformly brown on the head, back, and chest, with a pale belly covered in dark brown blotches. The legs are white and this raptor has very large talons. The Martial eagle spends around 85% of its day perched and is predominantly an opportunistic perch and ambush hunter. It usually only takes to the wing in the late morning once thermals develop.

This old “dagga boy” was taking his frustrations out on the bushes behind him and a tuft of grass in front of him which is why he had so many leaves on his back and sides. A “dagga boy” is an old male buffalo which has been forced out of the herd by the younger bulls. These bulls tend to follow the herd and are either solitary or band together for protection. There are no lions in this part of Kruger so they have an easier time in that respect.

A Woolly-necked stork foraging in a shallow pan which had filled after the recent good rains. The species is predominantly carnivorous and its diet consists of fish, frogs, toads, small snakes, lizards, large insects and larvae, crabs and molluscs. It forages by slowly walking through water or vegetation, stabbing at prey. This stork is usually seen alone or as a pair foraging near water.

A White -browed scrub-robin. The creamy white superciliary stripe is distinct, but the crown can vary from a warm brown, to olive brown or greyish brown. This is a furtive and shy species which mostly sings from deep inside bushes. Like other scrub robin species, the tail is regularly flicked and fanned. 

Our guide from Pafuri Tented Camp, Wiseman, was excellent and had an incredible knowledge of birds and trees. Amongst so many things, he showed us this massive Baobab which was estimated to be around 1500 years old. The ring barking by elephants is clearly visible on all three sections of the trunk. Elephants change their eating habits during different seasons and in drier times will ring bark large Baobabs or often push over large trees to reach the nutrient rich leaves and roots. Elephants instinctively know that Baobabs store water and in the dry season when water is scarce they will look for Baobab trees to quench their thirst. The elephants rip large pieces from the trunk of the trees or tear off entire branches to get to nutrients and stored water. The bark of the Baobab is soft enough for an elephant to gouge a hole in it and rip the bark off.

A pair of Double-banded sandgrouse stopped foraging on the road when they saw us. This species is dimorphic. The male has a combination of black-and-white bands just above the beak and a strong yellow eye-ring. The female has a pale yellow eye-ring and is mottled with black, brown, and white. Both have cryptic colouring on their backs which provide good camouflage from raptors.

This was a typical scene on the gravel track leading to Crook’s Corner. The vegetation was thick with many Baobabs and Sausage trees on the stoney ridges. Once we got down onto the Limpopo floodplain the vegetation changed and got thicker.

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure some of them are dirt.” ~ John Muir

A juvenile Bateleur eagle with its characteristic brown plumage. Its facial skin is a blue-green colour as a juvenile but turns orange before becoming the scarlet colour of an adult. In the third year, this juvenile’s plumage starts to turn into adult colours of black, white, rufous and grey. It can take an immature Bateleur up to eight years to shed all its brown plumage and grow its full adult colouring. The Bateleur eagle is the most recognisable of the snake eagles. It spends most of its time soaring at low altitudes in a slow rocking motion. The rocking motion when flying with its long, bow-shaped wings turn up at the ends, and its noticeably short tail gives it the appearance of a tightrope walker. It is this rocking motion which gives it its French name.

Once we got down onto the floodplain we drove through the edges of the fever tree forests. Fever trees are usually found growing on river banks, swampy areas or in flood plains. The distinctive form and striking colours of the fever tree make it easily identifiable in the wild. The tree can be recognised by its trunk which is straight, smooth, an unusual lime green colour and is covered with a fine yellow dust. The bark of the trunk and branches is flaky and tends to peel off in paper thin layers.

Down in the thick vegetation of the floodplain, we found a family of Retz Helmeted shrikes. The orange eye and red eye wattles, red legs and red beak ( with a yellow tip) against a black body and head feathers are unmistakable diagnostic features. 

This is a gregarious species, much like its White helmeted cousin. It flocks in groups up to 15 birds. Its preferred habitat is mature broadleaf and mopani woodland and riverine and coastal forest, and it avoids arid habitats.

The pans adjacent to the fever tree forest had filled with the recent good rains. The pan attracted Grey and Goliath herons, Spur-winged geese, Spoonbills and Black-winged stilts.

We eventually arrived at Crooks Corner from the north bank of the Luvuvhu river. This was a window onto a huge sandbar looking onto the Limpopo river with Zimbabwe behind it.

