UmPhafa

30th June - 4th July 2008

2008-07-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

30/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 07°C
Max temp: 22°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Ladysmith to get AFTW Vehicle’s front right wheel fixed and to get some blades for the grass cutter at AFGRI

12:00 Got back home and changed the wheel of the AFTW Vehicle

12:10 Went up the mountain to check how we are going to place the container for the batteries and repeater of the radios

13:10 Saw 3 Blesbok on top of the mountain while going to the container

13:20 Marked out a position for the container next to the foundation of the mast, now we will put a foundation for the container there then all will be finished

14:00 At the bottom of the mountain coming back I saw 3 Kudu bulls and 3 Zebras next to the road

14:30 Went to ryefield

14:55 At the ryefield I saw 24 Waterbuck, they seem to like it there now and they are
getting pretty used to the vehicle by now

15:00 Saw 3 Sacred Ibis also on the ryefield near the centre pivot

15:30 At the 2 ponds near the main gate I saw 4 Warthog males wallowing in the mud

16:00 Went back to the farm house to check my e-mails and get the reports from the game guards

16:30 Went to switch off the centre pivot and take the game guards home

17:30 Home

01/07/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 19°C

06:45 Fetched staff

07:30 Got everything ready to go and burn the firebreak at the back of the mountain at N3 Highway

09:00 Started burning the firebreak; started slow for the grass was still a bit wet, but later as it started to get warmer it went well, burned about 200m along border fence

12:30 Finished firebreak

13:30 Went around mountain to check on the prickly pears and cochineal

14:00 The cochineal is spreading nicely and I found some more Prickly Pear Moth
larvae on the prickly pears

15:00 Went back to the place where we burned firebreaks just to double check that
everything is ok there

16:00 Saw 6 Zebras with 4 Oxpeckers on them near the house

16:30 Took staff back

17:15 Home

02/07/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Checked on the Prickly Pear Moths I have. They are still in their larvae stage and are burrowing nicely in the prickly pear leaves I gave them

09:00 The fencing material arrived and we offloaded it at the workshop

10:00 Went to Pietermaritzburg with Mike to go and see the people who gives courses in First Aid, got a quote from them for a Level 3 First Aid course, we also went to Protecta Wear to get gloves for the staff

15:45 Stopped at Mooi River on the way back to fetch the new water cart and to check
on the river pump to see what is wrong with it.

17:30 Home

03/07/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 03°C
Max temp: 19°C

06:45 Took AFTW Vehicle in for a service and to get 2 bolts for the tractor

13:30 Got home and I went straight up to mount Sully to check on the Blesbok, could only see 3 up there, one cow and 2 calves.

14:30 Went to the ryefield, I saw 7 Blesbok there, so I think that some of the blesbok
from the top of the mountain have come down to the ryefield

15:30 Went to the back at the N3 side to look for the Hartebeests, only saw the one-
horned animal near the river

16:30 Home

04/07/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 07°C
Max temp: 21°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to drop the alien plant team at the R103 to ring bark some Gum Trees

09:30 Went to the back of Geluk Farm to check on the progress the TLB Dozer is
doing fixing the road there so that it is easier to do firebreaks and fencing at the back of Geluk

12:30 Went to check on the Waterbuck on the ryefield, saw 24 animals again today,
I can still only make out 8 calves, but I think there may be more than that

13:30 Went to Geluk farm to check on everything there, went to the dam at the old
bush camp, it has enough water left for the winter

14:30 Went to Vertrek farm to look for the Blue Wildebeests, could not find them and I
checked the water holes, there is enough water for the animals

15:30 Left to go and pick up the alien plant team at the R103 at the back of Vertrek

16:30 Home

23rd - 27th June 2008

2008-07-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

23/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 06°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

08:00 Went to Colenso to fetch the Handyman

08:45 Went in to Ladysmith to get a jigsaw and parts for the toilet and bits and pieces
for fixing the house and lodge

12:00 Saw 12 Giraffes on the main road at the stream leading to Tugela river

12:30 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, only saw 1 Grey Heron

13:00 Helped the handyman with the toilet to put another valve and float in

13:30 Went up to Mount Sully, saw 5 Zebras on the road leading up the mountain

14:00 Saw 2 Mountain Reedbuck just as I got to the top

15:15 Going down at the back near the N3 highway I saw 5 Kudu cows

15:30 Checked the prickly pears where I found the Prickly Pear Moths; looks like they
are attacking the prickly pears nicely

16:00 Took Handyman home

16:45 Home

24/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 04°C
Max temp: 18°C

07:30 Report

08:00 Fetched Handyman

08:45 Went to ryefield to see which animals arrive there first

09:25 At the ryefield, some Impalas were on the field already and the 3 Blesbok were
making their way there, followed by another group of Impala and 24 Waterbuck,
no sign of the warthogs yet

10:00 Went back to the house to help the handyman with the office door that is stuck

10:30 Helped Mandla with his report

11:00 Went to Geluk to see if I could find the Wildebeest

11:30 Could not find them so I went to Vertrek to look for them there

12:30 Still could not find them, but I did see a group of 9 Kudus

13:00 Went to a neighboring farm to pick up a metal detector that I will use to see
what kind of artefacts I may find on the farm

14:30 Got home and went to Geluk to burn firebreaks, the grass is still a bit wet to burn
but we did manage to burn a little bit

16:00 Took handyman home

16:45 Home

25/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 21°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Fetched Handyman in Colenso

09:30 Went to the ryefield to check on all the animals there, the usual were there - Groups of Impala, 3 Blesbok, 2 Warthogs and 24 Waterbuck

10:30 Went up to the lodge with the handyman, fixed the one leaky tap and the door that was stuck

11:30 Went home to check on the Prickly Pear Moths, they are still in their larvae form
and as soon as they turn into moths I will release some in Prickly Pear infested
areas

12:30 Went to the N3 Highway at the back to fetch two guys to help with the container
for the radio

13:30 Container arrived at Geluk farm, we offloaded it onto a trailer and secured it so
that it wont fall off if we transport it, that took a while to do, we will take it up the
mountain tomorrow

15:45 Took the container to Gevonden farm

16:30 Took staff back

17:15 Home

26/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 05°C
Max temp: 22°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Got ready to take the Container up the mountain, we double checked everything
and fixed all the stuff that needed fixing

09:30 Started to make our way up the mountain with the container

10:40 At the steep part of the mountain we put the Land Cruiser in front of the tractor
and trailer so that we can have more traction going up, but that did not work
because the cruiser did not have enough traction and the chain got loose and the tractor and trailer slid backwards and jackknifed halfway up the steep section, luckily no one got hurt. Now we had to make a plan to get it all sorted out.

12:00 We borrowed another tractor from a neighbor that was also four wheel drive as
ours and he had to drive all the to the back and up the mountain from the other
side and reverse down the hill to get to the container.

13:15 We connected the two tractors with chains and started the climb to the top, went
very slowly, but we got the container on top

14:15 Took the container to the place where the mast for the radios will be

15:25 Offloaded the container with the help of the TLB Dozer.

16:30 Home

27/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 04°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went up the mountain to check on the Blesbok

09:30 Saw 7 blesbok on top of the mountain

09:40 Went down the back of the mountain

10:00 Saw 3 kudu cows just as I reached the bottom at the other side

10:30 Went to the lodge to check on the dam there, still got some water and I saw 2
warthogs there

11:30 Went to the ryefield to check on all the animals there, saw 7 blesbok, 24
waterbuck and 76 Impala and 4 warthogs

12:30 Went to the back at the N3 Highway where they are burning firebreaks

13:00 They burned about 2 km along the highway

13:40 Went down to the river to get the river pump out so that we can see what is
wrong with it, because it’s not pumping the water to the dams

14:40 Got the pump out of the freezing cold Tugela waters and took it to the house

15:00 Went to Vertrek to look for the blue wildebeest

15:30 Could not find them but saw 7 kudus along the way

16:30 Home

Weekly Report 9th - 13th June 2008

2008-06-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

09/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Cloudy
Min temp: 09°C
Max temp: 12°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Ladysmith to take trailer tyre to get fixed, went to Diesel Electric to get
the tractors starter motor fixed. Took Bibs to Gail to get logos on, but she was
not available at the moment.

12:00 Got home and sent reports through, I still can’t get my mail to go through to the
U.K. Will have to sort that out quickly.

13:00 Went up the mountain to look for Giraffes, saw 12 just as I left the farm house.

13:30 Just as I reached the foot of the mountain I saw a Grey Duiker male

14:00 Got to the top of the mountain and scanned the area below with my binoculars, only saw 2 Kudu cows, it was very cloudy and cold and most of the animals were deep inside the bushes hiding from the chilly wind.

15:00 Got down and found a dead Brown Hooded Kingfisher on the veranda of the farm
house, must have flown into the window. Took some photos of the bird to get a
closer view of the colours of the feathers.

15:30 Went over the stocking density files of the farm to see what we can do to bring in
more animals and what we need to bring in. Me and the Game Guards are going
to spend most of the week counting all the animals we have, to see what we
need to bring in.

16:30 Home

10/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 21°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Left to the mountains side to count Impalas

09:30 Found the first group halfway up, there was 5

10:30 I turned around at the foot of the mountain and went to the pond at the foot of the
mountain, on the way I counted 37 Impala

11:30 I went up to the lodge to check for Impala there, did not see any, only 12 Giraffe

12:30 Went home to go over the stocking number on UmPhafa for Impala, if I worked it
I worked it out correctly we can stock up to 333 Impala, but I think we have
Enough for the moment

14:00 Went to the main gate and that surrounding area, counted 6 Zebra and saw a
Sacred Ibis but no Impala

15:00 Got to the ryefield area and counted 11 Waterbuck and 95 Impala, searched around the area but did not find any more

16:30 I counted 137 Impala, but that’s just the animals I could see from the road and I
estimate that their numbers are well above 150

11/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 14°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Ladysmith with Mike to get the AFTW Vehicle’s s tyre fixed and to
take the bibs to Gail to get the logos on

12:30 Went up to Mark Newton’s place to get some shale to fix the roads up that side.
We got the TLB driver up there and showed him where he can dig and get shale

14:30 Got back and changed the tyre on the vehicle

15:00 Went to the back at the N3 side, to look for the Red Hartebeests, they were
nowhere to be found, I drove around through the back valley near the lodge
and still could not see them.

15:50 Just as I went over the hill at the lodge I saw the Hartebeest with one horn

15:55 And not 200m down the road 3 more ran over the road, we are still looking for the
others

16:30 Home

12/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Left to go up to mountain to see if I could find the Hartebeests

09:00 Saw a group of Impala just at the foot of the mountain

09:55 On top of mount sully I took a look through my binoculars on the valley bellow, I
spotted 11 Giraffes and 4 Mountain Reedbuck

10:40 As I made my way down the mountain, because I could not see the Hartebeests
there, I saw one male Grey Duiker

11:30 I decided to go to the ryefield, because that is where I saw some of the
Hartebeests often through the week, I saw 7 Waterbuck making there way to
the ryefield

11:40 I decided to stay there for a while and see if the Hartebeests show up.
At the ryefield I saw 20 Blue Cranes, 97 Impala and 3 Blesbok

11:55 10 Waterbuck showed up 25 min after first group arrived there, there were now
17 on the field, 6 calves and 11 Adults, 1 of which was the bull. 2 of the calves are male and have already got about 4 inch horns

12:00 9 Blue Cranes showed up and landed with the group of 20

12:05 The first Warthogs came to the field, there was 5

12:10 Another group of 5 Warthogs made there appearance

12:15 And then another group of 3 Warthogs showed up

12:30 No animals were going on or off the field anymore and I decided to go and check
my e-mails and contact the First Aid Course people

13:00 Home, checked e-mails and sent message for the First Aid

13:30 Went to the main gate to check the cochineal I put on the prickly pears all along
the main road

14:30 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain

14:45 At the pond I only saw 1 Kudu cow

15:00 I looked through the binoculars to the fence running down the mountain to the
main gate, I thought I saw a Hartebeest and went to investigate

15:30 When I went up all along the fence I could not find any Hartebeests I only saw
a Kudu Bull

15:35 I saw 2 Zebras at the foot of the mountain along the fence

15:55 Driving around looking for the Hartebeests in that area I saw another 3 Zebras

16:30 Could not find any Hartebeests there so I head back Home

13/06/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 14°C
Max temp: 20°C

06:45 Fetched staff at farm market

07:30 Report

08:30 Drove to top of mount sully to look for the Blesbok

09:30 Saw 4 Blesbok on top of the mountain, could not see the rest

10:00 Went own the other side of the mountain, saw 2 Kudu cows just as I made my
way down

10:30 On the other side I checked on the cochineal I put on some of the prickly pears,
they are starting to spread nicely over the plants

11:00 Saw 4 Mountain Reedbuck on the hill on the N3 side of the mountain

11:30 Saw 3 Red Hartebeests on the hill near the lodge

12:00 Went home to check e-mails

12:30 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain

13:00 There was nothing there

13:15 Saw 1 Warthog male on the road to the pond on my way back

13:45 Went to the ryefield, saw a group of 84 Impala, 3 Waterbuck and 3 Blesbok

14:30 Went to check the fence at main gate, all looks good all the way to the river

15:30 On the way back to the farm house I saw 10 Giraffes and 6 Zebras

16:00 Home

26th - 30th May 2008

2008-06-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

26/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 09°C
Max temp: 20°C
Rainfal: ½ mm

07:30 Report

08:30 Me and Michael went to the rye grass field to fix a pipe on the centre pivot

09:45 Helped Michael with his report

10:45 Went to spend some time with the Wildebeests on Vertrek

11:30 Got to Vertrek and started to search for the animals, could not find them there

12:30 Got back home and worked on the fact file and e-mails

13:30 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, did not see anything, sat there for
a while to see if any animals come to drink, nothing

14:30 Went to the back valley near the lodge, drove all the way to the N3, only saw
2 Kudu cows. At the N3 I drove back al along the fence to look for faults on the
fence, found one along the tugela river about 500m from the power box. Fixed it.

16:30 Home

27/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 22°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Ladysmith to Waltons to get envelopes and staples and to get post

12:00 Went to the fence to check if there is any faults on the line, non faults

13:30 Home trying to sort out the internet and e-mails, e-mails don’t want to go through

15:00 Worked on the fact files and sorted photo’s out to put on a cd.

16:30 Helped Mandla with his report to the Zoo

16:30 Home

28/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 10°C
Max temp: 22°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Got quotes for first aid courses in Pietermaritzburg

10:00 Went to Ladysmith to see if I can get a place to put the logo’s on the bibs, found
nothing so far

12:00 Took Dee to the bus station at Tugela Toll Plaza

13:15 Waited for the bus for 2 hours, it was late, she left 15:15 to Bloemfontein

16:15 Arrived home, went over the game guard reports with the game guards

16:30 Finished

29/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 11°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Report

08:00 Went to the ryefield, watched and photographed 3 young Impala rams play fighting. Also saw a big male with something under his eye, not sure what it
is, but it looks like a piece of horn or piece of skin he injured during a fight.

09:00 Left to go look for the Wildebeests

09:30 Got to Vertrek and started looking for them, I’ve looked all over, could not find them, only saw 4 warthogs

11:30 Got home after failing to find Wildebeest, tried to send my e-mails through

12:45 Went in to Ladysmith to get a splicing kit for the river pump and went to the bank to sort out my online banking

15:20 Got home and went to check on the road that they are fixing going up the mountain, it looks very good

16:30 Home

30/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 11°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Took the Game Viewer to Colenso to get petrol

09:30 Drove around the mountain to the N3 side

09:45 On the way to the mountain, saw 6 Zebras and a group of Impalas

10:30 Halfway up the mountain saw 2 Kudu cows

11:00 Reached the top of the mountain

12:00 At the back valley going down on the other side of the mountain I only saw
3 Kudus, could not find the Blesbok on top of the mountain

12:10 I drove all along the fence to check for faults, did not find any

13:00 Got home and did my e-mails and sort out photo’s I took going around the
mountain

14:00 The staff had a barbeque, so I helped them get started and organized

15:30 After their barbeque I took them home

16:30 Home

19th - 23rd May 2008

2008-06-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

19/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 11°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Helped Michael with his report

09:30 Went up to the lodge to get everything cleaned and sorted up there, took the
rubbish away and helped clean the house till 13:30

14:00 Saw all 12 Giraffes up near the lodge with 9 Zebras

14:30 On the way back from the giraffes I saw 2 Blesbok on the road to the lodge

14:40 Got down to the ryegrass field and I counted 67 Impalas, 7 Warthogs and 1
Blesbok

15:00 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, on the way I saw 1 Impala ram

15:20 At the pond there was another Impala ram drinking water, and the bones of
Speedy the giraffe were nearby, I asked the game guards to collect them and put them there

15:45 Went to the lodge to pick up Dumisan one of the staff that helped me clean up
the lodge, on the way I saw 3 Red Hartebeest on the hill

15:55 Saw Michael and Vukani on the road heading to the farm house, I told them
about the Hartebeest and they said they saw them

16:10 Picked up Dumisan and on the way back we saw 3 Zebras with a group of 24
Impalas.

16:30 Home

20/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 10°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

09:10 Saw 6 Giraffes on the road that goes to the top of Mount Sully

09:25 Saw 3 Zebras not far from the giraffes

09:45 Got home and loaded the cement for the school

10:20 Dropped cement at school

11:00 Got home and did my e-mails

12:30 Went up the mountain to look for the blesbok

13:00 Did not see them up there

13:10 Found Michael and Vukani, we went to Vertrek farm to look for the
Blue Wildebeest

13:50 Arrived at Geluk and started to look for the animals

14:30 We spotted one Blue Wildebeest on a hill, we could only see him through the
binoculars, he was very far away. We did not find any other animals so we
decided to head back

15:30 We got back to Gevonden and started to test the electric fence all along the
Tugela river all the way to the N3.

16:30 Home

21/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 10°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

08:00 Went to Vertrek with Michael and Vukani to look for the Blue Wildebeest

09:00 We found 8 animals; 1 male, 4 females and 3 calves. We stayed with them for a
while observing them. They seem to get use to the vehicle; got a few photos, but
it’s still a bit far, will go every day to get them use to us

10:00 Got back home and went to Ladysmith to get a few things

11:45 Worked on the animal fact file and sorted out photos

12:30 Went to look for the giraffes, found them on the road leading to Mount Sully, saw
12 animals

13:45 Got back home and updated the virus program on the computers, took me
2 hours to get it downloaded, in that time I went over the game guards report
cards

15:45 Went down to the rye grass field, saw a group of Impala bachelors

16:15 On my way home I saw 11 Zebras and the Hartebeest with one horn

16:30 Took the staff back to the Farm Market

17:20 Home.

22/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 10°C
Max temp: 21°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Vertrek to look for the Blue Wildebeests

09:30 Found them in the valley with a herd of cows. I get closer to them everyday
and today I got within 50m of them, they are getting pretty much used to the
vehicle now. I stayed with them until 12:30

13:30 Went to the rye grass field, I saw ± 70 Impala and one of the ewes had a
1 to 2 day old lamb with her. I also saw 17 Warthogs and 3 Blesbok

14:00 Got home and did some office work and e-mails

15:00 I went back to the ryefield to take a photo of the lamb, when I got there the
Waterbuck was there, 7 of them, 4 adult females and 3 juveniles, 2 of the young
ones is males.

