Burchell’s Coucal

Centropus burchelli

Burchell’s Coucal is a common resident of South Africa’s wetter southern, eastern and northern provinces, where it is usually seen singly or in pairs in riverine thickets, dense, wet grasslands and marshes, reedbeds and densely planted parks and gardens. It is also found in Mozambique, Swaziland and parts of Botswana and Zimbabwe. They are carnivorous birds, preying on a variety of small mammals, birds, eggs, reptiles, amphibians, snails and insects, although they will consume a small quantity of fruit.

Breeding in this species takes place in spring and summer. Pairs are monogamous and males build the pair’s nest in thickets of low trees and shrubs or other dense vegetation. Clutches usually numbering four (range between 2 and 5) eggs are incubated for a little over two weeks, mostly by the male. Nestlings leave the nest at around three weeks old, but are still cared for by their parents for quite some time thereafter.

Adult Burchell’s Coucal grow to a total length of over 40cm and weigh up to 210g. Their distinctive call, like water flowing out of a bottle, is often heard at dawn and dusk. Some authorities consider Burchell’s Coucal to be a race of the White-browed Coucal (C. superciliosus).

Burchell’s coucal

Burchell’s Coucal

Burchell’s Coucal (photo by Joubert)

Burchell’s Coucal

Burchell’s Coucal seemingly trying to catch raindrops

Immature Burchell’s Coucal

Burchell’s Coucal

Scrub Hare

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Lepus saxatilis

Scrub Hares inhabit open scrublands, grassland and bushveld with patches of long grass and thickets. They are also commonly found in planted fields. They feed on fresh, green grass – preferring the shoots and rhizomes – but to a lesser extent will also feed on leaves and twigs of shrubs. They are independent of drinking water, gaining enough moisture from their food. Scrub Hares are quite variable in size as adults, those in the southwest of their range being largest and those in the northeast smallest: In length they vary from 40 – 70cm, in weight from 1.5 – 4.5kg. Females are larger than males from the same population.

Scrub Hares are mostly nocturnal, feeding from dusk to dawn, and resting by day in a regularly used patch of long grass or under a bush. They are mostly solitary animals, sometimes congregating in small groups in patches of good grazing or when several males assemble around a female on heat (which often leads to serious fights among them). They can attain speeds of up to 60km/h, but will usually only flee when a predator is almost on top of them, running in a zig-zag motion to cover.

Babies are born year-round, with a peak in spring and summer. Females give birth to between 1 and 3 young after a gestation of 42 days. The young are sexually mature at 6 months of age. All of Africa’s medium to large birds of prey and mammalian predators, as well as pythons, include the Scrub Hare in their diet. They have a short life expectancy of between 5 and 8 years.

The Scrub Hare is found all over South Africa, as well as in Lesotho, Swaziland and the south of Namibia. The IUCN regards it as being of least concern, however it also points out that the population is declining due to habitat loss and hunting.

Scrub Hare

Scrub hares are often seen in the early morning

Scrub hare in Mopani

Scrub Hare

Scrub Hare baby

Scrub Hare

Scrub Hare at Haak-en-Steek

Scrub Hare

Scrub Hare next to the fence at Shingwedzi

Scrub Hare inside Tamboti

Scrub Hare

Scrub Hares

Scrub Hare

Scrub Hare (photo by Joubert)

Scrub Hare

Scrub Hare (photo by Joubert)

Crested Francolin

18 Replies

Dendroperdix sephaena

Crested Francolins inhabit dense woodlands, often in riverine areas and with a sparse grass cover, and areas of thicket in more open savannas. They follow an omnivorous diet, including insects, seeds, leaves, shoots and fruits and berries according to whatever is most easily available in the season. Adults weigh from 240 to 460g and are about 33cm long.