Crooks Corner is where the Luvuvhu river meets the Limpopo river. At the mouth of the Luvuvhu there was a pod of hippos and a few Nile crocodiles basking on the southern bank. The public viewing point is on the south bank of the Luvuvhu river.

The muddy mouth of the Luvuvhu river as it feeds into the Limpopo river. When the Limpopo river’s water level is high the water flows back up the Luvuvhu as far as the fever tree forest. This back flow fills up small tributaries leaving large pools of water in the tributaries long after the rain has stopped.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Looking at the width of the Limpopo river, it is hard to believe that this turns into a river of sand during the winter months. In the 1900’s this confluence provided an escape route for gun runners, poachers, tribal labour recruiters and anyone else avoiding the law by hopping across the river into a neighbouring country. There is a large plaque here commemorating the legendary ivory hunter Stephanus Cecil Rutgert Barnard. The actual location of Crooks Corner is on an island in the Limpopo, close to where the Luvuvhu River flows into the Limpopo. There used to be a beacon on the island that marked the spot, but recent floods washed it away. Across from Crooks Corner is Ypie’s Island, named after Barnard’s favourite mule, which was marooned on the island for several weeks. (https://pendukasafaris.com/remembering-bvekenya-country-life-february-2003/)

On our return journey to the camp, we drove through and stopped in the fever tree forest. The atmosphere in the forest was quiet and serene with the occasional solo from a songbird.. The dappled light in the forest was complemented by a light blue haze deeper in the forest.

Once inside the fever tree forest, there is a wonderful feeling of serenity helped by the playful dappled light.

“The sacred place of silent minds and deep souls is the depths of the forest!” ~ Mehmet Murat İldan

After having had coffee in the fever tree forest we continued our journey back to camp. As we climbed up off the flood plain back onto the stoney ridges we were greeted by many Baobabs, many of which were still fully leafed.

“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.” ~ John James Audubon

On our way back to the Pafuri Tented Camp along the Luvuvhu river we found a small group of elephants cooling off and having fun in the river. Being so large they have little to fear from the crocodiles in the river.

The Luvuvhu river gives one a sense of quintessential Africa. The river was flowing strongly and there was plenty of wildlife along its banks. This family group of waterbuck stopped their grazing to watch us as we drove past.

Back at camp, looking down onto the Luvuvhu river from the elevated deck. The river is a magnet for wildlife. The view from the deck is superb and one could easily spend a morning just watching and listening to all the wildlife activity next to the river.

The biodiversity in the Makuleke Contractual Park is remarkable. The photography is challenging because of the thick vegetation but there is great diversity of geology, scenery, birds and botany. You may be rewarded by seeing a variety of unusual birds such as Retz Helmeted shrikes, Pels Fishing owl, Racket-tailed roller, Crested guineafowl, Black and Crowned eagles to name a few. The region is well known for its abundant, year-round birdlife.

The Makuleke region is home to an unusual geological and natural heritage that makes this region interesting to geographers, historians, anthropologists, wildlife and birding enthusiasts. The Makuleke community opted to retain the conservation status of the northern portion of the Kruger National Park (KNP) and after a successful land claim process they concluded a co-management agreement with South African National Parks (SANP). This has been one of the most successful and constructive post-land claim outcomes in the past two decades.

“The more civilized man becomes, the more he needs and craves a great background of forest wildness, to which he may return like a contrite prodigal from the husks of an artificial life”. ~ Ellen Burns Sherman

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

Have fun, Mike

After three days rambling around Punda Maria area, we travelled north to the upper most section of the Kruger Park to Pafuri which incorporates the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers.

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” ~ Anais Nin

The upper reaches of the Kruger Park which incorporate the Luvuvhu and Limpopo rivers are all about birds, botany and breathtaking vistas. If you are looking for the big cats this is not the place to go. Although it is an ideal habitat for lions, with plentiful game and huge expanses of pristine bushveld, there are presently no resident lions in the Pafuri area due to snaring & poisoning. In addition, those lions that cross the Limpopo into Zimbabwe are usually never seen again.

It was interesting to see that the baobab trees still had most of their leaves as we travelled north closer to the Limpopo river. I had never seen baobabs adorned with such vibrant greens and yellows.

