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Diary of improvements and renovations to Leopards View Game Lodge near Hoedspruit, Limpopo |
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Please note that the Leopard’s View diary is not a complete record of all animals and birds seen at the Lodge. It merely highlights some of the more significant sightings and some of the activities that have taken place in and around the Lodge during the last twelve months. |
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May 20091st Six wildebeest, 8 warthog and impala all at the waterhole together 2nd Two buffalo at the waterhole at lunch time 3rd A light spattering of rain during the day, but not enough to really trouble the rain gauge 4th The single vervet monkey is back 7th Good rain during the night 8th The rain continues, now heavy, during the morning: 57 mm overnight and during the early part of the day; another 2 mm in the late afternoon. The bats that rest above our stoep during the evenings, and which have been absent for a couple of weeks, are back – they make a terrible mess, however. 10th Half a mm of rain in the night 12th Two white rhino are at the waterhole during the afternoon 13th There is evidence of porcupine activity (digging and fresh tracks): since the leopard kill of a porcupine in mid-April the porcupine that had been a visitor to the Lodge most evenings has not been seen and we reckon it was the victim. We guess that it’s a new one now, moving into the area. During the morning, the two rhino are back at the waterhole; later one appears on its own 14th Zebra, impala and giraffe close by during the day 15th Vervet monkey group during the day. More porcupine tracks. 16th Two rhinos at the waterhole just after dark (about 6.00 pm) 17th Sizeable groups of zebra, wildebeest and impala on the road just near the Lodge entrance. A group of 8 warthogs wallows in the bird pool in the middle of the day: waterbuck, impala, kudu and bushbabies as well. 21st There is more evidence of porcupine presence. We find black rhino dung on the road to the gate and other reserve residents see it yesterday and early in the morning. It seems to have moved up from a site in Klaserie reserve where two were released a few weeks ago. Six giraffe on our access road. 22nd A beautiful view of giraffe at the waterhole, perfectly lit by the setting sun 23rd Kudu nearby and a woolly-necked stork at the waterhole early on. The family of eight warthogs are back. Hooded vultures in a tree on the ridge beyond the waterhole. A lioness goes past the waterhole, unfortunately rather quickly, at about 7.30 pm. 24th Giraffe and impala near our entrance in the early morning. Zebra, kudu and wildebeest on the ridge: they gradually move down, reaching the waterhole in the early afternoon, where they stay, grazing and drinking, for the next two hours. Impala join in and a jackal pair drinks in the late afternoon. 25th Noises of movement and branches breaking from the valley during the evening: we investigate in the Land cruiser and spend the next hour trailing a group of roughly six elephants (difficult to count them in the dark) along the dry river bed, past the waterhole. 30th Elephant very close to the Lodge (10 m) during the morning – tearing up raisin bushes.
June 20095th Two white rhinos at the waterhole from 5.00 to 6.00 p.m. 7th One rhino at the waterhole around 8.00 p.m.; soon afterwards two arrive and the first one moves off. 9th Giraffe female and youngster very close to the Lodge; appear to stay there overnight. 10th Giraffes still there in the morning, moving on around 10.00 a.m. In the afternoon they are back, plus three others and a group of 10 zebra. In the evening, there are three lions on Sable Road, not too far from the Lodge entrance. 11th Rain in the night , which continues most of the morning – about 6 mm in total. A group of ten giraffe comes by the Lodge. 14th Two rhino at the waterhole (6.00 p.m.) 15th We see a herd of 8 elephants while on a drive in the valley: they move along and drink at the waterhole. 18th Day starts with 10 wildebeest at the waterhole. Around 5.00 p.m., two jackals are joined by two rhino down there but the rhino disappear quickly when a third rhino appears. Driving down, we are able to find the two further along the valley. On returning to the Lodge, we find two lions (one male and one female) drinking at the waterhole and the female is seen again later at around 9.00 p.m. Their roaring is loud and close in the night and they spend some time sleeping immediately outside our staff quarters. 19th Giraffe and rhino (two) at the waterhole at dusk. 20th Just one rhino at the waterhole at 6.45 a.m. Later we move the floodlight pole and cement it in in a new position to the side of the waterhole rather than on the far side from the Lodge, from where it shone in everyone’s eyes.. 22nd After fitting a new bulb, the floodlight is back on; at last with no glare in the eyes of watchers up on the deck! 23rd Elephant at the waterhole in the morning; zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and impala in the afternoon; rhino in the evening (about 8.00 p.m.) 26th A large herd of buffalo comes through the valley in the morning. 27th Rain – 6mm. 28th Six waterbuck drink from the birdpool in the early afternoon. 29th One of the local jackal pairs is around the Lodge gate.