During the breeding season, which stretches through spring and summer, Crested Francolins are usually seen in monogamous pairs or small family parties, forming mixed groups of up to 7 birds at other times. Their nests are shallow scrapes in the ground lined with soft plant material, well hidden among grass and shrubs. Clutches consisting of 3-7 eggs are incubated by the female for around 3 weeks. The chicks are precocious and leave the nest about two hours after hatching to start foraging with their parents.

The Crested Francolin is distributed over much of eastern and southern Africa, and considered of least concern by the IUCN. In South Africa it occurs commonly in the provinces of Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West.

Brett Hilton-Barber and Lou Arthur in their guide to birding in Kruger Park mentions an apparent symbiotic relationship between African Wild Dogs and Crested Francolins, in which the francolins are allowed to peck up scraps of leftover meat around wild dog dens without harrassment, and in turn provide advance warning to the pack of dogs whenever dangerous predators are close to their den.

The distinctive call of the Crested Francolin is often heard at sunrise in many of our favourite wild places.

Crested Francolin

Crested francolin

Crested Francolin chick

Feathered friends visiting our cottage at Shingwedzi: Crested Francolin

Crested Francolin

Crested Francolins

Crested Francolin

Crested Francolin (photo by Joubert)

Crested Francolins

Crested Francolin

Crested Francolins

Crested Francolin hen and chicks

Crested Francolin

African Wattled Lapwing

6 Replies

Vanellus senegallus

African Wattled Lapwings are diurnal birds, usually seen singly, in pairs or small groups. Larger aggregations of 20 to 60 birds form occasionally in response to favourable local conditions. They feed on insects and grass seeds, and inhabit areas of short grass in marshes, flooded grasslands, and the edges of lakes, dams and rivers but are also found at times in dry grasslands, savannas and agricultural and sports fields and are particularly attracted to recently burnt areas. The African Wattled Lapwing is the biggest plover in Africa, and weigh around 250g with a wingspan of up to 86cm.

African Wattled Lapwings nest on the ground in shallow depressions scraped among weeds or short grass, almost always near water, during spring and summer. The nest is lined with grass, pebbles or dry dung before a clutch of 2-4 eggs are laid. Both parents incubate the eggs for around 4 weeks, and although the chicks fledge at about 40 days old, they remain with their parents until the next breeding season starts. Pairs are highly territorial.

Due to its wide distribution over much of sub-Saharan Africa, and an apparently stable population, the IUCN considers the African Wattled Lapwing of least concern. In South Africa they are found in the north-east of the country, particularly in Kwazulu-Natal and on the Highveld (NE Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, SW Limpopo and the North West Province)

African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing adult

African Wattled Lapwing chick

African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing (immature)

African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwings

Wattled Lapwing

Wattled Lapwing (photo by Joubert)

Wattled Lapwings

African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing at her nest with eggs

African Wattled Lapwing nest with eggs

African Wattled Lapwing (photo by Joubert)

African Wattled Lapwing at her nest with egg

African Wattled Lapwing

Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing covered in frost

Wattled Lapwing

Wattled Lapwing (photo by Joubert)

African Wattled Lapwing (photo by Joubert)

African Wattled Lapwing

Wattled Lapwing

Breathing in our Natural Heritage at Marakele

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In South Africa, we celebrate the 24th of September as “Heritage Day”, and of course to us de Wets our country’s natural heritage is our biggest pride. What better way then to spend the Heritage Day long weekend than at a place as beautiful as Marakele National Park, accompanied by a group of wonderful friends?

Marakele’s varied landscapes makes for such a diverse experience – from the top of the Waterberg massif to the plains of Kwaggasvlakte below. A few fires passed through the area some days before our visit (a quite natural occurrence in African savannas, to which animal and plant life alike are perfectly adapted) and as soon as the first rains of spring fall Marakele should be transformed into a green paradise again.

