Tag Archives: wildlife

Easter in Kruger

The Easter break afforded us the opportunity to visit South Africa’s flagship National Park, and one of our favourite destinations, again, spending first three nights at Skukuza Rest Camp in the south of the Kruger National Park, and then four nights around Mopani Rest Camp in the north. After a summer of apparently good rainfall, the Park’s vegetation is lush and green, with water in ample supply. These conditions make searching for wildlife a bit trickier, but it is wonderful to see the Park transformed from the harrowing effects of the recent drought that is still so fresh in our minds.

Leadwood stump

Tsendze pool

Nshawu view

Sunset on the Shongololo Loop

Sunrise over a pan near Mopani

Malelane mountains

Kwaggaspan

Sabie Bridge from Skukuza

Sabie River

Sabie Bridge near Skukuza

Blue Water Lily

White Water Lily in Skukuza

Kruger sunset

Sausage Tree Fruit

Shipandani Hide

Nkumbe View

The Kruger National Park is renowned for its Big-5 sightings. There isn’t very many other places where one can so easily find completely wild lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes and rhinos from the comfort of your own vehicle, at your own pace and according to your own schedule. And then there’s always a chance that you may cross paths with a magnificent big tusker!

White rhino’s poor attempt at hiding

Lion near Skukuza

Lion with his zebra meal, just outside Satara

Lioness pacing the H4-1 between Skukuza and Lower Sabie

Pride of lions at Kumana Dam

Leopard near Lower Sabie

Leopard in a tree south of Skukuza

Buffalo near Mopani

Buffalo in the rain

Buffalo roadblock

Trio of buffalo bulls

Elephant near Mopani

Unknown Kruger Tusker (2018/03/21)

Testing their strength

Just a little irritated

Walking along the Ngwenyeni

Elephants on the way to Phalaborwa Gate

Elephant bull enjoying a puddle near Mopani

Young elephant interactions

Crossing the Letaba River

Tiny baby next to mom

Testing the wind

Elephant’s tail

The deep water in the reservoir is much cooler than that in the trough

On the other side of the scale are those less frequently noticed smaller critters (“creepy crawlies” or “goggas” as we call them), that fairly seldom feature on any of the Kruger visitors’ sightings wish-lists. They may be small and unobtrusive, but they are certainly no less fascinating than the glamorous Big-5. We already shared with your the exciting scenes of a Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake catching and swallowing a skink in Shingwedzi, but there’s plenty more to see if you bend your knees!

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake swallowing a skink in Shingwedzi

Common River Frog in Skukuza

Painted Reed Frog in Skukuza

Plain Grass Frog at Twanana

Cricket perfectly imitating a mopane leaf

Rainbow Skink

Serrated Hinged Terrapin

Juvenile Mozambique Tilapia in the Tsendze River

Water Monitor

The Mopani area is well-known for prized sightings of the rarer antelope species, and we weren’t disappointed on that score either, ticking bushbuck, nyala, eland, tsessebe, reedbuck and roan antelope on our list.

Eland near Bowkerskop

Eland at Tinhongonyeni

Roan antelope in the dense mopane near Middelvlei

Southern Reedbuck in the Nshawu Vlei

Tsessebe at Mooiplaas

Tsessebe at Nshawu

Nyala near Skukuza

Bushbuck near Skukuza

Bushbuck mingling with baboons and impala along the Sand River

The lush vegetation made it very challenging to see the smaller antelope species. We managed to photograph steenbok, grey duiker and klipspringer, but unfortunately the grysbok just weren’t willing to pose for a picture this time around.

Grey Duiker

Klipspringer

Steenbok

There’s quite a few herbivore species that you are virtually guaranteed to see when visiting the Kruger National Park. Among these are baboons and vervet monkeys, blue wildebeest, plains zebra, impala, kudu, waterbuck, giraffe, warthog and hippo.

Wet Baboon after a rainstorm

Baboon youngsters at speed!

Blue wildebeest

Giraffe

Hippo eyeing us from the Sabie River

Impala Ram

Kudu Calf

Plains Zebra

Vervet Monkey

Warthog

Waterbuck Bull on the bank of the Sabie

Waterbuck cows and calves

Of course, with such a menu there are many predators in attendance. Apart from lions and leopards, on our latest visit we also encountered spotted hyena, side-striped and black-backed jackal, crocodile and large-spotted genet.