July 20091st Rhino (two) at the waterhole at dawn. 5-9th A good few days, especially for giraffe, zebra and kudu sightings. 10th Elephant drinking mid-morning. 11-14th More days of good sightings – zebra, kudu, wildebeest – several times very close to the Lodge deck area. 16th rain – 5 mm. 17th Elephant close to the Lodge kitchen during the evening. 18th A pleasing day’s viewing at the waterhole: 7.30 a.m. – buffalo, 1.00 p.m. – elephant, 3.15 p.m. three rhino. 20th The buffalo are back again. 24th Night time minimum temperature is 6.9 oC, the coldest so far this winter. 25th Drive 3km to an elephant carcass resulting from a battle between two bulls: a large pride of lions has now found it and we see 5 adult females and 5 cubs. Just after our return to the Lodge, 7 elephants arrive at the waterhole and drink. When they move on, we drive down and intercept them in the valley. Even colder night – down to 5.6 oC.
August 20091st A dark, cloudy day with 8 mm of welcome rain. 3rd Two elephants spend half an hour at the waterhole during the middle of the day. In the evening we drive out to investigate elephant noises and find one. On getting back to the Lodge, there is an elephant drinking at the birdpool. 5th During the night, an elephant pushes over a marula tree about 50 m from the Lodge gate. At lunchtime, there are two elephants drinking at the waterhole. 6th Several giraffe around the lodge and at the waterhole during the day and the evening. We finish constructing fencing outside Duiker Hut. 7th Zebra, duiker, baboon: waterbuck at the birdpool late afternoon. 9th Elephants by the gate and around the Lodge at 6.00 a.m.; later there are impala, waterbuck, wildebeest and giraffe at the waterhole. 14th During the afternoon we hear lion noises (the sounds of squabbling over a kill) from the valley: we see one male and one female on the higher ground beyond the waterhole and dry river bed and so drive out to see but cannot find them in some of the thicker bush. 15th Giraffe, impala, waterbuck and wildebeest visit. Whilst working we hear loud francolin alarm calls and then a francolin flies by with a hawk of some sort in hot pursuit – not sure of the outcome as they disappeared from sight. 16th A group of male waterbuck graze in front of the decks in the late afternoon. 22nd Plenty of game at the waterhole during the day and early evening: impala, wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, warthog, duiker and two white rhinos. 24th At about 2.00 a.m., lions kill a wildebeest about 150 m from the Lodge and feed but are gone by dawn. The tracks suggest a group of around ten. 26th The waterhole is visited by a large herd of buffalo. 27th A few millimetres of rain. 28th Giraffe, jackal, wildebeest, duiker, impala and warthog. 30th Six giraffes at the waterhole mid-afternoon, just as some guests arrive. Later, at about 6.15 p.m., a leopard spends some 10 minutes at the waterhole, drinking and territory marking before moving to the edge of the lit area and lying down. One of our resident duikers then walked by, very close to the leopard, but was ignored. We cannot believe our luck at such a sighting.
September 20092nd Six buffalo spend much of the afternoon down by the waterhole. Four giraffe browse immediately outside the Lodge fence. 3rd Giraffe and impala around the Lodge early. Later there are wildebeest and a very large group of impala; jackal mid-afternoon; 9 wildebeest later afternoon. Our local barred owl pair come down to the birdpool towards dusk and take it in turns to bathe. The bushbabies provide us with a good sighting and the duiker puts in its daily appearance. 4th Wildebeest, impala, giraffe, warthog and zebra all visit during the morning. 6th We work on sorting out the anti-elephant rocks around the water towers – it takes two further days to finish moving them around. 8th We get a very good view of a monitor lizard near the lodge kitchen. A very hot day – over 36oC. 9th Cooler and cloudy weather today and the next couple of days. 13th There is a pair of woolly-necked storks at the waterhole for most of the morning. We renovate the mosquito screens in Kudu hut. 14th An amazing day at the waterhole: two rhino in the morning; kudu, warthog, wildebeest and impala during the day; in the evening, a caracal spends five minutes plus drinking there. Three caracal spend a very short time at the waterhole before disappearing. 17th We put new made-to-measure mosquito screens in Duiker Hut. 18th Kudu, baboons, impala, warthog and a fleeting glimpse of two lions. A cool, cloudy and windy day. 19th Our guests see 16 lions together during their afternoon/evening drive. 20th Giraffe and buffalo close to the Lodge during the day. 22nd A large male lion appears at the waterhole during dinner and stays for between 5 and 10 minutes. 25th Rhino at the waterhole mid-afternoon and waterbuck, buffalo and giraffe at the birdpool during the evening. Just over one mm of rain. Afternoon/evening game drive for our guests brings a herd of 50 or more elephants. 26th Buffalo day! Very early in the morning, there are 5 waterbuck right by the Lodge and one buffalo at the waterhole. An hour later a herd of 100 plus buffalo arrives at the waterhole, so many that they have to drink in relays. Kudu, impala, warthog, wildebeest and waterbuck visit later in the morning. At 4.15 pm the 100-plusbuffalo herd is back, this time staying for over an hour and grazing in large numbers right up to the birdpool. In the evening, giraffe, waterbuck and duiker are all in the vicinity of the birdpool. 27th Amazingly, the buffalo herd comes back for a third visit at 6.15 a.m. Giraffe, impala, baboon and warthog later. 28th Windy, cloudy and cold. Guests see elephant and rhino amongst other species on game drive in the morning and elephant and civet amongst others in the evening. During dinner, we see Verreaux’s eagle-owl (Formerly Giant eagle owl) at the waterhole. 29th Giraffe very close by the Lodge buildings morning and evening; Grey heron at the waterhole. 30th During morning game drive, guests see lions at a kudu kill and then 14 cubs and females and two males nearby. A monitor lizard just below the deck is mobbed by the two barred owls when it starts to climb a tree near the tower: we assume that they are nesting in the area.
