WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL …singita.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Singita-Kruger...WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of January,

WILDLIFE REPORT SINGITA KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA For the month of January, Two Thousand and Eighteen

Photo by Brian Rode Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 20°C 68 (°F) For the period: 13mm Sunrise: 05H28 Average maximum: 33°C 91 (°F) For the year to date: 13 mm Sunset: 18H42 Minimum recorded: 16°C 61 (°F) Maximum recorded: 40°C 104 (°F)

January has been an amazing month here at Singita Kruger Park! We were initially a little bit concerned that the fires that burnt in the area to the west of the concession in November and early December would cause green grass to sprout up there after the rains and draw a lot of the grazers out of the area. Fortunately for us there has not been a lot of precipitation this last month, and the green grass that did start growing got burnt away by the fierce sun. Inside the concession, though, we did have a small amount of rain in the central-southern part of the area at the beginning of the month and this allowed the grass to grow well. The shaded valleys stopped this grass from desiccating too quickly and the few pools that still have water in the N’wanetsi River and the water in Gudzani Dam have attracted a lot of game into the area. We have really had a bumper month of game-viewing – and all relatively close to camp. A drive along the N’wanetsi River late in the morning and in the heat of the afternoon has produced a lot of animals. Every few metres there are more impalas and more zebras and more wildebeest and more giraffes and more waterbuck… you get what I mean! It has been phenomenal! This has also meant that we have not had a shortage of

predator sightings in the area. The birdlife has also been great, with all the migrants back in the area. We have even had a few sightings of the extremely rare Egyptian vulture again. There have been quite a few bee-eaters in the area, including the beautiful carmines and even sightings of blue-cheeked bee-eaters. European rollers have been everywhere! The pastel blue coloration of their feathers is very pretty. We have even had a few sightings of the elusive white-backed night herons and dwarf bitterns. Although we have not had enough rain to fill the pans or cause the river to flow there are still a few pools and this has provided water for the animals. Unfortunately, this water is starting to stagnate now and is slowly disappearing and we are therefore looking forward to hopefully receiving some rain in February.

Photo by Brian Rode

Our wildlife review for the month of January is as follows: Buffaloes: During the first two weeks of the month we had a sighting of buffaloes and that was of a small herd (ten individuals) in the far north-eastern corner of the concession. Mid-month we came across a small herd of seventeen individuals in the centre of the concession near Double-Crossing. They were headed south towards Pony Pan, which still has a little bit of water. They were seen in the area around the pan the whole of the next day and were seen moving north the day after. Unfortunately for the bovids the Mountain Pride found them and on the morning of the eighteenth we found the big cats feeding on one of them near Double-Crossing. The herd then split up. A few days later we saw three bulls heading north in the concession and the next day we found two big bulls, a cow and a new-born calf near Gudzani Dam. The calf was tiny. We guessed that it had been born during the night. From the twentieth of the month we have had fairly regular sightings of small groups of Dagha Boys (big old male buffalos) and a few cows, who have been coming down to drink at the pools in the N’wanetsi River. It will not be long before the lions find out about their routine. Hopefully for them the rains come soon and the pans fill up with water so that they do not need to keep returning to the river.

Photo by Brian Rode Elephants:

Photo by Brian Rode Phenomenal! What more can I say! The elephant viewing has been ridiculous this last month! The trackers and guides who have been working at Singita Kruger Park for many years have said that they have never seen so many elephants. Every single game drive has produced sightings of more than fifty or sixty of these

incredible giants, with more than one hundred seen on a multitude of occasions, often in one sighting. The elephants are highly concentrated in the southern sections of the concession, where water is most abundant. They often swim in the N’wanetsi River, and have been visible from the lodge rooms almost every day. It is impossible to cite all of the incredible moments we have experienced over that past month, as there have simply been too many. Whether it be at The Weir, down at Dumbana Pools or on the roads near the water, we have seen elephants big and small playing, drinking, sparring, swimming, running, sleeping and anything else you can think of. A favourite moment for many has been when the herds have left the water, and are stained black by it, they often move to the red soils to the west of N’wanetsi Road and in great fiery plumes, cover themselves with dust. It is amazing to bear witness to their transformation into dark moving mountains, covered in shades of ochre red. Of course, the largest land mammal of all has to eat a lot, and their impact is starting to become visible on the vegetation where we are so consistently seeing these concentrations. However, when the summer rains truly hit us, we are certain the elephants will move to the grasslands of the north, and the everlasting bush in the south will recover, as it always has. It is difficult to be the star of a spectacle we’ve witnessed on our concession over the last month, but there is one elephant that has upstaged all others. On a few occasions we have had the privilege to be in the presence of a true giant: A ‘tusker’ of unknown age and origin has been seen walking in the midst of these big herds, dwarfing all around him. His tusks are massive, but the actual size of the bull is awe inspiring. He is sometimes seen sleeping, propping himself up on his tusks against the banks of the N’wanetsi River, the picture of tranquillity. We often think, if only he could talk, as we can only imagine the wisdom he could share.

