So often when wildlife enthusiasts go to a hide, they go to see mainly animals and the larger birds. You can see so much more if time is invested in those quiet spells just looking out for the smaller birds at the edge of the waterhole. You will marvel at the abundance and their wonderfully varied plumage.

“There is a way that nature speaks – that land speaks – most of the time we are simply not patient enough – quiet enough – to pay attention to the story” ~ Linda Hogan

A Golden breasted bunting came down for a drink of water. The male has this golden breast plumage and all buntings have the black head with white eye stripes.

We saw many Sombre bulbuls. They usually came down to drink at the water’s edge singly. The olive-green plumage seemed to vary somewhat from a lighter green to almost grey in different individuals. That creamy-white eye is unmistakable and diagnostic.

A Jameson’s firefinch with its vivid crimson front and face. It looks very similar to the Red-billed firefinch but is more vivid in colour and has a black upper mandible and light grey lower mandible.

“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” – Kurt Vonnegut

A female Three-banded plover with her two young chicks. The chicks are born precocial, meaning they can fend for themselves soon after being born. They do on occasions go and tuck under their mother’s wings for warmth and protection. These chicks were tiny, probably only 40 mm in length.

A Common sandpiper foraging along the water’s edge looking for small insects and invertebrates. Its diagnostic white pectoral region above the folded wing was clearly visible.

“Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and just listen. No more is needed. Being still, looking, and listening activates the non-conceptual intelligence within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions.”
~ Eckhart Tolle

A male Orange-breasted bush shrike in a hook thorn on the other side of the waterhole. It had its back to us so you cannot see the orange breast but the vivid yellow underparts and primaries helped the identification. The male has the black eye band but the female does not.

A lone Hammerkop parked on a rock next to the water’s edge to roost and watch all the goings on around the waterhole. Before resting it had been very busy looking for frogs and insects around the waterhole.

“Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections.”
~ Ryan Holiday

A Three-banded plover chick looking for edibles in the well trodden mud around the waterhole. As I mentioned earlier the two chicks were very small being around 40mm in length and when they stopped moving were very well camouflaged against the broken mud and soil.

Often looking at the grass near the water’s edge can reveal small insectivores such as this Rattling cisticola. It was picking small insects off the grass stems.

“The earth has its music for those who will listen.” ~ Reginald Holmes

We saw many Yellow-fronted canaries which usually came down to drink in small groups. This small canary has a grey crown and nape and black facial markings and its under parts are a bright yellow. They did not drink for long but flew down to drink frequently.

A Blue waxbill. We saw many, and like the canaries they drink a little often and then fly off into the bush to forage.

A male and female Jameson’s firefinch. The female is noticeably paler and more peach coloured. Both sexes have similar coloured upper tail coverts and rectrices.

A noisy gathering of mainly Black-headed bulbuls with a single Blue waxbill and a pair of Yellow-fronted canaries. This type of gathering is useful to see the relative sizes of the different species.

“We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.” –Albert Einstein

An Emerald-spotted wood-dove. It has the two distinctive sets of emerald green wing spots. Doves and pigeons are the only birds that suck water into their mouths when they drink. This species of dove has such a sad sounding call.

A Black flycatcher keeping an eye on the waterhole from its perch in a dead tree at the edge of the tree line around the waterhole. This species can often be seen catching insects above the water but that morning it was too cold and windy for hunting .

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” ~ Vincent van Gogh

A solitary Purple-crested turaco came down to drink and was joined by a Black-headed bulbul. We only saw this species once in the four days we visited this hide.

Another smaller gathering. The different species do not seem to mind each other at all. The two Black-headed bulbuls were joined by a Cape Glossy starling and a Black-collared barbet. I did see an Acacia Pied barbet but it was too quick for me to get a decent image.

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” ~ E.B.White

A pair of Water Thick-knees brought their two drinks down to the edge of the waterhole. I did not see any of the family drink any water. The two chicks were incredibly well camouflaged among the small stones around the edge of the waterhole.

On our way out of the hide at the first gate along the walkway to the hide we saw this White-browed scrub robin. It was unafraid of us and we watched it call and display for about ten minutes.

These few images give you a sense of the abundance of small bird species around the waterhole. They are fascinating to watch and their plumage is vividly coloured. If you are only looking for the big things and leave once the mammals and large birds have left the waterhole you would miss all these small avian jewels.

