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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

South Africa revisited, Felines and Critters of the Night (1 Viewer)

Kgalagadi NP now high on the list of places to fit in. Is Ostrich fairly easy there Jos? Is it right that there's a non-introduced population in that park?
 
Any Pix of the Crimson-breasted Shrike or the tortoise?

Just to oblige (albeit the wrong tortoise, this one being Angulate Tortoise from the West Caost NP)
 

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Is Ostrich fairly easy there Jos? Is it right that there's a non-introduced population in that park?

If you had problems finding Ostrich in Kgalagadi, then I'd be suggesting it is time to hang up your bins and retire :t:

Yes, there are not of introduced stock, but if you are travelling through Namibia and Botswana, you'll be tripping over such Ostrich with quite some frequency, so I'd not worry too much.
 
Beginning to worry about the lack of near-death experiences!

I'm afraid South Africa was rather devoid of anything even remotely approaching such :-O

But don't worry, with advance apologies to those who I am going with, I fear my next trip has far more potential from many angles ;)
 
18 July. Kgalagadi, the Auob Valley.


Minus three again at the pre-dawn waking hour, a coffee on the stove to start things off, then a quick skirt round the administration buildings to try and find owls returning to roost, one smart pair of White-faced Scops Owls the reward.

And then it was time to hit the dusty trails, a whole day again in the Auob Valley, largely retracing the route of the previous day, but with a few side detours to add variety. Plenty of big mammals parading almost as soon as it was light enough to see anything, Springbok, Gemsbok and Wildebeest again the species of most abundance, but also some rather quaint mammals at the other end of the size scales - Four-striped Grass Mice, several darting across the track, others feeding quietly in tussocks adjacent. Also plenty of South African Ground Squirrels, another Slender Mongoose and, back to the large critters, both Eland and stately Kudu.

Birding was, needless to say, excellent. Even in the early morning chill, raptors were beginning to rise, a Tawny Eagle taking to the air, another roosting on the remains of a fallen tree, Pale Chanting Goshawks fairly common, plus a couple of Secretary Birds and, most engaging, a Greater Kestrel catching a mouse, only to be dive-bombed by a Lanner Falcon, the Greater Kestrel then dropping the mouse, which was promptly snapped up by the Lanner. And at that very moment, a Red-necked Falcon joined the fray, swooping in and circling, before sweeping off across the valley.

Also added the first Grey Hornbills of the trip, along with Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Golden-tailed Woodpecker and a pair of Ashy Tits. About 30 km along our route, a most photogenic Bat-eared Fox caught our attention, sunbathing at the entrance to his burrow, most conveniently located a few metres fromthe side of the track. We would have probably stayed longer at this very nice animal had it not been for the arrival of another car, the occupants of which said there was an African Wild Cat under a bush just a couple of hundred metres back (which we had already passed).

Hmm, with such news you really can't do much but reverse back! So there we were, parked at the said point peering at a lot of sand and rather many small shrubs and bushes. And then up it sat, the African Wild Cat stretched and plodded out into the sun, sitting in full view at about 20 metres distant. Looking every bit as though it had just wandered out of a domestic family setting, these cats are nethertheless real corkers, the gingery ears almost like little beacons as they walk along.

Kgalagadi is excellent for this species, I had in the past seen as many as five in a single day, but this one was giving absolutely fantastic views, first sitting in the sun, then going for a little hunt, pouncing on what I presume were mice, before trotting off, tail held high. Pretty amazing, we had now seen Leopard, Cheetah and African Wild Cat in little over 24 hours, perhaps even more amazingly seeing these before the more numerous Lions that inhabit the area.

Another little look at the sunbathing Bat-eared Fox, then back to the Kamqua picnic site for breakfast. Yellow-billed Hornbills present again, swooping in for hand-outs, plus Cape Crow and Red-eyed Bulbuls equally keen. Adjacent acacia scrub held an obliging Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler, a Long-billed Crombec and a couple of Yellow-bellied Eremomela.