Photo by Brian Rode

Spotted Hyenas: Thirteen sightings have been recorded throughout the month. These sightings have been chance encounters along the roads, where the hyenas have been moving in the early morning or after dark. The clan members in the north are still frequenting the Xinkelengane den-site, but we do not believe that there are small cubs there, meaning that the returns of the adults to the dens are not regular. Thought we are not actually seeing the hyenas too regularly, they are definitely around. We find their tracks often, and there has also been evidence of both leopard and cheetah kills being stolen by hyenas under cover of darkness. Lions:

Photo by Brian Rode Once again, the N’wanetsi Concession lived up to its reputation of being fantastic for lions. There were sixty-one sightings of lions in total this month. What has been notable is that there has been a great variety of lions seen. We have had sightings of the Shish Pride, Mountain Pride, Shish Males, Southern Males, Northern Pride and the Xhirombe Pride. The cub in the mountain pride is still doing well, and we are convinced that she will make it to full adulthood at this point. Of course, we can take nothing for granted out here. They have been seen in the far southern reaches of their territory towards the end of the month. One interesting morning they were found walking into an area where the Shish Pride had been seen only hours before. The Mountain Pride females could smell the other lions, and looked ready for battle, scent marking and salivating. However, the Shish Pride were long gone and nothing came of it, as the pride settled for the day. We do believe that at least one lioness in this pride is pregnant, and we are counting down the months in the hope of the arrival of new cubs. Although the Shish Pride has not been seen too frequently on the concession, their appearances have been spectacular. On one occasion, Brian and Solomon were lucky enough to be there when the pride brought down a wildebeest. This lead to a classic Shish Pride feeding frenzy, the thunder of which would be heard

from a fair distance away. All safari guests out on drive that day were able to get a view of this, before the interaction over the kill ceased.

Photo by Brian Rode On another occasion, Blaine was with the Pride just after sunset, as they attempted to stalk a giraffe near Gudzane Dam. Whilst hunting the giraffe they flushed an unfortunate warthog, who lead the leading lions in a long chase. The hapless warthog then turned back towards the rest of the pride and was caught. The lions ate the entire animal in less than two minutes. The white lion continues to look healthy, as do his siblings. We still wonder when it will be that he and his brothers will no longer be tolerated in their fathers’ territory and will have to make their own way in life. It really could be any time from now. The One-Eyed Male, of the Shish Male Coalition, has not been seen at all this month, despite sightings of the rest of the coalition, and the general opinion is that that lion must be dead. The three remaining males in the coalition appear to be in good health, despite the limp that one of the older males has carried for more than a year and a half now. Cheetahs: The new year has brought with it a flurry of cheetah sightings, which is always a wonderful thing. We have been seeing individuals we recognise, and also new, unknown cheetahs regularly throughout the month.

Photo by Brian Rode The female that was seen last month, with five small cubs was seen again this month, but this time with only four little ones. The survival rate of cheetah cubs in the wild is very low, but we wish these little ones the best, in the hope that they will thrive, reproduce and give fantastic viewing in years to come. On a few occasions this month, our guides and guests have actually been there when a cheetah kill has been made. Seeing the speed and agility with one’s own eyes is something quite amazing, and we are happy these kills were watched, as they often are not. When the rains come, the grass will lengthen, and this may lead to a reduction of cheetah sightings as the animals prefer shorter grass. Until then, we will hopefully continue to enjoy what has been fantastic viewing of the world’s fastest land mammal. Leopards: There have been twenty-one leopard sightings throughout the month of January. Also, like the lions, there has been a great variety in the individuals found. Notable new arrivals in terms of regularly viewed leopards have been the young female seen at Xhkova road, and a large male we have been seeing in the same area. Both animals are relaxed, and we have welcomed their presence, as they have both given us great sightings. Margaux had a great sighting of the youngster towards the end of the month, on a young impala kill that had been hoisted by her mother. As cubs tend to do, she played with the carcass and in her lack of experience, dropped it, much to the amusement of those watching. We look forward to watching her progress in years to come. The Dumbana young male has been seen on a few occasions, and it appears that the arrival of the above mentioned mature male has led to his movement further north where he has been sighted a few times around Name Badge Hill. The move has not been all plain sailing for him, however, as he was treed by the

Mountain Pride on one occasion. Henry viewed all of this with the Egyptian Vulture circling overhead, to add effect. His mother has only been seen once this month, when she turned up unexpectedly one evening, in a sighting of the self-same lions that treed her older male cub.

