Tree of the month

To give you an idea of what’s happening in the bush we’ve decided to choose a tree each month that’s prominent in our surroundings. This month it’s the turn of the purple-pod terminalia (Terminalia prunoides), also known as the lowveld cluster leaf.

Belonging to the Combretum family, the purple-pod terminalia gets its common name from the deep plum coloured fruits which are present during autumn and winter. The grass in the bush has now lost its colour & many of the leaves are also turning from green to brown, making the inedible purple pods of this tree even more conspicuous.

The wood of the purple-pod terminalia is remarkably heavy, being only slightly lighter than the celebrated leadwood tree (Combretum imberbe). As a result it is used as building material, providing items such as fence posts and axe handles.

Saddle-billed storks

Following the great sightings we had last month of southern ground hornbills (Bucorvus leadbeateri) at the waterhole, we’ve been delighted to see a steady stream of large feathered visitors around the lodge this week including the Verreaux’s eagle-owl (Bubo lacteus) and saddle-billed stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis).

Despite its relative abundance inside protected areas the saddle-billed stork population is experiencing a similar decline to the southern ground hornbill. The most recent surveys conducted during the 1990’s suggest that no more than 150 individuals remain in South Africa!

It’s great to have a resident pair in the area & we only hope they continue to thrive here.

All Creatures Great & Small

Whilst we always love to see the larger birds and mammals on Balule, it’s great to discover more about the smaller creatures that are around, especially at this time of year. With ongoing rain the bush is host to many fascinating insects and spiders, often beautiful and bizarre in equal measure! 

The garden acraea butterfly (Acraea horta)

A corn cricket (Hetrodes sp.)

A kite spider (Gasteracanthus sanguinofenta)

The beautiful golden orb web spider (Nephila sp.)

One of those weeks!



27 February - White rhinos

 

3 March - one of the evicted young males



Game viewing in a nature reserve is always a matter of luck:  sometimes you see little and at other times animals and birds appear almost continuously, inlcuding some of the less frequently seen species. 

This last week (end of February – start of march) has been one of the latter times.  It began in the evening of Sunday 27^th February - three white rhinos at the waterhole:  next morning, four rhinos.  That evening (Monday), the giraffe was killed by power cables and later discovered by lions, as reported in our previous blog entry, which covered up to the morning of Thursday 3rd March.  In the late afternoon on the 3^rd, the same older female from the morning was still there at the carcass, now with all three of the young males evicted from the pride a few months ago.  Their manes are now well developed and they have grown bigger.  Two current members of the pride then appeared and there was much tension from both groups.  However, something caught all their attention off to the east and all six lions ran off to investigate.  Frustratingly, we don’t know exactly what it was but the behaviour suggested another lion or possibly another carnivore.  We then went to our neighbour’s property for supper but had to rush back to Leopard’s View to help Iris chase a big bull elephant away from the trees by the deck.  It moved off in the neighbour’s direction so we hurried back, just in time to drive it out of their garden. 



3 March - pride male at waterhole



Lion noises were very close during all this, and then, during dessert (!) one of the big pride males walked through their garden, 10 m from where we were all sitting.  It went down to our waterhole, drank and then rested under a nearby tree. 



4 March a.m.



4 March - evening: the two pride males



Next day, Friday, an elephant drank and bathed at the waterhole during the morning; in the evening, we watched the two pride males at the remains of the giraffe carcass, although there seemed little meat left by then.  To round the week off, on Saturday morning there were two hyenas at the waterhole at dawn, and buffalo on Sunday. 



4 March - black-backed jackal near giraffe carcass



We hope we haven’t used all our luck up and that the next week will also be a good one.



Lions benefit from accidental death of giraffe





Early in the evening of Monday 28^th March, a giraffe accidentally walked into low electricity power lines about 500m from the Leopard’s View entrance track: this is something that happens occasionally in game reserves and generally the power company responds well and gets the lines raised as soon as possible.  Sadly the giraffe was killed instantly and ended up lying across the road.  The next morning it was dragged away into the bush by rangers to allow vehicles to get by.  By then some of the local lion pride had found the carcass and they have been feeding well ever since, with up to seven on the carcass at any one time.  We saw five there on Wednesday afternoon.

This morning, Thursday 3^rd March, at 6.00 a.m., four youngish lions were lying in the road near the power lines:  al had very full bellies.  As the sun rose higher, and stopping at intervals along the way, with one giving regular location calls, they walked slowly back to the carcass.  There they encountered a young male and a young female, both of which ran away immediately at speed.  One older female stayed her ground, growling threateningly, but had to give way to the four arriving lions and moved aside for them:  from the lack of fear and overt animosity, we assumed that she must have been part of the pride at one time.  The disappearing young male may well have been one of those evicted from the pride several months ago.  The four chased the hooded and white-backed vultures gathering on the ground and three of them then sought cover in the shade while one, possibly a young male, continued feeding, at times disappearing deep into the carcass.



While the death of the giraffe in this unatural way is regrettable, there is no doubt that the lions have gained at a time of year when hunting is more difficult for them, with prey species less dependent on water and widely spread in the bush.