15:45 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, on the way I saw 1 Giraffe

16:00 At the pond was nothing except a Grey Heron so I turned back

16:30 Home.

22/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 20°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, saw 3 Kudus on the way

11:30 Went to Ladysmith to get Dee a bus ticket to Bloemfontein

14:00 Arrived at the house and went to the Rye grass field to see if that baby Impala is
still there; he is and is looking good.

14:10 There also was 75 Impalas, 3 Blesbok and 8 Waterbuck.

14:55 At the 2 ponds near the house I saw a big kudu Bull and he looked magnificent

15:00 As he ran off I noticed the Giraffes behind him, all 12 was there

15:30 Went down to the power box for the electric fence to check on everything, all is
good

16:00 Went to check on the dam near the lodge, its looking good, got water in

16:30 Home

Weekly Report 5th - 9th May 2008

2008-05-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

05/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Helped Michael with his report

09:30 Went to Ladysmith to get wire clamps for the rhino fence cable

12:00 Got back and took clamps to fence

13:00 Did e-mails

13:30 Went to fence with Mike to pull cable on the last section of rhino fence

14:40 Went to house to fetch generator and grinder to cut cable

15:00 Went to the donga to pull cable with TLB, because the tractor could not get to a
place where the cable was tied to the fence

15:55 Found a dead porcupine not 10m from where we were working, cause of death
unknown

16:30 Home - Michael came to me to tell me of the day and what they saw. He said that
they found 10 Blesbok and 2 young ones, tomorrow I will go with Michael to see if we can find the rest.

06/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the top of the mountain to look for the blesbok and their babies with
Michael and the 2 game guards

08:50 On the way saw the waterbuck, could not count them, they were standing in
very thick bush

09:00 Just further from the waterbuck, saw 4 Giraffe bulls

09:30 On top we saw 15 adult blesbok and 6 babies, one baby is missing, we assume
that it must have been caught by a jackal or caracal

09:40 Took the game guards to Vertrek

10:25 Dropped the guards at Vertrek

12:00 Went to Ladysmith to get the satellite TV working for the lodge

12:45 Got a puncture on the way to Ladysmith

13:00 Got to Ladysmith and fixed tire and sort DSTV out

16:30 Home

07/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 24°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went up to the lodge to get the DSTV signal sorted out

08:40 On the way I saw the 6 Zebras that are always around the area, the 3 foals are getting big now and sooner or later the little stallion foal is going to be kicked out
of the group by the dominant stallion

09:00 Got to the lodge and turned the DSTV on, it showed a couple of errors, so I
called the service provider and they refreshed the signal

09:30 Got a call from Mike asking me if I can go and fetch him at the gate after he was
looking for faults on the electric fence, so that I can take him back to his vehicle
on top of the mountain.

10:00 Got to the gate and picked him and one of the staff up and left for the top of the
mountain

11:30 Got to his vehicle and dropped them there

12:45 Got home and helped Mandla with his reports

13:30 Went back up to the lodge to double check if the DSTV is still working, it was

14:10 Got back home and picked up Vukani, one of the game guards and we went to
the pond at the foot of the mountain to pick up the giraffe bones of one of the
giraffes that died there

15:00 Took the bones back home and offloaded them at the workshop

15:10 Saw a Green Spotted Bushsnake near the house that have just finished eating
an Agama

15:20 Took a drive down to the rye grass field to check on the grass and pivot

15:30 Saw 3 big Kudu bulls on the way crossing the road near the big donga

15:40 At the rye grass field there was 3 warthogs and some Impala, the pivot looks fine
and the grass is starting to grow

16:30 Got home and took the staff back to Colenso

17:30 Home

08/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 24°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Drove to the gate to check on the cochineal that I put on some prickly pears there. It looks like the cochineal is growing nicely on them

09:00 Went to the back of the mountain on the N3 side to check on the cochineal there,
- the cochineal there is growing nicely as well. I saw on one of the prickly pears
that some kind of worm is attacking it and killing it, I will try and find out what kind
of worm it is

11:00 Reached the top of the mountain from the back, saw one kudu female just as I
reached the top

11:30 On the way down I saw that some prickly pears already have cochineal on them
and that it is spreading nicely all over the plant

12:30 Reached the house and did some e-mails and office work

13:30 Went to the fence at the main gate to check on the cable along the rhino fence,
everything looks fine

14:00 Went to the rye grass field, saw a group of Impalas that are already grazing on the grass that is coming up, and just on the other side a male warthog with three little males are enjoying the rye grass as well

15:00 Went to the pond near the foot of the mountain and saw one waterbuck female
and 2 kudus with 3 Red Billed Oxpeckers on them

15:30 There was nothing at the dam, so I turned back

16:00 Went to the lodge to check on the dam there, water is still good

16:30 Home

09/05/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 10°C
Max temp: 24°C

07:30 Did report

08:30 Saw that the AFTW vehicle had a flat tire, changed it

10:00 Went to Ladysmith to get the tyre fixed and take Mike’s vehicle to get the railings
modified for a canvas top at Crab Engineering. Spend the rest of the day in
Ladysmith waiting for the railings

16:30 Home

Weekly Report 21st - 25th April 2008

2008-04-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

21/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 07°C
Max temp: 23°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the last bit of rhino fencing to weld some angle iron and reinforcement onto the
fence, finished there at 12:30

12:30 Took the welder back

13:00 Went to the lodge to check if everything was alright after the weekends rain. We had
about 20mm of rain on the weekend. Everything is in order at the lodge

13:45 Went to the rye grass field to check on the progress of planting. We could not plant today, because of all the rain, the field was too wet and the tractor will get stuck.

14:15 Went to the fence to look for faults. Some of the corner post have been pulled out of the ground by the cable. The ground was wet so it made it easy for the high strung cable to pull it out, we’re going to have to put more reinforcing on.

15:45 Went to pick up the staff

16:30 Took staff back

17:30 Home.

22/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 08°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Took sprayers with me to spray the rhino fence at the N3. We only sprayed about 100m, because that little section was not done properly.

10:30 When we finished there I took them to another part of the rhino fence near where the big stream meets the Tugela, we sprayed about 200m there.

12:30 After that we went to the rye grass field and sprayed all along the fence, until the fence at the border of Gevonden and Weenan Safaris.

15:55 We finished the spraying and went back.

16:15 Went to pick up the staff at the pecan nut trees along the Tugela river

16:35 Home

23/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 08°C
Max temp: 15°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Saw 20 Impalas near the workshop going up the mountain

08:50 Saw 1 Impala ewe on her own in the bushes at the foot of the mountain

09:00 I turned back and as I got to the place where the ewe was I saw 2 Impala rams sizing each other up for a fight.

09:20 Went to the lodge and on the way I came across a group of 24 Impalas

09:25 Not 500m from them I saw 3 Blesbok, I presume it was Bes, Les and Shaun
Rounding the corner on the way to the lodge I saw 5 Giraffes on the little hill near the road

09:40 Just as I turned back from the lodge a Impala ram was chasing a female across the road, he had a fresh cut under his eye and it was starting to swell, no doubt he got that from fighting for the female he was chasing

10:00 Going back the way I came I saw the 5 Giraffes again, 3 of them was chewing on old bones lying in the veld.

10:25 I went down to fetch the camera, when I got back, there was now 11 Giraffes, 5 babies and 6 adults.

10:47 Followed them around for a while and just when I was about to go down the road to get in front of them the 12th giraffe showed up.

11:00 I looked to my left and saw that the Waterbuck male was on his own near the Tugela river

11:15 Got a call from Mandla to go and help him with his report

13:10 Went to the rye grass field

13:20 On the way there was 2 groups of 3 Impalas each fighting in the road, two will tackle each other and the third will wait to see who loses and then jump in and attack that one

13:30 On the side of the rye grass field I saw a group of 40 Impala, 1 male and 39 ewes and lambs

13:55 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain

14:25 Saw nothing there except for a Grey Heron looking for food in the water grass

14:35 When I came back there was 6 Zebras with the group of 20 Impalas from this morning

14:45 Went to he office to download photos onto the computer- photos I took during the day

15:45 Left to pick up staff at the Tugela river

16:30 Home

24/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 09°C
Max temp: 20°C

06:45 Went to pick up staff at farm market

07:30 Took staff to Tugela river, to harvest pecan nuts

09:00 Took sprayers up the mountain to spray last leg of fence to the main gate

10:30 Went to Ladysmith to get 7 bags of cement for the school floor

12:45 Dropped the cement at the school

13:30 Got home and phoned Cindy the headmistress that I have delivered the cement and they can start fixing the floor

14:00 Went to the rye grass field to observe 3 Blesbok with a herd of Impala. The Blesbok seem to mingle quite well with the Impala and the Impalas don’t mind having them around. Only the ram seems to be a bit cautious around them, butI think it’s because of the rutting season and all the rams are a bit high strung

15:30 On the way back to the house I saw 7 of the Waterbuck in the big stream that connects with he Tugela river

16:00 Picked up Michael and Vukani and went with them to pick up the sprayers. On the way we saw 2 more Waterbuck and a sounder of 8 Warthogs, 1 male, 1 female and 6 babies

16:15 Picked up the sprayers at the base of the mountain

16:30 Home

17:00 Report

25/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 08°C
Max temp: 23°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the rye grass field, to look at the centre pivot pump

09:00 The pump started but would not pump water, so we fixed it

11:30 Dug holes to put in more reinforcement for he post, because of the rain, the post pulled out of the ground

13:30 Had to dig three holes, two at the rye grass field fence and one at the pecan nut trees

15:55 Dug the last hole and went to fetch sprayers at the main gate

16:30 Home

14th - 18 April 2008

2008-04-21T10:49:00.001-07:00

14/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 14°C
Max temp: 24°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Helped Michael with his report

09:30 Went to the school to give Cindy the school keys

10:40 Did my e-mails and sorted he school photo’s out on the computer

12:00 Went up to the lodge, to check if everything is still fine up there, saw 1 Mountain eedbuck
ram along the road on the side of the mountain

13:30 Went to change the trailer tire, but as I was changing it, my jack broke, so I had leave it
for now, will make a plan tomorrow.

14:20 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, I saw some giraffe there, wanted to check
on the young ones, they were not there, only 4 bulls and a female.

15:00 Came back home to find a lone Impala ewe in the garden, we think she may be starting
to go blind and deaf, because you can virtually walk up to her and touch her, before she realizes your there.

15:30 Went with Michael to the foot of the mountain, we were looking for a spider that he saw
on Friday, could not find it.

16:00 Went to pick up the staff at rye grass field.

16:30 Took staff home

17:30 Home.

15/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the back where we released the Python, took GPR marking

09:30 Went to the N3 Highway to check the fence, followed it all the way to the Tugela, could
not find any faults.

12:00 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain to check on the giraffe carcass, it’s almost
just bones left, another week and it will be completely bones.

13:45 Went to rye grass field to help with the spreading of fertilizer

15:30 Fetched the pressure pump to pump up the wheels of the centre pivot

16:00 Went to fetch the staff at the lodge where they are fixing the drains for the road

16:30 Home.

16/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 24°C
07:30 Report

08:30 Dropped Mandla and Michael at Cloustans to do a patrol there

09:30 Went to the back valley to see if I could find more prickly pears, so that I can put some
cochineal on them.

11:20 Went to Colenso school to help them weld security gates, they did not have any body to
help them, so they asked me if I can go and show there grounds man how to weld.

14:00 Came back from Colenso school, to do some office work

16:00 Went to the rye grass field to check on progress on fertilizing the field

16:30 Home

17/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 23°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the top of the mountain, on the way I saw 9 Zebras, could not see any foals with them.

09:10 When I got to the top I, drove all around the mountain to the back looking at prickly pears, to see which ones have cochineal on them and which don’t.

10:00 Got to the other side where I have put some cochineal on some of the plants, the chineal is spreading nicely on them.

11:00 Got to the lodge too se if everything is alright there.

11:30 Took the TLB to go and load some cable for the fence on the other side of Clenso

13:00 Got back home and went to Winterton to get rye grass seed for planting

15:00 Got back and helped Mandla with his report

16:30 Home

18/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to the rye grass field to check on the ploughing of the field, It is almost finished, so
we will be planting soon.

10:00 Went with Mike and two of the game guards to put a pump into the Tugela river, so that
we can supply water to the dam near the lodge and the two dams near the main house.

12:25 Finished with the pump, but when we tested it, it showed a fault somewhere, we are fixing the problem at the moment.

13:30 Went with Mike to the fence to see if we can pick up any faults on the electric fence,
showed one fault, we could not find and will go and have a look on Monday.

15:50 Got home and saw the Impala ewe (that seems to blind and deaf) in the garden, she did not pay any attention to me, although she could smell me. She looks quite happy and healthy and seems to like the garden.

16:30 Home.

7th - 11th April 2008

2008-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

07/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went with Michael to look at the 2nd dead giraffe, it is a female.

09:30 Did e-mails and photos

11:30 Drove to the lodge and then around the mountain to look for the rest of the rest of the
giraffes, could not find them only saw one lone Impala ram.

14:30 Got back home, saw 12 Giraffes in front of the house, only one missing.

15:00 Mandla came back to do his report, he said he saw all 13 remaining giraffe when he came up to the house, that means all of them is alright.

15:25 Went up the mountain to fetch the sprayers at the fence on top.

16:30 Home.

08/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Geluk to see if I could find the Blue Wildebeest, saw nothing.

10:00 Went to look at the 2 giraffe carcasses, the scavengers are trying their best to finish them
off. No vultures yet.

12:00 Got a call from Mike to go and capture a 4m long python in his lands where the tractors are busy in the lands. He ask m if I can relocate it to Umphafa where it will be out of the way of all the heavy machinery.

13:00 Released the python on Umphafa at the back valley just behind the lodge site.

14:30 Went up the mountain to fetch the sprayers.

15:30 Brought them down, and left to fetch the team that is working on the electric fence.

16:30 Home.

09/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 19°C
Max temp: 28°C

07:30 Did the report

08:30 Left to fix the school floor.

09:30 Fetched the cement from Ladysmith.

11:00 Fetched the classroom keys from Cindy the headmistress. Stayed the rest of the day
there fixing the one classrooms floor, tomorrow we will finish and start with the second classroom.

16:30 Home.

10/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to school to continue fixing the floor, we got halfway through laying the cement and mixing it, it takes a bit of time to fetch the water and mixing it with the cement, sand and stone.

16:00 We finished ¾ of the floor, tomorrow we will finish it off.

16:30 Home.

11/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Left to go and finish the school floor.

12:00 Finished fixing the floor, and I took the guys back to the farm.

13:00 Went to Ladysmith to Waltons to go and sign a invoice and to get some groceries

15:30 Got home and fetched the guys working on the fence.

16:30 Home.

31st March - 4th April 2008

2008-04-07T07:54:00.001-07:00

31/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18°C
Max temp: 25°C
Rainfall: 40mm

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Colenso to get airtime for my cell to buy Data bundle for internet

09:30 Went up to the giraffe carcass to see what’s happening there; the jackal are starting to
feed on it some more, but it still got a lot of meat on.

11:00 Went to the ryefield to check on the Waterbuck, saw 14 there, they seem to like it there
and we see them pretty much everyday. The calves are starting to put on some weight and are looking much bigger. They seem to get use to the vehicle now and don’t run away like they use to. Between the Waterbuck, Zebra and Impala, they are mowing that Ryefield to the ground.

13:00 Went up to the lodge with the builders to put in the down pipe fro the gutters.

14:30 Michael and I went to the main gate to put some cochineal on prickly pears that is starting to grow all along the main road.

15:50 As we drove back we made quick detour to check the ryefield again for the Waterbuck, saw 9 at first, but as we came closer 5 more stood up from where they were lying, so all 14 I saw in the morning were still there. We started with 13 Waterbuck and lost one. From there it increased by 5, now we have 17

16:30 Home.

01/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18°C
Max temp: 25°C

06:45 Diesel truck arrived to deliver diesel

07:30 Report

08:30 Took Michael and the 2 new game guards to Vertrek

09:30 Got everything ready to go and weld angle irons onto the rhino fence

11:45 Finished welding the angle irons onto fence

12:00 Got home, started cutting rods to weld onto fence so that we can put the cable up

13:20 Went to rhino fence at ryefield to weld on support rods for the cable

16:15 Finished welding on rods

16:30 Home.

02/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17°C
Max temp: 24°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went to Ladysmith to get sand and stone for the school floor, and to get cement

12:30 Went to check for faults on electric fence, found 2 faults

15:00 Got a puncture on the left front tyre of the AFTW Vehicle, a piece of wire punctured the tyre

15:30 Got home and took the tire of, replacing it with the spare.

15:45 Mandla showed up and I helped him with his weekly report

16:30 Finished

03/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went with Michael and one of the new guards to the back of the mountain to clear roads, while we were back there we saw 2 Hartebeest and 5 Kudus

12:30 Got home, walked into the garden to find a herd of Impalas and 6 Zebras on the lawn, grazing. The Zebra are getting use to the surroundings and are not afraid anymore. Saw one baby Impala without a mother, will keep an eye on him.

13:30 Went to check on the cochineal I put on the prickly pears all over the reserve, the insects are spreading nicely over the leaves.

15:00 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain to check on the giraffe carcass, the jaw bone have been eaten and part of the chest, but there is still a lot of giraffe left.

15:45 Saw 2 vultures flying over mount sully, so I went up to the mountain to see if I can get a better view of them, they circled a few times and then were of.

16:00 I got home to see if I can find the baby Impala without it’s mother, I saw him with the same herd, he is still very young and was one of the very late lambs born. Luckily he keeps to the group of Impala’s, but I fear he will need to drink soon,he/she still looks strong so hopefully he/she will survive the night.

16:30 Home.

04/04/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Went up the mountain to check on the Blesbok, 14 and all 7 young ones.

10:00 Went to Geluk to see if I can find the Blue Wildebeest, could not find them, saw2 warthogs and that was it.

12:00 Got a call that they are delivering the sand and stone I ordered for the school floor, went to the school to make sure they delivered the exact amount, and to take pictures of the repaired classroom.

14:00 Got home to send the pictures and load them onto the computer.

15:00 Went up the mountain with Mike to fetch the staff working on the electric fence.

16:30 Home.

17th - 20th March 2008

2008-03-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

17/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Cloudy
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 18°C
Rainfall: 33mm

07:30 Reports

08:00 Load shedding from Eskom

08:10 Went up to the lodge to see if everything was still fine there.

09:20 Went to ryefield, saw 11 Waterbuck standing just on the edge of the field in the long grass. The male was with them.

09:30 Went to the 2 ponds near the main gate, saw 3 x Warthogs and a family of Yellow billed ducks. Have not seen the White Faced Ducks there for a while now.

10:10 As I drove back I saw a group of Bachelor Impala, it looks like the Impala is starting to form their different territories now, which means rutting season is starting.

11:00 Went to tugela river and I saw 4 Mountain Reedbuck on the side of the hill. The tugela river is flowing strongly now after all the rain this weekend.

12:05 Drove up to the pond at the foot of the mountain, saw a big Kudu bull on the way, browsing on a Acacia Karoo.

12:20 Near the pond on the side of the hill I saw 2 more Mountain Reedbuck. They were probably coming down to have a drink. Mountain Reedbuck always stay close to water.