“Slow down, be quiet, be patient and in that stillness nature will reveal things to you way beyond your expectations.” ~ Mike Haworth

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

Have fun, Mike

One morning at the Malibala hide in the Mkuze Game Reserve the peace was broken by a pair of Egyptian geese. Up until that time, they had been the only geese at the waterhole and all had been quiet. As soon as a wandering pair of Egyptian geese flew towards the waterhole, the pair on the ground started to hiss and honk.

“Birds will give you a window, if you allow them. They will show you secrets from another world – fresh vision that, though it is avian, can accompany you home and alter your life. They will do this for you even if you don’t know their names– though such knowing is a thoughtful gesture. They will do this for you if you watch them.”― Lyanda Lynn Haupt

The plumage of both sexes Egyptian geese are identical but the males are usually larger. Their plumage varies greatly in tone, with some birds greyer and others browner. This plumage tone variation is not thought to be sex- or age-related.

Egyptian geese are very vocal, and have a repertoire of snarls, grunts, honks, and hisses. Both sexes hiss in alarm and honk when taking flight, but only males snarl and only females grunt.

Male Egyptian geese fight each other to protect their territory and their females. They are monogamous, so have one mate for life. Despite their territorial imperative, Egyptian geese are known to congregate in large flocks outside breeding season in areas with enough grazing. We have seen this spectacle along the Chobe river. At the waterholes there was usually one resident pair, suggesting that there was not enough food for more than one pair or that the pair were breeding.

“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” ~ Bernice Johnson Reagon

Both sexes are aggressively territorial towards their own species when breeding. Egyptian Geese breed just once each year and lay up to eight eggs. The majority breed in the spring or at the end of the dry season. The breeding season can be anytime from July to March, depending on the area.

“It is not the strength of body that counts but the strength of spirit.” ~JRR Tolkien

When talking about birds fighting, we need to differentiate fighting among individuals of the same species from other aggressive interactions. The latter could include the hunting and killing of other birds as seen with many raptor species.

Direct physical combat between individuals of the same species is not common. Birds have ways to “fight” using ritualised signals and behaviours so that more often than not they can avoid a potentially costly physical fight.

On this particular morning, the early ritualised threats quickly gave way to full on physical fighting. The two males were using the chests to push their opponent around. When that was not enough they started to bite each other. They seldom use their webbed feet in a fight as a raptor would do. Rather they need their feet to find purchase on the ground so they push their opponent.

The fights can get aggressive with both males trying to bite the other on the neck and back. They also hit each other with their wings. Turtle and Laughing doves, and pigeons are often seen slapping each other with their wings in a violent display called “wing fighting”, especially around food.

“Better to fight for something than live for nothing.” ~ George S. Patton

Fighting can be a dangerous time for the combatants. They become so focussed on fighting each other and they are not aware of what is around them. Egyptian geese need to be on the look-out for leopards, lions, cheetahs, hyaenas, and crocodiles which will attack them given half a chance. Raptors such as Black sparrowhawks, African fish-eagles and Wahlberg’s eagles are known to feed on Egyptian geese.

The songs of birds, some of which are wonderful to listen to, are the ultimate signal (usually males to other male birds) of the singer’s territorial imperative, and any intrusions into it will be dealt with harshly. If one male is foolish enough to ignore the message of territoriality from the song of another and violates the space of the singer, then behaviours may quickly escalate. If the singing doesn’t do the trick, the next step may be the communication of aggression through a specific ritualised behaviour. If that does not deter the intruder then the behaviour is likely to get physical.

The waterhole’sresident male Egyptian goose, spurred on by his female, decided the intruder needed to be taught a lesson. So the fight went into the second round.

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” ~ Margaret Thatcher

If the songs and rituals aren’t enough to stop two aggressive individuals from challenging each other then, beak, claw and wings are needed. With Egyptian geese, the threat posture is shown by an extended neck and hissing. Threatened birds mostly avoided the opponent, with only one in forty encounters resulted in a physical fight.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill

When it comes to winning bird feuds, researchers have determined that beaks and build are the best predictors of who wins the battle.

Egyptian geese mostly eat seeds, leaves, grasses and plant stems, which is why they remain close to waterholes or wetlands. Occasionally, they will eat locusts, worms, or other small invertebrates.

