Tag Archives: wildlife

Green-backed Heron

Butorides striata atricapillus

The Green-backed Heron, also known as the Striated Heron in many parts of its range, is a shy species inhabiting aquatic habitats (swamps, estuaries, lakes, rivers, streams, floodplains and mangrove stands), with a well-vegetated border. Here they feed on a wide-range of mostly water-related prey such as worms, insects, molluscs, crabs, frogs, fish (often attracted with a piece of bait, like floating bread) and even small vertebrates.

These relatively small herons (length 40cm, weight 215g) are mainly active from dusk to dawn. Green-backed Herons are monogamous and pairs usually breed well away from others of their species and only occasionally in small colonies. Their nests are shallow platforms constructed of twigs and reeds in the branches of trees of bushes. They breed throughout the year with a peak coinciding with the rainy season. Clutches of 2-5 eggs are incubated by both parents for 3-4 weeks. The chicks can fly strongly by the time they’re about 5 weeks old.

While this species has a wide distribution across the world (Asia, Australia, the Americas and Africa south of the Sahara), they’re confined mostly to the wetter eastern and northern provinces of South Africa. The IUCN lists the species as being of least concern, though they do note that the population is probably in decline due mostly to loss of habitat.

Green-backed Heron

Green-backed heron

Green-backed Heron

Got it! Green-backed Heron catching dragonflies

Green-backed Heron

Green-backed Heron (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron

Green-backed Heron (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron

An immature Green-backed Heron being very distrustful of a large Nile Crocodile

An immature Green-backed Heron in flight (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron (immature)

Green-backed Heron (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron swallowing a huge Tilapia (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron (photo by Joubert)

Green-backed Heron

Immature Green-backed Herons

Green-backed Heron

Southern Black Flycatcher

10 Replies

Melaenornis pammelaina

The Southern Black Flycatcher inhabits open, tall woodlands, often along rivers or otherwise near water, and the edges of forests. They’ve also adapted to plantations and gardens. They feed mainly on a wide variety of insects, often pounced on from a low perch such as a branch or fence post, but do include nectar and berries in their diet as well.

This species closely resembles both the Square-tailed Drongo and the Fork-tailed Drongo, which it appears to be mimicking and often associates with. Adults reach up to 20cm in length and weigh up to 32g. They are usually encountered in pairs or small family groups.

The breeding season in the Southern Black Flycatcher spans spring and summer. Nests are cup-shaped formations of dry grass and twigs, built in hollow tree trunks or tangled vegetation. Clutches contain up to 4 eggs, incubated for 2 weeks. Both parents take care of the chicks, which fledge between 2 and 3 weeks old.

The Southern Black Flycatcher occurs widely in east, central and southern Africa, and is listed as being of least concern by the IUCN. In South Africa they can be found in the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and parts of Gauteng and the North West Province.

Southern Black Flycatcher

Fledgling Southern Black Flycatcher

Southern Black Flycatcher

Black Flycatcher

Southern Black Flycatcher

Black Flycatcher

Southern Black Flycatcher

Black Flycatcher

Bronze Mannikin

33 Replies

Spermestes cucullata

With an adult weight of just 10g, the Bronze Mannikin is one of the smallest birds occurring in South Africa. These diminutive seed-eaters’ preferred habitat is grassy areas in moist woodlands, riverine thickets and on forest edges, and they have adapted well to planted suburbia, even expanding their range as a result. They are very dependent on an easily accessible supply of fresh drinking water.

A highly gregarious species, Bronze Mannikins breed through most of the year, excluding mid-winter, reaching a peak in summer. Both sexes co-operate to build the nest, the male bringing the grass to the female who puts together an untidy, ball-shaped structure in a bush or tree, or occasionally on buildings. Two to eight eggs are laid and incubated for about 2 weeks by both parents. The chicks are reared by both the male and female and become independent at 6 weeks of age. They frequently nest in suburban gardens. Outside of the breeding seasons small groups sleep together in larger nests built communally for the purpose.