October 20091stWe enjoy seeing giraffe at the waterhole and near the Lodge during breakfast with our guests. A pair of hammerkops is at the waterhole. 2ndBuilt a new and stronger dustbin cage by the kitchen to keep the honey badger from getting into the bins and tipping the rubbish everywhere. 3rdOne lioness visits the waterhole at about 8.00 p.m. 5thTwo bushbabies are out in the garden well before sunset, offering a good chance to see them close up in good light. 6thDuring the afternoon four giraffe brose right outside our accommodation. 7thOne elephant at the waterhole in the middle of a very hot day: later – kudu, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, warthog and impala. 9thOur guests see 14 lions, elephant, kudu, jackal, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and impala on morning drive. A pearl-spotted owl sits in the tree by our house and at dusk/early evening, giraffe drink at the birdpool and the barred owls hunt on the ground in front of the deck. 12thLate in the morning three baby bushbabies dropped onto the steps near the top of the tower, presumably from the nest entrance in the apex of the tower roof. Soon afterwards, the adults emerged and one was swooped upon by the barred owl but not taken. Then one of the adults picked up a baby and carried it down the tower, across into the trees, along the Lodge wall and off past Giraffe Hut . It then returned and carried off another of the youngsters. We don’t know what happened to the third young one. At dusk we see only 4 adult bushbabies emerging from the tower roof, whereas there have been six for the past few months. The barred owl pair is still around and causes much chattering and consternation amongst the bushbabies. Also, giraffe browse adjacent to the decks during the morning bushbaby excitement. 13thAfternoon – another giraffe browses next to and even over the fence by the decks for about an hour. We find one young bushbaby on the tower steps, barely alive and with blood seeping from its mouth. Just four adults emerge at dusk. 14thIn the morning, the baby bushbaby has gone. At dusk, again just four adults emerge but stay on the lower part of the tower for half an hour, alarm calling and looking at a barred owl perching on one of the tower struts a meter or so off the ground. Eventually, the owl flies off and the bushbabies move away into the trees. 16thThree male waterbuck, impala and zebras outside the lodge early in the morning; later giraffe by the lodge as well. 17thWe see three different jackals drinking at the waterhole during the afternoon and evening. 18thAt 1.30 p.m. a caracal runs up to the waterhole and drinks for a few minutes before walking off round the front of the water and on into the bushes at the back. 20thGiraffe, duiker, waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra and kudu – all come close during the afternoon and evening. One of the bushbabies is out and about well before dusk. Caracal at the waterhole again. 21stFour giraffe by the lodge later afternoon. 22ndRhino drinks at the waterhole at around 5.30 p.m. 24thThe bushbaby saga continues: one of the adult bushbabies is out of the nest, sitting under a wooden box table on the middle level of the tower; it doesn’t react at all to our close presence. it stays there until 5.00 p.m. when we check on it again and it then scurries up into the roof nest. Why it should have spent the day away from the nest we do not know but it did not look in good shape. Verreaux’s (Giant) Eagle Owl at the waterhole soon after dark. 26thLots of giraffe in the valley during morning drive. About 4.30 in the afternoon, 4 banded mongooses come to the birdpool and drink. They are part of a group of 12-15 (hard to count when they are on the move) that crosses in front of the Lodge, below the birdpool. 27thGiraffe browses by the deck in the morning. Three waterbuck drink at the birdpool during the evening. Once again, we hear five different owl species calling (barred, pearl-spotted. scops, white-faced and eagle.) 28thKudu, impala, duiker and warthog at the waterhole before breakfast.One of the bushbabies appears on the roof of our house and then sits in the knobthorn in the garden calling to another one just outside. 29thBuilt lathe pole panels to go on the front and sides of the sundeck. At last we get rid of the awful black plastic as the lathe panels are installed. Giraffe at the back of our house. 4 mm of rain during the evening. It is very dry and good rain is needed. 31stA small amount of rain during the night and in the morning.