Nile crocodile at Sunset Dam

Large-spotted Genet patrolling outside our bungalow at Skukuza

Black-backed Jackal

Spotted Hyena cub

Spotted Hyena cub and mother

Spotted Hyena cubs with a bone

The Kruger National Park is regarded as a paradise for bird-watchers, and that is not without reason. During the warmer months especially, when many summer migrants from northern latitudes enjoy our warm weather, the variety and numbers of bird species to be seen is absolutely prolific, but even in winter feathered life abounds in the Lowveld.

European Bee-eaters

Temminck’s Courser

African Mourning Dove on a nest at Satara

Knob-billed Duck

White-faced Whistling Ducks

Black-chested Snake Eagle

Wahlberg’s Eagle

Tawny Eagle

Spotted Flycatcher

Swainson’s Spurfowl

Natal Spurfowl

Green-backed Heron

Grey Heron

Ground Hornbill juvenile

Hamerkop

African Jacana

Pied Kingfisher

Black-winged Kite

Red-crested Korhaan

Black-bellied Bustard

Kori Bustard

Blacksmith Lapwing

Ostrich male

Verreaux’s Eagle Owl

Red-billed Oxpecker

Yellow-billed Oxpecker on a festering wound

Long-tailed Paradise Whydah

European Roller

Common Sandpiper

Double-banded Sandgrouse

Lesser Grey Shrike

Male Red-backed Shrike

Saddle-billed Stork

Black Stork

White-backed Vultures in a tree near a carcass

African Pied wagtail

Greater Painted Snipe

Blue waxbill

The Kruger National Park is an addictive place. You only need to visit once for it to get under your skin, and stay there. The more you experience of Kruger’s wonders, the more you pine for it. We’ll be back again and again, no question about it.

Easter Encounters with Tuskers

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One of our greatest joys when visiting the Kruger National Park is being treated to an encounter with a real “Tusker”; a majestic elephant bull carrying massive ivory. There are only a handful of these enigmatic animals on the continent, and they are living monuments to those who protect our wild places for generations to come. Owing to their special status, they are given names by the Park authorities, often according to specific areas they roam or in remembrance of rangers or other members of staff that dedicated their lives to the Park.

During our Easter visit to Kruger, we were lucky to have seen no less than three of these awesome animals. Each one of them has some unique features – scars on the ears, marks on the trunk, characteristic tusk shape, etc. that aids in the identification. We’ve submitted our photographs to the Kruger’s Emerging Tuskers Project and will update this post once we hear the names of these tuskers.

This is Xidudla, the name being in reference to his large size:

Xidudla (2018/03/29)

This big bull is known as “Hahlwa“, which is Tsonga for “twin” because he looks so similar to Masasana, another big tusker roaming the Kruger Park.

Hahlwa (2018/04/01)

This last bull has not been named yet, but the project team will be keeping a close watch on him until he too receives his well-deserved moniker.

Yet to be identified Kruger Tusker

Unknown Kruger Tusker (2018/04/02)

For some more pictures of tuskers we’ve seen in Kruger in years past have a look at this post.

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake

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Psammophis subtaeniatus

One of the most exciting and memorable sightings of our Easter trip to the Kruger National Park took place right in front of the reception office at Shingwedzi Rest Camp. We watched as a Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake (aka Western Yellow-bellied Sand Snake) stalked, caught, killed and swallowed a skink – the whole episode playing out within perhaps ten minutes at the most.

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake hunting skinks in Shingwedzi

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake – Note the skink just behind the snake

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake swallowing a skink in Shingwedzi

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake after swallowing a skink in Shingwedzi

This was a fairly large specimen of this slender species, which grows to around a metre in length. Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snakes are strictly diurnal, equally at home on the ground or in low trees and shrubs, and extremely fast moving. Aside from lizards they will also prey on frogs, small birds and rodents, which they dispatch with a dose of mild venom (not lethal to humans though).

