Tag Archives: wildlife

Photo Safari through Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (Part 2)

The Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park supports over 400 species of birds, many of which have become exceedingly rare, even threatened, outside formal conservation areas like this.

Bird-watching along the reserve’s road network is very rewarding, and there’s always something of interest at the three hides located at waterholes around the Park, or at the picnic sites set in beautiful locations along the Hluhluwe and Black Umfolozi Rivers. It is in the camps however, among the accommodation units, that the birds are most accustomed to a human presence and easiest to photograph as they go about their feathery business.

Enjoy this gallery showing some of the 73 species of bird we managed to identify during our recent winter visit to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

African Pipit

Bateleur

Black-crowned Tchagra

Chinspot Batis (male)

Crested Barbet

Dark-capped Bulbul

Egyptian Goose

Familiar Chat

Fork-tailed Drongo

Golden-breasted Bunting

House Sparrow

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Lilac-breasted Roller

Mocking Cliff Chat (male)

Natal Spurfowl

Orange-breasted Bushshrike (immature)

Red-billed Oxpecker

Scarlet-chested Sunbird (male)

Southern Black Tit

Tawny Eagle

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Three-banded Plover on its nest

White-backed Vulture

White-browed Scrub Robin

Woolly-necked Stork

Yellow-fronted Canary

Being one of our favourite destinations, we’ve featured Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park many times on our blog – have a look through all our posts about this special wilderness if you’d like to learn more about it.

Photo Safari through Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (Part 1)

15 Replies

Moving along to the latter half of our winter holidays in the bush brings us to another of Africa’s oldest conservation areas (and another of our favourite wild places) – the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

This conservation area covers an enormous 960km² of beautifully unspoilt wilderness, and incorporates the Hluhluwe and Umfolozi Game Reserves that were officially proclaimed in 1895.

View of Hluhluwe Game Reserve along the Isivivaneni road

Waterhole at Mphafa Hide

Umfolozi sunset

Umfolozi sunrise

View from Sontuli Picnic Site

A view over the hills of the Hluhluwe section

The sun sitting low on the Umfolozi horizon

We spent four nights in the Park – 3 in cottage #17 at wonderfully wild Mpila and the last in chalet #42 at the Park’s flagship tourist facility; Hilltop.

Mpila #17, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, July 2017

Hilltop #42, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, July 2017

Of course no visit to a Game Reserve would be complete without plentiful encounters with wild creatures, so let’s get started with a few small critters we came across (more to follow in the next two days).

Caterpillar or moth eggs on a twig at Sontuli

Leopard Tortoise hatchling, just a little bigger than a match box

Rainbow Skink

Marsh Terrapins

iSimangaliso’s Eastern Shores – A Photographic Journey (Part 4)

16 Replies

Time to wrap up the photographic trip report of our recent visit to the Eastern Shores of Lakes St. Lucia, with a gallery of some of the larger animals we encountered on land and sea in the place of miracles and wonders – the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Baboon

Banded Mongoose

Blue Wildebeest

Buffalo

What a buffalo looks like just before he charges!

Buffalo

Bushbuck

Crocodile

Elephant

Hippos at kuMfazana Pan

Hippopotamus

Humpback Whale

Impala

Kudu

Plains Zebra

Red Duiker

Red Bush Squirrel

Reedbuck

Samango Monkey

Spotted Hyena

Vervet Monkey

Warthog

Waterbuck

Follow the links for more of our posts about St. Lucia town, Cape Vidal and Mission Rocks.

iSimangaliso’s Eastern Shores – A Photographic Journey (Part 3)

31 Replies

On the Eastern Shores of Lake St. Lucia, the amazing diversity of life forms comes in all sizes. The star of this collection of photos showcasing some of the smaller creatures that crossed our path on our recent visit must be the tiny frog that somehow got into my mug while we were enjoying coffee and rusks one morning at Mziki viewpoint near Mission Rocks. Exactly when it got into my coffee is unclear – I had put my mug down a few times to take pictures – and I have no idea how much of my coffee I had shared with the little guy. Joubert only noticed it sitting in the cup when I took my last swig as we started packing up to leave. Lucky for it, I drink a lot of milk in my coffee so it wouldn’t have been scalded.

Dancing Acraea

This juvenile Painted Reed Frog climbed into my coffee cup at Mziki viewpoint one morning – at which stage during the drinking process I don’t know…

Common Dotted Border

Natal Rock Crab in a tidal pool at Mission Rocks

Crab in a tidal pool at Mission Rocks

Dusky Acraea

Giant Legless Skink

Praying Mantis at Catalina Bay

Baby Common Tropical House Gecko

Common Tropical House Gecko

Large Rain Spider on a dustbin at Mission Rocks

Eastern Coastal Skink

Hermit Crab – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Follow the links for more of our posts about St. Lucia town, Cape Vidal and Mission Rocks.

iSimangaliso’s Eastern Shores – A Photographic Journey (Part 2)

21 Replies

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is a bird-watcher’s paradise – 526 bird species have been recorded within its borders!

