Narina Trogon

Apaloderma narina

An infuriatingly difficult bird to see, thanks to their habit of sitting dead still for long periods in their dense forest habitat, the beautiful Narina Trogon is a prized target for bird watchers and wildlife photographers alike. Their call is often the first, and usually only, indication of their presence but is seldom heard outside of the breeding season. It feeds on a wide variety of insects, other invertebrates and even reptiles and amphibians the size of small chameleons. They’re usually found singly or in pairs.

Narina Trogons form monogamous pairs and breed in hollows in trees. During the summer breeding season the male is fiercely territorial and will even drive away birds of other species. Clutches of 2-4 eggs are incubated by both parents for between 2 and 3 weeks. The chicks leave the nest by 4 weeks of age but remain with their parents for several months more. Fully grown, Narina Trogons measure about 32cm long and weigh in the region of 67g.

The IUCN lists the Narina Trogon as being of least concern. While it has a very wide distribution over much of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, in South Africa they’re mainly found only in a narrow stretch along the coast from the Garden Route through the Eastern Cape, into Kwazulu-Natal, and then along the forests of the escarpment into Mpumalanga and Limpopo as far as the Soutpansberg.

Narina trogon

Narina Trogon

Announcement! Forever Resorts Reservations

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Announcement!

Next time you are planning a visit to any of the Forever Resorts, remember that DeWetsWild can assist you with your reservations! Forever’s resorts and lodges are excellent bases from which to explore many of South Africa’s best known natural and cultural attractions.

https://dewetswild.com/about/reservation-services/forever-resorts-reservations/

In the not-too-distant future we will also be offering tailor-made tours to these resorts and their surrounding attractions – watch this space!

Buff-spotted Flufftail

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Sarothrura elegans

A very secretive and rarely seen bird, the Buff-spotted Flufftail inhabits forests and other densely vegetated patches in areas of fairly high rainfall. These days they’re found in well planted gardens within their range with increasing frequency. It is mainly insectivorous, searching for invertebrates in the leaf litter of its dense habitat. They appear to be active throughout the day and night.

Pairs of Buff-spotted Flufftails are monogamous and territorial during the breeding season, which spans the months of spring to autumn. Using a wide range of plant material the female takes about 3 days to construct a well hidden dome-shaped nest with a side entrance underneath densely growing plants. Both partners take it in turns to incubate the clutch of 3-5 eggs over a two week period. The chicks leave the nest when they’re only a day or two old, accompanying their parents on foraging excursions. They grow quickly and can fly by the time they’re about 3 weeks old. At this point their parents will kick the chicks out of their territory and start breeding again – the pair may raise up to 4 broods in a season! Fully grown Buff-spotted Flufftails are about 15cm long and weigh around 50g.

In South Africa, the Buff-spotted Flufftail has a patchy and limited distribution, stretching from the Western and Eastern Cape through most of Kwazulu-Natal on to the escarpment in Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Beyond our borders they’re found over much of west, central and eastern Africa. The IUCN considers this species to be of least concern.

Male Buff-spotted Flufftail

Male Buff-spotted Flufftail crossing a path on the Igwalagwala Trail

St. Lucia’s Igwalagwala Trail

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One of the things that make the holiday town of St. Lucia in South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal Province so popular is the fact that it is entirely surrounded by the wild iSimangaliso Wetland Park and thus inhabited by an amazing variety of wildlife – even more dangerous kinds like hippos and leopards. On the southern edge of the town is a large pocket of indigenous swamp forest through which the Igwalagwala Trail (actually a network of trails) winds its way. Walking through the forest, marveling at the trees and the bushes and the blooms and the berries and the birds and the bucks and the bugs and the butterflies as you go, will really be one of the highlights of your visit to this special corner of our country.

Warning at the start of the Igwalagwala Trail

Igwalagwala Forest Trail

Igwalagwala Trail

As you can imagine the forest abounds with various kinds of creatures – some easy to see and others expert at hiding. The calls of birds fill the air as you walk – Igwalagwala is the isiZulu name for the turacos, of which two kinds (the purple-crested and Livingstone’s) can be seen and heard here.

Autumn-leaf Vagrant Butterfly

Narina Trogon

Common Blue Butterfly

Diverse White Butterfly

Shell of a Giant Land Snail on the forest floor

Well-hidden Grey Sunbird

Novice Butterfly

Purple-banded Sunbird

Red Duiker on a forest path of the Igwalagwala Trail

Squinting Bush Brown Butterfly

White-eared Barbet

Yellow-bellied Greenbul

While you are welcome to walk the Igwalagwala Trail by yourself and unguided (during daylight!) – and that certainly is a wonderful experience – if you really want the forest to “open up” for you then you absolutely must take a hike through Igwalagwala with expert birding guide Ian Ferreira of St. Lucia Birding Tours.