Bronze Mannikins are common throughout their range, which extends over much of Sub-Saharan Africa, and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. In South Africa they are abundant in Gauteng, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu Natal, from there extending south-westwards along the coast as far as Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikin collecting palm strands for nest building

Bronze Mannikin juvenile

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikin juveniles watching an adult intently

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikin juveniles and adults

Bronze Mannikin juveniles

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikins

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikins picking seeds from the lawns in Crocodile Bridge

Bronze Mannikin

Immature Bronze Mannikins

Bronze Mannikins

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikin youngsters

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikin youngsters

Bronze Mannikin adult and youngsters

Bronze Mannikins

Bronze Mannikin

Bronze Mannikins

Bronze Mannikin

Red-headed Finch

20 Replies

Amadina erythrocephala

Red-headed finches inhabit dry savanna and grassland habitats, where they feed mainly on seeds and small insects. They are dependent on a reliable supply of drinking water and is therefore highly nomadic, especially in the dry season. They are frequently encountered in urban and agricultural areas, where the provision of water has aided an expansion of their distribution. Red-headed Finches grow to 14cm in length and weigh up to 27g.

Red-headed finches are usually encountered in flocks of varying sizes, often mixed with other small seed-eating birds. They breed throughout the year inside the abandoned nests of other birds or in holes in trees or buildings, with most eggs laid from late summer to spring. Females may lay as many as 11 eggs, though clutches usually number 4 to 6 eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs for around 2 weeks, with the hatchlings leaving the nest when they’re between 2 and 3 weeks old.

The IUCN considers the Red-headed Finch to be of least concern, describing their population as common and stable. In South Africa they occur across portions of all our provinces, with their distribution further extending into Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Unfortunately there is a market for wild caught Red-headed Finches in the pet trade.

Red-headed finch (male)

Red-headed Finch (male)

Red-headed Finch (female)

Red-headed Finch pair (male – left and female – right)

Red-headed Finch (male)

Red-headed Finch (female)

Red-headed Finch (male)

Red-headed Finch pair

Red-headed Finch (male)

Red-headed Finch males

Red-headed Finch pair

Red-headed Finches

Female Red-headed Finch

Red-headed Finch

Red-headed Finch (photo by Joubert)

Sable Antelope

27 Replies

Hippotragus niger

To us, the Sable is the most majestic of all the antelope – the proud bulls with their gracefully curved horns, pitch-black bodies and contrasting white stomachs make a sight to behold! The Sable is a large antelope, weighing from 180 to 270 kg and standing up to 1.4m high at the shoulder. Bulls are only slightly larger than the cows.

The Sable Antelope inhabits open woodland and savannas, with medium to long grass, large trees and few shrubs. They are seldom far from water as they need to drink daily. They are almost exclusively grazers, consuming only small quantities of leaves and herbs, especially in the dry season.

Sable Antelope (photo by Joubert)

Sable Antelope cows

Sable Antelope

Sable Antelope bull

Sable Antelope

Adult bulls maintain territories through ritual display and serious fights, and attempt to keep passing herds of cows and their calves in their area so that they can mate with receptive females. Breeding herds number about 20 animals, though larger, temporary groups of up to 200 may form in areas of good grazing. Males that aren’t able to hold territories come together in small bachelor herds. A strict hierarchy applies in both the bachelor and breeding herds, and appears to be based on age – the older the animal the higher its rank. Sable Antelope are most active in the early mornings and evenings, sometimes into the night, and rest in the shade during the heat of the day. Sable can be very dangerous and defend themselves valiantly against predator attacks – when cornered they will back into a thorny bush and face the attacker head-on with powerful swipes of those magnificent horns – even lions have been killed by Sable!

Most Sable calves are born in the rainy season, after a gestation of about 9 months. Cows leave their herds a few days before their calves are born and the calf then stays hidden for 2 to 4 weeks, during which time the mother nurses it twice daily, before joining up with the herd again. Young bulls are expelled from the herds at about three years of age to join bachelor groups, until they can establish their own territory at 5 – 6 years of age. Females remain in their maternal herds. Lions and crocodiles are the only natural threat to adult Sable Antelope, but leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and wild dogs take a heavy toll on calves, especially while they are kept hidden those first few weeks of life. Sable have a life expectancy in the wild of between 10 and 18 years.

