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News from Zululand
Sanbonani from a beautifully green Zululand!! What stunning scenery, awesome birds, flourishing animals, and blooming botany. The Zululand bush is absolutely magnificent, And soon we will be surrounded by newborns of all sorts.
We were very privileged to have had the Msunduze river flow for 3 weekends in a row. Such a special sight indeed!!
News from the rangers -by Johann Lotriet
We are not yet fully into the swing of summer but the amount of rain we have had has been absolutely incredible. As the rain falls and the temperature increases the amount of insects also increases exponentially. The huge variety of dung beetles, longhorn beetles, beautifully colored moths and the incessant call of the cicadas herald the coming of another lush, green summer in Zululand.
Despite the density of the bush, the good sightings just keep on rolling in, as there are now countless giraffes around the lodge area as well as a white rhino bull which has made himself at home on Leopard Mountain and is frequently seen bathing at the waterhole a few hundred meters from the lodge.
Two more black rhino’s were released in conjunction with the WWF recently. They remain elusive but are still seen on occasion. On the morning of the 30th we had a great sighting of a cow and calf of approximately 2 years of age. The black rhino’s are generally quite wary but some of the bulls are very approachable in a vehicle.
We have a very good idea at this stage of the territories and ranges of many of our white rhino and are seeing these on a very regular basis. There are many calves around which is also very exciting and always a sign that animals are happy and breeding well.
Two male cheetahs recently escaped through a fence and subsequently had to be darted and relocated back into the reserve. Since they have been released again we have had many brilliant sightings. The two males are particularly at ease with vehicles and all of the sightings were at very close proximity. On one occasion we had the privilege of watching one of two brothers scale a Marula tree mere meters from the vehicle. He spent about 5 minutes defecating and urinating and went to go and sleep a few hundred meters further down the road.
Buffalo numbers are very good and they also seem to be breeding very well. It is not uncommon to have three or four good sightings in a single game drive.
All the rain brings another exciting aspect - the fact that you can see so many tracks!!! We have found many Hyena tracks, and I firmly believe that our population is much higher than is commonly thought. Other interesting sightings of the “small” animals are a pair of porcupine, the elusive honey-badger and the nocturnal and deceptively large white-tailed mongoose.
Probably one of the most fascinating happenings recently was the sighting of the wild dogs. Although these animals are known to visit our reserve erratically they are not often seen but only traced with tracking devices. You could imagine then our surprise when we came across a pack of six which seemed to be attempting to hunt a Nyala!
Further enquiry revealed that they were a pack of six males which had escaped from the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi game reserve. Wild dogs are highly endangered and underappreciated and even if they aren’t residents, it is still an incredible privilege to have them visit our reserve.
The birding on Leopard Mountain continues to be top notch and the reserve seems to be a haven for dozens of beautiful migrants. These include, but are not nearly limited to: Violet-backed starling; European bee-eater; diderick cuckoo; black cuckoo; red-chested cuckoo and broadbilled roller; We have also seen a few Jacobin’s cuckoo and tambourine dove recently and have heard African emerald cuckoo in the riverbed.
Interesting resident birds are: Stierling’s wren-warbler; African broad-bill; neergaard’s sunbird and purple-banded sunbird; scaly-throated honeyguide and greater honeyguide. We also have many good sightings of resident raptors such as crowned eagles, brown snake-eagles and migrants such as steppe buzzard. There are now also the very evident calls of the summer breeders such as red-fronted tinkerbird, gorgeous bush-shrike, orange-breasted bush-shrike and striped kingfisher. The recent rains have also brought a high number of Yellow-throated longclaw.
We look forward to seeing what the summer holds for us in this stunning part of Zululand and to keeping you updated with all the latest happenings.
Bush Cuisine
Date Fingers
Ingredients:
250g soft margarine
2 eggs
250g dates- finely chopped
200 castor sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
300g rich tea biscuits cruched
Method
Put margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla essence into a thick based pot.
Melt on medium heat and stir constantly while bringing it to a boil.
Add dates and boil for another 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add biscuits mix until well combined
Put into tray (18cm x 28cm) and cool in fridge
Cut into desired shape when it has cooled down.
And finally…enjoy!!!!
Have you ever wondered…?
Is it true that if you rub the wings of a moth or butterfly that they can’t fly? And what if parts of their wings are missing?