Females lay between 4 and 10 eggs in summer, and probably lives for between 5 and 10 years in the wild.

The Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake is described as widespread and common by the IUCN, which considers it to be of least concern. It is distributed from southern Angola and northern Namibia through to Swaziland and South Africa (North West, Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and possibly northern Kwazulu-Natal), occurring in a variety of savanna types and being especially closely associated with mopane veld (such as which occurs around Shingwedzi).

While visiting Marakele National Park over Easter in 2019, we encountered another Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake at the Thutong Environmental Education Centre, and watched as it searched, this time unsuccessfully, for a lizard to catch.

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake

This Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake visited our tent at Tlopi in the Marakale National Park during a visit in February 2021:

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake at our tent

While staying at Shingwedzi Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park in June 2019, a Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake came to visit us at our campsite – seems Shingwedzi is a really good place to go looking for this species!

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake

We were parked at a Leopard sighting while visiting the Kruger National Park in December 2021 when Marilize noticed this Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake in a bush next to our car.

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake (photo by Joubert)

In July 2022 we visited Marakele National park and Tlopi Tented Camp again, and were delighted to find another Western Stripe-belllied Sand Snake guarding our tent again.

Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake

Long-tailed Widowbird

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Euplectes progne

The Longtailed Widowbird is a grassland species, even occurring up to 2,750m above sea level in the Drakensberg mountains. They feed primarily on seeds, and occasionally insects. Long-tailed Widowbirds live in flocks consisting of 1 or 2 males and several females. At night they roost in reedbeds or long grass.

The male Long-tailed Widowbird only carries the exceptionally long tail (up to 50cm) in the breeding season, displaying it prominently by flying slowly over his patch of grassland. In winter the males have the same drab colouration of the females. The breeding season stretches from October to April in South Africa, and during this time males may mate with up to 5 females. Either sex weave the dome-shaped nests in tall, dense grass in wetlands or along rivers, in which 1-4 eggs are incubated by the female only for two weeks. The chicks leave the nest at just over two weeks old, but are not very strong flyers yet and thus remain dependent on their mother for another two weeks or so. Adults weigh between 25 and 46 grams.

The Long-tailed Widowbird is patchily distributed in pockets of East and Central Africa, with the largest part of the population concentrated in parts of Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa, particularly the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Free State, North West, Gauteng and the Highveld of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The IUCN lists it as least concern, describing its populations as common and stable, despite much of its range being intensively farmed.

Long-tailed Widowbird female

Long-tailed widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird female

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird (female)

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird (female)

Long-tailed Widowbird female

Long-tailed Widowbird (non-breeding)

Long-tailed Widowbird male in transitional plumage

Long-tailed Widowbird female

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird having lost much of its breeding plumage (photo by Joubert)

Long-tailed Widowbird male in transitional plumage

Long-tailed Widowbird (non-breeding)

Long-tailed Widowbird

Male Long-tailed Widowbird starting to sprout his summer plumage

Long-tailed Widowbird

Long-tailed Widowbird male in flight

Female Long-tailed Widowbird (photo by Joubert)

Familiar Chat

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Cercomela familiaris

The confiding little Familiar Chat occurs in open, often dry, habitats, usually in hilly or rocky areas. It is also very common around rural human settlements. They feed mainly on flies, but will also consume other insects, fruits, seeds, and human scraps. Their Afrikaans name “spekvreter” (meaning “bacon eater”) comes from their habit of eating the fat used to grease the axles of ox wagons in the old days. They have the curious habit of flicking their wings every time they’ve moved from one spot to another. Adults weigh between 14 and 26g, and grow to 15cm in length.

Familiar Chats breed almost throughout the year (though there is a peak in spring and summer in breeding activity). The nest is a cup built of plant material and lined with fur and feathers, placed in holes in trees or in the ground or crevices in rocks or buildings. Clutches contain 2-4 eggs, incubated for 2 weeks, with the chicks fledging at about the same age. They usually move around singly, in pairs or in small family groups of up to 6 birds at the end of the breeding season.

