Tag Archives: nature

Quiver Tree

Aloidendron dichotomum

(f.k.a. Aloe dichotoma)

The Quiver Tree is a kind of tree aloe growing in extremely arid, often rocky, areas with well-drained coarse sand as substrate. These hardy plants can live for 80 years or longer and grow to over 7m tall. Quiver Trees bear their bright yellow flowers in winter (June & July) and these are a favourite source of food for many nectar-eating birds and insects, and also baboons. Large Quiver Trees are a favoured site for the huge communal nests of the sociable weaver.

Quiver Trees occur only in Namibia and South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. Augrabies Falls National Park is one of the best locations in South Africa to see magnificent specimens of this unique plant in its natural habitat.

The San people hollowed out the branches of the Quiver Tree to make quivers in which to keep their hunting arrows, hence the name. The fibrous trunk was also hollowed out to use as a natural refrigerator for meat, vegetables and water.

Quiver Trees

Quiver Tree

Dusky Sunbird on a flowering Quiver Tree

Sunrise over the Augrabies landscape shows a lone Quiver Tree

Quiver Tree

Quiver Tree bark

Quiver Tree flowers

Quiver Tree

Quiver Tree in flower

Quiver Tree with Sociable Weaver Nest

Quiver Tree

Quiver Tree with Sociable Weaver Nest

Quiver Tree

Quiver Trees

Quiver Tree

Augrabies Falls National Park

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The Orange River, South Africa’s biggest and longest (running 2,200km from its source in Lesotho to its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean) is, for the most part, a lazy, slow-flowing waterway. That changes however when it is forced through a narrow granitic channel in the arid Northern Cape, plunges 56m over the impressive Augrabies Falls and continues through a dramatic gorge for another 18km before again returning to its more placid ways.

After years of political wrangling, a small 5,400 hectare area around the Falls was proclaimed the Augrabies Falls National Park in August 1966. Subsequently surrounding areas have been incorporated, and today the Park covers over 51,000 hectares.

Visitors can enjoy the best views of the Falls from several vantage points connected by easily negotiated boardwalks.

Consider that these photos taken during our visit in June 2018 saw the river flowing at a below average 38 cubic meters per second, and then imagine what it must look like when a flood of approximately 7,800 cumec, as happened in 1988, thunders down the Falls, to understand exactly why the Khoi named this place “Aukoerebis“, meaning “the place of great noise“!

Sunrise over Augrabies Falls

Augrabies Falls

Rainbow at Augrabies Falls

Augrabies Falls

Orange River above the Augrabies Falls

The Augrabies falls are illuminated for a few hours at night

Boardwalks allow easy access to the best viewpoints

Balancing rock above the boardwalk to the falls

Although the Falls is a worthy focal point of the National Park, there’s still lots more to see further afield when exploring this arid rocky desert landscape (the Park receives only about 120mm of rain annually). Places like Oranjekom, Ararat, Echo Corner and the Moon Rock are well worth the visit for spectacular views and fascinating geology. Quiver Trees and Namaqua Porkbush, both of which we’ll feature in more detail soon, are conspicuous plants and brilliantly adapted to life in this harsh environment. Rocky hills and arid plains where animals and birds abound add to the attraction.

Sunrise over the Augrabies landscape shows a lone Quiver Tree

Starry skies over Augrabies

Bloom of the Desert Broom bush

Beauty in a rugged landscape

Ararat viewpoint over the gorge of the Orange River

Echo Corner

Scaling the Moon Rock

View from atop the Moon Rock

Namaqua Fig

Large Namaqua Porkbush

Namaqua Porkbush leaves

Quiver Tree

Quiver Trees

Rocky hill with Shepherd’s Tree

Dry riverbed

Interesting rock formations

Dry riverbed

Augrabies Scenery

Interesting rock formations

Sociable Weaver Nest

Among the fauna finding protection in the Augrabies Falls National Park counts 49 species of mammal, 181 recorded bird species, around 50 species of reptile, 6 kinds of frog and 12 species of indigenous fish.

Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra

Augrabies Flat Lizard male

Orange River White-eye

Baby Dassie

Dassie (Rock Hyrax)

Dassie enjoying the view

Baboon surveying the landscape

Baboons frequent the camp in the mornings

Black-backed Jackal

Black-chested Prinia

Cape Robin-Chat at Augrabies Falls National Park (race C. c. namaquensis)

Common Waxbill

Dassie Rat, a unique kind of rodent

Dusky Sunbird on a flowering Quiver Tree

Gemsbok

Giraffe seem to thrive at Augrabies despite the harsh environment

Ground Squirrels run around the camp

Karoo Korhaan are excellently camouflaged in the arid landscape

Klipspringer

Long-billed Crombec

Namaqua Sandgrouse

Pale-winged Starling

Pririt Batis

Red-eyed Bulbul

Southern Masked Weaver getting its breeding plumage

Speckled Pigeon

Spike-heeled Lark

Springbok

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Western Rock Skink male

White-browed Sparrow-Weaver

White-throated Canary

Yellow Mongoose

Guests can be accommodated overnight in the rest camp’s chalets or the very neat camping area, all within easy walking distance from the Falls (illuminated until 10pm each evening). At the camp there’s four swimming pools (including one for day visitors), a shop, restaurant, fuel station and a little bird-watching hide. The Oranjekom Gorge Cottage is located about 10km from the main camp, and offers privacy and magnificent views over the ravine and river. Provision is also made for day visitors with picnic sites in the camp and along the game viewing loop. Visitors are welcome to explore the Park’s roads in their own vehicle (some roads are only accessible to 4×4 vehicles) or on mountain bikes, and there’s several hiking trails to choose from ranging in length from 2 to 33km (the latter being the Klipspringer Trail which includes two overnight stops). Guided drives (both day and night) in open vehicles can be booked at reception.

Af-en-Toe Picnic Site on the game-viewing circuit

Camping at Augrabies

Augrabies Chalets

One of three swimming pools for overnight visitors at the rest camp

Chalet 26 at Augrabies Falls National Park, June 2018

Oranjekom Gorge Cottage

The Augrabies Falls National Park is in one of the remotest corners of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province; roughly 930km from Pretoria and 870km from Cape Town. The nearest major airport with daily flights is at Upington, about 125km away. We enjoyed a wonderful two-night visit to Augrabies at the end of June 2018, during which all these photos were taken.

Location of Augrabies Falls National Park

Back from the Kalahari

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We’ve just arrived home after a little more than a week spent exploring two of South Africa’s most remote national parks – the Augrabies Falls National Park and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Here’s a little selection of the thousands of pictures we came back home with for you to enjoy while we work at answering all the comments you left for us on the scheduled posts that published during our absence. Of course there’ll be many more pictures from these two magnificent destinations in the weeks to come!

Augrabies Falls

Dassie (Rock Hyrax)

Baby Dassie

Orange River White-eye

Augrabies Flat Lizard male

Sunrise over Augrabies Falls

Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra

Starry skies over Augrabies

Sunrise over the Augrabies landscape shows a lone Quiver Tree

This Sociable Weaver nest near Twee Rivieren in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park may well be one of the biggest constructions by birds on the planet!

Crimson-breasted Shrike

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Jackal visiting our braai in Twee Rivieren (camera trap photo)

African Wild Cat

Burchell’s Sandgrouse (male)

Blue wildebeest

Kalahari lioness

Giraffes

Gemsbok

Bat-eared Fox

African Harrier Hawk

Sunset at Mata Mata

Southern White-faced Owl seen in Mata Mata

Lions at sunrise

Lioness peaking over a ridge

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Steenbok

Northern Black Korhaan

Red Hartebeest

Lion close-up

Ground Squirrels

Pearl-spotted Owlet seen in Nossob

Lioness at Nossob’s fence

Bibron’s Thick-toed Gecko

Lanner Falcon with prey

Springbok showing off

Sociable Weaver

Windpump working hard

Puff Adder

Brown Hyena and Black-backed Jackals on a carcass

Lion watched by wildebeest

Springbok herd

Meerkat Family (Suricates)

Lion on a dune in the Kgalagadi

Brubru

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Nilaus afer

The Brubru is a member of the shrike family occurring in savanna and woodland habitats, and specifically those dominated by Miombo, Mopane and Acacia trees. They feed mostly in the canopy, searching for insects and other invertebrates. Brubrus are about 14cm long and weigh around 24g

Brubrus are usually encountered singly or in pairs but will join groups of other insectivorous birds moving through their home range. Both parents work together to construct the small, neat and well camouflaged cup-shaped nest of fine plant material and spiderweb. Clutches of 1-3 eggs are usually laid in spring and summer (breeding attempts have been recorded throughout the year) and incubated by both parents for just short of 3 weeks. The chicks leave the nest when they’re 3 weeks old and are fully independent by the time they’re 3 months old.