The rest of the day was a relatively easy-going type of thing, a slow drive back to Mata Mata adding Black-faced Waxbills and more Red-headed Finches amongst the passerine flocks, a Northern Black Korhaan taking a wary wander across the track and oodles of other stuff. Back in camp, a mid-afternoon siesta was a good oppotunity to catch up with some of the fellow campers - drop-dead gorgeous Yellow Mongooses shuffling around, plentiful Ground Squirrels, semi-tame Cape Glossy Starlings and Crimson-breasted Shrikes and, still in their tree by administration, another chance to gander at the White-faced Scops Owls.

An evening drive to a nearby loop failed to add a hoped-for Caracal, but Bat-eared Foxes and Black-backed Jackals were out in force, as were a number of passerines such as Kalahari Scrub-Robin and assored sparrows, weavers and finches.

No night safari for us this evening, we instead opting for a little spotlighting behind the tent - Black-backed Jackals zigzagging around, but the absolute star of the night was the appearance of shaggy long-haired creature of unkempt looks! Ambling down from a hillside opposite, looking every bit like a lost hippy, this mega of the night was Brown Hyena, a mammal never ever to find.

What a good way to end the day, I have only ever seen one Brown Hyena before (an individual on Christmas Day some years back, also in Kgalagadi).
 
Today's pictures...
 

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A few raptors of the day...
 

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I think we had seen Leopard and about 7 Cheetah before we came across our very first Kgalagadi Lions. Very jealous of the Black-tailed Tree Rat (and of course the Brown Hyena).
 
Talking about being jealous - Brown Hyaena! That's one I'd love to see. Not a sniff of one in Namibia last year (but given that we got Ardwolf I'm not complaining).

Looking forward to more cats and other carnivores...

Andrea
 
19 July. Kagalagadi, Auob & Nossob Valleys.


This was to be our final day in the Auob Valley, the plan being to backtrack fairly quickly as far as the Kamqua Picnic Site, then cut across the central dunes to reach the Nossob Valley about midway between Twee Riviene and Nossob Camp.

By now familiar, the start was again sub-zero, White-faced Scops Owls seeing us off once more, a Pearl-spotted Owlet found not long after. Our trundle back down the Auob was marked by two quite superb African Wild Cats, the first scampering up a rocky slope, the second simply stunning as it sat half way up a dead tree right alongside the track. Also saw a good number of raptors again, including two Pygmy Falcons, plus the usual assortment of Kalahari passerines, such as Kalahari Scrub-Robin and Crimson-breasted Shrike, along with a most comical bunch of sunbathing Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters - eight in total, all fluffed up and packed closely together, clearly they were not too impressed by the cool mornings!

At Kamqua, we veered eastward, entering a rolling expanse of vegetated dunes that lasted the entire 60 km or so to the Nossob Valley. A few Fawn-coloured Larks, some impressive Northern Black Korhaans in display, plus plentiful Southern Ant-eating Chats and Black-chested Prinias, but otherwise the birding was decidedly less rewarding than in the valleys, sentiments that could be echoed with regard to mammals, an Eland and a few Gemsbok the beast of most note.

A stop in another picnic site at the beginning of the Nossob Valley was again amusing for the antics of Sociable Weavers, hordes of them clammering for food, even to the extent of flocks attempting to land on open hands. Also Chestnut-vented Tit-Babblers here, along with Acacia Pied Barbet and Kalahari Scrub-Robins. Venturing north, destination Nossob Camp, the valley initially seemed a little of a disapointment, mainly due to the high sand banks either side of the track limiting our view - a higher car would certainly have been an advantage here. By Nossob Camp however, all was forgotten, the valley opened out and the track sat level with the valley - and what a view it was, teeming with Wildebeest and Springbok, peppered with Kori Bustards and Ostrich, most magnificent. Also a Lappet-faced Vulture sitting with four White-backed Vultures.

Nossob Camp was very nice, a dripping tap attracting vast congregations of birds, the campsite itself again alive with South African Ground Squirrels. After chucking up the tent in the far corner, I then took a wander around, soon bumping into an African Hoopoe, both Grey and Yellow-billed Hornbills, flocks of Cape Glossy Starlings and, at the dripping tap, at least a dozen species - loads of Red-billed Queleas, White-browed Sparrow-Weavers, Yellow Canaries and Southern Masked Weavers, smaller numbers of Grey-headed Sparrows, Shaft-tailed Whydahs and even Crimson-breasted Shrikes.

