Category Archives: South African Wildlife

The inhabitants of South Africa’s wild places

Grey Plover

17 Replies

Pluvialis squatarola

The Grey Plover is a bird that is found along the coastline of all the continents, with the exception of Antarctica, at various times of the year. With a worldwide population estimated at around 750,000 birds, the IUCN considers it to be of least concern. They arrive in South Africa from their Siberian breeding grounds around September and depart again by April, with an estimated 9,000 birds being found along our entire coastline during that time. The Langebaan lagoon in the West Coast National Park is one of the best places to see this species in South Africa. Some, usually younger individuals, will stay here through the winter and don’t join the migration back to the northern hemisphere, as they don’t breed until they’re two years old.

Grey Plovers feed on aquatic invertebrates pecked from exposed mud flats and sand banks on beaches and around estuaries and lagoons. They may roost in large flocks outside the breeding season, but usually forage alone or in pairs. Adults are about 29cm long and weigh around 230g.

Grey Plover
Grey Plover
Grey Plover
Grey Plover
Grey Plover
Grey Plover
Grey Plover

 

Sundowner Moth

10 Replies

Sphingomorpha chlorea

As with the English common name, one of the Sundowner Moth’s Afrikaans names, “Biermot” (Beer moth), refers to their attraction to alcoholic drinks – they’re naturally very fond of fermented fruit. Due to their habit of piercing fruit, it is considered a pest in orchards. They occur over most of South Africa, with the exception of the fynbos -areas in the Western Cape and the arid West Coast, and is especially common in forest and savanna habitats. This is a large moth, with a wingspan of between 6 and 8cm. The larvae feed on the leaves of a very wide range of plants.

Sundowner Moth
Sundowner Moth
Sundowner Moth
Sundowner Moth
Sundowner Moth

World Wildlife Day 2023

11 Replies

In celebration of World Wildlife Day we take a look back at the 67 species of South African wildlife we featured in detail here at de Wets Wild through the past twelve months.

Albany, or Striped, Sandveld Lizard at Jack’s Picnic Spot
Malachite Kingfisher
Giant Carrion Flower (Stapelia gigantea)
Sulphur Orange Tip
Black Monkey Orange
Green Monkey Orange
Pygmy Hippo
Spotted Flycatcher
Scarlet Tip
Silver Cluster-leaf
Southern White-crowned Shrike
Vine-leaf Vagrant
Honeybee and honeysuckle
Giant Kingfisher
Tailed Black-eye Butterfly
Convict Surgeonfish in a rock pool at Cape Vidal
Mountain Wagtail
Ant-heap Whites
Kudu Lily
European Nightjar
Banded Gold Tip
Pel’s Fishing Owl (photo by Joubert)
Eastern Rock Sengi, or Elephant Shrew, at Lenong Viewpoint in Marakele National Park
Yellow-spotted Rock Dassie, or Hyrax (photo by Joubert)
Black-faced Waxbill
Meves’s Starling
Large-leaved Rock Fig
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Bushveld Gardenia fruit
Rattling Cisticola
Natal Acraea butterfly
Sunrise over Imfolozi with a Marula in silhouette
Yellow-breasted Apalis
Painted Lady
Giant land snail
Jacobin Cuckoo (Black Morph)
Zebra White butterfly
Weeping Wattle blooms
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Brown Commodore, aka Brown Pansy
Side-striped Jackal
Redbreast Tilapia in Nsumo Pan
African Small White butterfly on Karoo Num-num flowers
Pill-millipede
European Honey Buzzard
Dusky Copper butterfly
Male Buff-spotted Flufftail
Narina Trogon
White-backed Ducks
Candy-striped Crinum flowers
Male Subantarctic Fur Seal on the shore at Cape Vidal after a heavy storm
Green Malkoha
African Pygmy Geese (photo by Niel de Wet)
Tailor Ant nest
Green Twinspot
Southern Banded Snake Eagle (photo by Niel de Wet)
Rufous-winged Cisticola
Collared Pratincole
Yellow Weaver
Cape Fur Seals
Eastern Grey Squirrel at the Tokai Picnic Site
Lark-like Bunting
Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)
Karoo Chat
Soldier Pansy
Rich floral diversity at the Cape of Good Hope – these white flowers are known as Cape Snow (Syncarpha vestita)
Rock Martin

Rock Martin

10 Replies

Ptyonoprogne fuligula

A common resident in our part of the world, the Rock Martin inhabits rocky mountains, hills and outcrops, and has adapted to the built environment. They feed exclusively on flying insects and will even hunt at night around artificial lights.

