Karongwe Sightings

Some of the latest images from Karongwe. In just over two weeks we encountered five different Leopards, one of which was during a Game Walk.

Portrait of a male Leopard in prime condition.

This scruffy looking female gave us a most indignant stare as we unknowingly disturbed her attempt at hunting Impala.

Hyena visited camp every night and even the activities at the sleepout in the bush got the better of this cubs curiosity who came to investigate.

One of the Hippo dams. A great spot for sundowners.

And curiosity even gets these behemoths to pop around for a closer look.

As allways, striking birds such as this woodland Kingfisher are never far.

A Yellow Billed Stork in interesting pose.

A Magnificant male Lion obligingly becoming active just as the sun filters through the clouds and grants us wonderfull photograhic opportunities

And just to round off the predator sightings, two male Cheetah decided to hunt down a young Wtaerbuck around camp only to settle for Impala later that afternoon.

Animal of potency and power.

An obscure cave in the Cederberg. Note the “hooved” human figures and the horselike figure in the background, possibly a “rain animal”.

For a people who had to rely largely on veld food such as Geophytes (Bulbs, etc) meat was indeed a much sought after commodity. And these to a large extent were in the form of smaller mammals and birds such Korhaan (Bustards) which they ensnared. Thus one can imagine that a large animal such as Kudu, Hartebeest or Eland were indeed a rare treat. None more so that the majestic Eland, unusual in that its meat had an unusually large quantity of fat. But what is more interesting is that the Bushman not only regarded the Eland as a source of protein but also as the animal of potency and power. In regions rich in a wide variety of antelope it is obvious that the distinctive Eland shape dominates their art, often in association with dance scenes – another reason why the art should not be viewed as mere documentation of their life.
When entering the trance like state during the well documented rhythmic dance people are said to “become” an animal – often the Eland. Next time you view rock art notice how the human figures often have the heads and feet of animals (the Bushmand were not known to wear masks). In this trance they would perform rituals like blessing a hunt, cure the sick or bring rain.

For years I tried to depict the enigmatic Eland from the mysterious point of view of the Bushman. Subconciously I had already given up when one afternoon I managed this shot. To me it seems like the pair of Eland are running off a stone age rock art site into reality.

Images of Power

I just returned from a photoshoot in the Waterberg, an area rich in history both recent and, well … not so recent. In fact several thousand years ago the first inhabitants of Africa walked these hills. The legendary Bushman or San. Except for the Egyptians, these eloquent people are one of the few African tribes who left a rich legacy of their spiritual lifestyle on the rocks of predominantly southern Africa.

Incredible detail for late stone age artists.

One can be forgiven for viewing these as merely decorative. Indeed these beautiful paintings do add a certain flair to the harsh rock faces but that’s not where it ends. More commonly, many just assume that these paintings are a documentation of animals and events that occurred during their day to day life. To a certain degree both ways of looking at the paintings are not wrong. Aesthetically they are beautiful and often one can discern animals such as Eland, Giraffe and the like which the bushman may have encountered and or hunted. It is when one views the fascinating array of dots, lines, circles and weird unidentifiable animals adjacent to the more easily recognized drawings that things start fitting more difficultly into our western mould.

Studying the art.

Also many, if not most painting are in areas not suited for habitation such as a small inaccessible ledge.
Enter the spiritual realm of the bushman. The well known rhythmic dancing induces a trans-like state of consciousness and it is when certain members (i.e. the shaman) enter this realm that rites are performed. Rain making, blessing a hunt or curing the ill occurs during this state. Important also to note is that no paintings were ever done during this state but rather afterwards when the mind clears again. Space just doesn’t allow a more in depth discussion but for those interested David Lewis Williams’s Images of Power is sure to fascinate.

Selati Private Guiding

I spent this past week in the Selati Game Reserve. A fantastic 30 000 hectare reserve between Hoedspruit and Tzaneen in Limpopo. It is privately owned with no commercial lodge on the property. Habitats range from mopane bushveld and riparian woodlands to spectacular Granite outcrops. In addition to the great numbers of wildlife associated with the distinct habitats, the reserve is also home to a unique variety of plants. In my opinion one of the most interesting reserves in the country and, unlike what many tourism brochures advocate; a true best kept secret.

We spent the week at the elegant Nyala Lodge overlooking the Selati River.

Lounge Interior.

Veranda overlooking the Selati River.

I always find it interesting that whenever one embraces nature in its entirety the sightings just piles up. A notable sighting was that of a caracal during an extended night drive - a first for me in the Lowveld.

A very rare vagrant to the area, A Sooty Falcon

The highlight however was in the form of a sooty Falcon. Accoring to the Field Guides only a few stragglers of this rare species have been recorded in the area and this one may constitute the fourth sighting!

More images below:

White Rhino in an open clearing in glorious afternoon light.

A friendly encounter with a scaly friend.

Ellies

Selati's pride and joy.

Beautifull charcoal sketch of the vervets, our neighbours in the fig tree in front of the lodge.

Private Lives of Pygmy Falcons

A sight as distinct to the Kalahari as the enormous Sociable Weaver nests they commandeer as nesting sites is the diminutive Pygmy Falcon. The tender colloquial name of Sneeuvalkie (Snow Falcon) given by the locals to this, the smallest African Falcon is harshly juxtaposed against the realities of the thirst-land wilderness it calls home.

Whilst leading a photographic safari for C4 images and Safaris we were very fortunate to observe a pair of Pygmy Falcons in the vicinity of a large Sociable Weaver nest in the Rooiputs campsite on the Botswana side of the park.

As it was approaching the breeding season these birds were very active around the Sociable Weaver colony in anticipation of spring. Both birds would arrive at the weaver colony and sit in close proximity to the nest chamber. The female, easily distinguished by her chestnut back would then enter one of the chambers from where she would give regular, albeit feint calls. A few minutes later she would exit the chamber and return to the awaiting male perched outside. At this stage he would mount her and proceed to mate with her, a sequence of events that they repeated regularly throughout the day. During one of their escapades a second male suddenly arrived on the scene. The attending male immediately acted aggressively towards him and at one stage they nearly tumbled to the ground, all of which was in line with my existing knowledge of an intruding male.

"A" male presented the female with an agameaas a nuptual gift...

At a later stage one of the males presented an agama to the female, a nuptial gift she happily accepted. After feeding on the reptile for quite some time with the male close at hand the second male arrived on the scene. The female immediately took off with the two males in hot pursuit. All of this still behaviour that can be expected in a situation where an immigrant male is trying to usurp breeding rights but not tolerated by the resident birds.

...which she readily accepted.

During one of the mating rendezvous described above the second male arrived on the scene and perched very close to the mating pair. Much to my surprise the impostor was tolerated by the resident male, even as the resident proceeded to mount the female. Imagine my surprise when shortly after the male dismounted, the “impostor” casually mounted the female and proceeded to copulate with her as well!

The female Falcon allowed both males to mount her.

The reversed sexual dimorphism, the fact that the female is more brightly coloured than the male is in line with Polyandrous birds such Painted snipes and my guess would be that this is in fact what is happening with Pygmy Falcons. However only detailed studies and genetic analysis would reveal any shared paternity.

The Kalahari Landscape

Guide Training

A Big and Hairy!

I spent the first two weeks of November assisting Eco Training courses in the Selati and Karongwe conservancies. As always it is very encouraging to see enthusiastic (and fun loving) people joining the industry.

Group pic at one of the scenic dams in Karongwe.

What surprised me of this specific time was the amount of small and interesting creatures we encountered during the two weeks. Many guides rely on the glory of the “Big and Hairies” to get by. However, knowledge of the small stuff and - very importantly - the ability to communicate this to their guests will reveal the true wonder of nature. The highlight undoubtedly was the discovery of a gynandromorh Emperor moth. This is a dual sex moth that is laterally devided between male nd female. In other words, in this case the left hand side of this individual is female and the right hand side is male. You can’t really compare this to a needle in a haystack. Rather a needle in a wheat field!

Seces in moths are easily determined by means of their antennae. The feathery ones indicating male and the slender ones indicating females. Here both are present indicating an extremely rare gynandromorph. Also note the eyes are different. This difference runs through the symmetrically through the length of the body

Photographing Cheetah.

Inspecting a delicate panted Reed Frog.

This Bushveld Rain Frog avoided the hundreds of foul tasting soldier termites but gorged himself on the much larger and tasty emrging alates.

It still remains one of Nature's Unanswers questions why scorpions glow neon green under UV light.

Isn't it encouraging to know that this bunch of professionals who take everything so seriously are entereing the guiding industry?

Photograpic Ethics

Pro photographer Shem Compion posted something on Photographic ethics a while ago. Have a look at it here. Ethics are something I feel strongly about and although time limits an in-depth discussion here I would like to share a though or two. There are many angles attached to ethics from Photoshop techniques such as cloning which alters the actual image as it happened in nature to the unethical handling of animals. Then there are grey areas such as baiting animals (ever photographed birds around a feeder?) or the sticky issue of photographing captive animals. Personally I have no problem with some of these such as baiting or even photographing captive animals but when such techniques are employed I feel it must be disclosed by the photographer.

Just before heading to the bush these past two weeks I had the opportunity to photograph this Caracal in the process of being rehabilitated to be released back into the wild. I could have declined to chance to photograph this confiding cat or used the opportunity to get close this beautiful animal. These pics may also come in handy when having to illustrate a conservation talk at some stage in future especially as these animals are facing dire persecution in large parts of Southern Africa’s farming community. Maybe images like these will ensure this species remain in the wild longer, enhancing our chances to get better images of wild ones.