The tale told about touching the wings of a moth or a butterfly causes them to be unable to fly is not l true at all. This doesn’t mean that it is acceptable to pick them up or even force any form of rubbing on the wings. The “scales” are what give the wings their colour, and the colour is extremely important for them to attract a mate as well as using it as predator avoidance.
During the lifetime of a moth or butterfly, it is natural for them to lose or shed a few scales when they fly, and loss of scales can increase dramatically in severe weather conditions. The loss of scales will change the aerodynamics of the wings, which in turn may change their flight pattern a bit. In most cases moths and butterflies are still able to fly if they have lost parts of their wings.
Obviously this is more strenuous on the individual, and once again may change their fly pattern a bit, or slow it down. All in all butterflies and moths are tough little creatures.
African Wood Owl
This medium sized owl has a very distinct owl-like call and is a fairly common resident of Leopard Mountain and surrounds. Despite this, it is mostly quite difficult to locate it in it’s preferred habitat of riverine forest and denser mature woodland – from here also stems the name Wood Owl.
Contrary to popular belief, owls don’t have wonderful nocturnal vision – in fact, it is not that much better than our own. Hearing is their most important sense in locating prey. The facial disc directs all sounds into the ear-holes which are placed asymmetrically on the skull to improve accuracy. They also have binocular vision much like our own, which assists them in accurately judging depth and distance of vertebrate prey.
As with all larger owls, the wood-owl is a monogamous species and is highly territorial. Breeding pairs can often be heard in beautiful duets which help them maintain contact and also advertise territories. Females always call first, followed by the males’ reply. Their wings have various adaptations to make flight as silent as possible. They hunt mostly from a concealed perch , but will, on occasion, also hunt in flight.
Funny Bones
A customer walks into a restaurant and notices a large sign on the wall:
R 500 IF WE FAIL TO FILL YOUR ORDER!
When his waitress arrives, he orders elephant dung on rye. She calmly writes down his order and walks into the kitchen where all hell breaks loose!
The restaurant owner comes storming out of the kitchen. He runs up to the customer's table, slaps five R100 bills down on it and says, -
"You got me that time buddy, but I want you to know that's the first time in ten years we've been out of rye bread!"
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Feel free to drop us an email with your favorite jokes to add into future newsletters. You can send them to
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Brain Teaser
You could be the lucky person to win yourself and a partner a free night including dinner, bed & breakfast and game drives at the lodge. You may email us your answer to
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(competition closes 20th November 2009 terms & conditions apply):
This month’s competition:
An eight legged creature
Lots of eyes on me a feature
I’m very very hairy
And to humans quite scary
My family is rather extended
A bite from me is painful
But can certainly be mended
What am I?
Thank you to everyone who responded to our last competition! The winner of our Leopard Mountain competition for September is Mike Raetzer. Congratulations - you have won yourself and a partner a free night at the lodge including dinner, bed & breakfast as well as game drives!
Last Month’s competition was:
I sit on the wall,
I climb and crawl.
When scared I run and hide,
Losing my tail, rather than my pride.
With big eyes and gripping feet,
It’s mostly insects that I eat.
You’ll find me close to a light,
Hunting there for buzzing things in flight
What am I?
A Gecko, Gekkonidae
Stand another chance to win yourself and a partner a night at the lodge…Send no more than 2 of your favourite Leopard Mountain holiday photos to
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to see if yours is the best.
This competition is running until the 20th of December 2009
Click here to have a look at our online gallery of Leopard Mountain Lodge!
Best guest comments of the month:
Thank you Leopard Mountain staff for making a stunning effort for our special occasions. Everything was perfect and delightful. The food was amazing and world class. Do not change your winning formula.
Just a quick note to say thank you for a brilliant stay at Leopard Mountain. The lodge itself is a real pleasure to stay in (what a view!) and everything was immaculate. The real highlight, though, were the game drives in the company of Rudolph and Heinrich, both very informative and clearly passionate both the wildlife of KZN and the ZRR project itself. Now we share that passion, and look forward to staying up to date via the newsletter, as well as future visits. Genuinely wish you every possible success with the lodge and reserve in the future, and thanks again for everything. See you again soon we hope.
Guess why we are here a second time and we hope not the last time!!! It’s just outstandingly beautiful here!! The food is excellent…and of course the wonderful staff, which let’s you feel at home. We hope you all keep well in this great country.
Thought for the month:
“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.” - Marshall McLuhan, 1964
Good wishes until we chat again next month...
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