November 20091stGiraffe very close and around the lodge for much of the morning and afternoon. We see the caracal again at the waterhole (around 8.00 p.m.) This is the 5th time it has been seen there in the past two months. 2ndMore giraffe close by , morning and afternoon. 3rdOne of those afternoons when there is an almost continuous procession of animals coming to the waterhole: impala, waterbuck, warthog, wildebeest, jackal & duiker. 4thWe see a pair of tawny eagles in the valley while on a late afternoon drive, plus warthog, giraffe, jackal and duiker. 5thA pair of Burchell’s coucals in the valley. 6thLion day! We hear lion roars and feeding noises at about 4.30 in the morning. We go out with our guests at 6.00 (guests due to go on game walk) and meet our neighbours at the site of a buffalo kill, about 300-400 metres from our waterhole. There are 14 lions feeding on the carcass when we get there, with another four lying nearby. There are two fully grown males, two younger males, four adult females and 10 cubs of varying ages. We watch until almost 9.00 a.m., by which time there is virtually no meat left on the carcass. At about 3.00 p.m., 7 lions come down to the waterhole: the younger ones move off quickly but four adults stay and rest to the side and then in the dry river bed behind the waterhole. They stay there until just before 10.00 p.m. when they drink once again at the waterhole. NB there is second buffalo kill about 500 m away – the lions feed on that during the night and by morning that too is completely stripped. 7thTwo tawny eagles circling overhead at various times during the day. A Greater painted snipe male spends the day at the waterhole. 9thAt 8.20 in the evening, 10 lions, including one big male, other adults and some cubs, come down to the waterhole and drink before moving on quite quickly up the hill and past our neighbours’ birdpool, where they stop and drink again. 13thSeveral giraffe at the waterhole during the day; also impala and jackal. The African barred owlet spends time in a tree by the deck. 14thWe get a massive thunderstorm in the early hours, with heavy rain that continues until mid-morning: 73 mm in total, a fantastic start to the rainy season. As a result, the dry river in our valley flows. We hear Woodland kingfishers (intra-African migrants) calling for the first time this summer. The Greater painted snipe is back at the waterhole. The water defences in the Lodge hold up well but we start the annual game of we move the sand on the paths up to the top of the slope and the rain then moves it down again. 15thA small amount of rain. 17thA Black stork and a Maribou stork spend the day at the waterhole. On a local game drive in the valley we see waterbuck, kudu, duiker, wildebeest, zebra, impala and many giraffes. We set up a camera trap by the hide (courtesy of one of our guests.) 18thThe Black and Maribou storks are still at the waterhole and are joined by a Grey heron. We see the first impala lamb of the season. A herd of some 40-50 buffalo drinks at the waterhole at about 7.30 in the evening and then settles down for the night half way up the slope to the deck. 19thThe camera trap that has been in place for the last two nights has pictures of the Black stork and of the buffaloes. It starts raining at about 9.00 a.m. – gentle, steady rain that soaks in and does not run off. We plant vygie cuttings in two large and relatively bare areas of the Lodge gardens. An big-tusked elephant bull appears near our house mid-afternoon, feeds and then walks right by our veranda before moving off. By night, 14 mm of rain have fallen. 20thIt continues raining throughout the day and night – 44 mm. 21st Still raining, stopping mid-morning after another 21 mm (so 79 mm of soaking rain in total over the last 48 hours.) We finish planting our cuttings. 22ndWe build a water-deflecting hump 50 m up our entrance road where run-off from the surrounding bush had been causing erosion. One of our resident duikers browses right by our house during the afternoon and we see steenbok and a magnificent kudu bull when we change the borehole valve at sunset. 23rdWe finish the hump on the entrance road. The Greater painted snipe spends the day at the waterhole, along with a pair of Egyptian geese. We see more impala lambs. 24thThe Land cruiser (game drive vehicle) gets taken to the garage for new shock absorbers and a service. 25thEuropean bee-eaters are back at the Lodge (they are summer migrants here.) Kudu and duiker browse close to our house in the late afternoon. 27th6 mm of rain during the evening. 29th Planting early morning. 1 mm of rain late afternoon. Lion roaring very close during the night. 30thChecking the tracks we see that during the night one male lion came up the road from the Lodge to the waterhole, passing about 60 m from our house. We host a tree identification course at the Lodge, with the instructor none other than Meg Coates Palgrave. We are delighted to discover that one of the trees just outside Duiker Hut is, in fact, a baobab! It has clearly had some elephant damage in the past but is otherwise in good condition. SUMMARY In our time at the Lodge, we have seen ….. 30 mammal species at or near the Lodge, including the so-called ‘Big Five’ (and have seen 2 other species elsewhere in Balule Nature Reserve); and have identified….. 75 bird species at or near the Lodge (and several others elsewhere), and have seen quite a number that we did not observe closely enough to identify.