12:30 Drove to the back where I put the cochineal on the prickly pears to see how things are progressing, the cochineal are spreading nicely all over the leaves. Hopefully in a few weeks they would have spread all over the plant

13:20 I took a walk around the area and I saw that some of the prickly pears already have some cochineal growing on them, which is a good sign that the plants are being targeted by cochineal.

14:35 As I drove back I saw that the Mountain Reedbuck have moved from their original location, where they were joined by two other.

15:00 Got home and helped Mandla and Michael with their reports and we had a meeting on how their training went. They have some nice ideas and proposals that we can implement here on UmPhafa, not just for monitoring the rhino but also for the rest of the game.

16:30 Finished the meeting and will submit their report on Wednesday.

18/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Cloudy
Min temp: 15°C
Max temp: 18°C
Rainfall: 7mm

06:45 Pick up staff at Farm Market because Mike took his vehicle for a service

07:30 Took staff to fence to continue to put up electric fence

08:30 Got back to the office to do reports and e-mails.

11:20 Went to the back to put cochineal on 2 more prickly pears, forgot to take the GPS with, but will take coordinates tomorrow.

13:20 Contacted FGSA about the one book that they still owe us, they will come back to me.

13:45 Worked in the office for the rest of the time going over fact files and photo’s.

15:45 Went to pick up staff at the fence.

16:30 Took staff to farm market

17:30 Home.

19/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 16°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Reports with Michael and Mandla

08:00 Load shedding from Telkom

08:10 Took Mandla and the two new guards to Geluk

10:00 Went to lodge to check if everything was still fine. Went to the dam near the lodge to see the water level- level has risen after all the rain we had so far. Saw lots of tracks their ( Mountain Reedbuck, Impala, Kudu, Giraffe and Jackal, Zebra)

12:00 Went to the back to walk around and see if I can find historical sites and graves, so far did not find any, but I will continue to look for them and take pictures and GPR locations.

13:45 Came back to the house to do some office work. Worked on the fact files and brought the bird sheet up to date.

14:40 Helped Michael with his report on Weenen Game Reserve and the Rhino training

15:40 Went to switch on the electric fence, so that we can see if there is any faults on the fence we put up so far.

16:30 Home.

20/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 16°C
Max temp: 25°C

07:30 Reports

08:00 Went up the mountain with Mike to drop the staff at the fence to continue fencing.

10:00 Got back down from the mountain

10:10 Got a call from Michael the head game guard that one of the female Giraffes is lying on her side and cant stand up. She was lying on a hill near the pond at the foot of the mountain.

10:20 Got there, then I saw it was Speedy, the giraffe without horns. We kept her head up and kept her cool with water while we waited for more people to help us put on her in a upright position I gave her some stressnil to keep her calm, but she just could not hold on, she was too weak. She died just as the people arrived.

12:45 We examined her and found nothing unusual, other than a bleeding nose and mouth, we suspect that she must have slipped on the rocks or got a fright and started running and then slipped and fell then hit her head on the ground or a rock. Giraffes are prone to broken legs and head injuries due to falling over rocks or slipping on wet soil.

14:00 We left her there and will monitor the carcass to see what scavengers and carrion eaters it will attract.

15:05 Left to go and pick up the staff on top of the mountain.

16:30 Took staff to Farm Market

17:20 Home.

Weekly Report 10th - 14th March 2008

2008-03-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

10/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 21°C
Max temp: 32°C

06:45 Left to pick up staff

07:45 Took staff to the fence to put up electrics.

09:00 On the way back I found a Prickly Pear with the cochineal insect that was not put on by us. That means there are some of the cochineal already on the farm.

10:30 Came back to the office to do e-mails and paper work.

14:00 M+R builders came to fix the roof, we had a meeting and a final look at what must be done.

14:45 Took them up to the lodge to get a quote on fixing bedroom 2 bathroom roof.

15:30 Went to open the gate fro them and on the way I saw 7 x Waterbuck standing on the ryefield, 1 male, 4 females and 2 babies.

16:00 Went to look for more locations to release the cochineal.

16:30 Went to one of the neighboring farms to pick up a small Woodland Dormouse, so that we can release it on the farm. They found it in one of the mattresses of one of their lodges.

17:35 Home.

11/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 30°C

07:30 Report and e-mail

08:30 Did fact file till 09:45

09:45 Barry came to erect the mast for the radio, helped him get sorted to go up the mountain.

10:30 The builders from M+R Builders came, went over everything, and they got started on fixing the roof.

12:00 Fetched the tractor and water cart from Geluk to take water up to the site where the tower for the radios are to mix cement.

12:45 Left to take water up the mountain, halfway up I got stuck with the tractor and water cart. The tractor couldn’t get a grip on the loose soil halfway up and started to slide backwards. I had to turn to avoid going over the edge; luckily it jackknifed at came to a halt.

13:55 Mike showed up and he got the tractor down, it took till 15:30 to get it down, then he left to go to check on fencing progress.

16:00 Drove back with tractor after we unhitched the water cart. Came to house check on progress roof, they stripped the roof are busy replacing all the rotten wood over the washing room.

12/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 21°C
Max temp: 31°C
Rainfall: 3½mm

06:45 Left for Ladysmith to get the AFTW Vehicle’s central locking fixed.

10:15 Got back home, let the builders in to carry on fixing the roof.

11:00 Went up to the mountain to check on progress putting up the tower.

12:00 Took photo’s of the building process. Came back down to fetch cement and sand.

13:00 Spent the rest of the day up the mountain helping mixing cement and laying the foundation of the tower.

18:00 Finished laying foundation, now we have to wait 8-9 days for cement to set and dry before putting up the mast.

18:45 Took Game guards back to town.

19:30 Home.

13/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Cloudy
Min temp: 21°C
Max temp: 24°C
Rainfall: 3mm

07:30 Did report – Started to rain.

09:00 Took staff to fence to carry on putting on the electric fence

10:00 Went up the mountain to fetch the tractor and trailer and water cart.

12:00 Back down from mountain.

12:30 – 16:30 Office – Worked on the fact file for the rest of the day because it started to rain.

14/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Cloudy
Min temp: 19°C
Max temp: 23°C

07:30 Reports

08:30 Went to the back o look for prickly pears and to see how the cochineal is doing on those the prickly pears.

09:30 Got to the plants, cochineal is spreading nicely.

10:30 Walked around the area for a bit, saw some other prickly pears with cochineal on them, which means there are cochineal there already attacking the pears.

11:30 Drove to the Ryefield to check on animals like Zebra and Impala and Waterbuck, couldn’t see any of them as it was cloudy and cold. They probably took shelter under the trees and bushes.

12:15 Saw a Martial Eagle in the sky above the ryefield.

13:25 Drove to fence to see how the fencing was progressing.

14:00 Left for Weenan to go pick up Michael and Mandla

15:00 Got them at the Office of Weenan Game Reserve, they were very happy to have gone there and have learned so much during their stay.

16:00 Dropped them in Colenso.

16:30 Picked staff up at farm and took them to Farm Market.

17:30 Home.

6th to 7th March 2008

2008-03-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

06/03/2008
Weather: Cloudy
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 34°C
Rainfall: 22mm

07:30 Reports and office work

11:00 Off load all the tools and equipment I got from Pretoria

12:00 Meeting with Ryan Brudvig in connection with the Bio Control on Prickly pears and Lantan

13:30 Followed up on the repairing of the Elworthy house. Will start Monday.

14:00 Went to help Mike with the electric fence.

16:30 Took staff back

16:45 Between Geluk and Cloustens near Tugela river I saw a group of Vervet Monkeys in the road, and as fate will have it I left the camera at home. Have not seen them in a while, it was a bit dry and warm these couple of weeks, they must be getting more food and water at the river, so I think I will see them more often near the Tugela river.

17:15 Home.

06/03/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Cloudy/Sunny
Min temp: 21°C
Max temp: 34°C

07:45 Took staff to the back of Mount Sully where they continue to put up the electrics for the fence.

08:55 Along the way I identified a few spots where the Prickly Pears are so that I can release the Cochineal bugs on them.

09:30 Got to the office and worked on the animal fact file and did yesterdays Report.

11:30 Left to go look for the monkeys and take some photos and GPS locations.

13:00 Went to the back where they are fencing, going up the mountain to the places where I found some Prickly Pears earlier, so that I can release the cochineal insects on them. Put the cochineal on 2 separate plants that I will be monitoring for the weeks to come.(S28°43.235-E29°39.222)

16:30 Home.

Weekly Reports 18th - 22nd February 2008

2008-02-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

18/02/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 19°C
Max temp: 32°C

07:30 Report

08:30 Welding rhino fence at N3 side, along Tugela river.

13:10 Did E-mails and photos on computer.

14:45 Went to ryefield, saw 25 Impala rams, 2 Blesbok, 21 Zebras.

15:10 Went to the ponds at the main gate, saw a mother Warthog with 2 very small babies.

15:35 Drove to the pond at the foot of the mountain where I saw another sounder of Warthogs, 1 mother with 4 babies, I also saw a lone Impala ram not far from them.

16:00 Went up to the lodge to check on things, on the way I saw 6 Giraffes at the pond near the lodge, and a group of Impala ewe’s with lambs.

16:30 Home.

19/02/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny/overcast
Min temp: 22°C
Max temp: 33°C
Rainfall: 1½ mm

07:30 Report

08:30 3 x Zebras on the road leading to mountain (S28°43.989 – E29°40.776)

08:35 6 x Zebras and a group of Impala ewes with lambs also on the road that leads up to mountain (S28°43.801 – E29°40.601)

08:40 1 x Common Duiker on road to mountain (S28°43.602 – E29°40.462)

09:10 2 x Mountain Reedbuck and 2 x Blesbok at pond 9 on top of the mountain
(S28°42.487 – E29°40.465)

09:50 Went to the other side of the mountain to see if I can spot the rest of the Blesbok, saw the Blesbok, but they were far away and in very tall grass.

11:00 Got home, help Ed offload the office furniture.

12:30 Went to pond at foot of mountain to see if there might be some animals, nothing

13:00 Did computer work, e-mails and sorting photo’s

14:25 Went to Ryefield to see what animals are grazing there, just when I got there it started to rain and all the Blesbok, Impalas and Zebras moved to the shelter of the bush, then I saw 8 x Kudus among them in between the trees.

15:15 Went to Lodge, saw 8 Giraffes at the pond near the lodge. Walked around lodge to see if everything is still fine, checked inside, the bathroom roof of bedroom 2 got some water damage.

16:00 Home

20/02/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22°C
Max temp: 30°C

07:30 Did Report

08:00 Took a drive around the farm, taking photos of birds and identifying them

09:30 While taking photos I saw all 15 Giraffes near the house, Vera was standing next to the house fence chewing on bones.

11:00 Went with Mike to Weenan Game Reserve to talk to Abe the head ranger of Weenan
Game Reserve about the training for Michael and Mandla involving Rhino Monitoring.

15:30 Went to pick up staff with Mike at back end of farm near the N3 Highway

16:30 Home.

21/02/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22°C
Max temp: 30°C

07:30 Drop Michael and Mandla of at Cloustens

08:20 Did Report

09:00 Went to the school for a meeting with Cindy the headmistress

10:00 Went to Ladysmith to pick up wire rope clamps and cutter bar oil for chain saw

12:25 Send some e-mails and then went out to take some photos of different animal
species.

13:40 Saw 6 Waterbuck, 5 females and 1 baby (S28°44.504 – E29°41.368)

14:30 At the ryefield I saw 13 Giraffes, 28 Zebra, 3 Blesbok, group of bachelor Impala and a big group of Impala ewes with lambs.

15:00 Back at office sorting photos

16:00 Went with Mike to pick up the staff

16:45 Home.

22/02/2008

Time Area and details of animal Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22°C
Max temp: 30C

06:45 Took AFTW Vehicle to Ladysmith for service

13:30 Took staff to N3 highway to electrify fence after they cleared a way at Tugela
river for rhino fence.

14:30 At office trying to send e-mails

16:00 Fetch staff at N3 highway

16:30 Took staff home.

17:00 Home.

Weekly Reports 11 - 15th February 2008

2008-02-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

11/02/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 21°
Max temp: 29°C

Weekend Rainfall:3½mm

07:30 Did report

08:00 Took sprayers to Cloustan’s fence to spray.

09:00 Went to Ladysmith to get cement for fence.

12:00 Got home, did e-mails

13:30 Went to do some welding on the rhino fence till 15:30

15:30 Went to fetch sprayers at fence.

16:30 Back home.

12/02/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 28°C

07:30 Did report and got sprayers ready for spraying.

08:00 Took sprayers to Geluk Fence to spray.

08:15 On the way saw 5 Waterbucks (2 females, 3 babies) near Ryefield.

09:30 Saw 5 Giraffes at the stream leading to Tugela River.

09:50 Got to the ryefield, saw 15 Zebras, group of Bachelor Impala, group of impala ewes with young.

10:00 Just as I got to the road from the ryefield, I saw a swarm of honey bees making their way towards the mountain.

10:20 At the 2 ponds near the main gate I saw the 2 White-faced Ducks with their 6 ducklings. Their also were 3 Kudus in the bushes near by.

11:30 Got to the pond at the foot of the mountain to see if that Waterbuck female was there that I saw on numerous occasions there. She was not, only a flock of Weaver birds.

12:10 Left the dam to go to the top of the mountain.

12:30 Saw 25 Zebras, could only see 2 foals.

13:00 Went to weld the support beams on, on the corner posts for the rhino fence at ryefield next to the river.

15:30 Finished welding.

15:40 Dropped of the welding equipment to go and fetch the sprayers at Geluk fence line.

16:30 Back home.

13/02/2008

Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 26°C

07:30 Did Report

08:00 Trouble starting the truck, had to recharge battery and give it a jump start.

09:00 Took Michael to Geluk to patrol the fence and check on the animals.

10:30 Went with Mike to drop reinforcing pipes for the Rhino fence corner posts to be able to support the cable.

11:30 Started to weld a frame for the cable, to make it easier and faster to pull the cable.

15:45 Finished the frame, went to pick up staff at the N3 fence line.

16:30 Took staff home.

17:00 Back home.

14/02/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 21
Max temp: 28°C

07:45 Took staff to N3 fence line to put up electric fencing.

10:10 Saw 5 Giraffes in the road going to the ryefield.

10:15 Saw 5 Waterbuck, 2 Females with 3 Babies next to Ryefield ( S28°44.544 – E29°41.560)

10:20 Saw 21 Zebras, 3 Blesbok, 26 Impala rams, 41 Impala ewes with babies and Waterbuck baby standing with the Impala’s.

10:45 2 x Kudu calves at the 2 ponds near the main gate.

11:00 On my way back I saw 3 of the baby Giraffes standing next to the road near the Ryefield with 13 Zebras standing near them.

12:00 Sorted photos out of animals I photographed.

14:00 Meeting

15:00 Went to pond at the foot of the mountain, saw nothing there.

15:35 Drove up to lodge, saw 2 Mountain Reedbuck, 1 Female with a baby (S28°44.581 E29°40.880)

15:55 Arrived at lodge, saw nothing there.

16:00 Went to ryefield again with Michael and Mandla to show them the waterbuck Baby, couldn’t find it, only saw the mother looking for it.

16:30 Home.

14/02/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22°C
Max temp: 31°C

06:45 – 16:00
Took AFTW Vehicle for service, spend the whole day in Ladysmith waiting for the vehicle.

16:30 Home.

Weekly Report 4th - 8th February 2008

2008-02-13T02:15:00.000-08:00

04/02/200
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 19°C
Max temp: 24°C
WeekendRainfall: 5mm

07:30 Did report and emails.

08:00 Power cut from Eskom. Dropped sprayers at back of mountain for fence.

10:00 Took a hike towards mountain. Turned towards the dam at the base of the mountain, where I made a horrible discovery. I found Squirt in the grass. It seems that the Jackals had gotten to him the previous night.

10:30 Hannes went with Mike to help with the Rhino fence.

13:00 Came back and worked on the fact file and photos.

15:00 Went to pick up the sprayers from the back at the fence.

16:00 Back home.

05/02/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 24°C

07:30 Getting everything ready for fencing.

08:00 Drove towards mountain.

09:40 Saw the 4 baby Giraffes on the way to mountain (S28°43.867 – E29°40.684 )

10:00 Saw 1 lone Kudu Bull just as I got to the top of UmPhafa Mountain (S28°43.006 - E29°40.140 )

10:20 Saw only 1 Blesbok male at the top of the mountain near pond 9 (S28°42.487 - E29°40.465 )

11:00 Saw 1 lone Kudu cow on my way back from mountain (S28°43.796 – E 29°40.465 )

13:30 Went to help with the fencing till 15:00

16:00 Released an African Rock Python that we got from a local farmer. He caught the snake in his chicken pen eating his chickens. The snake is about 3m long, a bit bigger than the first one we released. We released it at the same spot as the first one. (S28°44.331 – E29°39.205 )

06/02/2008

Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 25°C
Rainfall: 3mm

07:30 Did report

10:00 Went to Winterton to pick up Chemicals for the spraying of the fence. Arrived back home at 12:30.

13:30 Went to Geluk to check on all the dams and their water level. Saw nothing on the way, only a European Roller on the power line. The dams looked good and almost full on Geluk.

15:20 Went to the pond at the foot of the mountain, saw 2 Common Reedbuck on the way.

16:00 At the pond I saw 1 Female Waterbuck.

16:30 Back home.

07/02/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 19°C
Max temp: 28°C

07:30 Got everything ready for sprayers to go and spray at Cloustan’s fence

08:00 Took sprayers away to go and spray at Cloustan’s fence line.

10:20 Went to dam at foot of mountain, saw the same Waterbuck female as the previous day (S28°43.721 – E29°41.024)

11:00 Drove to ryefield, saw 18 Impala males, ± 40 Impala females with lambs, 15 Zebras and 1 Warthog male on the ryefield (S28°44.555 – E29°41.808 )

11:20 Just as I made my way to the main road from the ryefield 8 Kudus ran across the field, 7 females and 1 young male.

11:45 Went to check on the lodge, everything is fine there. On my way back I heard 2 Black-eyed Bulbuls making a big noise, when I stopped to investigate the problem, I saw one of their new born chicks fell out of the nest. Went back home to fetch a ladder, to put the little bird back nest.

12:10 Put the little bird back in his nest.

13:10 Went to Ladysmith to get washing machine part.

15:45 Went to pick up sprayers at Cloustan’s fence line.

16:30 Back home

07/02/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 20°C
Max temp: 31°C

07:30 Report

08:00 Took sprayers to Cloustan’s fence line.

09:00 Welding Rhino fence.

11:00 Pick up staff, started to rain.

12:40 Took staff back to N3, to continue fencing.

13:55 Went with Mike to test electric fence to see if there is any fault on the line along the Tugela river. Saw a Pygmy Kingfisher sitting on fence.

15:30 Went to pick up sprayers at Cloustan’s fence.

15:45 On the way saw 2 White-Faced Ducks with 5 ducklings at the 2 ponds at the main gate.

16:30 Back home

Weekly Report 21st - 25th January 2008

2008-02-02T03:18:00.000-08:00

21/01/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 28*C
Weekend rainfall: 7mm

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him out.