“Don’t fight a battle if you don’t gain anything by winning”. ~ The Art of War by Sun Tzu 

Egyptian geese moult annually, migrating to a safe wetland to shed their flight feathers. The moult period lasts about 3–4 weeks, during which time the geese are unable to fly. We have seen a huge flock of Egyptian geese unable to fly next to the Chobe river. When trying to get away from our boat, the flock effectively did butterfly strokes with their wings to propel themselves across the water.

Egyptian geese are beautiful birds but in South African urban areas they can be a pest and can be very noisy. Out in the bush they are not so common and given some quiet time at a waterhole you may be fortunate enough is see some fascinating behaviour from them.

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

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

Have fun, Mike

The Malibala hide is half way between the Mshophi gate and the Matuma camp in the Mkuze Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu Natal.

Helen and I visited the hide every day for four days. The weather proved variable. It was surprisingly cold in late September, which is springtime. This can be a very hot part of the world in summer. It was overcast and raining intermittently. There was a cold easterly wind blowing for much of the time we were in the hide. To our very pleasant surprise all the hides we visited in Mkuze Game Reserve were in excellent condition. Well maintained and positioned for best views of the waterhole.

Whilst we did not see many different mammal species we saw plenty of birds despite the difficult weather conditions. I have no doubt that we would have seen many more bird species if it had been warm and sunny.

There were many young birds around in late September. We were fortunate enough to see Three banded plover chicks with their mother and Water Thick-knee chicks with both parents.

The Water Thick-knee is crepuscular and nocturnal. It is never far from water. It is a tall, dome-headed, plover-like bird with large, yellow eyes. It is mostly brownish in colour, and has a grayish wing panel that is bordered above with a narrow white bar. 

The greyish wing panel is clearly visible on the adults’ wings.

The colour of the chicks blended so well with the grass and even in the stoney area leading down to the water’s edge. The parent were very attentive.

After drinking at the waterhole in front of the Malibala hide a wildebeest bull started walking towards the Water Thick-knee family. Immediately the male Thick-knee spread his wings in a defensive posture. Despite the vast size difference the male Thick-knee stood his ground and the Wildebeest walked around the family with no incident.

The Water Thick-knee family were on the far side of the waterhole but thankfully a Three-banded plover and her two chicks were close to the hide on the left hand side. Just as well as this plover is very small. Needless to say her chicks were even smaller. When the wind blew strongly or it was getting too cold, the chicks would nestle under their mother’s wings and all you could see were numerous legs and feet under her body.

The chicks were minute. The Three-banded plover chicks are precocial. This means they are born with a downy covering, open eyes, and are able to move around and find food almost immediately. We have seen this behaviour among African Jacana chicks.

Precocial chicks need to be able to escape danger from the moment they hatch. They rely on their crypsis to evade predators by staying motionless on the ground. Crypsis is the ability of a creature to conceal itself especially from a predator by having a colour, pattern, and shape that allows it to blend into the surrounding environment.

In the four days we visited the Malibala hide we only saw a solitary White-backed vulture. It landed in the morning around 9h00 when the conditions were cold and windy and it was overcast. It was probably waiting for the air to warm up and thermals to develop. While waiting, it decided to have a drink of water.

This vulture drank water in a similar way to all other raptors. Raptor do generally not need to drink water often because they get most of their fluids from their prey. Most bird species drink by dipping their beak into the water, then tip their head backwards to swallow. Doves and pigeons are the only birds that use suction to draw water into their throats. Vultures also frequently bathe to keep their feathers clean.

There was a single Grey heron at the waterhole while we were watching. Grey herons tend to operate at the water’s edge unlike the Black -headed heron which hunts in the grass and reeds along side the water. Most birds stretch their wings to keep supple and get blood flow to their muscles in case they need to take flight suddenly.

The Grey heron can take on comical poses at times. It is always on the look out for aerial raptors which can swoop in and radically change the dynamics at the water’s edge.

On the few occasions that the sun emerged, the Grey heron shook its feathers and took in the ambient warmth.

We had a solitary “lightning bird” fly down to the water’s edge. The Hamerkop, also known as the Lightning Bird, is one of Africa’s most fascinating species and the subject of many traditional beliefs amongst the people of Africa. Some African cultures believe that if you tamper with its nest you will be struck by lightning. With no lightning around this Hammerkop just walked around the edge of the waterhole looking for something to eat.

The Hamerkop feeds predominantly on tadpoles and adult frogs, fish and some insects. It hunts by moving along the water’s edge and puddles of water in a dirt road stirring up mud with its feet to find edibles that are lurking in the shallow water.