In South Africa the Brubru can be seen in Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng, North-West and the north of the Northern Cape Province. Brubrus are also found widely over sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of desert and forest areas, and the IUCN considers them to be of least concern.

Brubru

Brubru (photo by Joubert)

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

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Passer diffusus

The Southern Grey-headed Sparrow inhabits savanna, woodlands, plantations, agricultural areas and suburbs where it feeds mainly on seeds, fruit, nectar and insects and is often seen in association with other kinds of seed-eating birds, including the very similar Cape Sparrow. Grey-headed Sparrows weigh about 24g and grow to around 15cm in length.

Pairs are monogamous and usually breed well away from others of their kind, although they do form flocks outside the breeding season. Both parents work together to construct the nest, a simple aggregation of matted grass, leaves, stems, hair and feathers in holes in trees, under roofs or in the abandoned nests of other birds. The breeding season stretches from spring to autumn, reaching a peak in summer. The parents take turns to incubate the clutch of 2-6 eggs over a period of 2 weeks. The chicks leave the nest at between 2 and 3 weeks old and remain dependent on their parents for another 3 weeks or so thereafter.

In South Africa, Grey-headed Sparrows can be found in all provinces, representing a rapid range expansion aided by their ability to exploit human habitations for food and nesting. Today, Southern Grey-headed Sparrows are only absent from portions of the arid Northern Cape. Apart from South Africa they are also found in Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. The IUCN considers this species to be of least concern.

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

Grey-headed Sparrow

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

Grey-headed Sparrow

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

Grey-headed Sparrow

Dustbathing Grey-headed Sparrow

Grey-headed Sparrows

Joubert got these Grey-headed Sparrows fighting in Satara

Grey-headed Sparrows fighting (photograph by Joubert)

Striped Skink

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Trachylepis striata striata

Striped Skinks are medium-sized lizards growing to 11cm long (excluding the tail, including the tail up to 25cm) and inhabiting a wide variety of habitats, from mangrove swamps to arid bushveld. They are diurnal and feed primarily on small insects and other small invertebrates which they catch among rocks or in trees. They can “drop” their tails when caught to escape predators and adults without tails, or with regrowing tails, are often seen.

Female Striped Skinks give birth to litters of 3-9 live young during the summer months.

in South Africa, the Striped Skink occurs in north-east Kwazulu Natal and the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. They are commonly seen in towns and game reserve camps and can become quite habituated to humans. Outside of our borders they can be found in Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and northwards to Ethiopia.

Striped Skink

Striped Skink hiding in a hollow tree trunk

Striped Skink

Striped Skink enjoying a grasshopper meal

Striped Skink

Caracal

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Caracal caracal

The Caracal is the biggest and arguably fiercest of the small wildcats occurring in South Africa. Males may weigh up to 22kg and stand 45cm high at the shoulder, females are slightly smaller. They inhabit every imaginable habitat in the country, from the driest desert to temperate forests. Caracals prey mainly on small and medium-sized mammals, from rodents to antelope the size of impala. They’re extremely agile and can catch birds out of the air! They’ll also take reptiles (including venomous snakes) and other carnivores, like foxes and jackals. Caracals do not require regular access to drinking water.

Caracals are mainly active from dusk to dawn, although they may hunt throughout the day in inclement weather. By day they shelter in thickets or long grass. They’re solitary animals and any groups consist of either a female with her cubs or a female in oestrus being accompanied by a male. Males are territorial and their areas overlap the home ranges of several females.

Females give birth to litters of 1-6 cubs (usually 2 or 3) at any time of year. Popular den sites include thickets, hollow trees, animal burrows and rocky crevices. The female raises the cubs alone until they become independent when they’re about 10 months old. Caracals only rarely fall prey to bigger carnivores, and have a life expectancy in the wild of between 11 and 18 years.

Overall, the IUCN considers the Caracal to be of least concern, although several specific populations in various countries are declining and range from rare to threatened with local extinction. Caracals are widely distributed through Africa (except the equatorial forests), the Middle East and into the Indian subcontinent. In South Africa they can be found in every corner of the country – even in some of our biggest cities – despite being persecuted as killers of small livestock.

