Tag Archives: birding

Lion Cubs on the Hunt: Video

Christmas Day has come and gone, I spent the day with family in Mutare and enjoyed the sunset in the hills.

In case you’re wondering, there was no Chanel No. 5 to celebrate our anniversary, but a little form was shown with a sunset cruise on Malilangwe Dam where we spotted an Osprey having an argument with a Marabou Stork, the Marabou ended up with the fish, but the Osprey looked pretty determined to teach the Marabou some table manners.

Banyini Pan has been drying up with the intense heat, but half a kilometer to the south is natural pan teaming with life. This is where I found a secretary bird for the first time in our stay at Malilangwe – graceful birds, always a great sighting.

I also managed to catch up with the lions on Banyini one evening. Magwaza’s three cubs are out and about, they are joining the hunt now and outdoing the adults at times – when they can stop playing about and focus on the task at hand of course. One of the cubs pulled down an Impala calf, interestingly enough, the lionesses left the cubs to fight over the small impala on their own without interfering. There are so many young impala around it’s difficult not to run into them around every corner.

Holiday season will soon fade away, but for the baboons every day is a swing in the trees.

Happy New Year, rich blessings, stay safe!

Fowl Play: Video

There was a little excitement on the property today with a fire getting out of hand at the dump site. I headed over to help, but was a little late as they had it under control by that time, I was a bit disappointed, it was the perfect opportunity to get my firefighters badge. Kim, on the other hand, did receive his; he came home smelling like burned toast and looking like Bob the…I mean…postman…no…now I can’t think of a fireman character – lets just say he epitomized the FDNY, except even more hardcore as he was barefoot.

Now I recall from yesterday talking bout my stubborn visits to Nyari knowing there was not much going on, well, victory was mine. I met up with five elephant bulls about an hour before sunset and spent a bit of time with them.

It was nice to have a few chilled characters for a change. They were very inquisitive coming right up to the vehicle smelling and exploring the unknown.

I was chuffed! I then dashed over to Banyini to get the sunset with a dragon like cloud spreading across the sky. Last night the lions were reported at Banyini, but the interesting thing was this time there were four lionesses, three cubs and the two males. Looks like they are importing females from down south…Sjambok, just can’t seem to get enough.

Wild Mist: Video

I crept my way in through the Mopani woodlands east of Banyini Pan to park amongst the wild dogs. They had missioned all the way from Nduna during the course of yesterday morning and I was so glad they were closer to home that I had to go see them. Kim had already come and gone, so I just enjoyed the mild sporting and lazing around until the sun went down.

The lions were calling into the night and I wondered if I would pick them up in the morning. I began the day where I left off last night and headed straight to where the dogs were. The mist was lying heavy over the valley and the sun had made its appearance, beaming its rays through the cloud. I had to stop off and capture the sunrise. The wildebeest were sporting around and I’m not sure if they were chasing a young male out of the herd or if they were just playing games; either way, they can portray some interesting behaviour. Another great thing about these Autumn mornings is the therapeutic sound of the Magpie Shrike calling amongst their social groups.

I didn’t get any signal on the dogs; they must have bolted early this morning. I radioed Kim to get a position, but got no answer. I then heard the lions calling again to the east, where the dogs had been last night. They might have had a run in with the lions and high tailed it out of there. Turns out, they headed for the hills then made their way down into the Malilangwe Dam valley. I didn’t find any of the lions, but they were definitely in the area. I headed down past Chekwa Pan, which has dried up, then across to Hwata Pan to have a cup of coffee.

Out of the blue Sjambok showed his face, he was looking a little like he’d seen a ghost. I headed over, but he was so jittery that he made his way into some dense shrubbery. He continued south, disrupting a black-backed jackal in the grass and past a heard of lichtenstein’s hartebeest. They are clumsy looking antelope, then I thought they were stupid as well when I saw them trotting straight towards Sjambok – they were trying to chase him off, it was an interesting little incident to watch… and it worked! Sjambok continued on his parade and I let him be to continue with some bird watching.

Quelea, Feeding for Survival

Quelea is probably one of the most numerous birds in Southern Africa. Occurring in flocks of thousands, they wander in search of food. They are considered a pest by farmers as they do considerable damage to winter crops. Drastic measures were taken to annihilate these birds, but with no success.

During the dry season, those members of the flock that cannot find suitable food sources will starve. Nearly fifty percent of the Quelea population starve each winter. But that is not their only threat. Predators in all shapes and sizes wait for them to breed and will raid nests of eggs and nestlings. This might even decrease their numbers by a further twenty percent…

Can one actually ponder the thought when you see them in their thousands like these and ask yourself…”Are they going to be around for much longer?”

Chekwa’s Water Birds Survive The Elephant

The water birds at Chekwa were not happy when the herd of elephant came by for a drink. Egyptian Geese, Black winged Stilts and many more were scattering in all directions to avoid being trampled by the towering grey bodies.

Around the 20^th Century, Black winged Stilts were much less common residents to Southern Africa than they are today. The numbers are still on the increase especially in urban areas around man made water sources.

Although the Egyptian Goose is no longer found along the lower Nile, it is still a common resident through the rest of Africa. These birds were regarded as sacred by the Pharaohs. Malilangwe surely got a healthy population of these birds.

All were very relieved when the Elephants decided to move off.

Elephant Immobilization: Video

Malilangwe Drugs Course is on.
For the next week some 70 wildlife veterinarians and students from across Africa are at Malilangwe learning the latest in wildlife capture techniques and the use of medicinal drugs.
Today the practical was to dart this elephant bull. All went according to plan and he was soon on his way again, probably only nursing a slight hangover.

Earlier in the day I was happy to find Snorkel again. He still has a breathing problem but it’s a lot better than last week. Although he’s now only breathing through his trunk, not through his mouth any more, you can still hear he battles with each breath. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay with him as he moved into the wet clay soils. We were hoping to use him for the drugs course and at the same time try and alleviate his breathing problem.

The collared lioness was on her own today with no sign of the rest of the pride. No doubt they’ll join up again tonight.
Tomorrow for the drugs course we plan to change this large cumbersome collar for an implanted transmitter.

Earlier while walking in the hills try to locate the lioness I came across this young Spotted Eagle, probably only just out the nest. It sat around for me, just long enough for a couple of photos, but when I got too close it took off.

Chipfongwe’s got competition! This new little female elephant calf can only be a week or so old. How cute is that? Mom was drinking at Chekwa pan, but little miss wasn’t sure what to make of me and wanted out. But mom was relaxed. When mom did leave, the little girl took off ahead of mom.

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