Most of the remainder of the day was spent at a waterhole a few kilometres further north - a female Lion with two cubs had apparently killed something and dragged it into long grass. Arriving, the grass was very easy to find, and indeed it was long! So long in fact that the Lions were invisible. With a steady procession of Wildebeest, Springbok and Gemsbok still trying to use the waterhole, it seemed a nice enough place to settle down for the last couple of hours till sundown. Black-backed Jackals hovered at the grass's edge, a pair of Secretary Birds came striding in, but of the Lions, several mere glimpses of the top of an occasional head, ears poking up and that was that! Ah well, the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon, day three over.

Back at camp, a watch over a floodlit waterhole offered plenty of Gemsbok and Black-backed Jackals, plus a hunting Barn Owl. A silence of sorts, bar the scuffling hooves of the Gemsbok and occasional yelps of jackals, but then fromthe deep darkness to our left, a low throaty roar, oohh o'hhh o'hhhh o'hhhh o'hhhhh, the haunting call of Lion somewhere close. Though it continued to call, perhaps a half kilometre distant, we eventually decided it was time to retire to the tent.
 
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Pictures...
 

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Night of 19-20 July. Outside a tent in Kgalagadi.


Before sleep, I had unwrapped my new trophy cam, a camera fitted with infra-red and designed to automatically trigger if anyting walked in front.

Tonight it would get its maiden outing. Already a pattering of Black-backed Jackals as I retired to my tent, the animals lurking in the darkness just a few metres behind. All was relatively peaceful however, and soon I was sleeping ...until 1.30 a.m.! A mighty roaring, the deep rumblings of the call almost vibrating through the tent. Oo er, I thought, that is close! I guessed this Lion had to be a few metres away at most, but with spotlight in the car, I chose to just lie there and enjoy the atmospherics, the beast calling for quite some minutes before beginning to wander away. Hmm, I wonder if the camera caught him!

And next morning, an hour pre-dawn, I was up and checking ...a sharp intake of breathe, my camera had truly been christened! Not only heaps of shots of the jackals, but a number of murky images of the Lion, slightly distant to the camera, but distinctive enough. He had walked past three times! Continued to zip through the images, then another 'wow' - at 4.30 a.m., an African Wild Cat had also paid a visit, stopping to look directly at the camera!
 

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Blimey, if the Lion has chose to come a wee bit closer you could have rolled over let it snuggle down and cuddled it until dawn

I should perhaps add that on this occasion, there was a camp fence between me and the Lion ;) I merely found the remotest corner and put my tent there.


Previous trips I camped on the Botswana side and then it is just you and the cats, no other tourists and no fences, super.
 
I should perhaps add that on this occasion, there was a camp fence between me and the Lion ;) I merely found the remotest corner and put my tent there.


Previous trips I camped on the Botswana side and then it is just you and the cats, no other tourists and no fences, super.

you miss spelt it Jos ...... supper :gn:
 
Feline Fantastic...

20 July. Kgalagadi, Nossob Valley.


What a phenomenal day, after the Lion and African Wild Cat caught on the night cam, we set off at dawn with a plan to travel up to Union's End, the northernmost tip of Kgalagadi, a remote outpost situated at the point where the borders of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa all converge. We never got there, far too many distraction on route!

Barely five kilometres into our journey, the first rays of the sun cutting through an orange haze of dawn, the Nossob Valley was looking most exquisite, and there striding across the grasses of the valley, a pair of felines of spotted nature. Most resplendent, these were two Cheetahs were out on a morning hunt, the animals stopping to watch distant Springbok, the cats first crouching to edge in closer, but eventually giving up and continuing their way. What a good way to begin the day.

Onward, oodles of Four-striped Grass Mice aside the track, also a few Brant's Whistling Rats and, on the open plains, both South African Ground Squirrels and a couple of Yellow Mongooses. The real treat however lay just a few kilometres further along - returning to the Bedinkt waterhole, I had hopes that the Lions of the day before might still be in the area. And indeed there were, not in the long grass, but stretched out in the dust aside the waterhole. One adult female and two well-grown cubs, all naturally enough in a state of semi-slumber. Cubs being cubs, it was too long before they got bored, the catalyst for action being the arrival of a mixed flock of Namaqua and Burchell's Sandgrouse. First one cub, then the other, most engaging were the sandgrouse, up got the Lions and plodded off in the direction of the birds, a whirl of wings and the entire flock was in the sky, the two Lions looking a little bewildered. With that, the cubs looked for further adventure, the next thing in their sight being us! Up they wandered, me still leaning out of the open window, they beginning to look with a slight tilt to their heads. Closer, closer, closer, there were now two metres distant and peering very intently at me through the window - I definitely thought it prudent to withdraw my arm from the window at this point!!! 'Ah boring', thought the Lions and ambled back to their mother for a little romp, pouncing on her tail tassel, much to her annoyance.