The Familiar Chat has a wide, if patchy, distribution in the more open areas of sub-Saharan Africa, stretching from the Sahel in west Africa eastwards to Ethiopia, then south to southern Africa and again up the west coast to Angola. The IUCN considers it of least concern. It occurs commonly all over South Africa.

Familiar Chat

Familiar chats

Familiar Chat

Familiar Chat (photo by Joubert)

Familiar Chat

Southern Red Bishop

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Euplectes orix

The Southern Red Bishop is a grassland bird, closely associated with water. They are also very common in agricultural areas where they can become pests to grain farmers, as their diet consists mainly of seeds and to a much lesser extent insects.

Red Bishops are a gregarious species, foraging in flocks and breeding in colonies, and often associate with other species of weaver and finch at roosting and feeding sites. They breed almost exclusively in reedbeds during the spring and summer. At the onset of the breeding season, males weave up to 13 grass-nests and display continuously to attract as many females as possible, mating with as many as 8 females in a season. Females are solely responsible for the incubation over a two week period of the clutch of 1-5 eggs and raising of the chicks, which leave the nest at about two weeks old. Southern Red Bishops weigh between 18 and 29g.

The Southern Red Bishop is widely, but discontinuously, distributed over much of East, Central and Southern Africa and, being regarded as common to abundant over this wide range is listed as least concern by the IUCN. It is found virtually all over South Africa, being absent only from portions of the arid Northern Cape Province.

Red Bishop

Red Bishop females

Red Bishop

Red Bishop female

Red Bishop male

Red Bishop at the Birdhide in the camp at Karoo National Park

Red Bishop female

Red Bishop male

Red-Bishop female

Red Bishop pair

Red Bishop in winter plumage

Red-Bishop female

Red Bishop male in transitional plumage

Red Bishop male

Red Bishop females

Red Bishop male

Female Red Bishop

Female Red Bishop (photo by Joubert)

Red Bishop male

Female Red Bishops

Red Bishop male

Red Bishop female

Red Bishops (photo by Joubert)

Blacksmith Lapwing (photo by Joubert)

Red Bishop

Southern Red Bishop

Southern Red Bishop male in breeding plumage

Red Bishop

Southern Red Bishop female

Steppe Buzzard

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Buteo vulpinus

The Steppe Buzzard is a common summer visitor to South Africa, migrating to our country (and much of southern, east and central Africa) from Europe and Asia when it is winter in their northern hemisphere breeding range. They can be seen in all South African provinces between September and April.

Steppe Buzzards are medium-sized raptors, with a wingspan of 1.3m and a weight of around 550-900g. Females are noticeably larger than males. They are usually seen singly, in pairs or small family groups, but do form large flocks numbering 100 or more while migrating.

Steppe Buzzards utilise a wide range of habitats, but do require at least some tree cover for roosting and nesting. When visiting our southern environs they show a preference for open habitats, ranging from grasslands, arid scrub and fynbos to savannas and open woodland, as well as croplands. They prey mostly on small mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates, often using utility poles and fences as perches from which to attack, and will scavenge from carcasses.

Some authorities consider the Steppe Buzzard to be a subspecies of the Common, or Eurasian, Buzzard (Buteo buteo) which the IUCN considers to be of least concern with a population estimated in the millions.

Steppe Buzzard

Steppe Buzzard in flight (Joubert’s photo)

Steppe Buzzard

Steppe Buzzard (photo by Joubert)

Steppe Buzzard

Steppe Buzzard (photo by Joubert)

Steppe Buzzard

Steppe, or Common, Buzzard

Steppe Buzzard

Steppe Buzzard (photo by Joubert)

Steppe, or Common, Buzzard on Mankwe Way

Not everything at the West Coast Fossil Park has turned to rock – this is a dark-morph Common Buzzard flying over the centre

Steppe, or Common, Buzzard

Common Buzzard

Common Buzzard (photo by Joubert)

Four-striped Grass Mouse

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Rhabdomys pumilio

The diurnal Four-striped Grass Mouse is easily identified by its distinctive coat markings. Including their tail they grow to between 18 and 21cm long and weigh between 30 and 55g.

