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3 March 2010
We’ve had lots more rain and the Msunduze flowed strongly. The battle of the white rhino bulls for Leopard Mountain continues in all earnest, with the younger, dominant bull now becoming another permanent fixture at LM. A great place to watch these two amazing creatures is at our hide where they both spend a lot of time lately. Many giraffes also visit the hide at the moment and it’s great to see these underappreciated beasts so close.
Today we had at least a dozen giraffes at the hide drinking 15 metres from us!! This morning’s drive got us very close to a “crash” of three white rhino’s and the evening drive was a great one with about twenty giraffes and a new mother and calf white rhino pair, the mother’s horn being an exceptional one at close to a metre long. Another great visitor was the large elephant bull which we tracked on the morning drive and then found drinking at the hide later the afternoon. It was again sighted in the area throughout the next 2 days. Buffalo sightings have been particularly good and we regularly get right into the heart of herds of 30-60 buffalo. The hippo’s are still occupying their favourite pools and the calf seems to be very happy!
Two quality sighting of black rhino were recorded and there are still continuously good sightings of white rhino’s, apart from our two feuding bulls. Luck with cheetahs has been a little down lately but we found a fresh Nyala kill that was almost surely from the two females roaming that area. Other good mammal sightings include: white-tailed and slender mongoose, porcupine, mountain reedbuck, and plenty of red duiker.
Birding has still been of very high quality and variety. The hide today alone delivered numerous good sightings of local specials such as Eastern nicator, grey tit-flycatcher, yellow-breasted apalis, African green-pigeon and some African paradise-flycatcher. There are a bigger variety of waders at the hide of late such as a resident hamerkop, yellow-billed storks and the occasional African black ducks. Interesting birds often seen on the trip to the hide are long-tailed paradise-whydah, plenty of European roller and bee-eaters, dusky indigobird, Jacobin’s cuckoo. Our raptor population is excellent and we regularly see the migrant steppe buzzard and Wahlberg’s eagle’s, brown snake-eagle, martial eagle and crowned eagle. A great sighting was that of 5 lappet-faced vultures on the LM vulture restaurant.
Undoubtedly the best sighting though must go to Heinrich who had a confirmed sighting of a Shelley’s francolin on one of his drives. Other memorable twitching moments: pink-throated twinspots; black cuckooshrike; there is a large variety of flycatchers including Pale, spotted and Ashy flycatchers. Yellow-throated longclaws are also specials which occur in abundance, as are sabota lark, resident striped pipit, gorgeous bush-shrike and orange-breasted bush-shrike.
Keep well
Regards
Johann - Head Ranger
14 February
We have had another few interesting days lately and here is just some of the more unusual news and special sightings.
The LM hide continues to be a great place to view a large variety of animals at very close quarters. Apart from the two white rhino bulls that are currently competing for the waterhole and the magnificent giraffes that are now continuously using it as a drinking spot, there are always other animals around such as waterbuck, zebra’s, blue wildebeest, nyala and the scarcer red and grey duikers as well as the occasional reedbuck. Large water monitors and various species of tortoise come regularly to make use of the hide waterhole.
On the game drive side there have been numerous drives that have delivered several great white rhino sightings and we often see 4-7 of these great beasts on a single drive!!! The giraffes are everywhere around and give you many hours of pleasure as they seem to want to join you in the vehicle! Another interesting sighting was of another black-backed jackal in broad daylight and we had a porcupine come into the boma last night!!! The hippo pools always delight and even more so at the moment as there is an extremely small new addition to the family.
There have also been interesting bird sightings such as gorgeous bush-shrike, eastern nicator, African pygmy kingfisher, African crowned eagle, brown snake eagle, striped pipit, yellow-throated longclaw and millions of other wonderful species. The most special recent sighting for me was of a group of four African openbills that are currently also staying around the hippo pool area.
Regards
Johann - Head Ranger
31 January 2010
My last update was not too long ago but there have been so many good things happening that I thought a quick update would be fitting.