Spend the day testing and working the GPS and getting coordinates for
Gevonden logged on the GPS.

22/01/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 29*C

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him out. (40days here)

07:30 Did reports and emails

08:00 Went to check on lodge and do some cleaning. Impala crèche at the lodge as well as the 3 Blesbok.

10:00 Saw a Mountain Reedbuck ewe and lamb on the way back from the lodge.

11:00 KZN Wildlife (Waldo) here for the check on the Rhino fence.

Eskom Load shedding power cut: 8pm-10pm

23/01/2008

Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22*C
Max temp: 29*C

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him outside.

07:30 Did yesterdays report.

08:00 We have received a Rock Python from KZN Wildlife, which we released at the back of UmPhafa, near the 1st dam (S 28º44.331, E 029º39.205) N3 side. The release went smooth and we have spotted loads of Hyrax in the area.

09:10 We headed up towards the mountain from the back. Spotted 1 x Kudu bull back near the 4th dam.

09:20 We drove towards the mountain logging some more spots, especially the dams along the way.

09:35 Saw another Kudu bull on the way up the mountain.

10:00 On the road back from the top of the mountain heading towards the farm house a group of Zebra, we managed to spot a foal there as well and also some bachelor Impala

10:15 Near the Donga the rest of the Zebra group (6), and an Impala crèche.

11:05 3 x Kudu near the Tugela on the road.

11:15 8 x Kudu Bulls at the Big Stream leading towards the Tugela near the main road.

11:20 Helped a bit on the Rhino fence.

13:15 Headed to the top of the mountain to log the dams on the GPS.

14:25 While logging the dams, found a Mountain Reedbuck male dead in the water. We removed it and brought it down for closer inspection.

15:30 It seems that the Reedbuck was chased into the water, but we are not sure by what. It has bite marks on and claw marks. Some wounds on the underbelly. It seemed to have drowned in the water. Terrapins ate the tongue. Must have happened the night before. Will go out tomorrow morning for an inspection of the area to see if people might have been involved with dogs. (S 28º42.490, E029º40.670)

Eskom Load shedding power cut: 5am-6am
10am-12am
4pm-6pm

24/01/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22*C
Max temp: 29*C

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him outside.

07:30 Headed up the mountain to have a look at where we found the Mountain Reedbuck in the water. We could only find some Caracal tracks and jackal tracks, no people. We think it was a caracal that chased it into the water.

09:00 3 x Blesbok and a Zebra group on the top left hand side of the mountain. We could not see the rest of the Blesbok on top.

10:00 Took GPS locations for the dams (S28º44.008, E029º40.812)

10:30 2 x Male Giraffes and a female that looked to be in heat near the big stream leading to the Tugela. (S28º44.373, E029º41.323)

10:40 7x Giraffes near the Ryefield, (S28º44.394, E029º41.668)

11:00 At the Ryefield 9 x Impala rams (S28º44.555, E029º41.808) As well as 3 x Blesbok rams

11:15 Took GPS location of the loading ramp (W28º44.306, E029º41.727)

11:45 Near the 2 ponds at the main gate, 3 x Kudu,2 x Whitefaced Ducks and 2 x Red billed Ducks. (S28º44.320, E029º42.095)

11:50 Main gate 2 x Kudu cows (S28º44.326, E029º42.232)

12:45 Near the stream leading to the Tugela saw 6x Zebra. (S28º44.373, E029º41.323)

13:00 3 x Zebra near the pond at the lodge. (S28º44.450, E029º40.795)

13:05 Marked the road at the back on GPS.

13:05 3 x Impala rams on the way towards the back via the lodge (S28º44.374 E029º39.959)

13:30 Took a GPS of the dam near the N3 (S28º44.443, E029º39.283)

13:45 Took GPS of the 2nd dam near the back (S28º44.260, E029º39.110)

14:00 Took GPS of the 3rd dam near the back (S28º43.861, E029º38.881)

14:45 Headed back, had a short meeting with Mike.

15:40 Went to pick up sprayers from the fence.

Eskom Load shedding power cut: 6:20am-8am
2pm-4pm

25/01/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 21*C
Max temp: 31*C

06:30 Fed Squirt, took him out.

07:30 Did yesterday’s report.

08:30 Headed out into the field to take some photo’s. Headed towards the mountain and down the big stream towards the Tugela. Saw a group of Impalas in the big stream on the way towards the main road.

08:50 At the dam near the base of the mountain (S28º43.721, E29º41.024) 2 x African
Black Ducks

09:00 3 x Kudu Bulls on the road back from the dam, (S28º44.084, E29º41.059)

09:05 At the 2 dams near the house, (S28º44.379, E29º41.117) 2 x Blesbok

09:10 6 x Zebras at the 2 dams near the house. (S28º44.436, E29º41.149)

09:20 At the Ryefield, (S28º44.555, E29º41.808) 14 x Impala rams.

09:45 2 x Mountain Reedbuck with a lamb (1xmale, 1 x female) on the road towards the valley at the back. (S28º44.349, E29º40.592)

10:00 2 x juv. Kudu bulls at the back valley, (S28º44.149, E29º39.713)

11:20 17 Zebras on the road towards the mountain. (S28º43.733, E29º40.553)

11:40 9 x Kudu bulls at the top left hand side of the mountain at pond nr 6. (S28º43.400, E29º39.848)

11:50 Top of the mountain 2 more Kudu bulls (S28º43.031, E29º40.131)

12:00 White-throated Swallow at the top of the mountain (S28º42.541, E29º40.378)

12:00 Top of the mountain 1 x Blesbok. (S28º42.541, E29º40.278)

12:05 14 x Blesbok with all 7 lambs still there at the top of the mountain. (S28º42.656, E29º40.670)

12:50 At the dam near the N3 at the back of the mountain.3 x Kudu cows (2 juv) (S28º43.380, E29º38.922)

12:55 At the fence by the N3 1 x Kudu bull (S28º43.769, E29º38.842)

13:30 1 x Hartebeest at the back valley. (S28º44.379, E29º39.975)

14:30 Fetched the game guards from Geluk so we can start on the training for the reports on the PC.

15:20-16:30 Did training with Michael and Mandla on the computer so they can type
up their own reports and report to AFTW directly.

Weekly Report 14th - 18th January 2008

2008-01-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

14/01/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 20*C
Max temp: 29*C
Weekend rainfall: 25mm

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him out.

07:30 Did report and emails.

08:00 Took sprayers to spray fence line leading from main gate to top of mountain.

09:30 Headed for the dam at the base of the mountain. Roads still wet from rain.

09:50 1 x Water Monitor at the dam.

10:00 Went to the lodge for a check up.

10:05 1 x Zebra stallion along the road back from the dam.

10:20 Nothing on the way to the lodge, all fine there.

10:35 On the way back from the lodge, saw a Common Reedbuck ewe.

11:20 On the road to the Ryefield 3 x Waterbuck and a lamb.

11:25 3 x Blesbok on the Ryefield (Bes, Les, Sean)

11:35 At the 2 ponds near the main gate a Spurwinged goose, 1x Hammerkop,
2 x Yellowbilled ducks and a Yelloweyed Canary.

13:00 Did some fact file on the trees.

14:15 On the main road, 2 x Kudu cows, 1 Waterbuck ewe, group of Impalas with 12 lambs.

14:20 Big stream leading to the Tugela, 2 x Dikkop (looks like a breeding pair).

14:30 Had some people here to have a look at the roof and quote us for the repair.

15:45 Went to fetch the sprayers from the fence.

16:15 Saw a baby Puff adder in the road, about 15cm long.

15/01/2008

Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 22*C
Max temp: 32*C
Rainfall: 55mm

Had a really heavy thunderstorm the previous night with lots of rain.

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him out.

07:30 Did report

08:00 Took sprayers to Vertrek to spray, too wet to go up mountain.

09:00 Got everything ready at the lodge.

10:00 Went and looked how the things were done at the electric fencing at the main gate

13:45 Went to get the sprayers at Vertrek.

16:45 Filled the AFTW vehicle with diesel and had it washed.

16/01/2008

Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 23*C
Max temp: 32*C
Rainfall: 3mm

Went to fetch Anthony from the airport and pick up some things at Pietermaritzburg for the electric fence.

17/01/2008

Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 21*C
Max temp: 32*C
Rainfall: 32mm

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him out.

Had meetings today with Anthony and Hans, in connection with the Rhino.

18/01/2008

Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 17*C
Max temp: 30*C
Rainfall: 2mm

06:30 Took Squirt out and fed him.

Took Hans and Jana out around Elworthy. Had some meetings with Anthony.

Weekly Report 7th January - 11th January 2008

2008-01-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

07/01/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 20*C
Max temp: 32*C
Weekend rainfall: 38mm

06:30 Fed Squirt

07:30 Did report and emails

08:30 Headed for the lodge for a check up after the weekend. Saw 2 x Kudu cows and a calf on on the way up.

11:20 Headed towards the big dip at the back from the lodge. Got some photos.

11:40 Headed for the Ryefield. Lone bachelor Impala on the Ryefield.

12:15 Went back home to try and sort the ordering of books from FGASA.

13:45 Took a quick hike to the dam at the base of the mountain. Saw some Zebras on the way there, but nothing at the dam.

14:30 Came back home and worked on FGASA some more.

16:30 Got some things sorted and will continue tomorrow.

HANNES DAY

08:00 Greased TLB for work.

08:30 Left for Geluk to take out alien trees for practice with TLB.

12:30 Lunch

13:15 Cleaned up the trees taken out by TLB.

14:20 Went to dig up shale for roads with the TLB

16:15 Back home.

08/01/2008
Weather: overcast
Min temp: 17*C
Max temp: 24*C

06:30 Fed Squirt.

07:30 Did report

08:00 Took the guys to the back near the N3 for spraying.

08:40 Headed for the lodge and Ryefield for a check up.

10:00 Got back and fed lamb. Got some things sorted for the books from FGASA

11:00 A local farmer brought a wildebeest calf in. She was apparently trapped in a dam.
She had some water in her ears and we think in her lungs. Also a bad wound o
Her gums at the two front lower teeth. She was not taking any milk and seemed a
bit unstable on her legs. I spent the next 2 days looking after her and trying to get
some milk into her. She only had about 200ml in the end. By Wednesday
morning she was unable to stand without support and unfortunately at about
15:00 she collapsed and died. The stress and injuries was too much for her.

HANNES DAY

07:30 Took TLB to dig up shale for fixing loading ramp and to load tractor with shale.

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Getting more shale to fix the loading ramp with.

16:15 Back home

09/01/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 14*C
Max temp: 21*C

Looking after Squirt and the Wildebeest Calf that unfortunately did not survive.

HANNES DAY

08:00 Took the sprayers to the back of the mountain near the N3 to spray fence.

10:00 Did some grass ID – Ratstail Dropseed
- Common Bristle Grass
- Eragrostis (Broad) curly leaf.
- Iron Grass
- Pintail Grass
- Signal Grass
- Saw-toothed love Grass
- Turpentine Grass

14:00 3 x Kudus and a group of Impalas near the gate. They have been around for
about 2 days now.

15:00 Went to fetch the sprayers

16:20 Back home.

10/01/2008
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15*C
Max temp: 24*C

06:30 Fed Squirt.

07:30 Did the last 2 days reports.

08:00 Spent the day doing the fact file on insects and trying to id some new ones.

11/01/2008
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 27*C

06:30 Fed Squirt

07:30 Did report

08:00 Also worked on the fact file most of the day.

08:00 Took sprayers to the top of the mountain.

08:30 Halfway there – group of zebras with 5 foals.
- group of bachelor Impalas. 3 x Blesbok (Les, Bes and Sean)

08:45 Top of the mountain 8 x Kudu bulls, 3 x cows and 15 Blesbok with the 7 lambs.

09:00 Headed back down.

09:05 Pintailed Whydah cross indigo bird hybrid male.

09:30 At the 2 ponds near the main gate – 2 x Yellowbilled ducks and 2 x Hammerkops.

10:30 Big stream leading to Tugela, took a hike down towards river.

11:00 2 x African black ducks at Tugela.

12:20 Cape Vultures over the Ryefield.

13:30 Left for the dam at the base of the mountain.

13:50 Nothing at the dam except Cape Weavers, Red Bishops, Pintailed Whydah and thickbilled weavers.

14:05 At the lodge there were 9 x Giraffes and a group of Impalas.

14:20 Back valley near the lodge – 5 x Hartebeest, a group of Impalas and 1 x
Kudu bull

14:30 Near the N3 at the back, 7 Impala rams and 2 Kudu cows

14:40 7 x Kudu (5 cows, 2 bulls) near the Tugela.

14:45 Along the Tugela on the mountain side, 3 x Mountain Reedbuck.

15:30 Went to Estcourt to fetch the lawnmower.

17:00 Back home.

31st Decebmer - 4th January 2008

2008-01-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

31/12/2007

Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 16*C
Max temp: 32*C

06:30 Fed Squirt.

07:30 Did report.

10:00 Took a drive around Gevonden for a check up. Headed to mountain and down towards the back, round and along the Tugela.

10:15 6 x Zebras near the donga on the way to the mountain.

11:00 Top left hand side of the mountain. Saw the Blesbok. All 7 lambs still fine.

11:35 Went down to the back of the mountain. Did not see anything on the way down.

12:30 7 x Kudu bulls near the 3rd dam at the back and 1 x cow.

13:00 Near the N3 close to the Tugela there was a bachelor group Impalas and a lone Kudu Bull.

13:35 Headed to the lodge for a check up. All ok. Saw Impala crèche near the lodge.

14:00 Headed back and did some fact file.

02/01/2008
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 17*C
Max temp: 35*C

06:30 Fed Squirt.

07:30 Did report and emails

08:30 Went to Ladysmith to get the Landcruiser's new number plates Michael saw the following today: 16 x adult Blesbok, 7 lambs : 12 x Hartebeest, 2 lambs. Did not see any zebra foals today.

14:00 - 16:00 Tried to sort out something for the internet. Did some insect id in between

03/01/2008
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 18*C
Max temp: 32*C

06:30 Fed Squirt

07:30 Did report.

08:00 Headed to Geluk for a look around. 4 x Bachelor Impalas near the big stream.

08:10 Saw 8 of the Giraffes (adults) near the turn off to the Ryefield.

08:15 There was an Impala crèche on the Ryefield. The lambs were lying down so I could not count them.

09:00 Headed to the lodge on Geluk. There were only some red-knobbed coots on the dam.

10:35 Back on Gevonden, saw the Giraffe calves near the big stream on the house side as well as 4 x Waterbuck (1 male, 4 x female)

12:30 Headed to the lodge for a check up. All looked ok.

13:00 Took a hike towards the mountain and took Squirt with me.

14:15 6 X Zebras about halfway to the mountain.

14:35 Another group of Zebras near the mountain.

15:30 Headed back to the house.

04/01/2008
Weather : Overcast with some rain.
Min temp :15*C
Max temp : 32*C
Rainfall :16mm

06:30 Fed Squirt

07:30 Loaded some tyres that need to go back to supplier (landcruiser)

08:00 Did yesterday's report.

09:00 Roads still wet from previous night's rain, have to wait till they dry out more. Worked on the insect fact file most of the day.

12:30 Group of 8 Zebras near the Ryefield. Impala crèche opposite the road.

14:20 4 x Waterbuck near the dams close to the house and a big Impala group (crèche and bachelors)

15:00 Headed for the lodge for a check up. All seem ok.

Weekly Report 24th - 28th December 2007

2008-01-02T10:40:00.001-08:00

24/12/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17*C
Max temp: 25*C

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him outside. He was very playful today. He is also on the normal strength milk solution.

07:30 Did report.

08:00 Tried taking some photos of insects and to ID them.

10:30 Found a Lesser Striped swallow chick on the ground and stuck it back in the nest. About half an hour later Hannes found another chick outside the nest and we put it back again. The third time it happened I took the chick in. About an hour later we found another chick out of the nest and kept it out as well. By this time I had realised that a Sparrow was attacking the chicks in the nest and throwing them out. I found the 3rd chick half an hour later. 2 of the Chicks were badly injured and one died shortly after. The other one was eating, but also had a badly injured leg and died on the 26th. I had a look at the nest on Wednesday again and the swallows were still hanging around the nest. I could not see the sparrows anywhere so I popped the 3rd chick back. The parents immediately started feeding it again and it was not thrown out of the nest again that day.

27/12/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 14*C
Max temp: 31*C
Rainfall : 12mm

06:30 Fed Squirt and took him outside.

07:30 Did the report.

08:00 Checked up on the swallow nest and everything still looked fine.

08:30 Just waited a while, for the roads to dry out a bit as it rained last night. Did some fact file.

13:45 Had a drive around Gevonden. Headed to the mountain. Could not go up the mountain as the roads were too wet still.

14:15 Near the Donga saw 6 x Zebras and a crèche Impala group with more than 20 lambs. A little further on 3 x Blesbok (Lez,Bez, Sean) another group of Zebras and the 5 Giraffe calves. The road to the mountain seemed to be very busy today as there were loads of animals. Also saw 3 x Zebras with foals

14:45 Headed to the dam at the base of the mountain.

15:00 There were only some Egyptian Geese.

15:15 Went to the lodge for a checkup. All ok. Headed towards the back and back along the Tugela river.

15:30 Saw a Kudu bull on the way to the back.

15:45 Another 3 x Kudu bulls along the Tugela.

16:00 Back home.

28/12/2007
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 18*C
Max temp: 30*C

06:30 Fed Squirt

07:30 Did report.

08:00 Took the guys to the back near the N3 to spray fence line.

08:40 Kudu Bull at the back of mountain near N3

08:50 Went back via the lodge, but did not see anything. Took some photos

10:00 Fed Squirt

10:30 Downloaded some photos from camera.

11:30 Headed to the mountain.

11:40 The giraffes, a group of zebras and some kudus the way to mountain.

12:15 Top right hand side of the mountain saw 4 x Kudu bulls and 13 x zebra

12:20 Also saw a Black-backed Jackal nearby and 2 x Steppe Buzzards.

12:30 Saw 14 x Kudu bulls on the top left hand side of the mountain. All adult. The Blesbok also close by and saw all 7 lambs. The zebras had moved to the left side.

13:25 On the way back saw 3 x young Kudu bulls, 2 of last year’s calves and 4 cows

14:20 Headed for the Ryefield for a check up.

14:30 Impala crèche near the Ryefield with 12 lambs.

15:00 Headed back.

Weekly Report 17th - 21st December 2007

2008-01-02T10:37:00.001-08:00

17/12/2007
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 13*C
Max temp: 19*C
Rainfall over weekend: 25mm

Squirt was very sick over the weekend and we have spent most of the time looking after him. Today we will stay with him and try to keep him hydrated and warm. Went to Ladysmith to get some antibiotics and glucose/electrolytes for him. He is very weak and we are force feeding him at the moment. Also gave him some penicillin as it might be a bug.

18/12/2007
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 16*C
Max temp: 20*C
Rainfall : 6mm

07:30 Did emails and report.
We had spent most of the day and night feeding Squirt and just keeping an eye on him. He looks a little better after the meds and seems to be taking the solution easier. He is even drinking it himself now. We are adding biorem which is a lactobacillus culture for the treatment of diarrhoea in lambs.

08:30 Hannes went out to have a look around. The roads are wet from the rain. Went to the lodge - one Impala group neat there.