A female Double-band sandgrouse foraging for seeds in the gravel road. She was incredibly well camouflaged with her back feathers blending in with this stoney section of the gravel road.

“Live your life by a compass, not a clock.”~ Stephen Covey

A view looking downstream of the Luvuvhu river from the bridge across the main road. The Luvuvhu River flows for about 200 km through a diverse range of landscapes before it joins the Limpopo River in the Fever Tree Forest area, near Pafuri in the Kruger National Park. A few kilometres up river, this body of water flows through some dramatic gorges.

A massive Nile crocodile basking in the warmth of the sandbank around the middle of the day. It was relatively cloudy but still warm.

The main road through Pafuri area is the H1-9. Two bridges enable access across the Luvuvhu river. There is always plenty of wildlife activity in the trees next to these bridges. For birders this section of the road is extremely productive.

A lone Crowned lapwing standing on top of a broken down anthill. It had been foraging for insects when we caught its attention.

The Luvuvhu river flowing away to meet the Limpopo river. The plentiful rains during the rainy season painted the vegetation on the river banks with verdant green.

A cathedral of trees. This gravel road runs along the Luvuvhu river close to Crooks corner. Other an a fish eagle calling all you could hear was the wind flowing through the trees.

“The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

There was plenty of water in pans away from the river but that did not stop this family herd of waterbuck from foraging on the lush vegetation along the river bank.

It had rained a lot in the days prior to our arrival in the Pafuri area. The gravel roads had many puddles of water in them. On the gravel road to Crooks Corner, we watched a Hammerkop successfully hunting for frogs. It moved along the road walking from puddle to puddle and managed to catch four decent sized frogs in about 20 minutes. As it entered a new puddle it would use its feet to scratch around the bottom of the puddle and in doing so stirred up insects and frogs. Having caught a frog it stepped to the edge of puddle and beat the frog to death by hitting against the ground. Once the frog was dead the Hammerkop manoeuvred the frog to swallow it head first in one gulp.

The bush along the Luvuvhu river is beautiful. That said there are plenty of crocodiles in the river and when walking with a guide you have to be careful of buffalo and snakes.

The Luvuvhu River rises as a steep mountain stream in the southeasterly slopes of the Soutpansberg Mountains around 200 kilometres away from the Pafuri area. Once the Luvuvhu river enters the western side of northern Kruger, it is characterised by steep sandstone/shale gorges which are home to Lanner falcons and Black eagles. One of the most impressive sections is Lanner gorge. Just down river of Lanner Gorge, the Mutale river flows into the Luvuvhu just as it flows onto the wide Pafuri flood plain.

“The river has great wisdom and whispers its secret to the hearts of men.” ~ Mark Twain

Along the Luvuvhu is a riparian forest which is home to a wonderful variety of birds and botany. The riparian trees are are home to unique birds such as the Pels fishing owl, Crested guineafowl, Racket-tailed rollers, Tropical Boubous, Retz Helmeted shrikes and White-backed herons to name just a few.

“Rivers are places that renew our spirit, connect us with our past, and link us directly with the flow and rhythm of the natural world.” ~ Ted Turner

Recalling our adventure in the Pafuri area, in my next post I describe our wandering down to Crookes Corner through baobab and fever tree forests to see where the Luvuvhu meets the mighty Limpopo river.

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

Have fun, Mike

On our second day in the northern part of Kruger National Park, based in Punda Maria, we travelled south along the H1-7 road towards Shingwedzi camp. On the way there is a wonderful drive along the Mphongolo loop which follows the Mphongolo river. This 20 kilometre loop offers one of the most productive drives in the Kruger Park.

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” ~ Mark Twain

Mphongolo means a very spiritual person who often relies on intuition for decision making.

There are many windows through the trees that give you a view down to the Mphongolo river and each time you look through nature’s window you may see something unexpected and special.

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” ~Ram Dass

It is strange how some scenes have a profound effect on one. It must have been 40 years ago when I cut out a picture from a magazine of a bushbuck in a dry sand river bed similar to this one with a buffalo bull standing in the river bed. The large fig tree created a nostalgic background. I love the enormity of the scene where even a massive buffalo bull is small in the scene. The sand riverbed is big with massive trees rimming the banks. It was quiet and the buffalo bull was listening for the slightest dissonance above the gentle rustle of the leaves.