Photo by Brian Rode Other interesting sightings: Collen was fortunate one day when, late one morning, he was watching some impalas come down to drink at Puff Adder Pool. As a few of them reached down to sip at the life-giving liquid there was an explosion from the water and a huge crocodile launched itself towards the antelope. Fortunately for the impalas the crocodile missed and the impalas lived to see another day. One morning Henry had decided to drive the S37 public road looking for buffalos, which were quite scarce in the concession at the time. He had just seen tracks of these massive bovids crossing the road when he spotted movement just to the side of the road and realised that there was a single wild dog / painted wolf feeding on a very recently killed impala. We do not often see wild dogs (which are listed as critically endangered according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red Data Book - I.U.C.N.) in our area. These creatures are seen more often on the western side of the park where the granitic soils allow for more aardvark holes in which the dogs den during the breeding season. The summer months have granted us a few more snake sightings. Towards the end of the month Solomon found a 3-metre python below Green-Apple Hill. This snake had just swallowed what we believe to have either been a young impala or an adult Steenbok as it was extremely swollen-bellied. It was so big that it could not move and we assumed that some predator would find it during the night and have a bonus meal. Luckily for the serpent it survived the night and we found it lying in exactly the same place in the morning.

Photo by Brian Rode

Nightjars of the Lebombo Concession (Article and photos by Brian Rode)

European nightjar perched along a branch

Sundowners. The guests stand with glasses of wine or gin & tonics, toasting the setting sun and watching it turn orange, then bright shades of pink and red as the clouds light up across the horizon. This is one of my favourite times of the day. Everything seems peaceful in the bush. The orb of light descends quickly in the sub-tropics and as it drops we start noticing flying in the sky. Then a large swallow-shaped bird can be seen hawking insects. Incredibly agile, it swoops and performs aerial acrobatics as it chases moths at dusk and into the black of night. These are the nightjars that are just starting to get active. We pack up all the drinks and start heading back to camp, the tracker sitting on the front of the vehicle, spotlight in hand, searching for nocturnal creatures as we head back for dinner. Along the way we regularly see more nightjars sitting on the road in front of us. They often remain stationary in the road until we are almost upon them, then at the last moment they fly up out of the way. Sometimes they are slightly blinded by the headlamps of the car and we have to stop to avoid driving over them. We can then get a good look at these beautiful birds before we turn the lights off and allow their eyes to recover so that they can take off and fly away. While we are stopped we can often hear other nightjars in the area calling. The fiery-necked nightjar has a whistling call that is said to sound like it is saying “Good Lord Deliver Us” over and over again, while the square-tailed nightjar starts off with its churring call, sounding like a muted generator, and in the hills we can hear the freckled nightjars sounding off with their flute-like, whistling “Wow-wow, Wow-wow, Wow-wow” call.

Rufous-cheeked nightjar Freckled nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds from the family Caprimulgidae and are characterized by long wings, short legs, cryptic coloration and very short bills. They are unusual in the fact that they have a comb-like structure on the middle claw of each foot, called a “pecten”, which is used for preening or grooming. During the day nightjars often sit on the ground in amongst the leaf-litter or on rocks, where they blend in really well. European nightjars, however, often perch on branches and are very distinct in that they sit “in-line” or parallel with the branch as opposed to perpendicular to it as most other birds do. Nightjars can be found throughout the world (with the exception of the poles, where the cold temperatures and lack of insects do not allow them to thrive there). Globally nightjars have been divided into three subfamilies, namely the Subfamily Chordeilinae (the Nighthawks), the Subfamily Eurostopodinae (the Eared nightjars) and the Subfamily Caprimulginae (the typical nightjars). In Southern Africa we only see the “typical nightjars”. The name nightjar is a reference to the churring call of some nightjars that “jar” or break the peace of the night. Nightjars are sometimes also called “goatsuckers”. This name comes from the fact that they are often seen flying around cattle, sheep or goat paddocks. They do this to catch flying insects that are often in abundance in these areas. Nightjars, although their beaks are very small, have extremely wide gapes or mouths so that they can catch insects in flight (they also have a row of rictal bristles on either side of the beak to guide insects into the mouth). The large mouths and the fact that the birds often fly over the animal enclosures at night led some people to believe that the nightjars were there to suck the milk from the goat’s udders. Other well-known global relatives of the nightjars include poor-wills, frogmouths, potoos, nighthawks and bug-eaters.

In the Lebombo concession we find the following nightjars: Fiery-necked nightjar (Caprimulgus pectoralis), square-tailed / Mozambique nightjar (Caprimulgus fossii), freckled nightjar (Caprimulgus tristigma), rufous-cheeked nightjar (Caprimulgus rufigena) and European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). Nightjar species are notoriously difficult to separate from each other in the field (their calls are, however, very distinctive) and one generally needs to have a good view of the amount of white on the tail and the wing-spots to tell which species one is dealing with.

Fiery-necked nightjar Square-tailed nightjar Most of the nightjars in the Lebombo Concession are said to be resident throughout the year, although they are more likely to be nomadic or partial migrants following the rain as we definitely see an increase in numbers during our summer months. The European nightjar, however, is a Palearctic migrant, travelling from Europe (where it breeds) to Africa, where we see it during our summer months. European nightjars are usually silent when they are in southern Africa. Because of the fact that they travel such long distances European nightjars usually have very long wings in comparison to the other nightjars that we find in the area. January moments in time

Articles by Brian Rode and Blaine Moolman Photos by Brian Rode

Singita Kruger National Park South Africa

Thirty-first of January, Two Thousand and Eighteen