Rock Martins form monogamous pairs and may breed throughout the year, though mostly in spring and early summer. They build their mud nests under overhanging rocks and even roofs and bridges. The parents take turns to incubate the clutch of 2-3 eggs over a 3 week period. The chicks remain in the nest for about 4 weeks, but even after they fledge return to the nest every night until they’re almost two months old before becoming fully independent. Outside of the breeding season they may roost in small groups on rocky ledges or against buildings.

in South Africa, Rock Martins are found in suitable habitat in every province. Beyond our borders they’re found as far north as Angola and Zambia. The IUCN evaluates its conservation status as being of least concern.

Rock Martins
Rock Martin
Rock Martins
Rock Martin
Rock Martin
Rock Martin nest
Rock Martin
Rock Martin
Rock Martin
Rock Martin

Cape Snow

15 Replies

Syncarpha vestita

The Cape Snow, or White Everlasting, when flowering is one of the most conspicuous plants from South Africa’s fynbos biome, growing in well-drained sandy or rocky soils from the Cape Peninsula to the area of George in the Garden Route.  The plants have a very dense growth form up to 1m tall and grow rapidly from seeds after a fire, forming thick stands of plants that flower profusely from October to January and make for beautiful scenery. The tiny purplish flowers, located on a disk surrounded by the eye-catchingly bright white bracts, are pollinated by several kinds of beetles and the inflorescences last for a very long time, even after being cut. Within about 7 years the plants start dying; by then the surrounding vegetation has grown taller than it already and they’re no longer as obviously seen. The seeds then remain dormant in the ground until a fire restarts the process. Cape Snow flowers are used commercially, being popular in flower arrangements (and often dyed different colours).

Bontebok lying in a sea of Cape Snow
Rich floral diversity at the Cape of Good Hope – these white flowers are known as Cape Snow (Syncarpha vestita)
Rich floral diversity at the Cape of Good Hope – these white flowers are known as Cape Snow (Syncarpha vestita)
Rich floral diversity at the Cape of Good Hope – these white flowers are known as Cape Snow (Syncarpha vestita)
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow
Cape Snow

Soldier Pansy Butterfly

15 Replies

Junonia terea

A butterfly of coastal and riverine forests, the Soldier Pansy is restricted to suitable parts of Kwazulu-Natal and the Lowveld and escarpment of Mpumalanga and Limpopo (as far as its local distribution is concerned). Adults have a wingspan of up to 6cm and can be seen throughout the year, though their numbers peak in spring and autumn. They fly slowly through shady clearings and along pathways and settle often, usually on a leaf just above ground level.

Soldier Pansy
Soldier Pansy
Soldier Pansy
Soldier Pansy
Soldier Pansy

Karoo Chat

8 Replies

Emarginata (Cercomela) schlegelii

Surprisingly common for a bird occurring in arid scrubland and grasslands, often in rocky or gravelly places, the Karoo Chat subsists on a diet of insects foraged on the ground. They’re usually encountered singly, in pairs or small family groups and normally stay well clear of areas of human habitation, in contrast with its better known cousin, the Familiar Chat.

The female takes sole responsibility for building the deep cup-shaped nest, using twigs and sticks, at the base of a shrub, the task taking her about a week to complete. Clutches of 2-4 eggs may be laid at any time of year, especially in response to unseasonal rainfall, but nesting usually takes place in spring and summer. Pairs are monogamous and territorial throughout the year, and both parents take care of the chicks. Fully grown Karoo Chats measure around 17cm in length and weigh about 32g.

True to their habitat preference, Karoo Chats are found in south-west Angola, western Namibia and arid western South Africa (particularly in the Northern and Western Cape and marginally into the bordering Free State and Eastern Cape). The IUCN does not consider it to be of conservation concern.