Four-striped Grass Mice have a very wide habitat tolerance provided there is a good covering of grass, occurring from desert fringes to mountains up to 3,500m high. They are also often found in close association with human habitation (quite unafraid around humans) and can become a pest. They excavate a system of burrows, usually shared by a few individuals, with the entrances hidden among vegetation (or in the lodges of the Bush Karoo Rat), and use a network of pathways radiating from the burrow to search for food. Four-striped Grass Mice are omnivores, feeding mostly on a wide range of green plants, seeds and invertebrates, but have also been recorded consuming bird chicks, eggs and even babies of their own kind.

Females give birth to litters of 2 to 9 helpless young in the summer months after a 25 day gestation, usually in grass nests within their burrows. They can have several litters in a season. The little ones start exploring when they are 2 weeks old and can start breeding when they’re 2 months old. Their life expectancy in the wild is only 18 months.

The Four-striped Grass Mouse is distributed patchily in eastern and central Africa but occurs widely over Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa (except in the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo). The IUCN describes it as abundant and lists the Four-Striped Grass Mouse as being of least concern.

Four-striped Grass Mouse

Four-Striped Grass Mouse

Four-striped Grass Mouse

Four-striped Grass Mouse (photo by Joubert)

Four-striped Grass Mouse

Karoo Prinia

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Prinia maculosa

The diminutive Karoo Prinia (adults weigh only about 9g) inhabits Karoo scrublands and fynbos both in flatlands and in mountainous areas, often at or near drainage lines and wetlands, and is being seen more and more in gardens and plantations of alien vegetation as well. They feed almost exclusively on insects and other invertebrates.

Pairs of Karoo Prinia defend their territories year-round. They build an oval grass nest with a side entrance deep in a dense bush or shrub and lined with a dense layer of soft plant material and fur. They breed almost throughout the year, with a distinct peak in spring and early summer. The female alone incubates the clutch of 1-5 eggs for a period of about two weeks but the chicks are cared for by both parents after hatching. They fledge about two weeks after hatching.

Despite noting that their population is probably declining due to grazing pressure, the IUCN describes the Karoo Prinia as being common to abundant throughout its range, and considers it of least concern. The Karoo Prinia occurs in Lesotho, South Africa (Free State, Western, Eastern and Northern Cape) and marginally into Namibia.

Karoo Prinia

Karoo Prinia at Jack’s Picnic Spot

Karoo Prinia

Karoo Prinia (photo by Joubert)

Can you spot the Karoo Prinia among the mussel shells? (photo by Joubert)

Karoo Prinia

Southern African Ground Squirrel

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Xerus inauris

The Southern African Ground Squirrel is a common animal with a stable population (to the point of being considered a pest in many agricultural areas), and listed as being of least concern by the IUCN. They’re found widely in Namibia, Botswana and marginally into western Lesotho. In South Africa they are to be seen in the Northern and Eastern Cape, Free State and North West Provinces. This distribution reflects the species’ preference for arid to semi-arid open scrublands with a hard substrate. They feed chiefly on a wide variety of plant species, consuming bulbs, tubers, roots, leaves, grass, stems, flowers and seeds, but also some insects. They are independent of drinking water, gaining enough moisture from their diet. Adults are about 45cm long (including the bushy tail) and weigh around 600g.

Southern African Ground Squirrels are diurnal and highly gregarious. Colonies number up to 30 individuals, usually with no more than 3 adult females and a coalition of unrelated males in attendance. Colonies construct elaborate burrow systems with as many as 30 entrances, in which nesting chambers are lined with grass. These burrows are often shared with meerkats and yellow mongooses, though these species do at times prey on the baby ground squirrels. They will only rarely climb into bushes but will use termite mounds as lookout points instead. While out foraging in the hot sun they often hold their bushy tails above them like a parasol. Southern African Ground Squirrels easily become habituated to humans.

Southern African Ground Squirrels breed throughout the year, though most litters are born in summer. Litters number between 1 and 4 babies, born after a gestation of 7 weeks. The young are weaned at about 7 weeks old. Females usually have a single litter annually, but may have as many as three under favourable conditions. When they’re about 8 months old young males leave their maternal colonies to join neighbouring groups, but females may stay with their birth colony throughout their life. In the wild they have a life expectancy of 4 to 5 years.