Hyena enjoying tripe

We came across a giraffe recently killed by lions. After having eaten the entrails, they left the remainder of the giraffe to scavengers such as vultures and hyenas who enjoyed the rotting flesh with delight. One hyena had a particular fancy in the stomach lining left behind by the lions. It didn’t seem very appetizing to us, but the hyena thought differently. Picking up his prized meal he decided to move away from the ordeal at the kill and enjoyed his tripe in peace all by himself.

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

 

Ground Hornbill

The Ground Hornbill, Bucorvus leadbeateri, is one of the more perculiar birds of the Kruger Park. Early birders referred to them as Turkey Buzzards, and they definitely have some kind of resemblance to turkeys, however, they are not related. The current population in South Africa is estimated to 1500-2000 individuals of which half of them occur in the Kruger Park and surrounding reserves. The parks population is fairly stable with some 200 breeding pairs. They don’t have to deal with the same pressures as Ground Hornbills elsewhere which are declining due to habitat loss and poisoning. Loss of large trees for nesting sites is a big problem. Several projects are in place to help the current population grow. This is done by providing artificial nesting sites in suitable areas as well as hand rearing chicks to be released back into the wild. Hornbills always lay two eggs of which only one is raised. The other youngster inevitably dies of starvation. By rescuing this chick and raising it in captivity, they can later be released in suitable areas where their numbers have been dwindling. By so doing, these slow breeding birds (it takes 9 years for a chick to be raised to adulthood) are helped to increase the wild population. Considering these threats it was great to see 6 different groups of hornbills on my last safari, a sign that things are improving for them.

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

 

Lions feeding on black rhino

Having heard of a dead rhino at Ximangwaneni dam near Muzandzeni, I knew I had to go and investigate to see what kind of scavenger activity there will be. Surprisingly, when we got there, I realized it was a rarer black rhino carcass. The carcass was already some 4 days old, a fact which our nostrils reiterated. A pride of 10 lions were still feeding from it. As most of them have already had their share, a few individuals took turns to feed in peace without the constant aggression of other members. Vultures were also descending and tried their luck when the lions left to lie in the shade. That normally didn’t last very long as some of the lions were determined to defend their bounty. During the night the rest of the pride went back for another feeding session before leaving the rotten rhino to other scavengers. The following day we went back and were surprised at how much of the rhino has been eaten. Vultures were very active to get their fair share and we saw all five vulture species represented in the Kruger on one carcass. They are the Whitebacked Vulture, Hooded Vulture, Lappetfaced Vulture, Whiteheaded Vulture, and the endangered Cape Vulture. The scene was so engrossing that we spent several hours to enjoy the ways of the wild. It was truly something documentaries are made of.

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

Photo Gallery

I’ve added a few more photos to the blog. Winter months produce a lot more photo opportunity with some great light. Enjoy.

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

July Update

So another month ended and here are the sighting updates. This month has been pretty phenomenal. In winter the sightings increase normally, and July has not disappointed. There has been an increase in all animal sightings since April, except for wild dogs. This is due to them denning in winter and therefore not moving around all that much. I’ve been amazed at the amount of leopards and lions seen. Let’s hope that August will prove as successful.

 

Total tours: 4    Total days: 16

	Day	Elephant	Rhino	Buffalo	Lion	Leopard	Cheetah	Wilddog	Hyena	Jackal
	Tour	4	4	4	4	3	3	0	3	3
	Day	13	11	12	11	5	3	0	7	3
	Sights	Y	21	Y	21	6	4	0	14	5
	Nr	Y	30	Y	84	9	6	0	28	5

 

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

 