During the few days we recently spent on the Eastern Shores of Lake St. Lucia, we managed to tick 109 kinds of birds, and had we been better at identifying the “Little Brown Jobs” our list would undoubtedly have been quite a bit longer still.

This incredible diversity is surely due to the Park’s rich variety of habitats, and our “success” in connecting with so many kinds of birds can only be ascribed to the terrific collection of roads, hides, picnic sites and other localities so easily accessible to visitors.

We hope you enjoy this sample of iSimangaliso’s birdlife!

African Dusky Flycatcher

African Harrier Hawk

African Olive Pigeon

African Oystercatcher

African Stonechat

Baillon’s Crake

Bearded Scrub Robin

Black Saw-wing

Brown Snake Eagle

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Burchell’s Coucal

Cape White-eye

Caspian Tern

Collared Sunbird (female)

Crested Guineafowl – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Crowned Hornbill

Dark-backed Weaver

Dark-capped Bulbul

Denham’s Bustard

Square-tailed Nightjar

Fiscal Flycatcher

Grey Waxbill

Grey-headed Gull

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow

Hadeda

Kurrichane Thrush

Neddicky

Olive Sunbird

African Paradise Flycatcher (female)

Pink-backed Pelican

Pink-backed Pelicans – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Rattling Cisticola

Red-billed Teals

Red-capped Robin-Chat

Red-eyed Dove

Black-winged Lapwing

Southern Black Flycatcher

Southern Masked Weaver

Tawny-flanked Prinia

White-eared Barbets – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

White-faced Whistling Duck

White-fronted Plover

White-winged Widowbird (non-breeding)

Woolly-necked Stork

Yellow Weaver

Yellow-billed Egrets

Yellow-breasted Apalis

Yellow-fronted Canary

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Yellow-throated Longclaw

Follow the links for more of our posts about St. Lucia town, Cape Vidal and Mission Rocks.

iSimangaliso’s Eastern Shores – A Photographic Journey (Part 1)

21 Replies

We’re fresh back from a terrific holiday in two very special wild places in northern Kwazulu-Natal. Our first destination was the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, and specifically the Eastern Shores of Lake St. Lucia, where we spent one night at Manzini Chalets in the holiday town of St. Lucia, and four nights in a log cabin at Cape Vidal.

Manzini Chalets #9, St. Lucia Town, July 2017

Cape Vidal Chalet 9, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, July 2017

I can’t think of a better way to start off the report back on our trip than with a few landscape photos that illustrates why iSimangaliso is a land of “miracles and wonders”, and one of our favourite destinations!

Where Lake St. Lucia meets the Indian Ocean

The beach at Cape Vidal

Sunrise over the Eastern Shores

Mziki viewsite

Catalina Bay

Sunset over Catalina Bay

The Red Dunes at eSibomvini

Lake Bhangazi

Mission Rocks – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Follow the links for more of our posts about St. Lucia town, Cape Vidal and Mission Rocks.

Back from the Bush

29 Replies

We’ve just arrived back home after a wonderful ten days in the bush, visiting the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park in South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal Province.

While we get busy responding to the comments you left on the scheduled posts that published in our absence, here’s a small gallery of what you can expect when we report back on our trip in the coming days…

Pink-backed Pelicans – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

White-eared Barbets – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Crested Guineafowl – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Hermit Crab – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Mission Rocks – iSimangaliso Wetland Park

White Rhinos – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Baby elephant fun – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

African Wild Dog – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Cheetah – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

White Rhinos – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Water Thick-knee

15 Replies

Burhinus vermiculatus

The Water Thick-knee, or Water Dikkop, is a nocturnal bird species inhabiting riverbanks, lake shores, swamps, estuaries and occasionally beaches with sufficient cover in the form of shrubs and bushes. By day they hide in deep shade near the water. Their diet includes invertebrates like insects, crustaceans and molluscs, tadpoles and frogs, and seeds. They weigh about 300g, with a wingspan of about 75cm.

Outside of the breeding season the Water Dikkop congregates in groups of up to 30 birds. The breeding season usually coincides with the end of the dry season, preferring to nest on sand bars in low-flowing rivers or on the shores of other water bodies. The nest is just a scrape in the ground, usually adjacent to a rock, piece of driftwood or other similar structure, but the eggs and chicks are superbly camouflaged. 1-3 eggs are incubated by both parents for just over 3 weeks, with the chicks fledging at about 2 months old.