Marakele sunrise

Marakele scenery

Marakele stream crossing

Dusty road at sunset

Marakele scenery

Marakele stream crossing (near Tlopi)

Marakele scenery

Bollonoto waterhole near Bontle

Marakele scenery

Milky Way above Marakele

Thutong view

There’s no doubt in our mind that Marakele’s populations of the popular “Big Five” animals must be growing at a good rate. We’ve never seen so many elephants on any of our previous visits to this Park, and this latest visit also delivered us our first encounters with both Marakele’s buffaloes and lions. It is now only the Park’s leopards that still elude us.

Elephant mock-charge

Old buffalo bull

Lioness and mate

Lion

Baby elephant show-off

White Rhinoceros

Old matriarch

Tiny new herd member

Elephant youngster

White rhinos

Heavyweights on the run

By now our regular readers will know that we love walking around after dark looking for nocturnal creatures, and in this respect the Thutong Environmental Education Centre where we stayed delivered a range of arachnid species!

Giant spider

Baby scorpion

Solifuge a.k.a. Sun Spider

We’ve already shared with you a series of photos of a wasp dragging a paralysed caterpillar to a nesting tunnel for its young to feed on – have a look here for the complete set.

Wasp and prey

Marakele means “a place of sanctuary”, and it is as true for human visitors as it is for the immense collection of wildlife that calls this gem of a place home!

Ostrich at Bollonoto

White-fronted Bee-eater

Little Bee-eater

Golden-tailed Woodpecker

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow

Southern Black Flycatcher

Female Red-billed Quelea

Red-billed Oxpecker

Kudu cow

Kudu calves

Nyala calf

Bushbuck ewe

Plains Zebra

Blue Wildebeest

Impala

A big group of people needs a big place to stay. Marakele’s Thutong Environmental Education Centre is a dormitory-style facility built purposely to accommodate visiting school groups, however it is available for private groups when not being used by school children. Provided is six double rooms with en-suite bathrooms for the teachers, with a maximum of 128 children that can be accommodated in 16 seperate rooms with 8 bunk beds in each. Thutong also has a decently equipped kitchen to cook for that many mouths, and a large hall and fireplace. It is securely fenced – the necessity for which we clearly understood when we found lion tracks right outside the gate one morning!

Thutong Environmental Education Centre, Marakele National Park, September 2017

Want to learn more about Marakele National Park? Why not scroll through all our posts about this special place, here.

Hardworking Wasp

25 Replies

Just to prove that a visit to a game reserve isn’t all about the “hairies and scaries”, one of the most memorable sightings of the trip we took to Marakele National Park last weekend wasn’t of one of the “Big Five” or another large mammal, bird or reptile. Instead, we watched in awe as a wasp carried (sometimes through the air, but mostly along the ground) a large, paralysed caterpillar to a specially prepared tunnel. In there, the wasp’s young can grow to adulthood by feeding on the hapless immature insect.

Thread-waisted Wasp and caterpillar prey at Marakele

Thread-waisted Wasp closing up the nesting tunnel after depositing the caterpillar and laying the egg (at Marakele NP)

African Green Pigeon

33 Replies

Treron calvus

You’d be forgiven for confusing the African Green Pigeon with a parrot at first glance, especially if you glimpse these colourful birds clambering among the branches or hanging upside down in the canopies of tall trees, foraging for fruit and seeds! African Green Pigeons inhabit forests, woodland, dense savannas (usually along river courses) and well-planted parks and gardens populated by various fruiting trees, showing a special fondness for wild figs (genus Ficus) and jackalberry (Diospyros). Adult African Green Pigeons are between 25 and 29cm long and weigh between 210 and 250g.

African Green Pigeon females build flimsy nests (of twigs and leaves gathered by the male) in the forks of trees at any time of year (with a peak in early summer in South Africa), the female incubating the small clutch (usually only 1 or 2 eggs) for around two weeks. The young pigeons leave the nest around two weeks after hatching. They are gregarious, and occur in small groups or flocks numbering up to 50 or more.