09:00 At the dam near the lodge there were a group of bachelor Impalas.

09:10 On the road back from the lodge saw a Jackal Buzzard in a tree.

09:25 On the Ryefield the only animal seen was a female Warthog.

09:35 At the 2 ponds near the main gate 18 Impala (1 male, 17 female) and a Red-billed oxpecker as well as a yellow-billed duck.

09:50 Went to the dam at the base of the mountain and on the road there saw some Giraffes and the 4 young calves. Vera is getting quite big now.

09:55 At the dam there were 2 x White-faced ducks, 2 x Yellow-billed ducks, 2 x Red-knobbed coots and a Black-headed heron.

11:10 Near the house - 6 x Zebras and 26 Bachelor Impalas.

11:30 Headed toward the back of the mountain via the lodge and through the big dip but were unable to see anything.

12:00 The Giraffes (11) were moving towards the main gate.

13:20 Headed towards the mountain but could not go up because of the roads being so wet. Saw 26 Zebras (4 foals) and a group of about 25 Impalas.

15:40 At the 2 dams near the house there were 35 Impala and 21 lambs.

15:50 Main road to Ryefield 13 Impala ewes and 11 lambs.

Michael has reported that another Blesbok lamb has been born, but it seems to be getting some trouble from the Zebras, who are taking shots at it. We are not sure why this is. The zebras have not actually made contact but the Blesbok female don’t seem to be very protective.

16:30 Took the staff back to Colenso

19/12/2007
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 15*C
Max temp: 22*C

06:30 This morning early one of the Impala crèches were in the yard at home. We have been giving Squirt some fluids every 3 hours during night to keep him hydrated. He really is looking stronger and we hope it keeps up.

06:45 Hannes went to pick up the staff from Colenso

07:00 Did yesterday's report.

08:00 Dropped staff where they needed to go. 2 x Spur-winged Geese near the dams close to the house

09:50 Road to the dam at the base of the mountain, 4 x Kudu males.

10:00 At the dam near the base of the mountain there were - 2 x White-faced ducks, 2 x Yellow-billed ducks, 2 x Red-knobbed coots and a Watermonitor.

10:30 Headed to the main gate. 7 Impalas and 2 lambs

10:55 At the lodge - 3 x Large grey mongoose

11:10 Took the road leading to the mountain, 3 x Blesbok (Bez, Lez and Sean) and 6 x Zebras.

11:20 Halfway up to the mountain saw 3 x Zebras and 9 Giraffes.

13:00 - 14:00 Took some of the staff to their places again.

14:10 10 x Kudus near the house.

15:15 Went to fetch the guys who sprayed at the back near the N3 (fence line)

16:30 Took the staff back.

20/12/2007

Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 14*C
Max temp: 25*C

07:30 Fed Squirt. He is much better thankfully. Took him for a walk outside. He is back on milk, but thinned down and we are still giving him some electrolytes.

08:00 Dropped the spraying team off to spray under the fence line.

09:00 Headed up to the mountain to check on the Blesbok.

09:10 Saw a Steppe Buzzard along the way.

09:15 We saw the Giraffes about halfway towards the mountain. There were some Kudus and a group of Zebras near them.

09:35 Top right hand side of the mountain we saw a group of 13 Zebras and the Blesbok group. We could however unfortunately only see 7 lambs and we fear that the new one might not have made it. We had a look around but could not see anything.

10:10 On the way back down we saw 4 x Kudu cows. Headed back to feed Squirt some liquids

10:30 Changed the AFTW bakkie (vehicle)'s diesel filter.

11:45 Helped with the fence posts for a while.

13:00 Headed back to feed Squirt

13:15 There were 6 x Zebras near the house.

13:30 Tried to ID some insects.

15:00 Went to the lodge to take a photo of a Spider.

15:15 8 x Zebras and a group of Impalas near the lodge.

16:00 Went to pick up the Spray team from the back.

21/12/2007
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 18*C
Max temp: 25*C

07:00 Fed Squirt and took him outside. His tummy was looser today than yesterday but not runny.

07:30 Did report.

08:00 Took the guys for spraying the fence line.

10:00 Hannes went with Mike to Winterton just to go see where they sell the chemicals for the alien plant control. I stayed and kept an eye on Squirt. Did some fact file.

12:00 Went to pick up the spray team from near the N3 round the back.

13:25 Saw 2 x Kudu bulls on he way back.

14:00 Fed Squirt. Starting to make his milk solution a little stronger.

14:15 Did some fact file the rest of the day.

Weekly Report 26th - 30th November 2007

2007-12-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

26/10/2007

Weather: Sunny

Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 28*C

07:30 Tried to fix my PC, but it was not working.

08:30 Headed into Ladysmith to go get some prices on certain items. Took my PC in to get fixed.

13:00 Headed back to the reserve.

13:30 We were told by one of the game guards that they have found an Impala ewe dead near the lodge. There was a lamb with her. We headed there to go pick her up to try to establish what she died of. We also tried to catch the lamb and were successful after many attempts. Mike organised some milk for us, just for the time being as it was getting late.

17:00 The lamb is a little male and he took some milk. He looked healthy and seemed to be ok.

27/10/2007

Weather: overcast
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 20*C
Rainfall: 4mm

06:00 Fed the lamb. He gave some trouble this morning, but he ended up taking some milk.

08:30 Headed in to Ladysmith to get some milk for the lamb and pick up my PC. It seems to have been the power supply that blew.

11:25 There were 3 x Kudu bulls near the ryefield. They were crossing the road when I went pass.

11:30 Got back on the reserve and mixed some milk for the lamb. There were 6 x Zebras, bachelor Impala group and an Impala group near the house when I got back He did not seem to like it very much, but after some time we got him to take some milk.

13:00 We are feeding the lamb every 4 hours and check up on him regularly.

14:00 We stayed with the lamb through the day. It was drinking much better as the day progressed.

28/10/2007
Weather: overcast
Min temp: 15C
Max temp: 22*C

07:00 Fed the lamb. We tried the new bottle but he did not like it very much so we are sticking with the old one till he is bigger.

07:30 Did the reports.

08:30 We fed the lamb as he did not take much earlier because of the new bottle.

09:00 Headed up to the mountain to check on the Blesbok. Near the Donga we found 2 x Diederik Cuckoo parents feeding a youngster.

09:30 On the top right hand side of the mountain we saw a Black-backed Jackal as we looked for the Blesbok.

09:40 We went to the left side of the mountain and found the Blesbok there, all 7 lambs still there. There was also a group of 13 zebra.

10:00 We headed down the mountain towards the back.

10:10 On the way down we saw a Mountain Reedbuck male running across the road.

10:30 ID - Red Throated Wryneck (Jynx ruficollis) near the 4th dam as well as a Duiker.

10:35 Another Duiker just a bit further on.

10:45 2 x Common Reedbuck at the back of the mountain near the first dam, male and a female.

11:00 Close to the turn off towards the lodge we saw the first Kudu calf of the year along with 8 cows and a bull.

11:15 Near the lodge there were 10 more Kudus. 5 Adult bulls, 2 young bulls, a young cow and 2 adult cows.

11:20 The creche near the house (Impala) had 17 lambs. We think that some might have moved down from the top.

12:00 We fed the little Impala lamb again.

13:40 Headed to the dam at the base of the mountain to check on the Impala ewe carcass.

14:00 The carcass was not touched. There were some redknobbed coots and a Blackheaded Heron at the dam.

14:20 11 x Impala ewes and a ram on the way up to the lodge.

14:30 We just checked on the lodge - no problems. 3 x Impala lambs near the lodge, 1 ram and 4 ewes.

14:35 We headed to the ryefield to check on the other Impalas and the lambs. 7 lambs near the turn off to the ryefield.

14:45 On the other side of the ryefield near the road there was another Impala group and 1 lamb. Total lambs today - 28

15:30 Fed the little lamb again.

29/10/2007
Weather: overcast some rain
Min temp: 16C
Max temp: 27*C
Rainfall: 4mm

07:30 Fed lamb.

08:00 Did yesterday's report

08:30 Headed to Ladysmith to organise the furniture for the house. Most of it is to be delivered tomorrow.

12:30 Back on reserve and fed the Impala lamb again.

14:00 We went to Geluk today to have a look around. Near the turn off to the ryefield, there was an Impala group. We could not see any lambs however. There were also some Kudus near, browsing on the acacia's

14:05 Near the 2 dams by the gate, a slender mongoose ran into the donga.

14:15 Near the 3rd camp on Geluk there was a Warthog female.

14:20 7 x Kudu cows a little further on.

14:30 We saw 2 x Blue wildebeest near the Geluk/Weenen border; they were however on Weenen side. We are not sure if these are the ones that used to be on Gelulk near the lodge.

14:35 We came across a huge group of more than 30 Kudu. Most of them were cows, but we did see some adult bulls and young bulls as well.

15:00 It started raining slightly and we headed back.

15:30 Had some thunder with much heavier rain. It did not last long though.

16:00 Stopped raining.

30/10/2007
Weather: overcast with rain
Min temp: 19C
Max temp: 20*C
Rainfall: 12mm

07:30 Fed lamb

08:00Did yesterday's report. We helped Ed out with some people from the Ladysmith municipality, who came to see UmPhafa. Also received some furniture from town and had some things picked up from here. It started raining heavily with some thunderstorms, but it did not last long.

Weekly Report 19th - 23rd November 2007

2007-11-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

19/11/2007
Weather: Sunny

Min temp: 21*C
Max temp: 33*C

07:30 Did reports and e-mails

08:20 Headed to the lodge. There were 11 lambs (Impala) today.

08:30 We headed to the plateau and towards the back of the mountain. We drove along the Tugela.

09:00 We saw 2 x Hartebeest and a Kudu cow and calf along the way.

09:05 Not too far from there in the field we saw a Common Reedbuck male. It looks to be one of released ones.

15:30 We headed up to the mountain to go check on the Blesbok. 6 x Giraffes on the way up. We also saw a group of Zebra and the first Zebra foal of the year. There were some Waterbuck and Kudu nearby as well.

15:55 The 15 Blesbok were on the top right hand side of the mountain and there were now 7 lambs.

16:20 As we headed back we counted a further 4 x Impala lambs in the group near the house.

20/11/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22*C
Max temp: 27*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:30 Headed up to the lodge. We took Dave, Anthony, Rebecca and Mike around the Reserve to have a look at how we will approach security and other aspects.

21/11/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 32*C
Rainfall: 17mm

07:30 Did reports and some other paperwork.

08:30 Headed up to the lodge. We took another game drive with Anthony and Rebecca just before they left for the airport. We saw some of the Giraffes and the Waterbuck near the lodge area. Got the lodge cleaned up. It started raining late night.

22/11/2007
Weather: Rain
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 22*C
Rainfall: 7,5mm

07:30 Did report.

07:45 Started washing the lodge's bed linen and did some fact file. It was a cloudy, rainy day and since it rained so much last night we could not go on the roads. We ended up doing some paperwork during the day.

23/11/2007
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 21*C
Max temp: 32*C

07:30 Did the rest of the linen and towels from the lodge.

09:00 It was still overcast but at least it did not rain and became sunny later. Some of the roads were still unusable but was drying out. I started doing backups of my PC through the day and Hannes went to check on the Blesbok and zebras on the mountain. Hannes had terrible hay fever today and was sneezing the whole day.

10:30 Hiked up towards the mountain. All the Blesbok lambs were there and the zebras still had no new foals

12:40 Headed to the dam for a check up. Did not see anything at the dam except for some coots and Egyptian geese.

13:25 Headed to the lodge to check up on the lambs there. All of them seem fine.

14:15 The Ryefield was quiet and nothing was happening there.

14:50 The Giraffe group were split up. One half was near the base of the mountain and the other half near the Ryefield.

15:30 Headed back for some antihistamine.

Weekly Report 12th - 16th November 2007

2007-11-27T11:13:00.001-08:00

12/11/2007

Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 20*C
Max temp: 32*C

07:30 Did reports and e-mails

08:45 Headed up to the mountain to check on the Blesbok and the new lambs.

09:00 4 x kudus about halfway up the mountain. 2 Cows and 2 2year old bulls.

09:15 Top left hand side of the mountain. There were 15 x adult Blesbok and 4 lambs.

10:20 Nothing round the back of the mountain. 2 x Kudu cows on the way towards the lodge.

10:30 6 x Kudu Bulls about halfway to the lodge.

10:45 At the plateau near the lodge we saw 6 x Zebras grazing. We also saw a group of Impalas and spotted the first Impala lamb of the season.

10:50 We headed to the Ryefield to check on the other Impala groups. They do not have any lambs yet.

10:55 At the 2 dams near the main gate there were 2 Egyptian Geese.

11:00 1 x Blesbok with a group of Impalas near the Ryefield.

11:05 3 Giraffes near the big stream

12:00 We headed to the school to check on the progress of the repairs to the building. Everything seems to be going well We took measurements of the school floor, as we will be fixing the floor.

13:00 Headed back to UmPhafa.

13:45 Made some cds for AFTW.

16:30 Done

13/11/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 32*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:00 Headed to the lodge to pick up the guys to spray under fence line. There was a group of Impalas nearby. Did not see any lambs

08:30 We went to the top of the mountain.

08:40 9 x Hartebeest and a group of Zebras near the donga on the way to the mountain.

09:00 On the top left hand side of the mountain there were 2 x Hartebeest and a group of Zebras and Blesbok. We could not count them as did not want to disturb them too much.

09:10 There was nothing on the top right hand side of the mountain.

09:40 At the back of the mountain near the 4th dam we saw 4 x Kudu cows.

09:45 Near the 3rd dam there was a Duiker Female licking at the tree gum of an Acacia tree.

10:00 Halfway between the 2nd and first dam we saw another Duiker female.

10:05 Near the turn off towards the lodge we spotted 2 x Steppe Buzzards.

10:20 4 x Kudus near the plateau. 2 cows and 2 2year old bulls. Looks like the same ones from yesterday.

10:30 At the plateau near the lodge there was an Impala group. The new lamb from yesterdays still there.

10:45 Went home to download some photo's from the camera.

11:30 We headed to Vertrek to have a look around there. On the way there we saw another group of Impalas near the house. Near the dam close to the house we saw a year and a half old Kudu bull as well.

11:40 There were 13 x Giraffes near the Ryefield. All 5 calves look good and the new baby seems quite at ease with the vehicle so far.

11:45 2 x Giraffe males near the 2 ponds close to the main gate.

13:00 We did not see anything at Vertrek. The giraffes were still in the same spot when we returned. They were cooling down in the shades of the trees.

13:10 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain.

13:20 The Waterbuck group was there although we could only see 5. There was also 2 x Egyptian Geese and 2 x Red-knobbed coots.

14:25 Headed to Colenso to get some things.

15:00 We were back on the reserve. Worked on the fact file some.

16:00 Done.

14/11/2007
Weather: Sunny and hot
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 35*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:00 Went to drop off the guys for the spraying of the fence line.

08:15 At the field near the house we saw a Black-backed jackal running along the road.

08:20 Headed up towards the mountain to check on the Blesbok lambs.

08:25 Near the donga on the way up there was a group of Impalas, but no lambs

08:40On the top left hand side of the mountain - Blesbok x 15 and the lambs looking fine. There were also 2 x kudu bulls and a group of about 12 Zebra.

09:00 On the way back down we saw a Kudu cow and 5 zebras

09:10 We then headed towards the plateau near the lodge to go check on the impalas there. There was a group of 8 Hartebeest 6 zebras, a group of Impala and a mountain reedbuck male.

09:20 Just along the road a bit further up, we saw 4 x Adult Kudu bulls, 4 cows, 2 young bulls and a group of Waterbuck. There were also some bachelor Impalas near.

10:35 Went to the Ryefield. There was a group of Impalas, but no lambs.

10:50 Headed to the dam at the base of the mountain

11:00 2 x Warthogs, 2 x Egyptian Geese, a Grey heron and a couple of Guinea fowls.

11:15 The Giraffes were near the 2 dams at the house on the side of the hill, browsing on the acacia's Had someone from Natal Agriculture to check some of the game numbers for stock purposes.

12:00 Did some insect identification.

16:00 Headed round the back of the mountain with Anthony, Rebecca, Richard and Keryn to show them the reserve so that Richard and Keryn can determine the potential of the Reserve for Rhino.

17:15 Near the 4th dam round the back of the mountain we saw a group of 15 Adult kudu bulls. Not too far from them, there were 2 more adult Kudu bulls and 4 cows.

17:45 2 x Mountain reedbuck on the way down the mountain and another 3 x Kudu cows and a calf.

18:00 Saw 6 x Zebras near the house and a group of Impala.

18:20 On the way up to the lodge the Impalas had about 4 lambs in the group and we also saw a small group of 6 x Mountain Reedbuck.

15/11/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 22*C
Max temp: 30*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:00 Met with Anthony, Rebecca and Ed and took Keryn and Richard around Geluk.

16/11/2007
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 30*C
Rainfall: 4.5mm Friday
17 Nov Rainfall: 13mm Saturday

07:30 Did yesterday's report. Took the workers to do some spraying under the fence line.

Anthony and Rebecca here.

Weekly Report 5th - 9th November 2007

2007-11-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

05/11/2007

Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 30*C
Rainfall: 2mm over weekend

07:30 Did reports and e-mails

10:00 Meeting with Mike concerning the alien plant species on UmPhafa.

10:45 On the way to the Ryefield and saw a water monitor near the 2 dams close to the house.

11:15 Went to the Ryefield for a check. Did not see anything on the Ryefield, bit close to the road near the Ryefield we saw a group of Impalas and bachelor group of Impalas.

12:30 Headed to the mountain - Gevonden.

12:45 Half way up to the mountain we saw 6 x Zebras and a couple of Impala bachelors.

12:50 Near the zebras on the way up to the mountain we saw the new Giraffe calf. All the Giraffe calves were there (5) and there was also 5 adult Giraffes. We do not however know the sex of the little calf. We stayed with them until they moved out of sight.

13:15 Headed up the mountain again.

13:30 2 x Red Hartebeest on top of the mountain, in the middle area.

13:50 Took some more photos of the flowers. There were a lone Blesbok and a Mountain Reedbuck male on the top right hand side of the mountain.

14:05 Top left hand side of the mountain we saw a group of Zebras, Blesbok and Red Hartebeest. We were unable to count them as they were quite close to each other.

14:30 3 x Kudu cows near the 4th dam at the back of the mountain. There was also a Kudu Bull nearby.

15:30 Zebra group (6) on the plateau near the show lodge.

15:45 Headed back home and sorted some photos of the day.

16:00 done

06/11/2007

Weather: Rain
Min temp: 17*C
Max temp: 19*C
Rainfall: 16mm

07:30 Did reports.

08:00 Headed towards mountain. We wanted to go do some road clearing. On the way there we saw some bachelor Impalas and a group of Zebras.

08:15 Further on we saw the new Giraffe again. It looks to be a little female as well but we are not sure yet. There were 14 Giraffe all together here. It started dripping slightly. There were also a group of zebras near the giraffes

08:35 There were some Impala and a female duiker as well.

09:00 We headed up towards the mountain again, but it started raining too hard and we had to turn back, because of the roads

09:35 We headed towards the main gate to pick up some guys doing spraying under the fence line. There was an Impala group near the Ryefield.

10:00 We got back home and the power was out.