With a relatively stable population of 75,000 distributed from southern Kenya to northern South Africa, the IUCN considers the Sable Antelope as being of least concern overall, with at least half of this population occurring in protected areas. Outside of formal conservation areas they are becoming increasingly rare due to hunting and loss of habitat. An isolated population in Angola, known as the Giant Sable (H.n.variani) numbers only between 200 and 400 and is considered critically endangered. In South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe the Sable is regarded a valuable game ranching animal (mostly for trophy hunting) and as a result has been introduced widely onto private land, also outside their historical distribution range, representing the only sub-populations that are actually increasing in number and now make up about a quarter of the total population. South Africa’s biggest natural population occurs in the Kruger National Park, where their numbers have dropped significantly over the years due to competition from other herbivores. They can also be seen, amongst others, at Marakele, Mokala and Pilanesberg National Parks, at Loskop Dam and Willem Pretorius Game Reserves and in the Kgaswane Mountain Reserve.

Sable Antelope

Kgaswane scenery towering above a herd of sable antelope

This time we had good views of the magnificent sable antelope for which Kgaswane is so well known

Sable antelope in the distance

Sable Antelope females and calves

Sable Antelope cow

Sable Antelope bull and cow

Sable Antelope

Sable antelope

Sable Antelope calf

Sable Antelope bull and harem

Sable Antelope on the S36 between Tshokwane and Talamati

Sable Antelope

Sable Antelope cow

Sable Antelope bull

Sable Antelope

Sable Antelope just outside Senyati’s camping area

Wrapping up the “Dads Trip to Mopani”

27 Replies

Middle-May presented an opportunity to visit one of my favourite corners of the Kruger National Park with three very good friends. We set off early on the Friday morning and returned the following Monday, having had a thoroughly enjoyable time exploring the wilds around Mopani Rest Camp. I’ve already shared with you some of what we saw – the exhilarating waterbuck fight, a towering elephant bull owning the road and the love of a mother hyena for her cubs – but of course in a paradise like Kruger there’s still much more to be seen, and shared!

When going to northern Kruger, apart from Impalas, there are three things you just KNOW you are going to see: Elephants, Buffaloes and Hippos!

Sleepy buffalo and red-billed oxpecker

Big old buffalo bull

Mad old buffalo bull

Buffalo cow without her horns

Buffalo Bull

Elephant in the rear-view mirror

Elephant along the stream

Elephant drinking from a reservoir

Unknown Kruger Tusker (2018/05/19)

Young elephant trying to figure out whether to fight or flee

Elephants drinking from a seasonal pan

Big old elephant bull

Hippo pod in the Pioneer Dam

Hippopotamus yawn

Among all the beautiful elephants we saw, our most prized sightings were of Masasana and Ndlovane, two of the big tuskers that call the Kruger National Park home.

Tusker Ndlovane (2018/05/18)

Tusker Masasana (2018/05/19)

Early on the Saturday morning we thought we were going to be extremely lucky and see a pride of Lions take down a Blue Wildebeest at Tinhongonyeni waterhole. A passing rain shower however dampened the lions’ appetites and they went off to search for a drier spot among the dense mopane trees close-by.

Lion pride in the rain at Tinhongonyeni

Apart from the lions there were several predators in evidence around Mopani on this visit, with Black-backed Jackals and Spotted Hyenas being especially common.

Black-backed Jackal

Nile Crocodile juvenile

Big Nile Crocodile male

Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyena cub

Large Spotted Genet captured on my camera-trap on the camp perimeter

Leopard captured on my camera-trap on the camp perimeter

And of course all those hungry meat-eater mouths rely on a steady supply of herbivores, which Mopani has no shortage of, especially around Tinhongonyeni and Mooiplaas Waterholes and in the marshland along the course of the Nshawu stream.