Our resident white rhino bull still comes right past the lodge now and we see him very frequently on Leopard Mountain game drives. Yesterday’s afternoon drives alone delivered no fewer than 5 rhino sightings, one of them being an ever-elusive black rhino which they were unable to sex. Giraffes remain plentiful, especially of late when we have been seeing large herds of 12-18 giraffes on a regular basis. Continuing the trend of the last mail, there have been many more and better quality sightings of various black-backed jackal. We saw them on a few consecutive drives and were able to get very close to this usually wary animal. To see them closely is really special.
Heinrich had another good sighting of two male cheetahs a few afternoons ago and also discovered yesterday that the hippo’s have a very young addition to their family.
Birding was excellent, as usual. Martial eagle, tawny eagle and Secretarybird are some of the larger specials that have been seen of late. European bee-eaters and –rollers add a lot of color whilst Zitting cisticola, Sabota lark and striped pipits are some the lesser colorful but equally special regular sightings. Eastern nicator, olive sunbird, red-capped robin-chat , African green-pigeon and gorgeous bush-shrike frequent the riverine forest and in the grassy savanna there is abundance of white-crested helmet-shrike, dusky indigobird, many tchagra’s and black-headed orioles. Some of the local special sighted recently include: pink-throated twinspot, purple-banded sunbird, Rudd’s Apalis and orange-breasted bush-shrike.
Until next time….
Regards
Johann - Head Ranger
26 January 2010
There have been many awesome sightings across the reserve of late and there is lots to report on. The reserve has been staying true to it’s name and has been delivering great sightings of both white and black rhino in good numbers. There is good abundance of white rhino and just yesterday again we saw a new mother and calf pair, the calf being only about 3-6 months of age. Black rhino sightings were also up a bit, with quite a few individuals roaming around our game drive routes. A very welcome sight was that of two male cheetahs which were a mere 5 metres from the car and completely at ease. These two males had been eluding us for a while and it was good to see them in such good condition.
We have had numerous sightings of pairs and solitary black-backed jackals all around the reserve lately, and considering their status it is awesome to see that the reserve seems to be a haven for these awesome but underappreciated animals. The hippo’s are in good spirits and a trip to their waterholes always provides some good entertainment. They gave guests an unexpected surprise when they discovered a baby hippo that was only about 4 weeks old. There is always an abundance of smaller “game” all around which is also very special. These include bushbuck, red and grey duiker, common reedbuck and slender mongoose, all of which occur in very good numbers on LM. If you are into the even “smaller” animals you will never be disappointed- special sightings include: good numbers of all our local tortoises-natal hinged, bell’s hinged and leopard tortoise are found regularly on LM. Large-spotted genet is also a common resident which is seen after sunset.
On the birding front there are once again many good things to report. The hide remains one of our best birding attractions, often hosting species such as grey waxbill, lesser honeyguide, dusky indigobird, long-tailed paradise-whydah, African goshawk, pink-throated twinspot and various, firefinches, waxbills and tons more. There are plenty of raptors such as tawny eagle, Wahlberg’s eagle, brown snake-eagle and lizard buzzard as well as the common steppe buzzards and bateleurs.
Until next time….
Regards
Johann - Head Ranger
17 January 2010
There is once again lots of wonderful news to report on and plenty of special sightings to discuss.
Birding continues to be special on the ZRR and particularly on Leopard Mountain. Our hide still attracts a lot of specials for the area. The smaller species that are attracted to the forest margins include pink-throated twinspot, grey waxbill, red-backed mannikin, dark-backed weaver, eastern nicator, dusky indigobird, long-tailed paradise-whydah, African goshawk and African harrier-hawk. There are plenty of flycatchers, commonly the spotted, pale and occasionally also ashy flycatcher. Common scimitarbill and lately green wood-hoopoe are very common. European-, lilac-breasted- and less frequently broad-billed rollers can be found in the vicinity. The common cardinal woodpecker is joined by the bearded and golden-tailed woodpecker in their respective habitats. Firefinches are abundant.Jameson’s and African are all around and in the riverine areas you can find the red-billed firefinch. With some time you can find plenty of terrestrial brownbul and with even more searching you can find the yellow-bellied greenbul. Among our eight local sunbirds we have lately seen olive-,purple-banded- and collared sunbird apart from the more common species. The grassy habitats accommodate plenty of black-bellied bustard, sabota lark and yellow-throated longclaw.
