Weekly Report 18th - 21st June 2007

18/06/2007
Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 19*C Temp min : 04*C

07:30 07:45 Turn off to ryefield
Group of Bachelor Impalas mock fighting

08:10 Ryefield
2 x Egyptian geese near field

08:15 Ryefield
About 30 ewes and 1 ram on the field (Impala)

08:25 Ryefield
Saw about 12 Blue Cranes land on the field

08:40 2 ponds near gate
Watched a Malachite Kingfisher feeding. Catching its food

08:50 2 ponds near gate
We then noticed a Brownhooded Kingfisher in a tree nearby

09:00 We went up the road towards the mountain near gate but we did not see any animals there except the more familiar birds

09:30 We tried to id a bird in the road without much luck unfortunately

09:35 area between 2 ponds and big stream
another group of Impalas

10:00 Dam near base of mountain
Saw only 3 giraffes and some Zebra's about 100m up from the giraffes

We spent about 2 hours at the dam to see if anything interesting would show up

10:25 A duiker female came down toward the dam but turned back, she seemed to be a bit uncertain about the vehicle

10:30 The redknobbed coots came out onto the water for a bath

10:40 The little female Duiker came back and this time went down to the water for a drink

11:15 We saw a peregrine Falcon in a tree close by the dam

11:35 We saw another Brownhooded Kingfisher

11:40 3 x Kudu's (2 x cows, 1 x calf) came down for a drink as well. The two cows took turns drinking, one always on the lookout.

12:00 The Zebras had moved down closer to the giraffes

12:15 On way back from dam 15 Impalas

12:30 road to mountain
We saw a lone zebra stallion but are pretty sure the rest is close by. Also saw a Giraffe cow and the calf, both look well. In the distance we could now count 7 giraffes near the dam instead of 3, which bring the total number of giraffes seen today to 9

13:30 Went round the back of the mountain and over towards the show lodge

13:40 Saw 1 x Kudu Bull and 4 cows just at back of mountain near road

14:00 Saw 4 x nice Kudu Bulls

14:30 On way back home saw 2 x Redbilled Oxpeckers, one of which had a yellow ring on the left and silver ring on the right foot. This is very good news as these were specially released birds. They were on a group of Impalas at the pond near the house

15:00 Today's report

16:00 We went round the back of the mountain again but did not turn of toward the lodge

16:20 saw 1 x Common Reedbuck

16:45 We saw 10 of the giraffes. They moved round during the course of the day and we also saw 10 x Zebras with them

17:00 Lone giraffe quite a bit further on. The giraffes do not usually spent their time here so it was a surprise to find them at the back

17:30 We turned back toward home

17:50 There was a group of Impalas near the show lodge

Hannes also took the gameviewer in for a service during the course of the day


19/06/2007
Weather : Overcast
Temp max: 14*C Temp min : 08*C

07:30 Dug a trench for a cable up at the show lodge

09:00 We spent the day clearing a road at Geluk for the new vehicle to go through safely

14:00 On our way back from road clearing we saw a Kudu cow and calf on Geluk

14:30 We took a drive to the ryefields and saw 5 x Blesbok, the bachelor Impalas and another big group of Impalas. We also saw 4 x Warthogs on the field. And some Hadeda Ibis and the 2 Egyptian Geese always around.

14:45 We saw 6 of the 14 released Zebras. (3 x foals) near the big stream. They look to be in good condition

14:50 The usual Impala group was near the pond by the house drinking water. Also a Brownhooded Kingfisher and the resident reed cormorant

15:00 We went to the dam near the base of the mountain and saw 2 x Female Duikers. One of which we are sure was the one drinking yesterday

15:25 Saw 5 x Impalas on way back from the dam

Hannes and Mike took the motor out of the pump, it seems to have burned out and needs to be fixed.

Report


19/06/2007 NIGHT DRIVE

20:00 20:00 Close to house
6 x Zebra's - These are the released ones always hanging around the house. Also the usual group of Impalas near the house

20:10 On our way to field
2 x female Common Reedbuck in the field close to house

20:20 On field
a Porcupine running across the road at the field

20:30 On field
Very strangely we only saw 1 x female mountain reedbuck and no Duikers on the field

20:45 On Ryefield
We were very fortunate to have seen 11 Bushpig. This is the first sighting of Bushpig and we are really happy. There were 5 piglets and 6 adults. At first we thought them to be warthogs but we soon realised they were bushpigs

20:50 On Ryefield
1 x common Reedbuck and a very big group of Impalas

21:00 On Ryefield
We saw 10 x Hartebeest. We spent some time there as it looked to us that one of the Hartebeest might have been injured. We will try to look for them again in the morning to confirm as it was too difficult to properly see if it was injured

21:10 On road towards 2 ponds
We saw a young Aardvark just next to the road. Also a rare sighting


21:20 There was nothing at the 2 ponds near the main gate

21:30 Near big stream
A group of bachelor Impalas

21:45 On way to dam near
A Whitefaced Owl flew over us as we drove along base of mountain

21:50 Near dam
About 5 x Impalas near the dam

21:55 At dam near base of mountain
There were only 2 Egyptian Geese on the dam


22:00 on way back from dam a Duiker hiding in the grass

22:20 On road up to mountain
We saw a Black-backed Jackal for the first time in weeks. Even though you can here them around, for some reason we have not seen them much lately

22:35 Further up the road
A Fierynecked Nightjar laying in the road

22:45 On our way back towards home
We saw 12 Giraffes on our way back to the house. 2 calves were there and looking good. There was quite a large group of Zebra's with the Giraffes at this time. They were quite vocal as well.

