Tag Archives: outdoors

Green Twinspot

Mandingoa nitidula

The beautiful little Green Twinspot, a tiny member of the finch family that is only 11cm long and 10g in weight, is easily overlooked in its forest habitat where it feeds mainly on seeds. They’ll also readily venture into plantations and gardens where there are grass seeds to be had. When disturbed they always fly high into the tree canopy to wait there quietly until the threat has passed.

Green Twinspots are often seen in small family groups of up to 10, though they form monogamous pairs in the breeding season (and sometimes for more than one season), which spans the months of spring and summer. Their nest is a rough ball of plant material with a side entrance usually built quite high among dense foliage in which both partners roost together at night. The female lies between 4 and 6 eggs and both parents incubate the clutch for a period of 2 weeks. The chicks fledge at about 3 weeks of age but will keep coming back to the nest for about another week or so before becoming totally independent.

Green Twinspot

According to the IUCN, the Green Twinspot is of least concern, despite occasionally being trapped for the pet trade. It has a very patchy distribution over much of sub-Saharan Africa, while in our country they’re largely restricted to coastal Kwazulu-Natal and the escarpment of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Green Twinspot

Green Twinspots

Green Twinspot

Green Twinspots

Green Twinspot

Tailor Ants

11 Replies

Oecophylla longinoda

Tailor Ants, or Weaver Ants, naturally inhabit humid forests, which limits their South African distribution to the northern coast of Kwazulu-Natal (where their unique nests are a common sight in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park). Beyond our borders they’re distributed throughout Africa’s equatorial regions.

A single colony of Tailor Ants usually have several nests within their territory, which they fiercely defend by injecting formic acid when biting assailants, be they other ants, birds or animals and even humans. These nests are constructed using silk produced by the larval ants to bind together living leaves. In one nest the queen, which produces about a hundred eggs per day, lives, while the other nests are used by the workers (which measure up to 11mm in length) to care for the young ants or – fascinatingly! – farm with scale insects. The ants subsist on the honeydew these scale insects secrete as well as on other insects they hunt in the trees or on the ground.

Tailor Ant nest

Tailor Ants nest

Tailor Ant nest

Tailor Ants

Tailor Ant nest

Tailor Ants

Tailor Ant nest

Tailor Ants

African Pygmy Goose

12 Replies

Nettapus auritus

With a weight of only 260g, the African Pygmy Goose is one of the smallest members of the duck family to be found in South Africa. They’re seen in close association with bodies of clear water densely vegetated with water lilies, the flowers and seeds of which forms the bulk of their diet, and other floating and emergent plants amongst which they’ll often sit entirely motionless to avoid detection. When threatened they’ll more usually dive below the water surface than fly away.

African Pygmy Geese (photo by Niel de Wet)

African Pygmy Goose male (photo by Niel de Wet)

African Pygmy Goose female (photo by Niel de Wet)

African Pygmy Goose male (photo by Niel de Wet)

African Pygmy Geese form monogamous pairs with a very strong bond and are usually seen in pairs or family groups. They make their nests in holes in trees and will readily use nest boxes erected for them. The breeding season stretches from the start of spring to the end of autumn. Clutches may number up to 13, but more usually 7-9, eggs. The female is solely responsible for incubating the eggs, which takes about 4 weeks. Soon after hatching the chicks jump from the nest to follow their mother to the water. The chicks can fly by the time they’re about 6 or 7 weeks old.

The IUCN considers the African Pygmy Goose as being of least concern. While it has a very wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa and also occurs on Madagascar, in our country they are considered to be near-threatened and only encountered with any regularity in the wetlands along the northern coastline of Kwazulu-Natal.

African Pygmy Goose

African Pygmy Geese among Blue Water Lilies

African Pygmy Geese

Green Malkoha

9 Replies

Ceuthmochares australis

Another very rarely seen bird with a limited distribution in South Africa – only found here along the coast of Kwazulu-Natal – and one that I saw for the first time on my recent trip to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park with my younger brother, is the Green Malkoha (also known as the Green Coucal or Whistling Yellowbill).

The Green Malkoha is a bird of coastal forest habitats and a member of the cuckoo-family. It feeds on a wide range of small vertebrates (with a special fondness for tree-living frogs) and insects, and also a limited selection of fruits. They are usually seen singly or in pairs, preferring to creep through the thick vegetation like a rodent rather than flying.

Green Malkohas form monogamous pairs in the spring breeding season, building rather flimsy platform nests in dense thicket on which clutches of 2-4 eggs are laid – rather unusual in the cuckoo-family, where most species are brood parasites. Aside from the fact that both parents take care of the young after they’ve hatched little else is known of this species’ breeding habits. Fully grown, Green Malkohas weigh about 70g and measure 33cm in length.

The IUCN considers the Green Malkoha to be of Least Concern. Beyond its limited South African occurrence it can be found along the Indian Ocean seaboard and adjacent interior as far north as southern Somalia, with an isolated population on the Ethiopian Highlands.

Green Malkoha

Subantarctic Fur Seal at Cape Vidal

11 Replies

Arctocephalus tropicalis

The Subantarctic Fur Seal is a sea living mammal that usually occurs in the chilly waters of the southern Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Finding one on the much more tropical beach at Cape Vidal in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park on South Africa’s north-eastern coast, thousands of kilometers from where it belongs, was therefore a very unexpected surprise! Why and how exactly some seals roam so widely outside their usual range still is not really understood, but vagrants of this species has been recorded in South Africa before and even as far north as the Tanzanian coast. When we first noticed this individual it was lying far up the beach, trying its best to stay out of a strong wind, but I later noticed it enjoying the swell at the incoming tide. While to my opinion our visitor looked in good, energetic health I did alert the Park authorities as soon as I had connectivity again just in case they wanted to have a look themselves, as these long distance swimmers are often very tired and underfed by the time they reach our shore and are then looked after at a specialised rehabilitation centre until they can be shipped back to their natural homes.

Subantarctic Fur Seals live and breed around and on tiny islands just north of the Antarctic Polar Front at roughly 60°S latitude, including the South African territory of the Prince Edward islands. Fully grown males, at 1.8m long and 160kg in weight, is much larger than the females, which weigh only about 50kg. They feed mainly on fish and squid. Pups are born in the southern summer (most of them in December). It is estimated that they can live to 25 years of age in the wild.

With a population estimated at around 200,000 adults and considered to be stable, the IUCN lists the Subantarctic Fur Seal as being of least concern. This is a wonderful improvement as they were extensively hunted for their pelts in the 1800’s.

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

Spring on Lake Saint Lucia’s Eastern Shores

16 Replies

While visiting the town of St. Lucia and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park at the end of October and into early November, my brother and I set aside three days for visiting Cape Vidal and the Eastern Shores section of the Park – an area that absolutely overflows with natural beauty!

A very easy-driving tar road leads directly from the Bhangazi Gate on the outskirts of town to Cape Vidal and offers wonderful opportunities for close encounters with a wide variety of wildlife.

White Rhinoceros

Spotted Hyena

Yellow-billed Kite

Green Malkoha

White Rhinoceros (photo by Niel de Wet)

Common Reedbuck

Small Buffalo herd in the rain

Rufous-winged Cisticola

Bushbuck

Common Reedbuck

Buffalo bull

Crested Guineafowl

The last stretch of the road into Cape Vidal

Grey Duiker (photograph by Niel de Wet)

Side-striped Jackal

Hippo on land

Buffalo bull

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

Water Thick-knee

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

Don’t miss the turnoffs for the Pan Loop and then the Vlei Loop shortly after entering!

Kudu cows

Malachite Kingfisher (photo by Niel de Wet)

Painted Lady Butterfly

kuMbhukwana Pan

Little Bee-eater

Southern Banded Snake Eagle (photo by Niel de Wet)

Spur-winged Geese (photo by Niel de Wet)

The short cul-de-sac leading to the iZindondo Pan always has something interesting on offer

Southern Banded Snake Eagle

African Pygmy Geese (photo by Niel de Wet)

White-backed Duck

Small herd of Elephants at iZindondo Pan

Cape Vidal’s lovely setting in the dune forest is always enchanting…

Green Twinspot

Arriving at Cape Vidal

Samango Monkey

Red Duiker

Samango Monkey

Ashy Flycatcher

Black-bellied Starling

Banded Groundling dragonfly

and I am yet to be convinced that there is a beach more beautiful in all of South Africa!

White-fronted Plover

Grey-headed Gull

Lesser Crested Tern in low-level flight

Ghost Crabs on the beach at Cape Vidal

Cape Vidal has the most interesting rocks and intertidal pools

Grey-headed Gull

The beautiful beach at Cape Vidal

Grey-headed Gull

Lesser Crested Tern

Flock of Sanderlings

Lesser Crested Terns

Common Whimbrel feeding on a ghost crab

Common Whimbrel flying away with a ghost crab

The dunes at Cape Vidal are among the highest vegetated sand dunes in the world

Mole Crab

Ghost Crabs on the beach at Cape Vidal

Ghost Crab in the surf at Cape Vidal

Ghost Crabs in the surf at Cape Vidal

Finding a Sub-Antarctic Fur Seal on the beach at Cape Vidal was an enormous surprise – more about that in the next installment of DeWetsWild!

Male Sub-Antarctic Fur Seal on the shore at Cape Vidal after a heavy storm

The Grassland Loop is an excellent alternative to a large stretch of the main road when heading south again towards Saint Lucia town

Elephant Bull walking away near Cape Vidal

The start of the Grassland Loop meanders through an excellent example of swamp forest

Banded Mongoose

Crested Guineafowl

eMfabeni Swamp

Green-banded Swallowtail

I wasn’t exactly thrilled to come across a Common Myna – an alien invader – on the Grassland Loop

Baby Nile Crocodile

Waterbuck herd in the eMfabeni Swamp

Buffalo in the eMfabeni swamp

Secretary Bird

eMfabeni Swamp

Fan-tailed Widowbird

Red-breasted Swallow taking off with mud in its mouth

Samango Monkey (photo by Niel de Wet)

Don’t think that taking the short Forest Loop leading to the hides at kuMfazana Pan is going to be a quick detour – the butterflies alone will keep you entertained for a long time!

Novice Butterfly

Water Thick-knee (or Dikkop) with two chicks

Reed Cormorant

Large Striped Swordtail

Large Vagrant

Green-banded Swallowtail

Tailor Ant nest

Yellow-bellied Greenbul (photo by Niel de Wet)

Candy-striped Crinum flowers

I sincerely hope this quick overview gives you a sense of all that the Eastern Shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park has to offer! 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.

Map of the eastern shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (from https://isimangaliso.com/)

Announcement! Gooderson Leisure reservations now available through DeWetsWild!

11 Replies

Announcement!

We are very excited to announce that DeWetsWild can now assist you with reservations at Gooderson Leisure’s resorts!

https://dewetswild.com/about/reservation-services/gooderson-leisure-reservations/

Candy-striped Veld Lily

12 Replies

Crinum stuhlmannii

(previously C. delagoense /C. forbesii)

The beautiful Candy-Striped Veld Lily occurs from our Kwazulu-Natal Province all along the Indian Ocean coastal plain to East Africa. It is a bulbous plant that grows best in sandy soil at low altitudes and out in the full sun. Its leaves grow up to 1.5m in length and a single plant can bear up to 30 of the distinctive flowers, typically during the months of spring.

Candy-striped Crinum flowers

Candy-striped Crinum flower

Candy-striped Crinum fruit

Candy-striped Crinum plants

Candy-striped Crinum flowers

Candy-striped Crinum fruit developing

Candy-striped Crinum flowers and developing fruit

Candy-striped Crinum flowers

Announcement! DeWetsWild and aha Hotels & Lodges

8 Replies

Announcement!

We are delighted to announce that DeWetsWild can now assist you with reservations at the fabulous properties managed by aha Hotels & Lodges!

https://dewetswild.com/about/reservation-services/aha-hotels-lodges-reservations/

Announcement! Pilanesberg National Park with DeWetsWild & Legacy Hotels & Resorts

9 Replies

Announcement!

We are very proud to announce that DeWetsWild can now assist you with reservations at the fantastic Legacy Hotels & Resorts Bush Lodges in the Pilanesberg National Park!

https://dewetswild.com/about/reservation-services/pilanesberg-national-park-reservations/