December 2009
1stWe continue the tree identification course with Meg Coates Palgrave at the river and in the rain – 24 mm of steady fall lasting mush of the day. 2ndPlanting of ground-cover plants kindly given to us by friends in the Reserve. 4thFurther planting. During the afternoon a very small zebra foal is at the waterhole with six adults. Later 8 kudu and a fleeting glimpse of a wild cat. 5thWe finish planting: most of the central and bottom sections of the Lodge are now planted with ground-cover. 6thWe extend the water-deflecting hump on our entrance road using stones dug up during the planting of the previous days. The hump will prevent further erosion of the road. 10thFive giraffe at the waterhole during the morning and 14 kudu, including 4 bulls, later. 11thSome rain in the early morning (6 mm) and 2 giraffe at the waterhole. 12thWe collect the game drive vehicle from the garage after its service and the fitting of new shock absorbers – a very smooth ride back! 13thBlack stork at the waterhole; single buffalo at dusk, right by the deck area fence. 14thMore rain – only 4 mm but it all helps. Juvenile black stork appears plus 7 kudu. 15thWe are treated to giraffe drinking at the waterhole during breakfast with our guests. 19thThere are now 5 bushbabies – we get an accurate count as they emerge form the tower roof at dusk. One seems to be a bit smaller but they move so fast as to prevent accurate sizing. 20thZebra, warthog, duiker and a herd of some 30 impala all visit the waterhole during the afternoon. During the evening (9.00 pm), 7 buffalo arrive at the waterhole, drink and move on quickly. About an hour later, and much to our amazement, a hippo walks into the waterhole, while at least 8 lions gather on the edge (hard to count exactly in the dark.) Some of the lions drink before moving off. We drive down and catch up with the lions (16 in all) and follow them up to Sable Road before they disappear. 21stWe and our guests encounter the big pride of 19 lions during an afternoon/evening game drive. Soon after the drive finished, we heard the sounds of lions on a kill from close to where we had left them: we discover next day that they had killed a giraffe. 24thThere are lions close to our waterhole at about 6.00 in the morning. They are in thick bush and we can only get to see eight. At 6.00 p.m. we drive down and find them again, now in the open, 16 in all (1 x adult male, 3 adult females, 2 x sub-adult males, 10 cubs of various ages.) 25thYellow-billed stork at the waterhole in the morning. Christmas dinner on the deck, turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings; flaming Christmas pudding to follow. A hot and humid day and evening. 26thA slender mongoose is foraging by the fence outside the office. 27thThere are two white-backed and one hooded vulture at the waterhole in the morning, plus a giraffe. 29thAfter a very hot humid day, clouds roll in and thunder and lightning start up. At 4.45 p.m. 16 lions appear at the waterhole and all drink in one long line on the far side. We drive down as the rain starts: initially the lions shelter from the heaviest of the downpour but as the rain eases off and the temperature cools dramatically after two weeks of unabated high temperatures, the lions became energetic and playful, ambushing each other, with much stalking, chasing and pouncing. Several of the cubs tried to climb fallen and standing trees, with mixed success. All in all, we were treated to some two hours of extraordinary behaviour, including the big male and one of the females mating. Eventually, and after we had returned to the Lodge, the pride moved off but two of the sub-adult males came right up to about 10 m from the deck before following the others. The 18 mm of rain is extremely welcome: the bush had been getting very dry. 30thLions very close in the night. 31stWaterbuck and kudu at the waterhole.