22:55 Near home
We saw another little Duiker male trying to make himself small in the grass

23:00 Back at home


20/06/2007
Weather : Overcast
Temp max: 14*C Temp min : 06*C

07:30
Did last night’s report and sorted some photos of the previous day

09:00 09:00
Hammerkop and Reed Cormorant at ponds near house

09:10 Near Big stream
Lone Hartebeest. We could not see the rest or the injures one

09:15 On way to Ryefield
group of bachelor Impala's

09:20 Ryefield
There were some more Impala bachelors and many Impalas on the field

09:25 ryefield
4 x Blue Cranes flew over the field

09:35 Grass next to Ryefield
Flock of Redshouldered Widow males and females

09:40 other side of road from ryefield
5 x Blesbok. They ran towards the ryefield. There were about 14 Black and Pied crows in the area

09:50 Donga on way to mountain 1 x male Duiker

10:00 We saw 7 x zebras and 11 of the giraffes. We spent half hour watching them and discovered that one of the females had given birth again
So there is a new baby Giraffe on UmPhafa. We are not sure of the sex but think it might be a little male. It seems to be a couple of weeks old both mum and calf look healthy

10:45 Top of mountain middle
We saw 11 Zebra's on top of the mountain (4 foals)

11:00 top of mountain right side
14 Blesbok on top near fence on firebreak

11:15 1 x Duiker on our way down from mountain

11:30 back home

12:00 -14:00 Took a walk up the Big stream and only saw some Impala's and 2 x Warthogs

14:00 - 16:00 Spend some time getting video footage on the pc and going through some photos. We tried to see if we could find out the sex of the new baby giraffe. We will go on a night drive again tonight to see if we can get some pictures of the bushpigs.


20/06/2007 NIGHT DRIVE


19:00 19:15 Ryefield
Porcupine on the field as well as the usual Impalas and 3 x Hartebeest

19:25 On main road from Ryefield
Impala groups on both the left and the right side of the main road close to the ryefield

19:40 Saw an animal in the bush but was unable to id it. It might have been a Duiker.

19:50 On road toward back of mountain
1 x Cape Vulture next to the road. A very strange sight


Field closest to house 4 x Common Reedbuck

20:05 On way to back of mountain
a Duiker in the bushes

20:10 On way to back of mountain
Another Duiker

20:30 We took the turn off toward the show lodge and saw a Kudu bull next to the road

20:35 Road toward Lodge
Another Kudu Bull sleeping under some trees

20:40 Road toward Lodge
Yet another Kudu bull further up the road

20:55 Near Lodge
Here we saw 5 x Kudu cows sleeping under some trees


21/06/2007

Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 18*C Temp min : 05*C

07:30 Report from last night

08:00 08:30 Near Ryefield
Longcrested Eagle in a tree

08:20 on Ryefield
Small group of Impala's on the field. Not many animals on the field this morning. We might return later in the day to see if any other animals came down to feed

08:30 On top of a tree on main road
A Blackheaded Heron sitting high up in a tree in the sun


08:40 On our way back from mountain on road close to main gate
2 x single Bachelors (one of which was the 1.5 horned one) and a little further on an Impala group in under some acacias

09:05 On our way to the mountain top
We saw 7 of the Giraffes, but unfortunately not the new calf. We did however see 2 Redbilled Oxpeckers. One had a yellow ring on the left and a silver one on the right foot

09:15 Near top next to road
1 x Kudu Bull quite close to the road

09:20 Just on top of the mountain
4 x Kudu Bulls. One was the one horned one

09:25 Bit further on
a Forktailed Drongo in a tree, its face red from the aloe flowers. Almost thought we were looking at an unidentified bird

09:55 We went down the back of the mountain towards the back and saw a Duiker when we just started going down

10:10 As the road started to even out
Another Duiker female in the brush

10:15 Back of the mountain
Another Duiker, this time a little male under a tree

10:25 Near N3 close to the turn off towards lodge
Blackheaded Heron feeding in the area

10:30 About 200m onward
We saw a Secretary bird feeding on something. We tried to get closer but it moved further along. It seem that a Pied crow was giving it some trouble, as it kept trying to get its food

10:35 On way to lodge not far from turnoff
Duiker female walking in the distance

10:45 halfway to lodge
Kudu cow and calf

11:00 near lodge
3 x Kudu Bulls

11:30 Went down to the dam near the base of the mountain to see if we can see anything there today. We spent about an hour and a bit there but nothing turned up

13:00 Near big stream
6 of the 14 Zebras again. (3 foals, 3 adults) They were very calm as we drove by.

13:20 We went back to the ryefield to see what animals there were this time of the day. The usual Impala group was down there (big group) The Blesbok also came down to feed. 5 of them. At this time there was 5 Warthogs on the field (1 female, 4 piglets)

13:50 3 More Warthogs joined the others on the ryefield (1 boar, 2 sows)

14:00 Later on they were joined by 2 more. This time there was a bit of a scuffle as some males took each other on.

14:05 1 more joined the others but from the other side. A young boar. It kept it's distance from the bigger boars

14:15 This was the last one to join before we left the field. Most of the Warthogs ran off when we started the vehicle again

14:30 We saw a Spotted Dikkop in a small shrub next to the road. Dikkop's can be seen at day, but it is much more likely to see them at night

15:00 Did the report for today

15:35 A dead zebra foal was found near the base of the mountain. It was probably killed by Black-backed jackals