The Mphongolo river has plenty of water in its deep bends. Wherever the river hit a section of sandstone it meandered around it. At each bend, on the outside edge of the riverbed, the water travelled fastest so dug deepest into the river bed. This left relatively deep pools of water even after the river had stopped flowing. The Mphongolo river is know to be home to many Nile crocodiles.

Looking down onto this section of the river, we saw a small pod of hippos in the water and a pair of Woolly-necked storks foraging in the shallows. An adult Woolly-necked stork has glossy black upperparts and wings, with a tinge of purple and copper, except the lower underparts, which are white. This stork has a distinctive woolly white neck which reaches the back of the head. One of the interesting aspects of looking at this river bend was that at first you did not see anything. With patience and quiet, slowly and carefully mother nature began to reveal herself.

Down near the river’s bend a kudu bull appeared. He was thirsty but alert and would stop every few paces to look and listen and smell. Having assessed the situation correctly he had a peaceful drink at the river before melting back into the bush where his family must have been foraging.

Where the river bends around an obstacle, the outer bend is usually deeper. We found an adult Grey heron hunting in the deeper section of the river bend. I am always amazed how apparently casual most Grey and Goliath herons are when wading in the crocodile infected waters of southern Africa. I have never heard a plausible explanation for this behaviour. Crocs will happily take doves and Egyptian geese from the river bank if they can but they don’t seem to attack herons.

You will seldom find a bird flying towards you. This Grey heron must have been spooked by something and the only way out was to fly along the river towards me.

A relaxed female waterbuck chewing her cud. She belongs to the large family of bovids, which are plant-eating hooved animals with horns and a four-chambered stomach. Bovid’s diet is mainly grass and foliage. These ruminants regurgitate and re-chew their food (chew the cud).

A Pearl-spotted owlet. They are often seen out in the open in the mornings. The pearls on its forehead were quite noticeable. It looked at us sternly for a few minutes before flying off to a quieter spot. This is one of the smallest owls in southern Africa. It is “earless”, meaning is does not have prominent tufts of feathers on either side of its head which can be seen on the much larger Spotted and Cape Eagle-owls. The Pearl-spotted owlet has white spots on its head not bars as seen on the African Barred owlet. The Pearl-spotted owlet also has brown streaks on its chest whereas the African Barred owlet has barring on its chest.

Further along the river we saw a family herd of elephants drinking water from the narrow rivulet flowing meandering along the riverbed. Some family members were foraging on the bushes along the river. Again the size of the scene is dimensioned by the relatively small size of the elephants.

“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination with reality, and instead of thinking of how things may be, see them as they are.” ~ Samuel Johnson

Further along, a pair of southern Africa giraffe were ambling along the river bed. Presumably they were looking for a bend with pools of water and enough space for them not to be ambushed while they are drinking.

The epitome of peace. All we could hear were Ring necked turtle doves, starlings and the cackle of the odd Egyptian goose. Some members of the elephant family were drinking while the older members just stood patiently waiting for the others to finish. The water was not deep enough for them to bathe in. If it had been I am sure some of them would have been swimming too.

This loop is known for its lion, leopard and hyaena sightings. We heard from fellow travellers that they had seen lion but we could not find them. Often a special sighting is only available for a few minutes before the animal has moved back into the bush.

I hope these few scenes give you a sense of the variety of wildlife that can been seen along this gravel road. The weather was overcast but it was warm and the bush was verdant. Thankfully, there was plenty of water for the wildlife. Once we had finished the Mphongolo loop we ventured further down to the Shingwedzi camp. This is a must for our next trip to the northern Kruger.

“The curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

If we were to stay at Shingwedzi camp, we could easily access the Mphongolo loop, do the loop to the Bateleur Bushveld camp, travel down to Mopani camp and follow the Dipani road from Mopani camp back to Shingwedzi camp which takes you past the Lebombo mountains and along the Shingwedzi river.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” ~ Henry Miller

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

Have fun, Mike

A cryptic title perhaps but this post describes one of the most fascinating experiences I have had in the bush for a while and one that is deeply etched in my consciousness. It was a wonderful example of the complexity and inter-connectedness in nature. What we saw and experienced powerfully confirmed and reinforced my ideas about the bush.