January 2010
2ndDuring our evening braai (barbecue) we heard lions roaring, gradually getting closer and closer. Eventually we heard roaring very close indeed outside the office: when we went to the gate to investigate, there was one of the big males crossing our entrance road 30 m from us. Later another big male appeared at the waterhole and drank for some time before moving on. 3rdFinished a long-running project to repair the bottom section of our entrance road which had suffered some bad erosion in previous heavy rains. 5thIn the late afternoon, a herd of over 70 impala drank at the waterhole and then grazed on the flat area in front. 7thA good array of animals at the waterhole in the late afternoon: zebra, impala (40+), warthog (with 4 very small piglets), wildebeest and a magnificent waterbuck male. 10thThree buffalo drink mid-afternoon, followed by two kudu. Our pair of barred owls rests up on the fence outside Giraffe hut. 12thAn African harrier hawk (formerly gymnogene) is hunting in the big knobthorn tree near the waterhole. At one stage it catches and eats something, we are not sure exactly what, but it may have been a Greater blue-eared glossy starling chick because several adults subsequently mobbed the hawk, flying in very close and pecking it on the back 15thThe materials are delivered to build new carports for the Lodge vehicles, including one that will keep the open land cruiser dry. 16thWe start work on the carports! 17thWe find a leopard tortoise near the Lodge gate, the first one we have seen in the area. 18thThe leopard tortoise is in the Lodge gardens. 19th8.20 a.m. and two cheetah appear at the waterhole, a collared female with a large cub. We watch for a long time from the deck and then drive down and see them close up before losing them in thick bush on the ridge beyond. 21stOur resident female duiker is grazing outside our house at dawn, accompanied by a small fawn. We haven’t seen the little one before and, indeed, hadn’t seen the female around for a while. 22ndThe female warthog with four very small piglets appears at the birdpool. They all drink and wallow and the youngsters suckle form their mother. They then move down to the waterhole and do exactly the same things again. 23rdThe carports for the game drive vehicle and other lodge vehicles are finished! 24thImpala, zebra and a group of waterbuck (one male and three females) visit the waterhole while we are watching. 26thMuch thunder and lightning from around 3.00 a.m. onwards, with 60 mm of rain by mid-morning. This rain is sorely needed as the bush has been getting very dry indeed. In the afternoon we get a good view of a black-backed jackal while on game drive: we also see a male Bennett’s woodpecker. 27thMore early rain to add to that of yesterday – excellent news for the bush and for the animals: 76 mm in the three hours from 3.30 a.m. and another 8 mm during the morning. The river in the valley by the waterhole flows strongly, the fullest we have seen. 28thMore rain still, but just 1 mm this time (but it all helps.) 30thThere are three jackals along our entrance road, very relaxed and static, one eating a bird of some sort. We also see Kudu, impala and a female red-backed shrike 31stA great afternoon of activity at the waterhole: various groups of impala come and go; five kudu spend a long time browsing and drinking; two giraffe do likewise; an elephant arrives for a quick mud bath and then moves on; the warthog with the little piglets is back (but only three piglets this time); and finally a brown snake eagle perches in one of the dead trees in front of the waterhole.
February 2010
1stTwo giraffe at the waterhole in the early morning. 3rdA large heard of impala grazes near our house during the afternoon. 5thAn elephant visits the waterhole mid-afternoon. Later zebra and a large herd of impala drink as well. 6thSix giraffe drink at the waterhole and then browse in the area for an hour or so. One of them lies down for some 30 minutes before getting up gracefully and moving on. 7thThree rhino come to the waterhole in the afternoon. 17thThe three rhino are back 23rdJust 4mm of rain but things are getting very dry again so it is welcome. 27thFour giraffe at the waterhole early in the morning, then a kudu bull and one of our local duikers make an appearance. Later in the day impala and warthog drink and eight adult female giraffe, plus one small baby, spend time around the waterhole. 28thFour adult giraffe and one baby are around the waterhole for most of the day, occasionally coming down to drink. Initially there is one zebra with the giraffes, then two and by the end of the day, three. A group of seven kudu, including one male, appear as well, plus a duiker. On a sunset drive we see kudu, giraffe and impala and on the way back encounter three elephants at the waterhole, a female, young male and a relative youngster. They are completely at ease with our presence, even though we are quite close.
