Tag Archives: Pretoria

A few minutes at Austin Roberts Memorial Bird Sanctuary

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Earlier this week Joubert and I quickly popped into the hide at the Austin Roberts Memorial Bird Sanctuary while we were whiling away a few minutes before attending to some other (more boring) chores. Despite the cold and overcast weather the little reserve was alive with birds of all description (as it always is!) and again we were amazed that such a precious place still exists inside one of the capital city’s oldest neighbourhoods.

Southern Masked Weaver (photo by Joubert)
Grey Crowned Crane (photo by Joubert)
Yellow-billed Duck (photo by Joubert)
Village Weaver (photo by Joubert)
Yellow-billed Duck (photo by Joubert)
Common Arum Lily (photo by Joubert)
Little Egret (photo by Joubert)
Yellow-billed Duck (photo by Joubert)
Egyptian Goose (photo by Joubert)
Egyptian Goose (photo by Joubert)
Egyptian Goose (photo by Joubert)

The photographs are all courtesy of Joubert, while I was responsible for the videos.

 

Announcement: DeWetsWild’s portfolio grows again!

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Announcement!

We are delighted to announce that DeWetsWild portfolio of reservation services has grown again and now includes the following luxury lodgings in some of South Africa’s best known destinations!

In Addo Elephant National Park:

  • Kuzuko Lodge

In the Bushveld:

  • ANEW Resort Hunter’s Rest
  • Clifftop Exclusive Safari Hideaway, Welgevonden Private Game Reserve
  • KwaFubesi Tented Safari Camp, Mabula Private Game Reserve
  • Mabula Game Lodge, Mabula Private Game Reserve
  • Safari Plains, Mabula Private Game Reserve

In Cape Town:

  • ANEW Hotel Green Point
  • Cape Cadogan Boutique Hotel
  • More Quarters Neighbourhood Hotel
  • Oldenburg Residence, Stellenbosch
  • The Cape Milner
  • The Commodore Hotel
  • The PortsWood Hotel

In the Drakensberg:

  • ANEW Resort Vulintaba

In Johannesburg:

  • ANEW Hotel Parktonian
  • ANEW Hotel Roodepoort
  • DaVinci Hotel & Suites
  • Raphael Penthouse Suites
  • The Leonardo
  • The Michelangelo Towers

In the Kalahari

  • Tswalu Kalahari Reserve

In the Kruger National Park:

  • Hamiltons Tented Camp
  • Hoyo Hoyo Safari Lodge
  • Imbali Safari Lodge
  • Lion Sands Narina Lodge
  • Lion Sands Tinga Lodge
  • Lukimbi Safari Lodge

In the KZN Midlands and Holiday Coast

  • ANEW Hotel Hilton
  • ANEW Hotel Ocean Reef
  • ANEW Resort Ingeli Forest

In the Lowveld:

  • ANEW Resort Hazyview
  • ANEW Resort White River
  • Angels View
  • Elephant Point
  • Kruger Park Lodge

In the Marakele National Park:

  • Marataba Safari Lodge
  • Marataba Mountain Lodge

On the Mpumalanga Highveld:

  • ANEW Hotel Highveld
  • ANEW Hotel Witbank

In Pretoria:

  • ANEW Hotel Capital
  • ANEW Hotel Centurion
  • ANEW Hotel Hatfield
  • The Centurion Hotel

In the Sabi Sand Game Reserve:

  • Idube Game Lodge
  • Lion Sands Ivory Lodge
  • Lion Sands River Lodge

In the Thornybush Game Reserve

  • Monwana Residence

In Zululand and Northern Kwazulu-Natal:

  • ANEW Hotel Hluhluwe

Don’t forget that DeWetsWild can assist you in putting together the perfect itinerary for visiting our country’s most beautiful places with stays at any of 277 destinations right across South Africa.

DeWetsWild can assist you with reservations at all these destinations! (map courtesy of mapsland.com)

Rietvlei on a winter’s day

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Just some photographs from a serene Sunday spent in our local Rietvlei Nature Reserve yesterday.

Sunrise over Marais Dam in Rietvlei Nature Reserve
African Stonechat male
Massive White Rhino bull
Long-tailed Widowbird male in transitional plumage
African Black Duck in flight
Yellow Mongoose on a trot
Cape Glossy Starling
Arrow-marked Babbler
Blacksmith Lapwing
Fiscal Flycatcher
Male ostrich
Buffaloes on the move
Portrait of a buffalo cow.
Plains Zebra
Blesbok in a hurry
Resting buffaloes
Thirsty buffalo calf
Helmeted Guineafowl
Eland youngsters
Male ostrich eyeing us from above
Winter scenery at Rietvlei Nature Reserve
Cape Longclaw
Common Moorhen
This buffalo bull watched us walking nervously between our vehicle and the Island View hide
Red Hartebeest
Capped Wheatear
Black Wildebeest trio

Aiming at Diederikkies

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The housing complex where we live here in Pretoria has seen a proliferation of Garden Acraea butterflies and their caterpillars over the past few weeks.