The Water Thick-knee has a wide, albeit patchy, distribution over Sub-Saharan Africa and is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. In South Africa the species occurs along the coast of the Cape Provinces, through large parts of Kwazulu Natal, into the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces, along the Limpopo Valley and south along the course of the Crocodile River into Gauteng.

Well camouflaged Water Thick-knee

Water Thick-knee

Water Thick-Knee

Water Thick-knee (Dikkop) in camp

Water Thick-knee

Water Thick-knees

Water Thick-knee

Water Thick-knees at Bhejane Hide

Fulvous Whistling Duck “ducks” as two Water Thick-knees come in to land at Transport Dam

Water Thick-knee

Water Thick-knees (Photo by Joubert)

Water Thick-knees warding off a Nile Monitor

Water Thick-knee (photo by Joubert)

Water Thick-knee at the causeway over the Sabie River

Water Thick-knees

Water Thick-knee (or Dikkop) with two chicks

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

Water Thick-knee

Water Thick-knee (photo by Joubert)

Water Dikkop (or Thick-knee)

Water Thick-knee

Pied Kingfisher

28 Replies

Ceryle rudis

The Pied Kingfisher can be expected at almost any body of fresh or brackish water, and at times even at tidal pools, with suitable perches as vantage points from which it can hunt fish, tadpoles, frogs, crustaceans and aquatic insects, often hovering above the water before launching a diving attack. Large prey is pounded repeatedly against a favourite perch to kill it and soften it up before swallowing. They are usually seen in pairs or small family groups and have been recorded up to 5km from the nearest land over the open water of large lakes. With a weight of up to 110g, and a length of up to 25cm, it is the second biggest kingfisher found in South Africa.

Though nesting has been observed throughout the year, the breeding season of the Pied Kingfisher peaks in spring, when pairs nest in burrows of up to 2.5m long that they dig themselves in earth banks, with up to 7 eggs laid in a wide chamber at the end. Incubation takes about 18 days and is mainly the female’s responsibility. The chicks stay in the nest for another 3 to 4 weeks and then start to learn to hunt, becoming independent by about 3 months of age. Usually a pair has helpers from previous broods assisting in the feeding of the present clutch.

The IUCN considers the Pied Kingfisher to be of least concern, thanks to its wide distribution over Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and South-East Asia. It may be one of the three most numerous kinds of kingfishers, but some populations however are in decline due to poisoning and habitat loss, while others are thriving. In South Africa they are commonly found from the Western Cape and along the coast and adjacent interior of the Eastern Cape, through Kwazulu-Natal into Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng, North West and the Free State. They also occur along the length of the Orange River in the otherwise arid Northern Cape.

Pied Kingfisher

Trio of Pied Kingfisher sharing an elephant bone

Pied Kingfisher, S47 road

Loskop Hide: Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfishers

Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfishers

Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher diving into the water at Tlopi

Pied Kingfisher with its catch

Pied KIngfisher hovering above the dam at Tlopi

Pied Kingfisher on the move (photo by Joubert)

Pied Kingfisher (photo by Joubert)

Pied Kingfisher (Photo by Joubert)

Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher (photo by Joubert)

Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfishers

Pied Kingfisher

Reed Cormorant

9 Replies

Microcarbo africanus

Reed Cormorants inhabit most freshwater habitats, with the exception of fast flowing rivers, preferring quiet, sheltered, shallow and well vegetated water bodies where they hunt underwater, primarily for fish as well as frogs, crustaceans and molluscs, either singly or in small groups.

Reed Cormorants are diurnal, being most active in the early morning and late afternoon. At night they roost in large communities, often mixed with other species. The Reed Cormorant is subject to some nomadic movements in response to fluctuating water levels. It is a relatively small cormorant, with a wingspan of 85cm and a weight of about half a kilogram. They often rest with wings outstretched to dry.

Reed Cormorants often breed in groups of 1 – 50 pairs in mixed-species colonies with herons, ibises and other cormorants. They nest at any time of year, though there is a peak in spring and summer. Their nests are built of twigs and other vegetation over water, either in trees or reedbeds or on cliffs, and clutches contain 1 – 6 (usually 3 or 4) eggs that are incubated by both parents for just over 3 weeks. The chicks become independent at about two months of age.

The Reed Cormorant occurs widely across Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, and is considered as being of least concern by the IUCN, despite a declining population as a result of persecution by fish farmers and disturbance by human activities. In South Africa they can be found in all provinces, even occurring in the arid Northern Cape along the courses of the Orange and Vaal Rivers and their large tributaries.