In South Africa, African Green Pigeons are common along the coast in the Eastern Cape, through much of Kwazulu-Natal, and into the bushveld and lowveld regions of Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng. North of our borders this species occurs widely over tropical Africa south of the Sahara. The IUCN considers them to be of least concern, though noting that loss of habitat and hunting is causing their overall population to decline.

African Green Pigeon

African Green Pigeon in a Jackalberry

Adult African Green Pigeon

African Green Pigeon

Back from Marakele

20 Replies

If you thought we were a little quiet the last few days, you’d be right. We spent the Heritage Day long weekend enjoying our natural heritage and the company of good friends at Marakele National Park. Here’s just a little sample of some of what we experienced, with a promise of more to come later in the week.

White Rhinoceros

Baby scorpion

Giant spider

Baby elephant show-off

Old buffalo bull

Marakele scenery

Elephant mock-charge

Marakele sunrise

Lion

Lioness and mate

Thread-waisted Wasp and prey at Marakele National Park

Banded Mongoose

20 Replies

Mungos mungo

The diurnal Banded Mongoose inhabits woodland and savanna, showing a strong preference for areas along rivers and marshes with an abundance of logs and termite mounds. These little carnivores prey on insects (especially dung beetles and their larvae), other invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles (including venomous snakes), birds, eggs and rodents, and occasionally also eat fruit. They grow to longer than half a metre, and weigh between 600g and 2kg.

Banded Mongooses live in troops usually numbering from 5 to 30 though exceptionally up to 75, roaming a small home range of up to 4km², within which they have a number of dens used intermittently. These dens are usually holes dug by themselves or other animals, often in termite mounds, or crevices in rocky hills. Though they are not strictly territorial, conflict does sometimes erupt when neighbouring troops meet. Banded Mongooses often associate with warthogs and baboons.

Banded Mongoose pups are born at anytime of the year, though usually in the spring or summer. Most females in the troop get babies at more or less the same time, and the little ones will drink from any lactating female. Litters number from 2 to 8, and the babies tag along with the troop when they go searching for food from about 5 weeks old. Fewer than half of the babies live to 3 months of age, though they can live to between 8 and 13 years. Large raptors and medium-sized mammalian carnivores (jackals, servals, wild dogs, etc.) pose the biggest threat to Banded Mongooses.

The Banded Mongoose has a wide distribution over most of Sub-Saharan Africa, although they are rare in West Africa and absent from the equatorial forests of Central Africa and the arid south-west of the continent. The IUCN regards it as being of least concern, siting its wide distribution, stable and common populations in suitable habitat, presence in major conservation areas and adaptability to human encroachment. In South Africa they are found in the provinces of Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West.

Banded mongoose

Banded Mongoose

You’ll often see troops of banded mongoose crossing roads in the Kwaggasvlakte section of Marakele National Park

Banded mongoose troop at Skukuza

Banded mongoose

Banded mongooses in the road

Banded mongooses at the curbside in St. Lucia town

Banded mongoose in Skukuza

Banded Mongoose

Banded Mongooses doing their early morning rounds Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp

Banded Mongoose

Several groups of Banded Mongooses are to be seen in the Kwaggasvlakte section of the Park

Banded Mongooses

Banded Mongoose

Banded Mongooses

Banded Mongoose

World Rhino Day

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Today is World Rhino Day.

The statistics on the number of rhinos being killed in South Africa for their horn continues to make for heart-wrenching reading. We continue to loose hundreds of black and white rhinos annually to supply an illegal black market demand from Asian countries.

But the war continues. The brave rangers working daily to protect our natural heritage have not yet given up hope, and neither should we. We’ll continue to do our part to spread the word that rhino horn has no medicinal properties, and by rights should really not be worth any more than fingernails!

Let us celebrate these prehistoric-looking beasts for the magnificent beings that they are, deserving of a place on this planet for eternity.