11:30 Power came back on and we worked some more on the fact file.

12:30 Stopped raining for a while and we headed out again in search of some more photos.

13:30 Light rain and we headed back to sort and name photos

14:10 Stopped raining again and we moved some furniture out to be transported.

15:00 Went to Colenso for some things

16:00 Back home.

07/11/2007

Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 15*C
Max temp: 19*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report and some e-mails

08:00 We went looking for a jackal on the Ryefield.

09:00 There were some Red Hartebeest and a group of Impalas near the Ryefield.

09:55 We headed back to get some of the Game guards to help us look for the jackal. On our way to the house we saw 8 x Giraffes near the road.

10:20 We dropped of some of the workers to spray under the fence line.

10:30 Headed back to the Ryefield to search again.

11:00 We still could not fine the jackal. Picked some old fencing near the tugela and took it back to the workshop.

12:00 Near the dam at the base of the mountain we counted 11 Giraffes. They moved away from the Ryefield area towards the mountain and were now near the dam.

12:15 2 x Warthogs (young male and female) near the Ryefield, mountain side of the road.

12:20 Group of Impalas near the 2 ponds near the house.

12:30 We headed out looking for the Blesbok that usually spends it's time with the group of Impalas near the Ryefield. We just wanted to get some good clear photos of it.

13:00 We could not find the Blesbok, but did get some more nice different pictures of wildflowers.

14:30 We headed back home to sort out the pictures and identify some insects.

16:00 Worked on the fact file a little.

08/11/2007

Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 15*C
Max temp: 20*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:15 Dropped the guys off for spraying under fence line. (Part of alien plant control)

08:20 Small group of Impalas near the Ryefield

08:30 We headed up towards the mountain.

08:45 On our way up we saw a Warthog with a porcupine quill in its hind quarter. Warthogs make use of Porcupine holes at night. They enter the hole backwards so that they face forwards. The quill might have got stuck in the warthog as it reversed into the hole and could not get it out again.

08:50 We could not go up the mountain all the way. The road was still too wet from the previous rain.

09:15 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain

09:25 There were 2 x Yellowbilled ducks, some redknobbed coots and a water monitor sunbathing at the dam.

10:00 We loaded some photos from the camera on the PC and sorted them. We took photo of some wildflowers.

10:20 We headed to Geluk. Some of the Giraffes were near the base of the mountain. There was also a group of Impalas at the dam near the house.

10:30 Another group of Impalas near the main gate. Looks to be the one that was near the Ryefield earlier.

11:00 Went to the lodge at Geluk. On the way there we saw a Steppe Buzzard and a meter long Water Monitor as well as some Egyptian Geese and a Duiker.

11:50 At the lodge near the dam on Geluk there were some more Egyptian Geese and 2 Dabchicks. Also some Hadeda ibis.

12:05 Headed up the mountain on Geluk. Saw a young Kudu bull and a cow on the way.

12:30 We went to the back of Geluk to do a check up. No woodcutting is allowed and the people next door sometimes come over to cut some trees. They keep doing it even if we have warned them so we do check ups to make sure the do not trespass.

13:25 On the way out we saw another 4 x nice Kudu bulls

14:00 Headed back home and worked on the fact file and sorted out some more photos. Also tried to id some insects.

16:15 Went to pick up the guys doing the spraying.

09/11/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 17*C
Max temp: 25*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:30 Headed to the top of the mountain to check on the Belsbok.

08:35 6 x Zebras and a group of Impalas near the donga on the way up to the mountain.

08:40 5 x Zebra stallions a bit further along the donga.

09:00 At the top left hand side of the mountain we saw the Blesbok. There were 3 lambs and 17 adults. There was also a Kudu bull nearby. 2 x Mountain reedbuck in the middle of top.

09:20 Small bachelor group of Impala near the house. We searched for the other Impala groups just to check up on them.

09:25 At the dams near the house we saw the same water monitor from Monday in the water.

09:30 The group of Impalas near the Ryefield looks good. No lambs.

09:50 Headed for the lodge in search of some more Impala groups. There were none up there.

10:00 We headed towards the back of the mountain and followed the Tugela back. There were some Zebras on the way.

10:10 We saw a small group of Impalas near the Tuglela but also no lambs.

11:15 Worked on the fact file and some photos

14:00 Hannes went with Mike.

15:00 Took a bicycle ride towards the main gate in search of some more photos. Saw 9 x Giraffes close to the dams near the main gate

15:45 Headed back home.

16:00 Picked up the workers doing the spraying under the fence line.

Weekly Report 29th October - 2nd November

2007-11-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

29/10/2007
Weather: Sunny
Min temp: 13*C
Rainfall: 3mm

07:30 Did last week's reports and e-mails.

09:30 Headed to the Ryefield but there was nothing of interest there.

10:00 We headed up the mountain.

10:20 On our way there we came across a group of 5 Zebra stallions. One had only half a right ear. It might have been bitten off in a fight with one of the other stallions.

10:25 Not too far from the bachelor group we saw a nice big group of about 17 Zebras. There were also 3 x Kudu cows near them.

11:20 On the top right hand side of the mountain we saw some Black-winged Plovers (Lapwings), but the Blesbok were not in the usual spot.

11:30 As we moved back we spotted the Blesbok on the top left hand side of the mountain. There was a group of 13 Zebras there as well.

11:50 We headed down the mountain towards the back. Near the 4th dam at the back we saw 4 x Kudu cows.

12:00 Near the 3rd dam we saw 5 x Nice big Kudu bulls.

12:45 Near the plateau close to the show lodge there was a group of Impalas grazing on the new growth.

12:50 There were 6 x Zebras on the plateau as well.

13:00 Also a group of Impalas near the lodge. We headed back to the farm house for lunch.

13:30 Sorted out some photo's and worked some more on the fact file on UmPhafa.

16:00 Done

30/10/2007
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 18*C
Max temp: 30*C

06:00 We headed for Mtontwane for some Giraffe capturing with Game Capture Africa.

07:00 We got there and everything was prepared for the capture. By 10:00 we had capture 4 and by 12:00pm another 3. 14:00 we went out for another 3 and ended up with 10 in total. We headed back to UmPhafa at 16:15 and got back around 17:00. It was a very exciting and interesting day. We just wish to express our thanks to Game Capture Africa for the opportunity to accompany them on this capture.

31/10/2007
Weather: Overcast
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 27*C

07:30 Did the last 2 days reports.

08:30 Headed for the Ryefield.

08:40 Did not see anything on the Ryefield except some Hadeda Ibis.

08:55 On the other side of the Ryefield we saw a lone Blesbok and a group of Impalas.

09:00 We headed for Vertrek to see if we could find anything interesting.

09:50 At the Vertrek/Geluk border - We did not see the Blue Wildebeest or any Kudu there today.

10:30 Headed back to the house. Went hiking to find some photos for the fact file.

12:30 Went to Ladysmith for some things.

14:30 Back on UmPhafa and worked some more on the file.

16:00 Done

01/10/2007
Weather: Overcast with some rain.
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 27*C
Rainfall: 1mm

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:30 Had a meeting with Howard

10:30 Headed towards the mountain via the lodge. Went to drop Hannes and Mike off. They hiked down looking for a suitable place for a road coming down.

10:40 At the plateau near the lodge we saw 9 x Waterbuck and a group of Impalas. One of the Impala rams had what looks to be an abscess on the underside of his jaw. We will keep a close eye on it. The ram did not look underfed. There was also a group of zebras nearby.

11:10 3 x Adult Kudu cows and a calf at the back of the mountain near the N3.

11:40 At the top of the mountain on the left hand side we saw 17 x Blesbok and 13 Zebras.

12:15 On the way back down the mountain there was another group of Impalas grazing on the new growth.

12:25 Picked up the AFTW vehicle and dropped the Cruiser for Mike and Hannes.

12:30 Headed back for lunch.

13:00 Worked on the fact file some and went looking for some photos for it.

14:30 Headed towards the Tugela and followed the river along towards the back of the mountain to the lodge area.

15:00 Near the big dip I tried to ID a tree but was unable to find it in the book.

16:00 There was a lone Warthog sow near the plateau close to the lodge.

16:30 Saw 4 x Mountain Reedbuck on the way from the lodge towards the farm house. There was a juvenile Common Reedbuck amongst a group of Impala near the dams close to the house. Hannes and Mike saw a group of 7 Mountain Reedbuck (5 females, 1 juvenile an a male) on their way down from the mountain, as well as a Red-Chested Cuckoo ( Cuculus solitarius ) We also saw a Spotted Bush snake today near the farm house.

02/10/2007
Weather: Sunny most of the day
Rain during night
Min temp: 19*C
Max temp: 29*C
Rainfall: 3mm on Geluk
5mm on Gevonden

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:20 Headed to the lodge in search of the giraffes. Saw them near the 2 ponds close to the main gate.

08:35 Small group of Impalas near the road on the way back from the lodge.

09:00 3 x Giraffe bulls, a cow and calf (Vera) near the 2 ponds. They are the ones we saw from the lodge.

09:05 I stayed with the giraffes for a couple of hours to see if I could maybe get to see the others, but they did not really move from the area.

11:00 I left the Giraffes in search of some more photo's for the fact file.

12:30 Home for lunch.

13:00 We headed out again in search of some photos again.

14:30 Came back home and worked some on the fact file.

16:00 Done

Weekly Report 8th - 11th October

2007-11-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

08/10/2007

Weather: Raining
Min temp: 13*C
Max temp: 18*C
Rainfall : 27mm
Weekend rainfall: 38mm

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:00 headed up to the lodge. There was a mention of a new giraffe calf and we went to see if we could perhaps find it. We are not a 100% sure that there is a new calf.

08:10 There was a small group of Impalas and about 5 mountains Reedbuck on our way up to the lodge.

08:25 We headed towards the back of the mountain but decided against it as the roads were still quite wet and muddy.

09:00 We instead took the road along the Tugela and back towards the farm house. We saw 2 x Warthogs and a Lanner Falcon near the N3 on the way.

09:30 We headed towards the Ryefield. There were about 19 Zebra near the big stream on our way to the Ryefield. There were no animals except a few Hadeda ibis on the Ryefield. We drove towards the gate to see if we could maybe see the Giraffes.

09:45 There were some Giraffes near the 2 ponds close to the main gate. They were more towards the mountain side.

10:00 We were asked to id a snake found by a neighbour. We picked it up in Colenso and as far as we can tell it is an Olive grass snake (Psammophis mossambicus)

10:45 We headed to the school to see if the department of education made a start on the school and it looks like they have actually started fixing up Ethuleni School. We will keep an eye on the progress.

11:30 Took a hike towards the mountain in search of the other giraffes and to see if we could find the new calf. We are staying off the roads as it is too muddy and wet still.

12:50 Near the base of the mountain we saw some more Zebras. Looks to be the group of bachelors.

13:25 It started raining softly and the wind picked up. We headed down the big stream towards the Giraffes we have seen earlier.

14:40 It started raining harder and we headed back towards the house.

15:15 We worked a bit on the new fact sheets.

It rained throughout the night.

09/10/2007
Weather: Raining
Min temp: 13*C
Max temp: 17*C
Rainfall : 14mm

07:30 It rained right through the night and throughout the whole day. We did some paperwork and worked on the UmPhafa facts.

13:00 Did yesterday's report. Raining.

13:45 Worked on some video and some more on the facts. Raining still.

16:00 It was still raining. All and all a very wet day.

10/10/2007
Weather: Sunny, partly cloudy
Min temp: 12*C
Max temp: 20*C

07:30 Did report.

07:45 Took a hike towards the dam at the base of the mountain. Saw some of the Giraffes in the area.

08:30 Found 9 x Giraffes at the dam, including the 3 youngest calves.

08:50 I stayed with the Giraffes at the dam for a while. They moved on after a while. Saw a reed cormorant at the dam.

09:30 I followed the Giraffes around. They moved about a lot but stayed in the area. I was hoping to maybe find the rest of the group.

10:00 I counted 12 Giraffes by this time and saw all 4 calves.

11:25 I walked around in the area in search of the other 2 but could not find them, so I headed back to the big group.

13:00 Headed back home.

13:15 Near the house I saw a small group of Impala (about 22)

13:45 Headed out again. This time towards the main gate. Hannes said he saw a female in the area there.

14:30 There was a group of Zebra with the 12 Giraffes. Still could not find the last Giraffe. Did see the female near the 2 ponds near the main gate.

16:00 Headed back home.

08:00 Hannes went towards the lodge. On the road there saw 5 Impala females.

08:10 The dam near the lodge is about a quarter full. 7 Impalas there.

08:15 On the main road near the Ryefield a warthog male.

08:20 At the 2 ponds near the main gate 2 x Yellow-billed ducks. Both dams have water after the rains.

09:30 The stream leading to the Tugela - Reed cormorant.

10:30 Went with Mike to Geluk.

11:30 Saw 3 x Blue Wildebeest at the lodge on Geluk.

12:00 2 ponds near the main gate a female giraffe on her own.

11/10/2007
Weather: Sunny, partly cloudy
Min temp: 14*C
Max temp: 25*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:15 Hiked up towards lodge. The roads were still a bit wet.

08:30 11 x Impalas on the way up to the lodge

08:45 5 x Mountain Reedbuck and 2 Impala females further up the road.

09:30 At the plateau near the lodge we had a look if we could spot the Giraffes, but we could not see them.

10:00 On the way towards the big dip we saw a slender Mongoose

11:40 Hiked along the side of the mountain towards the road leading up to the mountain.

12:00 We saw a Duiker near the dam on the left side of the road leading to the mountain.

13:30 Headed home.

14:00 We spotted some of the Giraffes nearer the main gate and headed in that direction to see if we could spot the new calf. We were not sure that there was one but the game guards said they might have spotted one.

16:00 We were unable to see the calf and headed back home from the area. It rained a further 2mm on Geluk on Monday the 15th and Thursday the 18th it rained 9mm on Geluk and 8mm on Gevonden.

Weekly Report 25th - 28th September 2007

2007-10-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

25/09/2007
Weather: Overcast and cool
Min temp: 10*C Max temp: 19*C

07:30 Did reports and e-mails.

08:45 Went to the Ryefield. 7 x Warthogs, 3 Impala groups, 3 x Blesbok, 2 x Natal Francolin.

09:10 There was a big Kudu bull just opposite the Ryefield on the mountain side.

09:20 We headed up towards the mountain.

10:00 15 Blesbok looking good up there. There was also a Secretary bird nearby.

10:45 Near the 4th dam at the back of the mountain we saw a Duiker female.

12:00 We saw 5 x Waterbuck on their way down to the Ryefield as we headed to Geluk.

12:20 Near the entrance to Geluk we saw 3 x Kudu cows.

12:25 Duiker female a little further down the road.

13:00 5 x Kudu cows near the lodge on Geluk.

13:20 We saw a couple of Oxpeckers on the cattle near the doma at the lodge, but none had rings that we could see.

14:00 4 x Kudu cows on the way out of Geluk. It was the 3 from earlier.

14:10 White throated Robin (Coosypha humeralis) near the entrance to Vertrek.

14:15 2 x African Fish Eagles (Haliaeetus vocifer) in the sky over Vertrek.

14:30 At the top of the Vertrek/Geluk border we saw a Kudu Bull and a single warthog.

14:50 On Vertrek again we saw a Duiker female.

15:35 When we passed the Ryefield again there were 10 x Waterbuck on it and 6 x Zebras.

16:00 Headed Back.

26/09/2007
Weather : Overcast and cool
Min temp : 13*C Max temp: 22*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:00 Near the house we saw 7 x Giraffes, Vera and Dogtertjie included.

08:05 6 Zebras were on their way to the Ryefield.

08:10 5 x Giraffes near the main gate.

08:15 We headed to Geluk and saw a Duiker female near the entrance.

08:20 5 x Warthogs a little further down the road. ( 4 piglets)

08:30 On the way to the top and back of Geluk we spotted another Duiker.

09:15 On the way to the lodge on Geluk we saw a European Cuckoo (Cuculus canoris)

10:00 On the way out of Geluk we saw another Duiker male.

10:10 At the 2 ponds near the main gate we saw yet another male Duiker.

10:15 The Zebras had moved down onto the Ryefield.

13:20 Ryefield had 3 groups of Impala, 3 x Blesbok and some Warthogs. It was starting to rain softly but only lasted 5 min and did not rain again today.

14:30 At the dam near the base of the mountain we saw a Blackheaded Heron and 2 Egyptian Geese.

15:30 The Waterbuck was also on their way down towards the Ryefield and the Zebras were just leaving.

27/09/2007
Weather : Overcast with rain.
Min temp : 16*C Max temp: 19*C
Rainfall : 11mm

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:00 We headed for the Ryefield. It was raining and cold and we saw the 3 usual Impala groups and some Blue Cranes on the field.

08:35 The Giraffes were near the house as we headed towards the dam at the base of the mountain.

09:00 There were 2 x Black-headed Herons at the dam.

09:30 We spent most of the day sorting out some footage and photos. The animals were lying low because of the weather Hannes spent some of the day with Mike, they went to Mooi River to fetch a pump to fill the dams on Gevonden. Even though we had some rain, it was not near enough and the dams are drying up.

28/09/2007
Weather : Overcast and cool
Min temp : 15*C Max temp: 18*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

07:45 We filled the vehicle with fuel and helped Mike with the pump for the dams. We then had a problem with the battery and had to jump start the vehicle. It is fine now.

08:30 We headed down to the Ryefield. The usual 3 groups of Impala, some Blue cranes and about 6 Warthogs were on the field.

08:40 We came across some bachelor Impalas moving down towards the Ryefield.

09:00 On the way to the dam at the base of the mountain we saw another small group of bachelor Impalas. We also saw 12 x Giraffes including the 4 calves. There were some Zebras near the dam and 2 x Egyptian Geese

09:30 On our way up to the show lodge we saw 1 Kudu bull and 3 x Mountain Reedbuck.

09:45 Near the lodge there was a small group of Impalas and a group of 7 adult Zebras.

10:30 We headed round the back along the river. Did not see anything.

11:45 The posts for the electric fence are coming along good.

12:00 We spent some time with Mike and tried to sort out the electrical for the pump needed to fill the dams.

12:45 In the clearing on the mountain side we saw the Waterbuck.

13:30 The 7 Zebras had moved down towards the house and was at the 2 ponds near there.

14:00 We headed up towards the mountain but did not want to go up because the roads were wet. We did not see anything on the way.

15:00 We went to Ladysmith. The vehicles mud flap had arrived and we had it fixed.

This weekend it rained 19mm.

Weekly Report 17th - 22nd September 2007

2007-09-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

17/09/2007
Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 15*C Max temp: 29*C

07:30 Did report and e-mails

09:00 Took the AFTW vehicle in for its service.

14:00 Got back on Geluk and took a walk down the mountain towards the house. We saw 2 x Zebra's on the road down.

15:00 Got to the house and headed for the Ryefield with Mike to turn the Centre Pivot on. The Giraffes were on the ryegrass at that time. As we headed for the farm house on Gevonden we came across a young Common reedbuck male near the big stream. It was quite at ease with us and when we headed back to go pick up the vehicle it was still there.

16:30 We headed into Ladysmith with Gail to go pick up the vehicle. The Ryefield were full of animals. Most of the Giraffes and about 12 Zebra's were there, as well as the usual 3 Impala groups and 3 Blesbok. Some of the Blue cranes were also there.