If it wasn’t for Ian’s expert knowledge of their habits and haunts and his skill at imitating their calls I would never have been able to photograph the rarely seen Buff-spotted Flufftail, about which I will tell you more in the next installment of DeWetsWild.

If you are interested in visiting St. Lucia and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, remember that De WetsWild can assist you with reservations in the Eden Park and Sugarloaf Campsites in town or at wonderful Cape Vidal set on the Indian Ocean in the Eastern Shores section of the Park. We’ll also gladly help you arrange a walk with expert St. Lucia-based birding guide Ian Ferreira, and as soon as we start offering guided tours to the area you can be sure we’ll include an excursion with Ian in the itinerary.

Another breakaway to iSimangaliso

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If you thought I was a little quiet over the past week-and-a-bit, you’d be right, as I disappeared into the wonderful iSimangaliso Wetland Park again, this time along with my younger brother. We were based in the holiday town of St. Lucia from where we made excursions into the surrounding sections of the park, and had a wonderful time, collecting lots of pictures to share with you in the weeks to come – this is just a little teaser.

Sunrise over the Ingwe beach at the estuary of Lake Saint Lucia

Green Malkoha

Water Thick-knee (or Dikkop) with two chicks

White-fronted Plover

Grey-headed Gull

Elephant Bull walking away near Cape Vidal

Water Thick-knee (Water Dikkop) close-up (photo by Niel de Wet)

Narina Trogon

Autumn-leaf Vagrant Butterfly

Male Buff-spotted Flufftail

Impala rams on the run

I am having difficulty identifying these blooms photographed in the grasslands of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Crested Guineafowl

Green Twinspot

Male Subantarctic Fur Seal on the shore at Cape Vidal after a heavy storm

Waterbuck bull(seye)

Looking out over Lake Saint Lucia and the forested dunes on Indian Ocean coast

Female Spectacled Skimmer dragonfly

Collared Pratincole

Fulvous Whistling Ducks

African Pygmy Geese (photo by Niel de Wet)

Spotted Hyena sneaking up on a bushbuck (photo by Niel de Wet)

Lesser Crested Tern in low-level flight

Ghost Crabs on the beach at Cape Vidal

Spectacled Weaver

Southern Brown-throated Weaver

Holub’s Golden Weaver

Eastern Golden (or Yellow) Weaver male (female in the background)

Flying Handkerchief – male Mocker Swallowtail butterfly

White-backed Duck

Main Beach at St. Lucia

Dusky Copper Butterfly

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Aloeides taikosama

The Dusky Copper is a small butterfly with a wingspan of only about 3cm which occurs from Kwazulu-Natal to North West through Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo where they inhabit grasslands and thorny savanna. They usually occur in small colonies and even when disturbed will not fly far from their colony. Adults are seen from September to May.

Dusky Copper butterfly

Dusky Copper

European Honey-Buzzard

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Pernis apivorus

European Honey-Buzzards are rare visitors to South Africa during our summer months, arriving around November and departing again by May. While they’ve been recorded in all our provinces it seems most of the limited sightings are in and around Gauteng. Their breeding range stretches from western Europe to central Asia, migrating to sub-Saharan Arica when the northern climes get chilly. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern, with an estimated population of between a quarter- and half-a-million.

European Honey Buzzards are insectivorous and have a particular liking for wasp and bee larvae and pupae, even digging up nests from underground. They are usually encountered in densely vegetated habitats, like forest, woodland, plantations and gardens. They’re about 55cm long and weigh approximately 750g.

European Honey Buzzard

Shy European Honey Buzzard

Pill-millipede

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Genus Sphaerotherium

54 species of Pill-millipede from the genus Sphaerotherium are known from Southern Africa, and coastal Kwazulu-Natal Province is especially rich in the number of species found there.

South Africa’s largest species, the Giant Pill Millipede, can grow to 5cm in length and is the size of a ping-pong ball when it is curled up. This habit of rolling into an impenetrably tight ball when threatened is probably the most endearing characteristic of these fascinating creatures. Another unusual trait of Pill-millipedes is that the males intent on breeding can produce a sound by stridulation – rubbing modified back legs against ridges on the final segment produces a vibrating sound, unique to each species, that the female picks up and then allows the male to mate with her.

Pill-millipedes live in the moist leaf-litter on forest floors, feeding on decaying leaves, fruit and wood, and thus perform a vital ecological function by recycling nutrients. They’re mostly active at night.

Pill-millipede in defensive posture

Pill-millipede

Pill-millipede in defensive posture

Introducing DeWetsWild Photography!

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The very best of DeWetsWild’s photographs is now available for purchase at DeWetsWild Photography

African Small White Butterfly

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Dixeia charina

One of the smaller species of the family, with a wingspan ranging only up to 4cm, the African Small White has a limited distribution stretching from the Garden Route to the southern Lowveld where they inhabit coastal, montane and riverine forests and dense woodlands. Larvae feed on the leaves of caperbushes. Adults fly year-round, reaching peak numbers towards the end of summer.