Caracal

Caracal (captive)

Caracal at Mountain Zebra National Park

Caracal

Painted Reed Frog

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Hyperolius marmoratus

Painted Reed Frogs, also known as Marbled Reed Frogs, are tiny little amphibians, growing to a maximum length of 33mm (females are slightly larger than males). As their name suggest, they inhabit reeds and other emergent vegetation around ponds, pans and riverbanks in forests, savanna, grassland and to a lesser extent fynbos. They feed entirely on insects and other invertebrates.

By day Painted Reed Frogs hide in dense plant material (when exposed to sunlight during the day they turn pale grey to white) to emerge at dusk, the males giving voice to their short, high-pitched chirps in large choruses in the breeding season that spans spring and summer. Females can lay several clutches of between 150 and 650 eggs in a season, roughly a month apart. Once fertilised, their eggs are attached to submerged plants. The eggs hatch after about 5 days, and by 8 weeks old the metamorphosis from tadpole to frog is complete.

In South Africa, three races of the Painted Reed Frog is distributed from the lowveld of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, through Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape to the Cape Peninsula. They seem to be expanding their range is recent times, and at least some of this may be due to assisted translocations by humans moving plants from nurseries in their native range to other localities. Painted Reed Frogs are also found in Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The IUCN considers the species to be of least concern.

Painted Reed Frog in Skukuza

Painted Reed Frog

This juvenile Painted Reed Frog climbed into my coffee cup at Mziki viewpoint one morning – at which stage during the drinking process I don’t know…

Painted Reed Frog

Can you spot the Painted Reed Frog?

Painted Reed Frog at a temporary pan on the eastern shores of Lake Saint Lucia

Fiscal Flycatcher

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Melaenornis silens

Fiscal Flycatchers inhabit open woodland, grasslands with scattered trees, scrubland, thickets, plantations, parks and gardens where they feed on insects, berries and nectar. Adults are about 18cm long and weigh around 26g.

Fiscal Flycathers are monogamous. The females are responsible for building the sturdy cup-shaped grass-nests lined with softer material, most often in thorn trees. The breeding season in this species stretches from late winter to the end of summer, reaching a peak from October to December. The female alone incubates the clutch of 2-4 eggs for a period of two weeks and is fed by the male during this time. The male however doesn’t take much of an interest in the chicks, and the female alone feeds them until they leave the nest about two weeks after hatching.

Thanks to a large and stable population, and no obvious threats, the IUCN lists the Fiscal Flycatcher as being of Least Concern. They are found only in South Africa, Lesotho and marginally into Botswana. Mozambique and Swaziland. There does appear to be a seasonal dimension to their occurrence, being more common in the warmer, lower-lying areas during the cold of winter.

Fiscal Flycatcher

Fiscal Flycatcher at Haak-en-Steek

Fiscal flycatcher

Fiscal Flycatcher

Immature Fiscal Flycatcher

Fiscal Flycatcher

Pin-tailed Whydah

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Vidua macroura

The little Pin-tailed Whydah (12cm long, without the tail, and weighing only about 15g) is most known for the aggressive nature of the breeding males, which carries tails almost double their own body length and have no qualms tackling birds many times their own weight, like doves and pigeons, over a food source or territory!

Pin-tailed Whydahs are brood parasites, meaning that the female lays her eggs (usually 1 or 2 but up to 4 at a time) in the nests of other birds, mostly small seed-eaters like waxbills, for them to raise the chicks, often after removing some or all of the host birds’ eggs. A single Pin-tailed Whydah female may lay up to 25 eggs in a season. Their breeding season stretches from spring to autumn. Males are polygamous and highly territorial. The chicks hatch after about 11 days of incubation and leave the nest at about 3 weeks old, staying with their host family for about another week before joining a Whydah group.

Their habitat ranges from savanna, grassland, reedbeds and scrublands to suburban parks, orchards and gardens. They feed mostly on seeds and termites. In South Africa they occur in all our provinces, though they’re rather sparsely distributed in the arid Northern Cape, while outside of our borders Pin-tailed Whydahs occur over most of the continent south of the Sahara. The IUCN considers the Pin-tailed Whydah to be of least concern.