StuartReeves
Local rarity
Oh dear, sounds like a rather unwelcome trip tick...
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Operation Lepidoptera, South Africa, 9-29 December 2017 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Jos Stratford
- Start date
Oh dear, sounds like a rather unwelcome trip tick...
28 December. Golden Gate Highlands National Park.
After a fairly sleepless night, I can't say I felt amazing at sunrise, a mild headache and general feeling of absolute fatigue not contributing. Still, in glorious sunshine, the towering summit of Brandwag Buttress did look quite attractive. A steep hike of an hour or so, punctuated by several stops, some simply for rests, some for occasional butterflies, and then we reached the sandstone walls of the buttresses. Here though, an impressive sight greeted us - a mass congregation of Garden Acraeas, some attracted to flowering bushes, some simply on the wing, an absolute minimum of 40 dancing around the rugged track, very nice indeed. One African Monarch too.
Rested a while to regain some energy, then clambered up the final part of the route to reach the flat summit – I was now in the land of the Golden Gate Brown, whether I had enough energy left to explore was an open question! Did zigzag about for about an hour, did encounter many browns, almost all of them highly mobile. I did not however encounter Golden Gate Brown, all the butterflies identified being False Silver-bottom Brown and Eastern Hillside Brown, at least 20 each seen. Cloud rolling in at about 11 am gave me the perfect excuse to climb back down the stack, though enticing thoughts of collapsing back into bed were dashed by the brevity of the cloud – by the time I was back in camp, it was full blue sky again!
Popped into the local town a while, slept a while, felt like I had zero energy, my body ached and still I had a headache, Probably not too wise, I pushed my self to hike to the top of Mushroom Rock, the second of the buttresses known to support Golden Gate Brown. Didn't see the desired species, notching up only a few more False Silver-bottom Browns and Eastern Hillside Browns on the summit, plus six Rayed Blues near camp. Enough for one day, parked myself in the darkened chalet and tried to sleep. Floods of sweat again during the night, soggy tee-shirts and sheets. Bar the headaches remaining only mild, seriously did wonder if I had malaria.
29 December. Departure.
Final day in South Africa, an overnight flight scheduled for late evening. My plan had been to spend this day in the grasslands of Wakkerstroom, but truly I could not be bothered. Stopped for a butterfly as departing Golden Gates, which proved to be a Gaudy Commodore, but otherwise opted for no lengthy walks. More Amur Falcons as we reached lower altitudes, then coming under pressure to visit a doctor, made an unscheduled stop in Harrismith. Doctor agreed with symptoms pointing to malaria, though a rapid diagnostic test pointed to negative, antigens not detected. They recommended more tests, no time though, a flight to catch. And so ended our trip to South Africa, limped back to Johannesburg, crashed out at the airport for a while, then boarded the plane and back to Europe we went. Sitting back in my seat and pondering the trip, a smile appeared on my face - a very enjoyable trip it had been, 136 species of butterfly identified, one or two additionals to remain with question marks.
After a fairly sleepless night, I can't say I felt amazing at sunrise, a mild headache and general feeling of absolute fatigue not contributing. Still, in glorious sunshine, the towering summit of Brandwag Buttress did look quite attractive. A steep hike of an hour or so, punctuated by several stops, some simply for rests, some for occasional butterflies, and then we reached the sandstone walls of the buttresses. Here though, an impressive sight greeted us - a mass congregation of Garden Acraeas, some attracted to flowering bushes, some simply on the wing, an absolute minimum of 40 dancing around the rugged track, very nice indeed. One African Monarch too.
Rested a while to regain some energy, then clambered up the final part of the route to reach the flat summit – I was now in the land of the Golden Gate Brown, whether I had enough energy left to explore was an open question! Did zigzag about for about an hour, did encounter many browns, almost all of them highly mobile. I did not however encounter Golden Gate Brown, all the butterflies identified being False Silver-bottom Brown and Eastern Hillside Brown, at least 20 each seen. Cloud rolling in at about 11 am gave me the perfect excuse to climb back down the stack, though enticing thoughts of collapsing back into bed were dashed by the brevity of the cloud – by the time I was back in camp, it was full blue sky again!
Popped into the local town a while, slept a while, felt like I had zero energy, my body ached and still I had a headache, Probably not too wise, I pushed my self to hike to the top of Mushroom Rock, the second of the buttresses known to support Golden Gate Brown. Didn't see the desired species, notching up only a few more False Silver-bottom Browns and Eastern Hillside Browns on the summit, plus six Rayed Blues near camp. Enough for one day, parked myself in the darkened chalet and tried to sleep. Floods of sweat again during the night, soggy tee-shirts and sheets. Bar the headaches remaining only mild, seriously did wonder if I had malaria.
29 December. Departure.
Final day in South Africa, an overnight flight scheduled for late evening. My plan had been to spend this day in the grasslands of Wakkerstroom, but truly I could not be bothered. Stopped for a butterfly as departing Golden Gates, which proved to be a Gaudy Commodore, but otherwise opted for no lengthy walks. More Amur Falcons as we reached lower altitudes, then coming under pressure to visit a doctor, made an unscheduled stop in Harrismith. Doctor agreed with symptoms pointing to malaria, though a rapid diagnostic test pointed to negative, antigens not detected. They recommended more tests, no time though, a flight to catch. And so ended our trip to South Africa, limped back to Johannesburg, crashed out at the airport for a while, then boarded the plane and back to Europe we went. Sitting back in my seat and pondering the trip, a smile appeared on my face - a very enjoyable trip it had been, 136 species of butterfly identified, one or two additionals to remain with question marks.
And just to round off, my top butterflies of the trip - not the big bright ones, but...
Common/Southern Pied Woolly Legs, Buff-tipped Skipper and Rilley's Copper.
Close runners up, the many varied butterflies of the acraea family.
Common/Southern Pied Woolly Legs, Buff-tipped Skipper and Rilley's Copper.
Close runners up, the many varied butterflies of the acraea family.
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