The hide is becoming more and more popular among our guests and is now frequented on a daily basis by a large herd of buffalo, plenty of giraffe and a large resident white rhino bull. It is an amazing opportunity to view these stunning beasts at very close range without them being affected by your presence. The hide is also a very popular spot for many other amazing critters. We have seen many leopard tortoise, nile monitor and the scarce natal hinged tortoise at the hide. It is a hive of activity as you are surrounded by all kinds of animals, even the less common ones such as reedbuck, red duiker and suni.Unfortunately the marabou storks at the hide have decided to leave us for the time being, but we await their return. The cheetahs have been more evasive lately but Heinrich had one good Leopard sighting. We have been lucky to find the hippo’s outside the water lately in overcast conditions. Black rhino have also been more scarce of late but are never far away. Their white cousins still give us many splendid hours of viewing.
Kind regards
Johann - Head Ranger
27 December 2009
Once again I feel it has been way too long since I have updated you guys on the magnificent game drives we have been having of late.
I will start off this report with some birding news as our birding has been excellent as usual and there have been many twitchers visiting us recently who have really had a great time with us. The migrants are still arriving and European rollers and red-backed shrikes have now joined the party together with the cuckoo’s, European bee-eaters, violet-backed starlings, and spotted flycatchers. Other regularly seen flycatchers are the African dusky- and pale flycatchers, not to mention the grey-tit- and African paradise-flycatchers which also occur in good numbers.
It is the time of year when many birds change into their breeding plumage and become strikingly apparent. Pin-tailed- and long tailed paradise whydah are commonly seen examples of this metamorphosis. Other good sightings of breeding plumaged males include: village indigobird, lesser masked weaver and red-billed queleas. There is an abundance of pink-throated twinspot all across the reserve at the moment and they remain a special sighitng. The good rains have also provided us with some more special visitors, namely some black coucals. Our hide is being frequented at the moment by black-bellied starling, African pygmy-kingfisher, African and Jameson’s firefinches, dark-backed weaver, grey waxbill and many more amzing species. There is even a gang of marabou storks currently calling our hide their home! Black-bellied bustards are in the peak of their breeding and we come across these awesome birds often as they stand conspicuously and give their characteristic display call. Sabota and rufous-naped larks as well as rattling and fan-tailed cisticola’s make up a variety of the so-called ‘LBJ’s”. In the same habitats you can also find good numbers of yellow-throated longclaw and striped pipit on the more rocky hillsides. Some time in the riverine forest could deliver specials such as African emerald cuckoo, eastern olive sunbird, red-capped robin-chat and the awesome Narina trogon. The list is endless.
On the mammal front the sightings and encounters have also been good. Cheetahs are now a regular addition to our drives and provide us with many hours of close and intimate encounters with these amazing cats. Other cats that were spotted were a couple of serval and Heinrich also had a good quality sighting of a leopard on Leopard Mountain.This was the first leopard spotted in the area for a while so hopefully sightings will again become more frequent. We’ve done few night drives lately and have found quite a few special nocturnal species such as porcupine, lesser bushbaby, large-spotted genet, white-tailed mongoose and the nocturnal birds such as spotted eagle-owl, the scarce grass owl and spotted thick-knees. We have had some amazing encounters with huge buffalo herds and white rhinos are quite abundant across our traversing routes. There was an occasion where we saw at least twelve white rhino in a single drive!! The black rhino’s remain more elusive but the huge bull named “thatha abafazi” and various cows and calfs still give us enough great sightings. The smaller animals also occur in abundance and scarcer animals such as common reedbuck and red duiker abound in their respective habitats. We also have the hippo pools which are always worth a visit and on overcast days we are sometimes fortunate enough to find the hippo’s grazing outside the water.