March 2010
1stDuring breakfast we are treated to the sight of giraffe and zebra at the waterhole. We also get a sighting of a European bee-eater. 3rdA group of ten giraffes visits the waterhole during the morning. 4thStarting around 5.15 a.m. we hear a leopard grunting quite close; the noise continues on and off until about 6.00 a.m. During the day a female warthog and three youngsters are determined to eat our lawns whenever the gate is open, which it normally is in daylight. 5thFour kudu females and one large bull plus a herd of some 25 impalas come to the waterhole in the morning. One large male warthog has discovered the huge number of fallen marula fruits just outside the Lodge kitchen. He stays around throughout the day, moving off when someone goes into the kitchen and returning a few minutes later. 6thThe male warthog is back at the marulas for much of the day, despite the fact that we are putting up a new solid door and a screen door in the kitchen and working just outside. The female and three youngsters also feed on the marulas but this time make no attempt to come inside the Lodge. 7thGiraffe at the waterhole and also browsing up near the Lodge gate. 9thTwo white rhinos spend almost half an hour around the waterhole, drinking, wallowing and grazing. Just after they arrive the sun appears through the clouds illuminating them in the late afternoon light. 10thThe two rhino are back and after drinking at around 8.30 a.m. sleep in the shade close to the waterhole before moving on about an hour later. 13thAn unusual sight at the waterhole – a large leopard tortoise drinks and moves off (surprisingly quickly!) 14thZebra, impala and warthog at the waterhole early. Later in the day, we encounter 9 giraffe and a small group of buffalo en route to the gate. 16thA good sighting of a black-backed jackal close to the track down to the waterhole – mostly jackal move away when disturbed but this one stays put. We get a very large herd of impala at the waterhole late in the day. 18thIn the middle of the day a 10 m long column of Matabele ants emerges from under the main deck and moves up through the Lodge along the paths and out into the bush. 20thWe get 30 mm of rain during the night: very welcome indeed as it is over seven weeks since the last reasonable rain and the bush has once again been getting very dry, with the grass turning brown. 23rdA group of vervet monkeys moves through the Lodge and creates a real mess! 24thA giraffe is browsing right by the deck first thing in the morning. We start on a project we have long wanted to do, namely to remodel the birdpool. It is too large and so requires too much water to fill; in addition, animals do not appear to be comfortable with the large lip, which has become accentuated by erosion. 25thThe bird pool project continues and while we are working an African hawk eagle visits the waterhole. It is only possible to work until about 9.00 a.m., after which it is too hot to continue (there is no shade at the bird pool) until late afternoon. 26thA herd of six wildebeest visit the waterhole just as we are about to start work on the bird pool early in the morning. 27thA pair of jackals spends time around the waterhole, unconcerned about us as we continue to work on the bird pool (a major job – moving rocks and soil; cutting back and smashing up concrete. In the afternoon, we concrete in the rocks to form a new smaller pool. 28thFinal touches on the concreting and mortaring at the new-look birdpool and then we start landscaping the surrounding area. 29thLots of impala alarm calls from the valley for many minutes: we could not see what the cause was (a predator?) on account of the thick vegetation. 31stLarge flock of guinea fowl around the lodge: after an absence of flocks for some months (they do not flock in summer), the guinea fowl are back together in large groups, including visiting the waterhole on a regular basis. Two pairs of jackals have a frontier dispute on the Lodge entrance track. Sealed the new mortar at the revamped birdpool, ready for filling on the 1st April. (We did fill the new pool the next day – it looks so much better than the old one and we hope it will prove attractive to the animals.)
April 20101stFirst thing in the morning there are two giraffes browsing at the front of our house, while the rain falls (8mm) 2ndLate afternoon on the deck, we see three female waterbuck with two young ones, three female kudu, also with two young ones, wildebeest and impala. Then, driving down to the waterhole, black-backed jackal: the Greater painted snipe is back at the waterhole. After dark, we drive out to a lion sighting – 5 just off Sable Road. 3rdIt rains through the night – 36.5 mm by about 7.00 a.m. 4thLions roaring very close during the night. More rain from 3.00 a.m. 5thThe rain continues – heavy at times – 73 mm by 2.00 p.m. when it stopped. 6th14 mm more rain in the early morning. We hear the eagle owl hooting. 7thKudu, warthog, impala and giraffe down in the valley. At dusk we receive word of a lion sighting and are able to take our guests there: at first just a few lying in the track but others gradually arrived and eventually the whole group of 14 lay down in front of us and then filed past the land cruiser. 8thOn drive with guests, we see jackal, impala and zebras in the valley. 12thA large troop of vervet monkeys passes by the Lodge, the first group we have seen (as opposed to individuals) for some time. 13thGiraffe at the waterhole. 14thA large herd of impala browses just outside our house. 