Cold weather and exceptional safaris

With the onslaught of winter we had our fair share of cold weather. So, warmly wrapped in blankets, jackets, beanies we braved the element for some exceptional game viewing. This month has been my best of the year in terms of leopards. We’ve seen 8 leopards in 9 days. One sighting included a female with three cubs in the safety of a big tree. Also in the tree was an impala the female caught on which they could lazily feed. The energy of the cubs made for some entertaining viewing of leopards at play, bounding up and down the tree. Another leopard was relaxing on the side of the road when, out the blue, a hyena came crashing through the bushes chasing it off in a flash. I suspected it had a kill in the vicinity which drew the attention of the hyena. Some great cheetahs were seen as well. On one occasion we spotted a cheetah on the side of the road. He totally ignored us as his focus was entirely on a herd of impala on the other side. He slowly stalked forward without the impala noticing (see photo). I then caught sight of another cheetah on the other side of the impala quickly drawing closer. Cheetahs are not known to hunt co-operatively, but few exceptions have been noted. In this case it seemed like the plan was to chase the impalas from the one side right into claws of the other cheetah. With a sudden alarm call and a burst of speed, the impalas bounded away in every direction with one cheetah at full stretch behind them. Unfortunately for the cheetah the impalas changed direction and ran away from the waiting cheetah and were unsuccessful this time around. They had to do it again but unfortunately for us, we couldn’t stay as we had to make our way to camp. We saw 3 other cheetahs that have recently finished a kill. Eagles and vultures were already descending on the half eaten antelope. With the cheetahs making a final inspection of the kill a hyena approached and took the hindquarters away for its own meal. In the dry season lions often stay near watering points, waiting for animals drawn by thirst to walk into their ambushed positions. We saw lions at several watering holes, but a memorable sighting happened at Mazithi dam where ten lions were doing what they do best – lazing about. With the approach of a few waterbuck with a youngster amongst them, two lionesses decided this is a perfect opportunity and slowly crept closer. Stalking through the reeds, they came pretty close, but just not close enough. Somehow, the nervous waterbuck realized there was something up, although they didn’t see them, and didn’t want to get any nearer. Finally, one lioness was tired of waiting and made a dash for it, only to see the waterbuck disappear into the bush. With sightings like this I will face any cold weather.

Happy game viewing.

Simon
Join me on a safari to the Kruger National Park with Wild Wings Safaris!

Big 5 in 2 hours

It’s always great to see the big 5 on a tour. It’s even more exciting when it all happens in a mere two hours. This happened on one of my recent tours. What made it even more amazing was that it occurred near Pretoriuskop, an area which generally is not known for its abundant wildlife in winter time. However, on this occasion it started with spotting a rhino cow and calf near Shitlave dam. Soon afterwards there were herds of buffalo and elephants. At Shabeni hill we picked up a lioness lazily relaxing underneath a fig tree. A few kilometers further on we spotted a leopard lying on a termite mound (see picture). In true leopard fashion, it slinked away into the mystery of the bush. This all happened in a two hour period of a very exciting three day safari.

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

June update

Here is June’s sightings report. I’m sorry for the slight delay.

If you want to figure out what each row is for, you can read one of the previous monthly update blogs. That will be easier rather than for me to type it out each time. At some point I will write something other than just an update, but I don’t have my photos available at the moment.

 

Total tours: 3    Total days: 10

Day	Elephant	Rhino	Buffalo	Lion	Leopard	Cheetah	Wilddog	Hyena	Jackal
Tour	3	3	3	2	1	2	0	2	0
Day	9	5	8	4	2	2	0	2	0
Sights	Y	13	Y	5	2	2	0	2	0
Nr	Y	21	Y	9	2	3	0	2	0

 

Till later

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

 

More lions

This month I haven’t had too many lions sightings (I must admit, I haven’t been in the park all that much either), but the few sightings I did have were exceptional. As the photos can verify, we found 3 lions casually walking down the road. They did not have a care in this world as we followed them for at least 1,5km down the road. They even allowed us to drive right next to them for an intimate encounter. You have to love it.

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

May update

Here we have the monthly update again for the month of May. This month the park didn’t see me all that much (or should I say, I didn’t see the park all that much), but the time I did spend there was great, as some of my previous blog entries can verify. The bush is drying out with more animal activities near water points and fires continue to appear sporadically. Some late rains did cause fresh new grass to appear in previously burnt areas. This will prove vital for the survival of some animals as I expect this dry season to be quite harsh. A bigger concern will probably be the availability of surface water, but that will have to be seen later in the dry season.

 

Row 1 – nr of tours animals are seen

Row 2 – nr of days animals are seen

Row 3 – nr of sightings

Row 4 – nr of individuals

 

Total tours: 2    Total days: 6

Day	Elephant	Rhino	Buffalo	Lion	Leopard	Cheetah	Wilddog	Hyena	Jackal
Tour	2	2	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Day	5	2	6	2	1	0	0	0	0
Sights	Y	13	Y	2	1	0	0	0	0
Nr	Y	25	Y	4	1	0	0	0	0

 

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

 

Late lion a real bonus

My last safari was another great one with lots of surprises. It started off as we entered the park with elephant, buffalo and a hippo grazing in the reeds at the Kruger gate bridge crossing the Sabie river. The drive to our camp along the Sabie river produced lots of elephants and entertaining baboons. At some point I heard vervet monkeys alarming. I could see them high up in the trees as they followed something walking below them on the ground. We were not able to see anything, but considering the terrain I guessed it to be a leopard that proved to be ever elusive. After many attempts at spotting it I had to give it up and wonder what could have been. It was not long after that when the magic did happen. With impeccable timing, a leopard crossed the road in front of us. I thought it would just continue to walk and disappear into the bush, but surprisingly it remained very relaxed at the side of the road and allowed for some nice photos (above). It was a great first day.