Lake Panic is a well-known and favourite bird hide located a few kilometres west of Skukuza, the headquarters of Kruger National Park in South Africa. We visited the hide on a few mornings during our week’s stay at Burchell’s Lodge just outside the Kruger gate. This particular morning it was raining and the light was low. I was well armed with all my photographic kit and a head full of expectation. While the rainy overcast weather was not going to provide instant gratification, I knew that a degree of patience and quiet observance would yield something unusual and unexpected – and it did.

“Rain hangs about the place, like a friendly ghost. If it’s not coming down in delicate droplets, then it’s in buckets; and if neither, it tends to lurk suspiciously in the atmosphere.” ~    Barbara Acton-Bond

There was prolific birdlife all around with White faced whistling ducks flying in, White-breasted cormorants trying to dry off, African darters fishing, wide-eyed Spotted thick-knees, African jacanas lily trotting, Pied and Malachite kingfishers fishing, Fish eagles waiting for opportunities, goshawks and sparrowhawks hunting and an assortment of small herons foraging along the water’s edge. To add a little extra variety, terrapins and elephants also came to visit.

Amongst all the wildlife’s comings and goings there were moments of apparent inactivity. The pond at the hide end of Lake Panic is surrounded by large trees, some of which were acacias with large branches hanging over the water. There were two weaver colonies around the pond. The first was to the left of the pond shown in the next image. The further the nest hangs out over the water, the greater the protection from snakes and baboons.

“Nothing shouts “spring” louder than a frenzied colony of weaverbirds building new nests and their emergence of dazzling breeding plumages… ” ~South Africa.co.za

The second larger colony was positioned directly across the pond in a well armoured, large acacia tree.

Weavers are gregarious and build their nests in colonies usually above the water. Newman’s Birds describes the weaver’s call as a prolonged swizzling sound with a sharp “zit zit” sound. Imagine hundreds of these weavers all calling simultaneously in a colony. The whole side of the tree seemed to be alive and making that swizzling sound.

There are 14 weaver species in southern Africa, of which 12 are found in South Africa and all but three have predominately yellow plumage.

I noticed two types of weavers at Lake Panic, the Village weaver and the Lesser masked weaver. I did not get an image of a Southern masked weaver and at the time mistook the Village for a Southern masked weaver. All three species prefer to live in large colonies and build similar sized nests in trees with branches which hang over water.

Many birds build unusual nests but the weaver bird is the only one that has the ability to weave and tie knots. The weaver tears strips of fresh grass or shreds reed streamers off their stem and selects a suitable thin branch which extends out over the water to start tying its knots to anchor the nest to the branch. The first knots are structurally critical as they secure the nest chamber to the branch. The males do the structural building of the nest. The next image is of a male Village weaver in the early stage of his construction, assembling the structural hanging frame.

The male will build the basic structure of the nest by weaving threads of grass and reed to form a sturdy shell fully enclosed but for a circular entrance under the front of the nest. The nest is accessed from beneath to make access more difficult for anything but a weaver bird. Different species of weavers have there own style and shape of nest, each with its own different shaped entrance, some even have a long tunnel entrance into the nest shell.

Weavers are known for their roofed nests which are complex hanging woven chambers which male weaver birds construct during mating season to attract prospective mates.

Once the male has completed the basic structure of the nest he will go out of his way to attract a passing female with lots of calls. He also displays by hanging underneath the nest and twists and turns while flapping his wings. His bright yellow plumage must catch the female’s eye and then his display under the nest shows how well it has been constructed.

Impressed with the position, structural integrity of the woven nest shell and the male’s virile display, the female will then inspect the nest. If it passes her inspection she will begin to line the nest in preparation for mating and egg laying. The females are extremely choosy and males often have to tear apart their hard built nest and start again until he meets a female’s demanding standards. The nest building and attracting females continued irrespective of the rain.

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”   G. K. Chesterton

The rain was intermittent and all of the “birders”, apart from Helen and I left the hide because of the rain and because there was nothing obvious going on. Both species of weaver continued flying from their nests to the reeds directly in front of the hide to gather nest building material. The male weaver would carefully strip off a long thread of reed or strand of grass and fly back to his nest and busily weave it into his nest structure.

All the weavers in the colony were very talkative as they were nest building and trying to attract partners. The chatter was noisy. Then all of a sudden, in unison, the entire colony went silent. Not one weaver flew to or from his nest. The entire pond area became dead quiet. It was so noticeable we were quite taken aback for a while and then realised there must be a raptor or predator around. We scanned the banks of the pond and could see nothing. Then, at the top of a dead tree overlooking the large acacia at the opposite side of the pond, was a Little Sparrowhawk.