As you can see from the images there are plenty of birds that frequent the water’s edge. In the next post I will show some of the smaller birds that we saw along the edge of the waterhole at the Malibala hide.

If you are prepared to take the time to slow down and wait for mother nature to reveal herself at her own pace you will be amazed at what you will see. The show is not preordained and does not happen at regular intervals but some time quietly invested can reveal wonders.

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

Have fun, Mike

In late September last year, Helen and I visited Mkuze Game Reserve. After such good wildlife sightings at both Amakhosi Game Reserve and Rhino River Lodge in the Manyoni Game Reserve, which area in the same part of the world, we thought we would explore this part of the world a little more.

We stayed at Ghost Mountain Inn which is about 16 kilometres from the Mshophi Gate in the Mkuze Game Reserve. The road from the Inn to the gate would put off the ‘faint of heart’. We mistakenly thought that we would get warm weather with blue skies at that time of the year. We were completely wrong. The weather cold, overcast, rainy with strong easterly wind blowing for a good part of our visit.

After the initial rough drive to the Mshophi gate we were not sure what to expect. But once in the game reserve we were pleasantly surprised. The main roads were tarred and good condition. The gravel roads were also in good condition. We were really impressed with quality of the four hides we visited in the game reserve. They were well positioned and well maintained.

The first hide we visited was the Malibala hide. It was half way between the Mshophi gate and Matuma camp. Despite difficult conditions with initially freezing cold temperatures, strong easterly winds and rain, we had good sightings when the weather partially cleared on several occasions for a short period.

The “big five” can be seen in the Mkuze Game Reserve but we did not see them because of the weather. Though we did have some good sightings of Nyala, Wildebeest, Zebra, Giraffe and Warthog. Despite the tough weather conditions we had some interesting birds visit the waterhole.

Nyala families came down to drink at the waterhole regularly during the day even though it was overcast and cold in the morning with intermittent rain.

The interaction between the Nyala bulls was interesting. There was a clear hierarchy. The bulls circle each other, with heads lowered, backs arched with horns facing forward. They circle each other broad side in a lateral display, attempting to make themselves appear as big as possible. They fluff up their tails and the dorsal manes on their back. Perhaps because of the lack of other mammals, the Red-billed oxpeckers were paying all their attention to the Nyala bulls.

A family of Warthogs came down to drink at the waterhole. The waterhole was large around 50 metres in diameter.

All the herbivores approached the waterhole from the east and south west. This was probably because of the openness. The hide was on the north west side of the waterhole and there was quite thick vegetation on the north side which would have been ideal for predator ambushes. Small herds of Plains zebra came down to drink frequently during the day.

These Plains zebra only had very light shadow stripes on their flanks. Zebra often walk deep into the water to get the clean undisturbed water but not on this occasion.

A few Blue wildebeest came down to drink only once and did not return. The occasional single bull also came down to drink, temporarily leaving his territory.

The Red-billed oxpeckers remained close to the water and took advantage of any and all herbivores that came down to drink.

On the road driving away from the Malibala hide we saw a few Southern African giraffe, identified by their distinctive pelage pattern. It is dark brown rounded patches on a tawny background. The patches are mostly convex with irregular incisions and extend down the legs, getting smaller as they go. The darker the pelage usually the older the giraffe. Also the small hairy ossicones signify the young age of the giraffe. The mature males have no hair on the top of their ossicles as it gets rubbed off when fighting.

We also came across a troop of Chacma baboons with one of the large males high up in what looked like a Appleleaf tree. He looked to be on sentry duty but was taking advantage of the trees blooms.

We did not see buffalo, rhino or elephant, neither did we see lions or a leopard. In fact we drove all around the game reserve with no sightings of the “big five”. This was not an issue because the birdlife in the game reserve was prolific.

At the Matuma camp it was very quiet but the weather brought out the blooms of the Impala lily. In Southern Africa, this lily is known as a source of fish poison and arrow poison. The poison is prepared from latex in the bark and fleshy parts of the trunk, and is always used in combination with other poisons.

This post showed a few of the mammals we saw at and around the Malibala hide. In the next post I will show you some of the wonderful birdlife we saw despite the cold, rainy and strong windy conditions which usually keep the birds tucked away in the shelter of the trees.

We were very impressed with the condition of the hide. It was spacious and well maintained.

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

Have fun, Mike