Photo by Brian Rode

WILDLIFE JOURNAL Singita Kruger National Park

For the month of January, Two Thousand and Twenty Temperature Rainfall Recorded Sunrise & Sunset Average minimum: 22.6˚C (72.7˚F) For the month: 90 mm Sunrise: 05h28 Minimum recorded: 18.0˚C (64.4˚F) For the year to date: 90 mm Sunset: 18h42 Average maximum: 30.3˚C (86.5˚F) Maximum recorded: 36.0˚C (96.8˚F) January has been another amazing month at Singita Kruger National Park. Summer is in full swing now, the vegetation is lush and dense and the scenery and landscape is emerald in colour. The grass is long and in full seed and many of the forbs are flowering, as are many of the trees and bushes. The migrant birds are all back and the insects and reptiles have started to make an appearance again. The sounds of cuckoos and woodland kingfishers echo through the bushveld and at night every puddle and pool is a cacophony of frog harmonies. The baby impalas are growing stronger every day and have started to form small creches. The herds of wildebeest also have young calves, which are completely different in colour to the adults. Many of the zebra herds also have young foals at the moment. The general game has been amazing and we have been seeing

large journeys of giraffes feeding on the fresh green leaves of the knobthorn trees throughout the concession. Towards the beginning of the month we received a fair amount of rain in the north and the Xinkelengane stream started flowing. This rain also filled up many of the streams in the Lebombo Hills. The Gudzani Drainage also flowed and Gudzani Dam, in the western side of the concession, filled up. This is fantastic news for us as it means that the water there will probably last throughout the dry winter period, providing drinking water for the animals for the rest of the year. The weir in front of camp also flowed over and once again we were able to witness the crocodiles hunting the catfish as they attempted to swim upstream. Although the grass is long now and the vegetation is dense the scenery is absolutely stunning and there is a sense of life everywhere. Gudzani Dam

November December January Here’s a Sightings Snapshot for January Lions

• Even though the vegetation is dense and the grass is long we have still had good lion sightings this last month. Altogether we have recorded 57 sightings of these magnificent cats in January.

• Towards the beginning of the month the Mountain Pride had split into two distinct groups with one of the lionesses moving away from the rest and taking her two younger cubs with her. She then headed towards the northern part of the concession. The rest of the pride (consisting of two adult females, one sub-adult female, two young lionesses and one young male) started to move around more in the hills and even further south than we normally see them. Towards the end of the month the young male was missing and was not seen with the rest of the pride. We hope that he is still alive.

• Mananga Pride have been utilising the western side of the concession near Gudzani Dam and have also been going outside of the concession towards the S100 public road. At the beginning of the month there were seven lionesses and six cubs. Towards the middle of the month we were only seeing two cubs with the pride and at the end of the month we were only seeing the adult lionesses without any of the cubs. We are not sure what has happened to the cubs or whether the females have hidden them somewhere. One of the guides did however find two brand new cubs hidden in the cliffs just north of Gudzani Dam and the area was thus zoned and the guides have not followed up there for a while. We will only be checking the area out when these new cubs are deemed to be at least four weeks old.

• The three dominant Shish Males are still well and healthy and were seen on a few occasions this month. The biggest of the three is often seen with either the Mountain Pride or Mananga Pride. The other two brothers are usually seen together.

• The Shishangaan Pride were only seen twice this last month and we believe that they are mainly moving in the area to the south-west of the concession. Towards the end of the month we saw at least five of these lionesses near the Boom Gate. At least two of the females were limping badly and one of them is looking extremely thin and in poor condition.

• The Kumana Males were not seen this last month, although we have heard them roaring to the south of the lodges on a few occasions at night.

Leopards

• We have had 17 recorded sightings of leopards this last month.

• A young male leopard was seen a few times just north of the camp and near Euphorbia Crossing. This leopard is fairly relaxed and we have had some good views of him. We believe he is the son of a fairly aggressive female leopard, who often either runs away from the vehicles or charges towards us while growling and snarling.

• We have also been seeing three different leopards in the vicinity of Gudzani Dam. One of these is a large tomcat and the other two are a female and her sub-adult male cub. The female is very shy, while the sub-adult is very relaxed with the vehicles.