Several Black-backed Jackals in the area, a Lappet-faced Vulture in a tree just beyond, it seemed the remains of the day before's kill might still be present, so when the family finally retreated into the grassy depths, it was no surprise. What came next was a surprise. Unbeknown to us, lying less than 40 metres away but concealed in the grass, there was another Lion, a big dark-mained male. I presume he had arrived overnight and was not related to the female, for just as she entered the grass so he made his presence absolutely clear, first sending the female and cubs darting the other way, then rising and hauling the kill straight towards us. A powerful animal, he was dragging a fully-grown Wildebeest, legs flaying, guts open. Straight past the car he dragged the thing, dumping it about three metres away under a small acacia. And then a cacophony of sounds, cracking and crunching of bones, ripping of hide and chewing of flesh, this male cared not one jot that we were watching just a breath away.

Finally deciding we had seen enough, by now nearing mid-morning, we continued on our way, a herd of Red Hartebeest seen next, followed by assorted birds such as Acacia Pied Barbet, moderately common Fawn-coloured Larks, Booted Eagle and a good variety of other raptors. Absolutely incredible numbers of Kori Bustards too, a minimum of 70 noted this day, the birds occurring literally everywhere.

By midday, still less than half way to Union's End, we had a decision to make - either speed up considerably or change our plans. We opted for the latter, stopping to make coffee at Bedinkt, then beginning a slow return to Nossob Camp. Another pause at the Lions as we passed, the whole lot of them now resting under adjacent acacias, and then we continued to the Kwang waterhole, a mecca for flocks of passerines coming to drink, most particularly wheeling flocks of Red-billed Queleas. A pleasure to sit and watch, the reason for their apparent spookiness soon revealed itself, a Red-necked Falcon rounding a bush and piling into the masses of birds, they all plunging into the nearest acacia, the falcon then dancing along the top, trying to flush a bird out. A Gabar Goshawk tried a similar trick, but the Red-billed Queleas knew what was what, not a bird left the cover under the onslaught of attacks.

Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes into this watch and a car pulled aside, 'Do you know there is a Leopard in the tree?', they enquired. No I did not. Stone me, it was in the very tree I was virtually parked under! Almost impossible to see from most angles, a little manoeuvring finally got us a few reasonable views, it was a young female devouring a jackal it had caught, I presume by pouncing from this tree as the unfortunate animal had come into drink. Assuming my views were going to be limited to assorted patches of leopard spots in the acacia, an occasional head to peer around, I was rather staggered by what happened next!

With a belly full, the Leopard began a less than graceful descent of the tree, almost flopping from one branch to another, then clambered down the trunk and jumped to the ground right alongside us! A quick look round, then the cat walked a few paces to reach a shady spot in the long grass. Simply stunning views, the resplendent cat then proceeded to wash paws and face, an occasional look in our direction, but otherwise fully engrossed in her beautification. And a beauty she was, eventually lying down for a while, before then moving a few metres further, slipping intothe vegetation and immediately becoming totally invisible.

What a super finale to the day's cat action! Or at least I thought it would be, still one last surprise to come. Back at camp, after getting a little waylaid by a Pearl-spotted Owlet, it was time for the last event of the day - a return to the floodlit waterhole. All intially seemed most devoid of life this evening, a lone Black-backed Jackal lingering a while, the Barn Owl reappearing for a couple of fly-bys, but was just about that. And then, a pair of small bright eyes on a distant slope, eyes heading straight for us. A few minutes later, there it was, the tenth cat of the day, an African Wild Cat trotting across the grass.

A most fitting end to this very feline-centric day, two Cheetahs, five Lions, one Leopard, two African Wild Cats.
 
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