These Little Sparrowhawks like riverine forests and woodlands and they also like weavers. The Little Sparrowhawk likes to perch concealed in a nearby tree then ambushes the unsuspecting weaver by swooping down on it before it has time to escape. We never saw this Little Sparrowhawk catch a weaver but it tried quite a few times before giving up and flying off. Each time the raptor flew into the colony the chattering stopped immediately and the weavers froze. The colony operated as one living organism and each member cooperated for the safety of the whole.

“Why is it you can never hope to describe the emotion Africa creates? You are lifted. Out of whatever pit, unbound from whatever tie, released from whatever fear. You are lifted and you see it all from above.” ~ Francesca Marciano

Colonial nest building is a defence against predators There are more eyes to look for danger so there is safety in numbers. That does not seem to stop predation from small raptors and harrierhawks, or brood parasitism from cuckoos, honeyguides, Indigobirds, whydahs and cuckoo-finches. The Diederick’s cuckoo and Greater honeyguide are generalist parasitic breeders. We heard many Diedericks cuckoos in the surrounding trees, possibly for good reason, as the weaver breeding season is from October to March and we were there right in the middle of the breeding season.

“… fortune is not in time or place or things; but, good or bad, in the man’s own self for him alone to find and prove.” ~ Percy FitzPatrick

The more I watched the weavers flying back and forth gathering nesting material more I noticed differences in them. I had never noticed the mixed colony before with Village and Lesser masked weavers all co-mingled in the same large colony. The Village, Southern masked and Lesser masked weavers all have yellow plumage on the throat, breast and under tail coverts. Below the nape, the back feathers are speckled yellow and black, and the wing feathers are dark brown to black with yellow borders.

The main physical differences lie in their size and the position of the black face mask and eye colour. The Village weaver has a black face mask and a yellow crown which extends down to its beak, and it has red eyes and pinkish legs. The Southern masked weaver looks very similar but is smaller. It also has a black mask but its mask extends over its forehead just above the beak. It also has red eyes and pinkish legs. The Lesser masked weaver is the smallest of the three masked weavers. Its black face mask extends over the top of its forehead and it has yellow eyes and dark grey legs.

Time and again all the chattering in the colony would suddenly stop. There would be no sounds from any of the weavers. Every weaver was dead still. Even the weavers stripping strands off the reeds directly in front of the hide went dead quiet and still. We now knew that the sudden quiet signalled danger for the colony. This time it turned out to be a Gabar goshawk. It must have flown in (out of sight) from behind the trees and then settled down semi concealed in the branches near the weaver nests to wait for a hunting opportunity. The Gabar goshawk is identified by its grey plumage, red cere and red legs. It has light horizontal barring on its breast and belly and a white rump. It has horizontal thick black and grey bars on its tail feathers.

This Gabar had a few sorties among the weavers without success and eventually flew off. These small raptors do a good job of terrorising the weavers. It was fascinating to watch how this colony worked cooperatively to ensure its safety.

Research done by Nicholas E. Collias of the University of California has shown that social signals of a species are social signals and guides to its social life. Vocal signals are composed of basic elements that vary in duration, frequency, loudness, and tonality of notes. Sound spectrograms were made of 21 of the 26 vocal signals in the extensive vocal repertoire of the African Village Weaver. Short-distance contact calls are given in favorable situations and are generally characterized by low amplitude and great brevity of notes. Alarm cries are longer, louder, and often strident calls with much energy at high frequencies, whereas threat notes, also relatively long and harsh, emphasize lower frequencies. Each male displays his newest nest in a colony with an individually distinctive call to unmated females. The most harmonic calls of the species include a loud call by a male when an unmated female first enters his nest, and also very soft, brief notes given by parent birds to attract a fledgling. Males use somewhat different songs to defend territory, for courtship, and for advertisement.

“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life.”~
John Burroughs

I will never again look at a humble weaver colony the same way, I will always stop and take some time to take in the dynamics of the colony and its surroundings.

“Art helps us see with new eyes what we knew was there but never really recognized. I photograph not to record or document—but rather, to capture and hold, just for a moment, the essence of what exists beyond the scene.” ~ Robert Hall

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike