Tag Archives: outdoors

White-backed Duck

Thalassornis leuconotus

Another bird of which sightings come highly regarded in South Africa is the White-backed Duck and I was very excited to finally catch sight of them during my recent trip to St. Lucia in Kwazulu-Natal.

White-backed Duck

White-backed Ducks

White-backed Duck

White-backed Ducks

White-backed Duck

A nomadic diving duck that feeds mainly on submerged plant material, the White-backed Duck inhabits natural and man-made dams and pans of any size and permanence with clear water and abundant floating and emergent plants, where they are exquisitely camouflaged and easily overlooked. The white patch on their backs from which they get their name is only seen in flight. They are usually seen in pairs or family groups but occasionally form larger flocks of over a hundred. White-backed Ducks rarely venture onto dry land.

Monogamous pairs of White-backed Ducks (perhaps life-long bonds) breed year-round in dense reed beds or other thick plant material standing in the water. Clutches of up to 9 eggs are laid on a nest platform built of the surrounding plant material, and incubated by both parents for 4-5 weeks. The ducklings are able to follow their parents onto and into the water less than a day after hatching and are fully grown by the time they’re 4 months old. Adults measure about 43cm in length and weigh around 650g.

In South Africa, the White-backed Duck has a rather patchy distribution, with concentrations in the Highveld grassland areas, in Kwazulu-Natal, the Garden Route and the Cape Winelands. Beyond our borders their range stretches to Ethiopia and Madagascar, with isolated populations in the Sahel. According to the IUCN it is of least concern.

White-backed Ducks

White-backed Ducks among Blue Water Lilies

White-backed Ducks

White-backed Duck

White-backed Ducks

White-backed Duck diving

White-backed Duck

White-backed Ducks

White-backed Duck

St. Lucia’s Game Park Trails

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Just a little to the north of the town of St. Lucia, right at the Crocodile Centre and the Bhangazi Gate into the Eastern Shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, is a small game reserve where visitors are allowed to walk and cycle unguided and at own risk – hippos and leopards count among the game park’s inhabitants after all. Hikers have a choice of trails, several kilometers in extent, that lead through and along most of the important habitats that are found in the greater Park – swamps and marshes, grasslands, woodland and forests. I packed in a couple of hikes through St. Lucia’s Game Park while visiting the town at the end of October and into early November and, as you can tell from these pictures, I was not disappointed!

Spur-winged Geese

One of the lily-grown pans in the St. Lucia Game Park

Spectacled Skimmer Dragonfly (male)

Blue Pansy butterfly

Common Moorhen

Yellow-billed Egret

One of the lily-grown pans in the St. Lucia Game Park

White-backed Ducks

Yellow-throated Longclaw in display flight

Grassland scenery in the St. Lucia Game Park

September Bush blossoms

Candy-striped Crinum flowers

Impala Rams

Impala rams on the run

Dung Beetle

I’ve not yet identified these daisy-like blossoms

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

Spotted Joker Butterfly

Plains Zebras

Red Duiker

Common Bush Brown Butterfly

Flying Handkerchief – male Mocker Swallowtail butterfly

Variable Diadem Butterfly

Spectacled Skimmer Dragonfly female

White-backed Duck

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.

Announcement! ATKV Resorts Reservations

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Announcement!

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

https://dewetswild.com/about/reservation-services/atkv-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!

Narina Trogon

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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

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.