Cheetahs

• We have been fortunate enough to have regular cheetah sightings this last month. Altogether we have recorded 26 sightings of these spectacular cats during January. Most of these sightings were of a coalition of four male cheetahs. One of these cats is limping and seems to have an injured leg. Fortunately for him his brothers have been quite successful in hunting and have been sharing their meals with him. We have also been seeing a single female cheetah. On one occasion we were lucky enough to see her chase down and kill a young impala. It was spectacular to witness her running at full pace.

Elephants

• Elephant numbers in the concession have been slightly lower than usual, but this is expected for this time of the year. It is at this time that the marula trees are fruiting. Marula fruit are much favoured by elephants. Since these trees mainly grow in the western half of the Kruger National Park (they prefer to grow in the granitic soils) many of the elephants head west, out of the concession, when the marula fruits ripen. We expect that they will return to the concession to feed on the lush green grass when the marulas have finished fruiting. Even though we have seen fewer elephants this last month there have been the occasions when we did come across some large herds moving through the area. On at least four occasions herds in excess of 150 individuals were seen in the concession. We have also been lucky enough to see a few large bull elephants with very long tusks moving through the area.

Buffalos

• We have had 33 recorded sightings of Cape buffalos in the concession this last month.

• Many of these sightings were of a large herd of animals (a few hundred at least). This herd has split and re-joined a few times during the month. The majority of the herd has been moving around in the area near the western side of the concession. Fortunately, we have had some good rainfall and the grass layer is lush and thick and we therefore think that we will have good buffalo sightings throughout the coming winter months.

• We have also had a few sightings of a group of at least seven dagha boys (old bulls) that have been hanging around the area of Dave’s Crossing. They have been seen wallowing regularly in the river on hot afternoons. One of these bulls has particularly impressive horns.

Spotted hyenas

• It appears that, at the moment, none of the known hyena den-sites are being actively used. Towards the end of the month we were driving along the road known as Sisal Line when we found what appeared to be a drag mark across the road. Upon following the drag mark we found a dead impala lying hidden under a bush. Knowing that the leopard that lived in this area was a very shy female we decided to return after dark to see if she returned to the carcass. When we arrived back there after the sun had set there was no sign of the leopard, but a large female hyena had discovered the scent of the drag mark and followed it to the carcass which it then quickly devoured.

Plains game

• The general game in the area has been amazing this last month. Many of the herbivores have young at the moment (including the impalas, zebras and wildebeest). The antelope are all looking very healthy and fat, with all the lush grass and new green leaves in the area. We have been seeing large herds of mixed herbivores. We have had a few sightings of large herds of giraffes (in excess of twenty individuals) and have been lucky to see small groups of large male kudus with very impressive horns throughout the concession.

Rare sightings

• We have been lucky enough to have a few sightings of a pair of African wild dogs this last month. African wild dogs (painted wolves) are not seen very often on the eastern side of the Kruger National Park. It is assumed that the reason we do not see dogs regularly this side of the park is that the soils are not conducive to the dogs denning here (the soils on the eastern side of the park tend to be clay-based or rocky). Dogs usually den in June/July in southern Africa and usually hide their pups in old aardvark or warthog burrows. Because of the soils in the area we do not have many warthogs or aardvarks in the area. After denning the dogs range widely and it therefore during this period (our summer months) that we could stand the possibility of seeing these rare animals in the area. However, in order to get to our concession from the western side of the park the dogs would have to cross the wide basalt plains / grasslands. These grasslands are not great habitat for dogs as they would be highly visible to their prey (mainly impalas and smaller antelope such as steenbok) and these grasslands do not support large populations of impalas, which prefer more bushy terrain. The dogs that we saw this last month were two females. We believe that they are looking for a group of males who they can join in order to start their own breeding pack.

• Eckson, one of our more experienced trackers, was busy checking the road along the border between South Africa and Mozambique one morning when he found a ground pangolin (also known as a Cape pangolin or Temminck’s pangolin). This is a critically endangered species and one that is very rarely seen in the area. (Prior to this sighting we had only seen one pangolin in the last fifteen years). Quite a few guides rushed to the area to see the pangolin and to many of them it was either their first or possibly second pangolin that they had seen in their lives.

Photo by Brian Rode. Photo by Sean Bissett.

Birds

• Summer is when we see the most species of birds in the concession. Many of the birds that we see here are migrants that arrive from either Europe or central Africa. This last month we recorded 223 species of birds in the concession. Some of the highlights included common ostrich, corncrake, dark-chanting goshawk, kori bustard, woodland kingfisher, various cuckoos, African quailfinch, thick-billed weaver, yellow-billed oxpecker, olive-tree warbler, Eurasian and African golden orioles and southern ground hornbills, amongst others.

A woodland kingfisher. Photo by Brian Rode

Some Bush Stories follow, as well as a January Gallery of images.

N’wanetsi and Sweni Rivers Article by Ishmael Nyathi The N’wanetsi and Sweni Rivers are the main two rivers in our concession that keep standing water (in pools) for a long time, until our next rainy season. Both of our lodges are built in front of these rivers and when we have heavy rains during summer we can be lucky to see them flowing (they are non-perennial rivers that do not flow throughout the year). The N’wanetsi River was supposedly named after the word meaning “shimmering water”. The N’wanetsi River comes from the north west of our concession (it originates from within the Kruger National Park, south of Satara Restcamp) and flows through the concession and then passes in front of Lebombo lodge before flowing east through the Lebombo Hills towards Mozambique (and then on to the Indian Ocean). The Sweni River also originates within the Kruger National Park, in the western side of the park, and as such both of these rivers tend to be fairly clean (unpolluted – as they do not flow through industrial, residential or agricultural areas). The Sweni River flows east where it then reaches the Lebombo Hills and turns north before passing in front of Sweni Lodge and then merges with the N’wanetsi River at the confluence (which lies between Lebombo and Sweni Lodges). On the 18 and 19th of January we were lucky enough to receive a fair bit of rain and both rivers started flowing. The N’wanetsi River filled up at the weir and the water started flowing over the wall. The crocodiles were having a good time as many catfish and tilapia were attempting to swim upstream and got caught in the strong flow by the dam wall. This made it much easier for the crocodiles to catch the fish. The amount of water in the N’wanetsi River at the weir and in the Sweni River upstream from the confluence has made the scenery even more beautiful for the guests. The high-water levels in the river have attracted many animals, from crocodile to hippos. It has also attracted a large number of birds that have come to feed and nest around the edges of the rivers. We have even seen a purple heron at Sweni, which is a very unusual bird to see around this river as it prefers the marshland and reedbeds.

Catfish and crocodiles at the weir in front of Lebombo Lodge. Photos by Brian Rode

Brood parasitism in birds Article and photos by Brian Rode

Male long-tailed paradise whydah in full breeding colours.

It is summer now and many of the birds are getting into their breeding colours. They are preparing to nest and raise new chicks. Males are calling and displaying to attract partners. The sound of the woodland kingfisher is echoing throughout the bushveld, as they attempt to find mates. In the bird world there are many types of breeding systems including monogamy (where one male mates with one female and they form a "pair bond", either for life or just for a season), polygamy (where a single bird has numerous partners) and brood parasitism (where a species of bird lays its eggs in the nest of another bird and the host bird then raises the chick/s). There are quite a few species of birds that we see in the Kruger concession that are brood parasites. It is easy to understand the benefits of being a brood parasite. It is energy consumptive to have to build a nest, lay eggs, feed chicks, protect the chicks from predators etc. The brood parasite basically gets a free ride by laying its eggs in another bird’s nest and getting it to raise and feed the chicks. Rather than wasting energy raising chicks the brood parasite can concentrate more on feeding themselves and laying eggs in various other nests (thus spreading the risk of nest failure). The host bird is taken advantage of by the brood parasite and often gets the raw end of the deal. As a result, the host birds are particularly wary of the adult brood parasites and will actively chase them away or attack them when they come close to their nests. The adult host birds will often destroy the eggs of the brood

parasite if they notice the foreign egg in their nest. Some of the brood parasites have evolved to have eggs which are very similar in size and colour as the host’s in order to fool them into incubating the eggs. In some species of indigobirds and whydahs there is a specific pattern on the inside of the beak that replicates the pattern in the host’s chicks mouths so as to fool the host parents into feeding the foreign chicks. Often the brood parasite chicks will hatch first and may be slightly larger than the host chicks and thus dominate when it comes to being fed by the ‘parents’. In some cases the brood parasite chick will scoop the host’s eggs or chicks up with their backs and push them out of the nest to reduce competition. In many of the honeyguide species the chick has a sharp hook on the end of its beak initially, with which it kills the hosts chicks, thus reducing competition. Many brood parasites utilise a few different host species, although in some, such as whydahs and indigobirds, the brood parasite is host-specific and only parasitizes a single other species.

Jacobin cuckoo Great spotted cuckoo In southern Africa there are basically three groups of birds that have evolved to be obligate brood parasites. They are:

• Old World cuckoos (Cuculidae family)

• Honeyguides (Indicatoridae family)

• Indigobirds, whydahs and cuckoo-finches (Viduidae family)

Possibly the best known avian brood parasites are the cuckoos. We are very fortunate to see at least nine different species of cuckoo in the Singita Kruger Concession. These include common cuckoo, African cuckoo, red-chested cuckoo, black cuckoo, great spotted cuckoo, Levaillant’s cuckoo, Jacobin cuckoo, Klaas’s cuckoo and Diderick cuckoo. All of these cuckoos are summer migrants to our area. Most of them feed predominantly on caterpillars and other insects which abound during our rainy season. Most of the cuckoos are highly vocal and we hear them calling throughout the bushveld during our summer months. They produce some of the most characteristic summer sounds in the bush.

Diderick Cuckoo Common Cuckoo

Honeyguides are more famous as birds that lead honey-badgers and humans to bees’ nests, hence the family name Indicatoridae. Many people are not aware that they are brood parasites, who usually parasitize hole-nesting birds such as woodpeckers and barbets. In our concession we regularly hear the characteristic “vic-tor”, “vic-tor”, “vict-tor” call of the greater honeyguide or the monotonous, repetitive “klew”, “klew”, “klew” call of the lesser honeyguide.

Greater honeyguide Lesser honeyguide The adult males of the whydahs and indigobirds both have beautiful summer plumages in order to attract the duller, more cryptically coloured females. The long-tailed paradise whydah and the pin-tailed whydah both grow long tails and display themselves and their beautiful colours to attract the females. Once the male long-tailed paradise whydah has mated with a female (he is usually quite popular with the females, having numerous partners) she will then go and lay her egg/s in the nest of a green-winged pytilia that she is aware of, where the host female has just laid her own clutch. Although the male indigobirds do not grow long tails they do get a beautiful ink-black plumage to attract females. These birds are also host-specific. The village indigobird parasitizes red-billed firefinches, whereas the purple indigobird parasitizes Jameson’s firefinches. Although the breeding behaviour of brood parasites is very interesting it is not that successful and, therefore, it is estimated that only 1 percent of bird species are obligate brood parasites that require a host to incubate and raise their chicks.

Male pin-tailed whydah in full breeding plumage Male village indigobird in breeding plumage

Leopard tortoise: Stigmochelys pardalis Photo and article by Chantelle Venter The leopard tortoise is classified under the family Testudinidae, of which 45 species of terrestrial tortoises are represented, occurring on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. In southern Africa it is possible to find 14 different species of tortoise. The leopard tortoise is one of the largest tortoises found in southern Africa, with an average weight of 8-12kg, but have been recorded around 40kg in some cases. Their shells are comprised of bony plates which are fused “ribs” and bones, and are covered with horny shields and scutes. Leopard tortoises can easily be identified by having raised dorsal scutes, and have distinct colouration and patterning. The shell serves to protect the body from any potential predators. The general shape of their shells can be described as being domed on top (carapace), and flattened at the bottom (plastron). Tortoises draw their heads straight back into the shell, as opposed to the sideways motion used by terrapins. Southern African species of tortoise, are able to withdraw their heads completely under the protection of the shell, so that their forelimbs are able to cover the head. Male tortoise shells are concaved on the underside, in order to assist with balancing themselves, when mounting female tortoises. Mating season extends from September to April, and egg laying season will be from October to May, when the female will lay several clutches of hard-shelled eggs. The female will select the nesting site, and will urinate in order to soften the soil before digging a hole for a clutch size of around 6-18 eggs. The incubation period can exceed a period of 12 months, with 35g hatchlings emerging around March-April. Hatchlings are born with soft shells, as fusion of the shell is still incomplete at a young age. The sex of the hatchling is determined by temperature. Female development takes place between 31-34◦C and a range of 26-30◦C for the males. Leopard tortoises have a varied diet of grass shoots, succulents, fruit and even fungi. They will also consume bones and carnivore droppings, which is believed to be a source of calcium.

January Gallery Photos by Brian Rode