Garden Acraea in our garden (photo by Joubert)
Garden Acraea in our garden (photo by Joubert)

These in turn have been a boon for the Diederik Cuckoos that visit our part of the world in summer. Caterpillars are a staple for them.

Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik with caterpillar (photo by Joubert)
Diederik male gifting a caterpillar to the female (photo by Joubert)
Diederik family squabble (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo that caught a Garden Acraea(photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)

An added bonus for the Diederikkies are the number of nests of Southern Masked Weavers to be found in our complex gardens. The Diederik Cuckoo is a brood parasite that is especially fond of using weavers as foster parents for their chicks. Of course this isn’t going down too well with the weavers, who frequently dive bomb any Diederikkie found exposed.

Southern Masked Weaver male trying to chase away a Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Southern Masked Weaver male trying to chase away a Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)
Southern Masked Weaver male trying to chase away a Diederik Cuckoo (photo by Joubert)

These photographs were all taken by Joubert in the past couple of days. His examinations are over and for all intents and purposes his Grade 6 year is concluded – all that he still needs to do is collect his report card and certificates. The dramas of the Diederikkies and their neighbours has been great entertainment and Joubert quickly got very adept at using both stories of our townhouse as photographic hides from which to capture their antics. Of course I am very grateful that he loves photography so much rather than vegetating on the couch with tv games.

Celebrating our natural heritage

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It is the Heritage Day long weekend in South Africa, and yesterday we packed the Duster with picnic baskets and grandparents and set out for a most enjoyable morning at our local Rietvlei Nature Reserve. Large sections of the reserve have recently received management burns to clear moribund grass cover (fire being an essential component of Africa’s grassland and savanna landscapes), and the first spring rains have spurred the growth of new grass, attracting a wide range of birds and animals to these areas.

Reed Cormorant
Cattle Egret
Reed Cormorant
Yellow Mongoose
Yellow Mongoose being chased by a Capped Wheatear
Black-backed Jackal
Crowned Lapwing
Yellow-billed Ducks
Yellow-billed Ducks
Red Hartebeest
Long-tailed Widowbird (female)
Spotted Thick-knee
Spotted Thick-knee
Buffy Pipit
Buffy Pipit
Spur-winged Geese
Ostrich
Hadeda
Capped Wheatear
Blesbok
Lesser Swamp Warbler
Eland
Eland
Eland
White Rhinoceros
Black Wildebeest
Plains Zebra
Red Hartebeest
Blesbok lying on their path

 

Another quick nature fix at Rietvlei

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Just as we were starting to experience withdrawal symptoms after spending almost a month exploring eight of our country’s beautiful national parks we were saved from the agony by a good friend who organised his birthday party at our local Rietvlei Nature Reserve yesterday.

Ostrich and zebra in the Rietvlei landscape
White rhino bull (dehorned to protect against poaching)
Blowing a massive cloud of dust (photo by Joubert)
African Wattled Lapwing
African Wattled Lapwing (immature)
African Darter in flight
White-breasted Cormorant in flight
White-throated Swallow
Plains zebra
Long-tailed Widowbird (female)
Rufous-naped Lark
Blacksmith Lapwing
Crab holding on for dear life at the weir (photo by Joubert)
Yellow-crowned Bishop (female)
Eland bull
Eland herd

A month of monochrome memories: Wading Old-Timer

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This lone buffalo bull enjoyed the refreshing coolness of a stream flowing through the Rietvlei Nature Reserve.

Rietvlei 06122015 (13)

Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and will be sharing photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we call “a month of monochrome memories”.

A month of monochrome memories: Rhino Trio

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These white rhinos in Rietvlei Nature Reserve presented a formidable front as they approached the road!

Rietvlei 06122015 (12)

Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and will be sharing photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we call “a month of monochrome memories”.

A month of monochrome memories: Agitated Eland

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This Eland cow in Rietvlei Nature Reserve got so irritated by the swarm of flies buzzing all around her that she set of running to try and get rid of them!

Rietvlei 06122015 (11)

Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and will be sharing photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we call “a month of monochrome memories”.

A month of monochrome memories: Preening Darter

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With its serpentine neck, the African Darter is easily recognisable. The photographic hides at Rietvlei Nature Reserve usually presents excellent opportunities to photograph this and other aquatic bird species.

Rietvlei 06122015 (10)

Our end-of-year 2015 holidays were absolutely packed to the brim. Apart from our ten-day visit to the Kruger National Park (read more about our time at Lower Sabie, Olifants and Shingwedzi in December), we also made day trips to five other reserves, and will be sharing photos from those (except Suikerbosrand, which we introduced in a post all of its own) daily through the month of February, in a series we call “a month of monochrome memories”.