Karoo Chat
Karoo Chats
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chat
Karoo Chats bickering

Four-colour Nudibranch

22 Replies

Godiva quadricolor

The Four-colour Nudibranch is a shell-less mollusc found naturally along the South African coast, but has also been recorded as an exotic alien in Australia and the Mediterranean, where it is thought they were transported to by commercial shipping. They live from the intertidal zone to a depth of up to 20m. Their cerata – the “horns” covering the 4cm long body in bold warning colours – are tipped with stinging nematocysts, which the slug uses to protect itself. These slugs are predators, feeding on other nudibranchs, hydrozoa and other small organisms, while also probably feeding on the remains of dead vertebrates. Like other slugs and snails they are hermaphrodites and produce masses of eggs that hatch within 4 days of being fertilized (internally) and laid.

While visiting with Marilize’s parents in Jeffreys Bay over the New Year we came across this beautiful slug in a rock pool at the main beach. I think its natural beauty is further enhanced by the multitude of colourful shell shards surrounding it in these pictures.

Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)
Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)
Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)
Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)
Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)
Four-colour Nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor)

Lark-like Bunting

8 Replies

Emberiza impetuani

The Lark-like Bunting is a rather inconspicuous seed-eating bird that inhabits arid shrub- and grasslands and savannas. This species is highly nomadic, travelling over extensive areas in response to localised rainfall and increased food abundance. Being social birds they often congregate in enormous flocks numbering in the thousands, and regularly mix with other seed-eating birds (such as finch-larks, canaries, sparrows and buntings). They appear to need regular access to water and are seldom found far from waterholes.

Lark-like Buntings breed in response to rainfall with a peak in spring and summer, when monogamous pairs produce clutches of 2-4 eggs incubated for a two-week period in untidy cup-shaped nests built on the ground at the base of a rock or shrub. The chicks leave the nest when they’re about two weeks old. Fully grown they measure 15cm in length and weigh around 15g.

In South Africa Lark-like Buntings are found in all provinces, with the marked exception of the eastern reaches of the Eastern Cape and almost all of Kwazulu-Natal, and reach their highest densities in the Karoo regions in the west of the country. Beyond our borders they’re also found in Nambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Angola. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.

Lark-like Bunting
Lark-like Bunting
Lark-like Bunting
Lark-like Bunting

Stony Point Nature Reserve

13 Replies

Betty’s Bay is a quaint seaside village on South Africa’s south-western coastline, about 90km from Cape Town (part of the route follows the scenically spectacular R44 Clarence Drive along the False Bay coastline, offering superb whale-watching at the right time of year). The town’s most endearing residents – African Penguins – have lived at this address since 1982 in one of just three mainland breeding colonies of these charismatic birds. What used to be the Waaygat Whaling Station until the mid-1900’s is now the Stony Point Nature Reserve, a haven for not only the penguins but many other species of wildlife as well. Of archeological interest at Stony Point is a midden of abalone shells indicative of the lifestyle of Khoisan people dating back to before colonial times.

Stony Point Nature Reserve
Stony Point Nature Reserve
Looking out towards and beyond the watch tower that served the Waaygat Whaling Station
Looking out towards the watch tower that served the Waaygat Whaling Station
Stony Point Nature Reserve
Stony Point Nature Reserve

The stars of this show is undoubtedly the African Penguins, with about 2,000 breeding pairs of these endangered birds now at home here. The management authority have provided artificial nests made of fibreglass to the penguins as the site does not yet have the deep deposit of guano that penguins require to dig their nest burrows as is their natural habit.

African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve (photo by Joubert)
Young African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve (photo by Joubert)
African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve
Moulting African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguins at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve (photo by Joubert)
African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve
African Penguin at Stony Point Nature Reserve

Besides the penguins four species of cormorant breed on the rocks of Stony Point, while many other kinds of sea, shore and land birds also find a home here and dassies, lizards and agamas vie for position to bathe in the sun on the rocks.

Egyptian Goose (photo by Joubert)
Cape Cormorants at Stony Point
Cape Cormorants at Stony Point
Cape Cormorants at Stony Point
Cape Cormorants at Stony Point
Cape Cormorants at Stony Point
Cape Girdled Lizard
Cape Girdled Lizard
Southern Rock Agama female
Cattle Egret
Cape Girdled Lizard
Southern Rock Agama male
Karoo Prinia
Rock Dassie (or Hyrax)
Rock Dassie (or Hyrax)

The Stony Point Nature Reserve is managed by CapeNature. An enclosed walkway leading through the colony, with informative displays along the way, allows visitors to view the penguins and other wildlife at close quarters without disturbing them. At the entrance to the walkway is a very popular restaurant operated by a local community organisation.