18/09/2007
Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 14*C Max temp: 27*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

07:50 We left for the Ryefield and saw 3 x groups of Impala, 6 x Warthogs and some Blue cranes.

08:20 We headed for Vertek in search of the Blue Wildebeest but were unable to find them. There were 3 x Kudu's, a cow, a young bull and a calf.

08:40 Geluk/Vertrek border - We did see another group of kudu, all young females.

09:30 We stopped near the river at Geluk to have a look around for the vervet monkeys but could not find any.

11:45 On the way to Geluk we saw the Hartebeest down on the Ryefield.

13:05 We went to the back of Geluk along the fence and were very lucky to see a Steenbok female (Raphicerus campestris). This would be the first sighting of these little antelope we have come across since starting here in February.

15:00 Near the main gate we saw a Slender Mongoose in a tree.

15:30 Went to the dam at the base of the mountain. Some of the Giraffes were there and 2 x Egyptian Geese.

15:40 On the way back I came across Bossie, Stompie and Dogterjie, they were browsing on a Sweet Thorn Acacia. (Giraffe calves)

16:00 Headed back home.

19/09/2007

Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 14*C Max temp: 32*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:25 Near the 2 ponds at the main gate 3 x Kudu cows, 1 bull

08:40 On Geluk on our way to the top we saw 5 x Warthogs (1 sow and 4 piglets)

09:40 We headed to the back on top of Geluk to see if we could perhaps see any more Steenbok.

10:10 On our way back from Geluk, near the main gate we saw a rock monitor.

10:15 Near the big stream we saw 6 x Zebra's and a waterbuck.

11:00 We went to Ethylene School for a meeting with the headmistress.

11:55 Near the Ryefield near the road we saw 5 x Kudu cows and a bull. It was the same ones as earlier.

13:00 There were 4 x Giraffes near the house.

13:10 Near the Ryefield we saw a Slender Mongoose running across the road.

13:15 The Ryefield had the usual on. 3 x Impala groups, 2 x Egyptian Geese, 32 Blue cranes, 2 x Blesbok.

13:40 Took a hike towards mountain and came across the Giraffes. Speedy, Bossie and Stompie.

14:20 Went halfway up the mountain. Did not see any animals but did see loads of animal tracks (zebra, giraffe, jackal)

14:35 Top of mountain 1 x Kudu cow.

15:25 On the way back near the other giraffes we spotted Dogtertjie, Bossie and her mom.

16:00 Headed back.

20/09/2007
Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 21*C Max temp: 32*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

09:00 Headed to the Ryefield. 3 x Impala groups, 2 x Blesbok, 10 x Warthogs and some Blue Cranes.

09:20 Small group of Impala's on the way to the lodge.

09:30 Went to check on the game block near the lodge. It is almost finished. There were some Kudu, Impala and Zebra faeces.

09:45 Kudu cow and calf near the big dip on the way to the back from the lodge.

13:00 Headed up the mountain.

13:15 Saw 2 x Kudu cows browsing on my way up.

13:45 There were 16 Blesbok on the right hand side of the mountain top. One came up from the Ryefield.

14:10 There were also 9 x Zebra's on the top left hand side of the mountain.

14:40 On the way back from the mountain we saw some of the Giraffes in the valley by the lodge.

15:00 Did some Video Footage and sorted some photo's

08:00 Hannes and the Game Guards took a hike round the back of the mountain.

09:45 There were 2 x Kudu's near the lodge.

10:30 They saw some Mountain Reedbuck round the back of the mountain near the N3.

11:30 Spotted a group of Guineafowl near the Tugela.

11:45 Headed back home.

21/09/2007
Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 16*C Max temp: 34*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:30 Headed to the Ryefield. The Bachelor Impala's were very playful this morning, running around crazily. There were around 27 Blue cranes, the 3 usual groups of Impala and 4 x Warthogs. The 3 Blesbok were also there, one had moved back down from the mountain.

09:00 We headed up the mountain and found 3 x Giraffes on our way up (2 were calves).

09:30 The 15 Blesbok on top were looking good. There was also a Mountain reedbuck near them.

09:50 On our way down the back of the mountain we saw 5 x Kudu bulls and 3 cows browsing on the acacia's

10:35 Near the 2nd dam at the back of the mountain we saw 1 more Kudu bull and cow.

10:40 On the plateau near the show lodge we saw another 3 Giraffes.(1 calf)

11:00 Had a meeting with Charles.

13:00 We headed toward Vertrek/Geluk to check on the Wildebeest.

14:00 We found the 6 of them. They were quite calm and did not run off so we were able to get some photos.

15:00 Headed back home.

22/09/2007
Weather : Sunny and warm
Min temp : 17*C Max temp: 32*C

08:00 Headed to the Ryefield for a check up. Everything seemed fine. The Hartebeest were on the Ryefield this morning.

09:00 There were some Kudu near the house browsing on the acacia's. We spotted 3 x Redbilled Oxpeckers on the Kudu cows. Near the ponds by the house we also saw the Giraffes.

.

Weekly Report 10th - 15th September 2007

2007-09-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

10/09/2007
Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 18*C Max temp: 27*C

07:30 Did reports and e-mails

08:30 We put a game block out near the show lodge for the animals

08:40 Headed towards the back of the mountain.

09:00 Near the big dip we saw 5 Giraffe's on the side of the mountain browsing.

09:15 Near the turn off to the back of the mountain we saw 2 x Kudu's, a cow and calf. They were quite relaxed when we drove past.

09:40 Near the 3rd dam at the back of the mountain we saw a Duiker.

10:20 On the side of the mountain top on the right hand side there as 1 Kudu.

10:25 The 15 Blesbok on top of the right hand side of the mountain are looking well. We also saw 2 x Mountain reedbuck ran across the road.

12:25 We headed to the Ryefield to have a look there. The 3 usual groups of Impala, some Blue Cranes, the 3 Blesbok and 9 x Hartebeest were on the field. We spent some time near the Hartebeest and were surprised at how close we got. Usually they would take off if you drove too near them.

13:00 We went to check on the nest on Geluk. The Geese were not there and it turned out to be a Pied Crow's nest. It might have been an old Goose nest.

13:30 We went to the old lodge on Geluk but there was nothing there. On our way to the lodge near the Ryefield near the road we saw Bossie and her mum and Stompie and Speedy.

13:45 We did spot 2 Martial Eagles on Geluk near the Lodge.

14:20 Saw 2 x Zebras and 6 Impalas on our drive on Geluk.

15:20 We went back to the Game block near the show lodge to see if any animals had discovered it yet, but did not look so. On our way there we saw 9 x Giraffes in the area. Which brings the number of Giraffes seen today to 13. The 5 from earlier were in the group of 9.

15:45 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain. There were 2 x Egyptian Geese, 2 x Spurwinged Geese and a Blackheaded Heron.

16:00 We went to check on the second game block near the house and there was almost nothing left of it. We have seen some Kudu cows and Impala enjoying the blocks.

11/09/2007
Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 16*C Max temp: 33*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:15 Went to the Ryefield for a quick check. 17 x Blue Cranes, 3 usual Impala groups and the 3 Blesbok. Also 4 Warthogs.

08:35 On our way to the mountain, near the road we saw 8 x Waterbuck including the male. They are looking more relaxed now as well.

09:10 On the mountain top right hand side we saw 3 x mountain Reedbuck.

09:15 The 15 Blesbok up there looks good

09:25 On our way down the back of the mountain we saw a Kudu bull browsing.

09:30 The group of Zebra's that usually spent their time in this area was near the Kudu. They are a bit jumpy and headed away when we got closer.

10:05 Round the back, halfway between the 2nd and 3rd dam we saw a duiker and a mountain reedbuck.

10:30 Not too far from the turn off to the show lodge at the back we saw the Kudu cow and calf we saw yesterday.

10:40 3 more Kudu's near the big dip.

11:00 We went and checked the game block near the show lodge. It had not been touched yet, but we will keep and eye on it. We did though see 11 of the Giraffes, the 3 youngest calves amongst them and looking good. They were browsing on the Acacia's. Most of the trees are starting to show some green again.

12:00 I went looking for the Giraffes again to see if I could maybe spot the other 3.

12:20 I found them again near the lodge and had a look around the area but could not see the other 3.

13:00 At the lodge I saw the group of 6 Zebra's. They have not however discovered the game block.

15:30 We took the vehicle again in search of the other 3 Giraffes in the area. Stopped at the plateau near the lodge but only saw 2 more small groups of Zebra and the Waterbuck from earlier.

16:00 We had a quick check on the Ryefield to see if the hartebeest were there but we were unlucky. Hannes went to Vertrek to see if he could spot the Blue Wildebeest up there. There was a reporting of them on Friday.

11:50 Spotted Bushsnake in the Garden

12:40 Vertrek - 16 x Kudu's (cows and their calves)

13:20 Vertrek/Geluk border 3 x Kudu cows. Unfortunately he was unable to locate the Blue Wildebeest.

13/09/2007
Weather : Sunny and warm
Min temp : 17*C Max temp: 34*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:30 Headed for the mountain. We saw 2 Giraffes on our way there, Stompie and Speedy.

08:50 There was a Kudu Bull eating aloe at the top of the mountain in the middle area.

08:55 We then saw another young Kudu bull near the dam on the way to the right hand side of the mountain as well as 6 x Mountain Reedbuck

09:05 The 15 Blesbok on the right looks good and we also saw a Secretary Bird in the area.

09:20 As we came back we saw 11 x Zebra's on the left hand side of the mountain.

09:35 Fixed a patch of fence just as you head down towards the back of the mountain.

10:25 2 x Duiker's and a mountain reedbuck near the second dam at the back of the mountain.

10:40 Near the turn off towards the back of the mountain we saw that kudu cow and calf we saw yesterday.

10:50 Near the big dip we saw another 3 Kudu Bulls. An adult, a 26 month and a 18month old more or less.

10:55 Another Kudu bull just on the other side of the big dip.

11:00 Saw 6 Giraffes at the plateau near the show lodge browsing on the acacia's. 4 Males, 2 Females and a male Mountain Reedbuck.

11:05 The Impala's are starting to form little crèche groups again slowly. We saw a small one near the lodge. There were 31 Impala. The game block was half finished.

12:30 On the Ryefield we saw 24 Blue Cranes, Bachelor Impala's and a breeding Impala group, 3 Blesbok and 5 x Warthogs.

12:55 We headed to Vertrek to see if we would be lucky enough to spot the Blue Wildebeest today.

13:35 Top of the Vertrek/Geluk border we did see 2 x Warthogs digging for roots.

13:40 On Geluk at the top we saw 7 x Kudu, couple of them were calves.

14:20 We headed back down. Unfortunately not seeing the Blue Wildebeest we headed to the lodge on Geluk.

14:40 At the dam by the lodge on Geluk we saw 4 x Red-billed Oxpeckers on the cattle there. One of them had a yellow ring on its left foot, we could not get a clear view of the others. This is a very good sign, as it means the released species are settling in nicely.

15:00 Near the 3rd camp on Geluk there was a small group of 6 x Impala's.

15:30 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain, but there were no animals except birds

15:50 We had a quick look at the game block up at the lodge again and headed back. There were 3 x Impala rams near, one had a broken horn.

14/09/2007
Weather : Overcast
Min temp : 16*C Max temp: 23*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:20 We saw a small group of Impala and a warthog in the field near the Tugela on our way up to the lodge.

08:25 Checked on the game block up top, almost finished.

08:30 We headed toward the back of the mountain from the lodge

09:00 We did not see anything round the back today.

09:30 We went up the mountain and saw a group of 6 Kudu near the dam in the middle, 2 of them young bulls.

09:35 The 15 Blesbok on the right are fine.

09:40 12 x Zebra on the left side of the mountain top, including the 4 foals.

10:00 On the road down from the mountain we saw Bossie and Dogtertjie browsing on some Sweet thorn Acacia.

10:15 We had a look around for the other Giraffes and found 9 on the side of the mountain.

11:00 14 x Impala and a Blackheaded Heron at the dam near the farm house.

12:30 One of the Impala groups were having a drink at the 2 ponds near the main gate.

13:00 We headed to the Ryefield for a check up. 6 x Warthogs, 3 x Impala groups (the one at the ponds had moved back to the Ryefield) 3 x Blesbok, 3 x Spurwinged Geese and 2 Egyptian Geese.

14:00 Near the big stream on the mountain side there were 4 x Waterbuck and 2 Zebra's. The zebra were chasing each other and seemed to be fighting.

14:05 On our way to Vertrek as we passed the Ryefield we saw the 6 Zebra's had moved to the Ryefield and we spotted a secretary bird.

14:15 At the turn off towards Vertrek we saw a whole group of Dassies (Hyrax) on the rocks.

14:30 We headed to the Vertrek/Geluk border to see if we could find the Blue Wildebeest. We were very fortunate to see 6. We followed a short while, but did not want to upset them.

15:30 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain.

15:40 Only saw 2 x Egyptian Geese there.

16:00 Headed back.

15/09/2007
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 14*C Max temp: 33*C

04:00 Did a early morning drive and headed for the mountain on Gevonden.

04:15 There was an Impala group on our way up.

05:00 We saw the 15 Blesbok, mostly sleeping.

05:20 3 x Kudu males on our way down the back of the mountain.

05:35 2 x Kudu females at the back of the mountain near the 4th dam.

06:00 Spotted the Kudu cow and calf we usually see near the turn off to the lodge.

06:45 Checked the game blocks, the one near the lodge is almost gone now.

07:00 We went to the Ryefield and some of the impala were on there, mostly lying down. We saw some warthogs as well. We stayed on the Ryefield for about 30 min.

07:30 Had a look at the ponds near gate and around, but did not see any animals

08:00 Headed back home.

08:30 Did yesterday's report.

09:30 We took a hike towards the base of the mountain in search of the Giraffes.

10:25 We found them on our way up, and we were very lucky to have counted all 14 today. We followed them around for a while.

11:00 We then headed down the big stream towards the river and went to look for the Hartebeest. We did find some Waterbuck, but it is very difficult to get close as they just run off, so we just tried to watch them from a distance.

12:30 Headed back home.

Weekly Reports 3rd - 7th September 2007

2007-09-14T11:36:00.001-07:00

03/09/2007
Weather: Sunny and warm
Min temp: 11*C Max temp: 28*C

07:30 We filled up the AFTW vehicle with diesel. While doing this we spotted 6x Waterbuck on their way to the dam at the base of the mountain
08:00 Did yesterday's report.

09:00 We went to Ladysmith to get the PC fixed as it was giving too much trouble. We also found out then that the wrong doors for the school had to be reordered. It will probably be here next week then.

13:30 Got back from Ladysmith and set up the PC, it looks to be ok now.

14:30 We headed to the Ryefield - 2 Breeding groups of Impala's and a bachelor group, some Blue Cranes, 2 x Egyptian Geese, Hadeda and Sacred Ibis and some 8 Warthogs. We also saw 2 x Long-crested Eagles in a tree just across the river.

14:50 On the other side of the Ryefield we saw a Black-shouldered Kite in a tree.

15:10 Headed to the dam at the base of the mountain

15:20 There was only an Impala ewe having a drink.

15:30 We headed up the mountain to have a look around. There were some zebra's but they ran off and we were unable to count them

16:00 The 15 Blesbok on the right hand side seem to be enjoying the new growth from the field fire.

16:30 We headed back home.

04/09/2007

Weather : Sunny and windy
Min temp : 12*C Max temp: 31*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:30 Headed for the mountain.

09:00 On the right hand side top of the mountain the 15 Blesbok are looking good.

09:15 Just as we were starting to go down the back of the mountain we saw 2 x Female Mountain reedbuck.

09:55 At the back of the mountain near the N3 close to the 2nd dam we saw 4 x Kudu cows and a 2 year old bull.

10:05 Further down the road we saw another 3 x Mountain Reedbuck and another Kudu Bull.

10:25 On the side of the hill on the road towards the show lodge a duiker female was lying in the grass.

10:30 Near the big dip on the way to the lodge 4 x Giraffes. Vera and 3 adults.

10:40 We saw 4 more giraffes by the show lodge. Stompie and her mom, Speedy and Bossie and her mom.

11:15 There was an Impala group near the pond at the house.

12:00 We went to Geluk to go clear some roads. Summer is starting now and everything grows with new enthusiasm, so we just did a few touch ups. We will probably do it more often now.

12:10 There was a rock Monitor sunbathing in the road on Geluk. It ran off as we got closer.

12:20 Geluk - Martial Eagle in the sky.

13:45 We were done with the road and headed back to Gevonden.

14:00 Hannes took a hike down the big stream but did not see anything interesting.

14:00 I headed to the dam at the base of the mountain.

14:15 There was a lone Impala ewe, 2 x Egyptian Geese, a Warthog, a Reed Cormorant and a Long-crested Eagle at the dam. I spent some time there to see if anything else turns up, but was unlucky.

15:00 Left the dam and headed for the Ryefield.

15:20 There were the 3 usual Impala groups, 3 Blesbok, and some Warthogs and Hadeda Ibis. Also some Blue cranes.

15:30 The Hartebeest turned up on the Ryefield and started grazing as soon as they were on it.

15:40 On the other side of the Ryefield there was 2 x Egyptian Geese.

16:00 Left the Ryefield. All the animals on the Ryefield were relaxed and just grazing.

05/09/2007
Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 16*C Max temp: 32*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:00 Headed for the mountain.

08:30 Saw a Kudu Bull and 4 x Mountain Reedbuck near the dam on the top of the mountain.

08:40 15 Blesbok on top right hand side of the mountain looking good.

08:50 Another Kudu Bull on the side of the mountain as we headed down towards the back of the mountain.

09:00 We headed down the mountain to the back to do some cleaning up. There is always some rubbish blowing from the N3 onto UmPhafa.

09:50 8 x Kudu bulls near the 2nd dam at the back.

10:05 Near the first dam round the back we saw another 3 x Kudu's. A young bull, a calf and a cow.

10:25 Just at the turn off towards the lodge a Kudu cow and 4 x Mountain Reedbuck.

10:35 In the valley near the road to the lodge we saw 2 x Kudu cows and a calf.

10:40 Near the big dip 2 x Giraffes browsing.

10:50 On the plateau near the show lodge we spotted Stompie and Bossie near the road by themselves. They were quite relaxed and did not seem bothered by us driving so close by them.

11:30 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain.

11:40 We saw the 9 Hartebeest on our way there.

12:10 At the dam we saw at least 4 x Waterbuck. We are sure the rest were close but we were unable to see them in the thick bush. We did see the large male, the rest were female.

12:40 Headed to the Ryefield. There we saw the usual. About 40 Blue cranes, the 3 usual Impala groups, 3 x Blesbok, 6 x Zebras and loads of Warthog enjoying the mud.

13:30 Did some work on the footage of the last couple of weeks.

16:00 Will work on it again tomorrow to try and finish it.

06/09/2007

Weather : Sunny
Min temp : 17*C Max temp: 31*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:30 Went to the Ryefield. The usual 3 x groups of Impala, 2 x Egyptian Geese, 3 x Blesbok and about 40 Blue cranes.

08:55 Near the Tugela by the Ryefield we saw a Brownhooded Kingfisher.