Hope you all keep well
Regards
Johann - Head Ranger
3 December 2009
It hasn’t been long since the last update, yet so many great things are still happening continuously on our ever-expanding game drives.
Time has revealed truly how many rhino’s there are on the reserve. These majestic beasts seem to thrive in the reserve and they add wonderful hours of viewing to so many of our game drives. Naturally most of these rhino sightings are of white rhino but we are also regularly blessed with the pleasure of having great black rhino sightings. Two of the recently released cheetah males provided us with some more excitement as they played in a marula tree and had a half-hearted attempt at a hunt on a young Impala ewe.Elephant activity has also been very high in recent times and sightings of both bulls and the breeding herd have been much more frequent. Add to this many sightings of buffalo and hordes of giraffe and you always have many of the larger mammals roaming the reserve.
To me it is still the variety and abundance of the rarer animal species that inrigues me and many of our guests. We boast with such a variety of antelopes which includes suni, common and mountain reedbuck, red duiker and the hugest population of Nyala you could imagine! Add to this more special species such as Bell’s and natal hinged tortoises, rarely seen Black-backed jackal, white-tailed and slender mongooses and many more and you truly have a game-viewing experience of the highest quality.
We have also had a few serious twitchers of late and were once again able to impress them with our diversity and abundance of birdlife. We are seeing many flycatchers-spotted-, african dusky-, ashy and pale(mousecoloured) flycatchers are all around to be seen. We also had brilliant quality sightings of yellow-bellied eremomela, common scimitarbill, green-winged pytilia, dark-backed weaver, black cuckooshrike,long-tailed paradise-whydah and white-browed robin-chat all in one drive. The LBJ’s remain just as interesting and there were also sabota lark and plenty of yellow-throated petronia’s around. Red-billed firefinch, african green-pigeon and purple-banded sunbird were active around the riverine forest as were the terrestrial brownbuls.There are too many others to mention in such a small space but you can see that we really do offer a great birding experience.
Until the next time……
Regards
Johann
16 October 2009
If you had told me recently that game drives on the reserve could get any better, I would have taken it with some slight cynicism. But it has gotten better, much better!!!
The game viewing is really great, and even on the occasions that we don’t see the “big” animals, there are always tons and tons of all varieties of animals. Yesterday we again found a very lazy nile monitor and a fairly large leopard tortoise, as well as a large rock python on last nights game drive. Last night also came up trumps with a beautiful sighting of what appeared to be a small-spotted genet.
We have been seeing white rhino with increasing frequency lately and have had brilliant close sightings of numerous mothers with calfs as well as the large bull that visits leopard mountain. There have been a few days where we have seen rhino on both morning and evening drives, and the quality of the sightings are incredible. Even a cow with a calf of under 12 months wandered unperturbed to within about 15m of the vehicle!!!The awesome buffalo’s are also revealing themselves more and more, and I would say we see buffalo on about 80% of our drives recently, including two big herds on the same drive two nights ago.
Birding remains excellent, especially in the raptor department. Awesome sightings of African harrier-hawk, African hawk-eagle, martial eagle and brown snake-eagle are a daily occurrence. There are also a lot of medium-sized raptors including African goshawk, lizard buzzard and black-shouldered kite. Most of the seasonal migrants have also returned, such as black- and red-chested cuckoos and European bee-eaters. Other special sightings are:striped pipit, little bee-eater, stierling’s wren-warbler, mocking cliff-chat and many more.
Last, but most certainly not least, is the incredible sighting that Rudolph, myself and two guests had last night.We were slowing down to approach an immature Nyala bull. At first we were baffled that it kept staring in the opposite direction of the vehicle.We were soon to find out why!!Over the crest of the hill, a mere 30m from the car, emerged a pack of six wild dogs!!!!We were so stunned I don’t think we knew what to do.It was beautiful!There have been quite a few sightings of vagrant wild dogs lately. Mostly escapees from HIP it would seem.Even though they aren’t resident it was still awesome to see them.You just never know what to expect.
Hope all is well.
Kind regards
Johann - Head Ranger
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