Blue Wildebeest

Giraffe calf

Giraffe hide

Sharpe’s Grysbok

Impala

Southern Reedbuck ram

Southern Reedbuck pair

Steenbok Ram

Tsessebe

Tsessebes

Waterbuck Bull

Waterbuck herd on the banks of the Pioneer Dam near Mopani

Plains Zebras

Kruger is always a paradise to birdwatchers, even now that most of the summer migrants have departed for warmer climes.

African Hawk Eagle

Black Crakes

Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark

Crested Barbet

Giant Kingfisher

Green-backed Heron

Ground Hornbill

Kittlitz’s Plover

Kori Bustard

Magpie Shrike

Martial Eagle

Namaqua Dove

Pied Kingfishers

African Pied Wagtail

Secretary Bird taking off

Tawny Eagle

Temminck’s Courser

White-backed Vulture in flight

Yellow-billed Hornbill

We always try to pay special attention to the interesting world of smaller creatures so often overlooked in a wild place like Kruger.

Giant / Wrestling Waterbug (Lethocerus niloticus)

Lucia Widow Dragonfly

Serrated Terrapin

Painted Lady

And then on the other side of the scale is the Park’s magnificent scenery!

Baobab with Buffalo Weaver nests

Baobab

Bushveld Candelabra Euphorbias on the hill at Shipandani

Shikumbu Hill near Phalaborwa Gate

Pan on the Shongololo Loop

Pioneer Dam near Mopani

Sunset over Pioneer Dam near Mopani, in the Kruger National Park

Sycomore Fig

The Kruger National Park is such a special place, and what a wonderful experience it was to share a piece of it with good friends!

Even hyenas need a loving family

23 Replies

These tender moments shared by a Spotted Hyena female and her two small cubs, seen on a recent weekend visit to the Mopani region of the Kruger National Park, is another one of the reasons why we keep going back to the Park as often as we can. It also made the four dads in the car really miss their own “cubs” back home…

Spotted Hyena female and two young cubs

Spotted hyena female and two young cubs

Spotted Hyena female and two young cubs

Elephants have right of way. Are you going to argue?

46 Replies

Just after sunrise last Sunday, while driving in the Mopani area of the Kruger National Park, we encountered this enormous Elephant bull in musth staking his claim to the narrow road. He was on his way to Mooiplaas waterhole and did not have any intention of letting four humans in a tiny (by his standards) metal cocoon derail his plans. In the end he made us reverse for over a kilometer before veering off towards the water.

Elephant bull owning the road in Kruger National Park

Waterbuck Duel at Dusk

35 Replies

While visiting the Mopani area of the Kruger National Park this past weekend, we (myself and three very good friends) came across these waterbuck bulls involved in a massive fight about a patch of the Nshawu Vlei (marsh) and the eligible cows that inhabit it. As is the case with several antelope species in the Park, their rutting season will be coming to an end soon and these bulls are quite desperate to sire their share of the calves that will be born towards the end of the year.

Dueling Waterbuck Bulls in the Nshawu Vlei (marsh) near Mopani in the Kruger National Park

Cape White-eye

26 Replies

Zosterops virens

Cape White-eyes are familiar birds in many South African suburbs, where their confiding attitude and characteristic song make them a well-loved garden bird. They inhabit a wide variety of naturally woody habitats, from forests to mountain scrub, as well as plantations and orchards. They feed primarily on insects, but will include fruits, flowers and nectar in their diet.

Cape White-eyes are social little birds, weighing only about 11g and growing to 12cm in length and usually seen in pairs or small flocks. They breed throughout the year, though mostly in summer, with both pair mates constructing the small cup-shaped nest from fine materials and spider web, well hidden deep in the dense foliage of a tree or shrub. Clutches contain 2-4 eggs and are incubated by both parents for almost 2 weeks, with the chicks taking to the wing for the first time when they’re about 14 days old.

The Cape White-eye occurs widely over Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa (with the exception of the more arid parts of the Northern Cape, Free State and North West provinces), with a few scattered records from Botswana and Mozambique. The IUCN lists the Cape White-eye as being of least concern.