Summertide Diary: Exploring Mountain Zebra (part one)

20 Replies

1 January 2021

As soon as the gates opened on New Year’s Day we headed for the Rooiplaat Loop, the sightings board at reception having indicated that Lions and Cheetahs were seen there the previous day. And we did not wait long – right where the road skirts the Park’s boundary fence we came across a big male lion, known as Nomad, patrolling his territory.

We supposed that it was the proximity of the big predator that made these Black Wildebeest so jittery!

Black Wildebeest (photo by Joubert)
Black Wildebeest
Black Wildebeest
Black Wildebeest (photo by Joubert)
Black Wildebeest
Black Wildebeest
Black Wildebeest (photo by Joubert)
Black Wildebeest (photo by Joubert)
Black Wildebeest (photo by Joubert)

It’s early morning in the Mountain Zebra National Park and there’s so much to be seen!

Kopieva bloom
Blesbok ewes and lambs
Blesbok lamb
Blesbok ewe and lamb
Grey-winged Francolin
Windpump along a stream in the Mountain Zebra National Park
Red-billed Teal
Wide open spaces in the Mountain Zebra National Park
Cape Sparrow (male)
Jackal Buzzard
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Scaly-feathered Finch
African Pipit

It was on the link road between Rooiplaat and Ubejane Loops that we happened upon these cute little Bat-eared Fox pups and their elders. More photos of them tomorrow!

Bat-eared Fox pups

Along the main road, between the two junctions with the Ubejane Loop, we saw this pair of unusually tolerant Secretarybirds – they’re normally quite nervous and move away from the road the moment a vehicle approaches, so this was a great opportunity to watch them in action.

Secretarybird (photo by Joubert)
Secretarybird
Secretarybird
Secretarybird
Wind-blown Secretarybird
Secretarybird
Secretarybirds

At the southern junction of Ubejane Loop with the main road there’s a small earth dam filled with rainwater. By the time we arrived there at mid-morning Cape Mountain Zebra families were arriving from all corners, along with some other wildlife, to slake their thirst and it was wonderful to watch their social interactions before heading back to camp.

Cape Mountain Zebras
Cape Mountain Zebra
Cape Mountain Zebras
Red Hartebeest
Cape Mountain Zebras
Cape Mountain Zebras
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Cape Mountain Zebras

Back at camp there was time to kill either side of lunchtime, and thankfully there’s very much of interest around the accommodation and camping area.

Vervet Monkey
Cross-berry
White-browed Sparrow Weaver
Red-eyed Bulbul
Four-striped Grass Mouse
Western Rock Skink
Cardinal Woodpecker
Laughing Dove
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Neddicky
Familiar Chat
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Red-headed Finches
Imposing Sweet Thorn thorns
Seeroogblom
Chestnut-vented Warbler
Black-throated Canary
Snake Aloe
Southern Rock Agama
Vygie
African Grass Blue butterfly
Gazania
Pied Starling
Bar-throated Apalis
Neddicky
Sweet Thorn tree
Southern Rock Agama
White-necked Ravens that caught a Red-winged Starling chick
White-necked Raven that caught a Red-winged Starling chick
Grey-headed Sparrow
Familiar Chat
Red-eyed Bulbul
Neddicky
Southern Masked Weaver
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Cape White-eye
Karoo Scrub Robin

Our route for the afternoon would first take us into the mountains along the Kranskop Loop before taking another jaunt around the Rooiplaat Loop.

Doornhoek Guest House overlooks the Doornhoek Dam and is a national monument
Highveld Cabbage Tree
Rocky outcrop
South African Shelduck
Hyrax
Southern Rock Agama
Amazing scenery along the Kranskop Loop
Amazing scenery along the Kranskop Loop
Black Harrier
Scale-feathered Finch
Namaqua Dove
Red-billed Quelea
Rock Monitor
Black-backed Jackal
Eland
Gemsbok
Wide open spaces at Mountain Zebra National Park
Steppe Buzzard
The Rest Camp at Mountain Zebra National Park blends in beautifully with the surroundings

A real highlight of our afternoon drive was an encounter with a group of three Cheetahs – one adult and two youngsters – on the Rooiplaat Plateau, just half-an-hour before we had to be back in camp.

Cheetah
Cheetah
Cheetah
Cheetah (photo by Joubert)
Cheetah

 

We posted a special feature about Mountain Zebra National Park following a previous visit, if you’d like to learn more about this special destination.

Map of Mountain Zebra National Park from the SANParks website (https://www.sanparks.org/images/parks/mountain_zebra/mznp-map.jpg)

20 thoughts on “Summertide Diary: Exploring Mountain Zebra (part one)”

  1. naturebackin

    What a splendid collection of photographs of the wonderful sightings you had. I really enjoyed browsing through. How amazing to see the secretary birds so tolerant of being observed and allowing such good photos!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  3. Pingback: Summertide Diary: Exploring Mountain Zebra (part two) | de Wets Wild

  6. sustainabilitea

    A cornucopia of wonderful shots and more kudos to Joubert. He got some marvelous shots the last three of the black wildebeest and the secretary bird, which is a very interesting-looking bird!
    Those fox pups are too cute!

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Thank you very much, Janet!
      Joubert will be so happy to read your kind comment.
      Secretarybirds are as interesting in their behaviour as their looks suggest and it was wonderful to watch them so closely.
      And I am really looking forward to treating you tomorrow with more photos of the fox pups!

      Like

      Reply ↓

Please don't leave without sharing your thoughts?

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.