17thWe investigate elephant noises in the valley at about 7.00 p.m. but cannot find them, although is lots of very fresh dung. However, we see a giant plated lizard on some rocks. We finally get a view of the animal living in the roof apex of the office stoep – a bushbaby, which today kept sitting in the open. During the evening we hear three separate African scops owls calling at the same time, plus barred owlet, pearl-spotted owlet and white-faced scops owl. 19thDuiker, giraffe (with baby) and wildebeest seen at the waterhole; elephant seen on our entrance road. 5 mm of rain in the early afternoon. During the evening we have a braai (barbecue) with our guests: soon after Iris and Lucia have cleared the main course plates we hear a shriek from the kitchen area and rush to investigate. As they went into the kitchen a spotted hyena came out: we are not sure who got the greater fright! The hyena is still close by and for the rest of the evening it wandered round and round the camp, coming into the lodge gardens twice until we closed the gate. From its ear tag we could see that it was one of those released in March as part of the re-introduction programme: it is the first hyena we have seen here in Balule. Further rain during the night. 20thBlack stork at the waterhole. During the afternoon we hear of a lion sighting and take our guests out. A young kudu has been killed and two adult males, 3 sub-adult males and 5 or 6 youngsters all feed on the carcass in sequence. We get stuck in the sandy river bed and as I open the door to get out and change the front wheels to four-wheel drive, another sub-adult male appears from the bush just 10 paces away. Once he has gone we get the change done and get out of the river. 19 mm rain during the evening and the hyena from last night returns, drinks from the new bird pool, and prowls round the lodge boundary several times (but the kitchen screen door has been firmly closed!). 21stThe black stork is still at the waterhole. 22ndA little after sunrise, with a heavy dew on the grass, the valley below the deck looks like it is covered in snow as the early morning light catches the droplets. Two wildebeest roll around in the grass and dew. Giraffe by our house at dusk 24thEvery morning, three fork-tailed drongos sit on the dead tree by our stoep (veranda), flying off to pick off insects before returning to their perch. Often they fly right into our covered 25thKudu females and then a male pass by the waterhole. Our guests go out on a short morning walk and see two white rhinos half way from the lodge to the waterhole. We pick them up in the land cruiser and so are able to get closer to the animals as they move off to the south-east. Afternoon – two male lions drink at the waterhole: one moves off up the ridge behind, the other moves south and then cuts back past the waterhole to the north from where there are lion noises. We go out in the land cruiser but only manage to find lots of fresh tracks. 26thHaving missed them the previous day, our guests see 15 lions on their morning drive.
May 20101st2 mm rain 4thTwo white rhinos at the waterhole at around 4.30 pm. We observe them from the deck and then drive down, eventually spending a long time right next to them as they graze on the other side of the waterhole. 5thGiraffe in the valley, also warthog and impala. 6thOn an afternoon drive in the valley we see jackal, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck and impala. 8thHyena calling in the night, the first time for a very long time we have heard this. 10thFive elephants at the waterhole. They also come up close to the Lodge and Iris & Lucia have to chase one away when it threatens to push over the marula tree by the kitchen door. 16th 3 mm rain. 21stAfter being in Jo’burg for a couple of days, we return to the Lodge at 5.30 p.m., passing two jackals on our entrance road. Half an hour later, there are lion roars close by, clearly near the waterhole. We drive down and find a male and a female in the open area between the waterhole and the lodge; they move off into very thick bush where it is too difficult follow in the dark. 23rdBlack stork at the waterhole, also a nice group of three zebras. 24thStarted cutting the firebreaks around the lodge, a job that will take a couple of weeks doing about an hour-and-a-half each day. We have been waiting to do this for a while, trying to let the flush of new grass growth following the rains in March and April set its seed. The seeds are now falling and the grass is drying so it is time to begin. 27thA group of roughly 10 impala at the waterhole, all males (bachelor herd.) With the rut now over the male impalas, especially the older ones, are now gathering in larger groups again, having spent the rut mostly on their own, except for the lucky ones with a harem to watch over. A third spotted hyena, a young male, is released from the holding boma about 2 km from us. 28thThe same impala group as yesterday is still there below the deck; we see the duiker around quite a bit. In the late afternoon a herd of some 18 buffalo bulls drinks at the waterhole. Later, at dusk, one lone bull appears there and then reappears twice more during the evening. A jackal also comes down to drink. 29thWe see a Green pigeon near the waterhole during our afternoon drive – first one around the Lodge. Later a Giant eagle owl (now named Verreaux’s eagle owl) arrives at the waterhole in the dark. It spends roughly an hour there, wand at various times wades into the water and sits down in it. A jackal comes there too. Some light rain. 30thAt breakfast with our guests, and with more light rain, impala and zebra move back and forth across the front of the waterhole but never really stop to drink. 31stA large group of buffalo (same one as the 28th?) and an elephant both drink at the waterhole during the morning. |
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Diary Leopards View Game Lodge, game reserve accommodation, game farm accommodation, Hoedspruit accommodation, Limpopo accommodation |
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| Diary Leopards View Game Lodge, game reserve accommodation, game farm accommodation, Hoedspruit accommodation, Limpopo accommodation | ||||||||||||||||||
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