The following day we went driving through the basalt plains, a suitable area for rhinos, buffalo, and other herds of animals. It did not disappoint. We had 6 rhino sightings and saw 13 in total. We also found ourselves in the middle of a buffalo herd crossing the road. Absolutely magical. Herds of zebra, wildebeest (gnu) and giraffe kept us entertained throughout the day. What remained missing though were the lions, which we kept hearing throughout the night and even on the morning drive. The day ended with 2 enormous hippos on the road as they made their way for their night time grazing. Being a bit nervous they trotted away and it amazed us with what agility these huge creatures could move.

On our last morning the search was on for lions, which kept eluding us to thus far. With only a few sightings of buffalo, giraffe and some other game, it was generally pretty quiet. By breakfast time we still didn’t get any lions, or even reports of lion sightings. The prospect seemed bleak. We were cheered up around the breakfast table when we heard a leopard call several times. The baboons were alarming, but unfortunately for us it remained hidden in the reeds. It was great though to have bacon and eggs knowing that a leopard is not too far off. That’s more exciting than most people’s breakfasts. From the picnic spot our journey took us along a busy 15km road towards the gate again before exiting the park. Having not heard of any lion sightings along the way I resigned to my fate of this being my first tour this year without lions. One of my mottos for the Kruger is that “anything can happen,” and it did once again. Only a few kilometers before the gate we were surprised by a male lion crossing the road on its way to a kill. We saw the vultures circling not too far off, and he was sniffing the air as he made his way into that direction. So in the end we did manage the big 5 again. Amazingly enough, after 3 days of searching for lions, we found one at the very end. In fact, this lion was the last animal we saw in the park before we left. What a bonus!

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

Rutting Season

Snorting, chasing, fighting and mating. These are all elements of the impala rutting season happening at the moment. It causes for some entertaining viewing of the most common large animal in the Kruger. They are so common (we are talking figures of about 100 000 individuals) that most people become very blasé about them and drive past them even though they can be very entertaining. They are very vocal this time of the year and will be calling, snorting and roaring day and night. It sounds so formidable that some people might think they are hearing some kind of predator. Actually, it’s all just to chase away potential male suitors and to ensure a territory, and the females. If a strong male does not back down, fighting will ensue. This can be ferocious and although the loser will normally run away, with the victor hot on his heels, it can potentially be fatal. The dominant male can be so busy fighting and chasing off other males, herding and mating with the females, that he does not spend enough time feeding and keeping up his condition. Unfortunately it does mean that he will loose his top position during the rutting season and will allow for several other males to ensure they can pass on their genes as well. The best part of the rutting season is that 6,5 months from now (by the end of November), the bush will be alive with young impalas.

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za

 

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April Sightings Update

Once again, here is the update for the last month.

Things have been changing lately with the changing of the seasons. The bush is drying out and game becomes easier to spot in the long grass. Animals are also starting to congregate near the watering holes. Regardless of all the rain we’ve had, some areas seem to be drying extremely quickly, especially the further north one goes into the park. Looking at water availability at the moment I think it will be a very dry and challenging winter for the animals. The first fires have also appeared which all seem to be early control fires to reduce the fuel load and potentially ensure winter grazing if some late rains fall.

After a couple of cheetah-free months, this month was very exciting with cheetah sightings on every tour. The unpredictability of leopards proved itself again as I had 4 leopards in 4 tours, although, they all decided to show themselves on only one tour. A very entertaining tour it was though.

 

To make sense of the table, it reads as follow:

Row 1 – nr. of tours animals seen

Row 2 – nr. of days animals are seen

Row 3 – nr. of sightings of animal

Row 4 – nr. of individuals seen

 

Total tours: 4    Total days: 15

Day	Elephant	Rhino	Buffalo	Lion	Leopard	Cheetah	Wilddog	Hyena	Jackal
Tour	4	4	4	4	1	4	2	4	2
Day	14	9	10	8	4	4	2	6	3
Sights	Y	25	Y	12	4	4	2	6	3
Nr	Y	47	Y	40	4	7	5	10	3

 

 

Simon Vegter

Wild Wings Safaris

www.wild-wings.co.za