09:25 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain and saw 2 x Egyptian Geese, a male and female Impala, Duiker and a Secretary bird. There was also a Giant Kingfisher in the tree.

10:00 We left the dam and went to start the pump for the centre pivot.

10:50 We went to Geluk with Mike. He wanted to show us a possible Egyptian Geese nesting site. We will keep and eye on it. We did not see the Geese but saw the nest.

12:15 We went to the dam at the base of the mountain again and stayed there to see if anything turned up.

13:30 7 Zebra's turned up at the dam. They stayed in the trees, they were a little unsure of the vehicle.

13:40 2 Warthogs joined in and did not seem too bothered by the vehicle as they had a great time in the mud. The Zebras then came down for a drink.

14:00 Eventually both the Zebra's and the Warthogs left. We headed back.

14:10 Worked on the footage some more.

15:50 We headed up towards the lodge and saw 4 x nice big Kudu bulls. Biltong was one of them.

16:00 Headed back home.

07/09/2007
Weather : Cloudy morning
Min temp : 17*C Max temp: 30*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:00 We went to the Ryefield to fix the sprayer head that came off the centre pivot. The 3 usual Impala groups were there. Also the 3 Blesbok and 9 Hartebeest

08:50 We put a Game Block out for the animals. There were 6 x Zebra, a small group of Impala and some Waterbuck in the clearing near the donga halfway to the mountain.

08:55 As we headed back to the Ryefield with the sprayer head we came across 2 x Warthogs (male and female).

09:30 We went to check on the Egyptian Geese on Geluk. The pair was there but there was no indication that the nest was theirs.

10:00 After getting all we needed to fix the sprayer head we went back to the Ryefield.

10:45 The Blue Cranes arrived on the field.

11:15 We headed up the mountain.

11:35 3 x Mountain Reedbuck in the middle on top of mountain.

11:40 On the top right hand side of the mountain all 15 Blesbok look well.

11:50 Not too far down the back of the mountain we saw 2 x Kudu bulls browsing on the acacia's

12:40 Near the 2nd dam at the back of the mountain we saw a Duiker female and 4 x Mountain Reedbuck.

13:20 3 x Kudu's near the big dip on the way to the show lodge.

13:40 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain and saw Bossie and Stompie on our way there. There were 6 x Zebra's at the dam and 2 x Egyptian Geese.

14:20 We took a hike back to the dam to see if any more animals went there for a drink. Without the vehicle scaring them off. We were there for about and hour and nothing came back for a drink. We had a look around to see if we could see the Giraffes, but we could not find them.

16:00 Came back to the farm house.

Weekly Report 20th - 24th August 2007

2007-09-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

20/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 26*C Min Temp : 07*C

On Sunday morning we saw 9 x Hartebeest on the Ryefield

07:30 Did the reports

08:30 We went into Ladysmith to get the quotes for the radios and some quotes for glass for the windows.

08:35 At the pond near the house we saw a Kudu bull

12:00 We went to the dam near the base of the mountain. We saw a Grey headed Heron and some Egyptian Geese. There was also a female duiker that came down for a drink

12:45 We went round the back and came back over the road by the lodge. Near the big dip we saw a lone Giraffe.

12:55 On our way from the lodge we came across a group of Impala's. About 24 + a ram on the right hand side of the road.

13:00 Near the big stream we saw a secretary bird. Just past the Ryefield we saw 2 x Warthogs in the grass

13:05 Near the Weenen Geluk border we saw 3 x Warthogs and 3 more near the entrance to Geluk

13:10 Near the Geluk Vertrek border we saw a female Duiker

14:00 The new road on Vertrek to Geluk on the mountain we went to get some Photos of the Blue wildebeest tracks and dung

14:05 We went to Vertrek and checked on the fence. The workers were packing rocks at the bottom of the fence for the animals not to underneath the fence

14:30 Ryefield, about 50 guinea fowls and 2 x Grey winged Francolin. 3 groups of Impala's, 6 Zebra's and 4 x Warthogs

14:45 There was a warthog digging for roots just next to the road on the Ryefield.

14:55 At the ponds near the house we saw 2 x Kudu cows enjoying aloe flowers.

15:45 We headed up towards the mountain to see if we could spot the rest of the Giraffes but we could not see them. On our way up though we did see a tree Agama and it is a sign that the weather is warming up.

16:15 We headed back home.

21/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 27*C Min Temp : 09*C

02:30 In the early hours of the morning I was awaken by a strange noise. At first I thought the Impala's were in the garden again but when I had a look I saw instead a porcupine outside my bedroom window.

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:00 We headed to the Ryefield to pump the tyre of the centre pivot and started the pump. There were 6 x Warthogs, about 40 blue cranes, some hadeda ibis and 2 groups of Impala's

08:40 There was a small group of Impala's having a drink at the ponds near the house.

08:55 There was also a group of Impala's and the 3 Blesbok heading towards the Ryefield

09:00 We headed up the mountain to check on the rest of the blesbok up top.

09:30 They were on the right hand side of the mountain enjoying the new growth after the fire burnt a little corner at the top.

09:45 Just heading down the mountain at the back we saw 3 Kudu cows near the fence

09:55 A little further down a duiker

10:15 At the back of the mountain we saw a Red-faced Mousebird (Urocolius indicus)

10:25 At the back of the mountain we saw 7 x Kudu bulls enjoying the aloe flowers. There were also 6 x Mountain Reedbuck near them.

10:35 Near the rocky valley where we always see the dassies we saw a year old Kudu bull eating aloe flowers

10:45 On our way to the lodge from the back we saw another group of Kudu cows (4) with a year old calf.

10:55 Near the big dip towards the lodge we spotted Vera and Bossie and 2 more adult Giraffes.

11:00 At the plateau near the lodge we saw another female Giraffe

12:10 On the Ryefield the Zebra's had moved down to graze.

12:35 There were 6 x Zebras on Geluk as well near the lodge

12:55 3 x Duikers on Geluk near lodge

13:00 Saw some Shelley's francolin on the mountain

13:20 On the koppie near the lodge on Geluk a Rock monitor

13:25 On the same koppie near the lodge on Geluk we found some more pottery. It looks the same as the previous ones we found

13:30 Same koppie we saw some Hyrax as well

14:15 In the stream we saw a Slender Mongoose

15:00 3 Banded Plover

12:00 I took a hike towards the giraffes to see if I could see the rest.

12:30 On the plateau near the lodge I saw the same female as earlier and also spotted Dogtertjie lying in the grass. Looking over the field towards the mountain from the plateau I saw 4 x Zebra's.

12:45 While looking for the rest of the giraffes I came across a black-backed Jackal in the road. It ran off when it saw me.

13:45 I spotted Vera and Bossie again near the big dip

15:30 Got back home and sorted out some Photo's

22/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 24*C Min Temp : 10*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:25 We headed up to the mountain and near the base saw a duiker female in the grass

08:35 Just on top of the mountain saw 2 x Kudu cows eating aloe

08:45 On the right hand side of the mountain top we saw 3 x Mountain Reedbuck

08:50 Right hand side mountain top the 15 usual blesbok looking good

09:15 Back of the mountain near base a duiker

09:25 Back of mountain near the 4th dam another duiker

09:30 Back of mountain near the N3 2 x Duikers, 1 male and 1 female

09:40 Near 1st dam by the rocky valley another Duiker

10:05 At the big dip towards the show lodge we saw Dogtertjie and Stompie with their moms

10:25 On the main road from the lodge we saw 8 x Mountain Reedbuck

11:45 Close to the pond near the house we saw the 6 Zebras (3 foal, 2 mares, 1 stallion)

11:50 Ryefield - 2 families of warthogs (3 and 5), 3 x Blesbok, the usual 3 groups of Impala's and some Hadeda Ibis

12:00 Geluk Vertrek border near the fence by the main road we saw 8 x Kudu's (1 bull, 3 x calves and 4 cows)

14:00 We took a hike towards the mountain and came down the big stream from the top. We did not see anything of interest.

16:20 While walking down the dry bed we did come across 2 x Duikers and a Scrub hare

15:00 Hannes headed up to Geluk to have a look around but did not find anything of interest. He took a new road that needs some clearing up before we take the vehicle on it. We will do that tomorrow.

17:00 We headed back home.

23/08/2007
Weather : Sunny, little windy
Max Temp : 28*C Min Temp : 09*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:15 On the left hand side of the main road near the Ryefield we saw a group of Impala's still lying in the long grass

08:25 We headed to Geluk to clear the road and near the entrance saw 4 x Kudu's, 2 cows and two 2 year old bulls

08:30 A little further down the road we spotted a duiker

10:00 We were done clearing the road and headed back. We then saw a small group of Impala's, 5 x ewe's, 1 ram and a year old ram

10:30 Near the entrance to Geluk we saw a small bachelor group of Impala's

10:40 There was a lone warthog at the 2 ponds near the main gate

10:45 Near the road opposite the Ryefield we saw a another warthog

12:00 -14:00 We fixed the fence near the N3 at the back of the mountain

14:20 We saw a Kudu cow and her calf near the big dip towards the show lodge

14:50 We went to Geluk and up the mountain to get a photo of an old rock that has been written on in the boer war.

15:30 There were a big group guinea fowl near the entrance to Geluk

16:00 We headed to the Ryefield and saw 9 x Hartebeest, 3 Blesbok, the usual 3 groups of Impala's, about 6 Warthogs and a group of Blue cranes

16:30 Got back home.

24/08/2007
Weather : Cloudy
Max Temp : 20*C Min Temp : 11*C

07:30 Filled the bakkie with diesel and pumped the wheels. Did yesterday's report

08:00 Saw a Waterbuck cow in the plains near the donga at the base of the mountain

08:30 We headed up the mountain

09:00 We spotted 4 x Giraffes on top of the mountain in the middle area. They were browsing on the Acacia. We saw their tracks when we headed up the mountain

09:10 We saw a some Common quail, orange throated long claws and some Natal francolin

09:20 On the right hand side of the mountain we saw the 15 Blesbok and 3 Crowned Plovers on the burned area.

10:30 Just at the base of the mountain we saw 4 x young Kudu Bulls.

10:50 At the back of the mountain 1 x Blackheaded Heron. We are seeing much more frequently now.

12:10 We headed to the dam at the base of the mountain. We saw a Duiker there having a drink

12:30 At the ponds near the house there was a group of Impala's having a drink

13:00 We headed up to Cloustons to check on the progress of the road.

13:50 From the Vertrek/Geluk border they have done 1.2 km

14:30 We headed to the Ryefield. There were 9 Hartebeest, 3 Blesbok and 2 groups of Impala on the Ryefield

15:30 We headed to the show lodge to see if we could spot the rest of the Giraffes. They were up near the Plateau. We could not however see them all. We did see Bossie and Stompie.

16:00 Headed back home

Weekly Report 13th - 17th August 2007

2007-08-20T10:04:00.002-07:00

13/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 27*C Min Temp : 09*C

07:30 Did the reports and emails

08:00 We headed up the mountain to go check if everything was still fine up there. Blesbok were relaxed and fine (15)

10:10 We saw 2 x Giraffes on the way back down from the mountain (mum and calf).

10:15 We saw another 7 x Giraffes not far from the cow and calf and we were lucky enough to see the newborn calf and its mom. It looks to be female which brings the number of calves born on UmPhafa to 4 and all female.

11:00 We went to Ladysmith to fix a puncture on the left back wheel of the AFTW vehicle. A drill bit was stuck in the tyre and went straight through

13:00 On our way back from Ladysmith at the 2 ponds near the main gate we were very fortunate to see 2 x Grey Herons on the pond

14:30 We headed to Vertrek to check on the progress of the new road. There is about 100m left to go.

15:20 We also went to Geluk to check up on things there after the fires.

15:45 We did see 2 x Grey Duikers on Geluk

16:45 There was a group of 20 Impalas on Geluk as well

16:20 We saw 3 x Kudu cows and 2 of them are pregnant on Geluk

16:45 On the Ryefield we saw 95 Impalas and it looked as if most of them are pregnant. We also saw 3 x Blesbok Rams

17:00 We headed home

14/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 26*C Min Temp : 12*C

07:30 Did the report and got things ready to head to Ladysmith and then the school to start with the repairs

08:30 Headed off into Ladysmith for the building material.

10:50 We saw 7 x Waterbuck near the donga in a clearing near the base of the mountain.

11:30 We went looking for the Giraffes and found some of them on the way to the mountain.

12:00 We spotted 5 x Giraffes, 3 calves and the youngest calf's mother (one without horns) and another adult. It was the 1st, 3rd and 4th born calves we saw here

12:05 Near base of the mountain we saw 2 x Kudu cows

12:10 We found the 2nd oldest calf a little further up. She was on her own and we could not see any adults around She looked healthy as well

12:35 About halfway down the back of the mountain we saw our first Duiker of the day.

12:40 Near the base of the mountain round the back we saw 5 x Kudu cows, a 2 year old bull, a 3 year bull and a calf

13:30 Near the plateau at the show lodge we saw 4 more Giraffes. 3 Bulls and one cow that looks to be pregnant

15:00 We headed to the Ryefield to check up on things. The usual Impalas were there, 3 Blesbok and 4 x Warthogs.

15:30 We headed to Ethuleni School to go pick up the builder and bring him back. All the windows in the classroom were fixed for the new frames to be put in. We have ordered some frames and doors and it will be put in as soon as they arrive.

16:00 We headed home and saw 5 x Warthogs at the 2 ponds near the main gate.

16:15 Near the house at the ponds we saw the 6 Zebras and a small group of Impalas

15/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 24*C Min Temp : 11*C

07:30 We saw a black stork on an electricity pole just outside the house early morning. Did the report

08:30 Went to have a look at the Ryefield.

08:40 The usual Impalas, 3 x Blesbok, a warthog and about 20+ Spurwinged Geese (Plectropterus gambensis)

09:00 Headed over the mountain to the back to get a tree out of the road that was blown over because of the wind.

09:15 On the right hand side of the mountain top we saw the 15 Blesbok that is usually there. They look good and some of the females look pregnant

10:00 We got the tree out of the road

10:15 At the back of the mountain near the N3 border fence 1 x Duiker

10:35 Back of the mountain we saw another Duiker

10:40 We saw a slender mongoose, red in the face from the aloe flowers running across the road and falling asleep on a rock in the sun. We spent about 30 min trying to get a photo off it, but it was too far and when we went closer it took off

12:00 Headed back home

13:00 Organised with Gail for the practice bibs for Ethuleni School

13:45 2 x Warthogs near the road as well as the 6 Zebra's, close to big stream

13:50 We went to Geluk for a look around and near the entrance saw 3 x Kudu's. 1 x young bull, a cow and a calf

14:15 Geluk - Weenen border - 2 Kudu cows and a calf, on the other side of the fence we saw 3 more cows and a bull. It was mostly burned down in this area

15:00 We headed up the mountain at Geluk for a look.

15:50 On our way back from the mountain near the entrance we saw 2 more Kudu bulls and 6 cows

16:00 At the entrance to Geluk there were 3 x Warthogs. 2 piglets and a sow

16:30 Headed back home

16/08/2007
Weather : Sunny + windy
Max Temp : 20*C
Min Temp : 09*C

08:30 Did yesterday's report

09:20 Went round to the back of the mountain to fix the fence. It was damaged by some Kudu trying to get through.

09:40 At the back of the mountain near the border fence at the N3 we saw a Duiker female

09:50 Not too far from the first Duiker at the back we saw 2 more. Too far to identify sexes

10:40 We were done with fixing the fence

10:50 We saw a single mountain Reedbuck running across the road

10:55 At the back by the rocky valley we saw 2 x Dassies

11:05 Open Field by the Tugela near the house there was a small group of Impala's

11:30 At the pond near the house a Hammerkop

11:35 On the road towards the main gate 6 x Zebra's

11:55 On Geluk a Gymnogene in a tree. We were trying a new road there. We will have to go back and clean it up a bit, and make sure it is good for the AFTW vehicle to go through

12:30 At the dam at the foot of the mountain a group of Impala's (6 female, 1 male)

13:00 Washed the AFTW vehicle

14:25 Ryefield had 114 Impala's on today. 3 Groups (39), (40), and bachelors (35). There were also 3 x Blesbok and 8 Warthogs.

13:00 I took a walk up towards the mountain in search of the Giraffes

13:30 Found 5 of them. 3 Adults and 2 calves. It was the first and 3rd calf. I could not see the rest of the Giraffes. They might be split up because they were not together the last time we saw them.

14:00 Took a walk down the big stream towards the main road but did not unfortunately see anything. I did identify some serval tracks

15:00 Headed home

16:00 We went to Vetrek to check the progress on the road. They have finished it to the border of Geluk/Vertrek.

17:00 Headed back home

17/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 24*C Min Temp : 08*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report. Also filled up the vehicle and saw a Grey Heron in the tree by the house. Almost at the same spot we saw the black Stork

08:15 On the Ryefield the usual groups of Impala. The bachelors and another group. The third group was on their way down to the field

08:55 We went to the dam near the base of the mountain to pick up some rolled wire the game guards collected and took it back to the workshop.

09:00 We took a drive towards the mountain to check on the giraffes. We were unable to find them though

09:15 6 x Zebras on our way to the top of the mountain

09:25 On top of the mountain in the middle we saw 5 x Kudu's

09:35 Right hand side on mountain top the 15 Blesbok. All were looking good.

09:45 Left hand side on mountain top we spotted 3 x nice big Kudu bulls enjoying the sun

09:55 On our way back down the mountain near the base of the mountain on the right hand side we saw the same 6 zebra's from earlier (1 x foal) and on the left hand side we saw 6 more zebra's (1 x foal).

10:00 We headed up to the show lodge to go look for the giraffes again but we could not see them. On our way there we saw a small group of Impala (24 + ram)

10:20 We had a meeting with Charles.

11:30 We went to Geluk to clear a new road for the vehicle. We could not go up all the way, the road needs some fixing and will be seen to in the future

14:00 We were done with the road and saw a Duiker on our way back as well as a small group of Impalas near the entrance to Geluk. When we drove back to Elworthy, on the burned side on Geluk we saw more than 50 Guineafowl

14:30 Went home and did some paperwork

15:00 We went to Vertrek to have a look around.

16:15 We had a look around there and found Blue Wildebeest tracks and a latrine site. We could see it clearly because of the fire. Mike also said he had seen them in the area before (9 of them) Charles and Mike also saw 4 x Kudu cows.

17:00 We headed back home.

Weekly Report 13th - 17th August 2007

2007-08-20T10:04:00.001-07:00

Weekly Report 6th - 8th August 2007

2007-08-20T02:57:00.001-07:00

06/08/2007

07:30 The fire seemed to have started again and the cause unknown. We fought fires throughout the day and started back burning on Weenen Safari to stop the fires reaching Elworthy. We were busy fighting fire when a male and female Giraffe from Weenen Safari's got cornered and headed straight for the fence. The male giraffe tried to run through the fence and got its head stuck in the fence. We had to cut it loose and it ended up on Elworthy. It looked fine and no injuries could be seen. We stopped at about 16:45

07/08/2007

07:30 The day was spent checking up on the burn sites and we tried herding the male Giraffe back to Weenen. We were unable to do this however. We checked the Ryefield and started the pump for the centre pivot. We saw a female Waterbuck at the foot of the mountain on our way back to farm house. We also went to Vertrek and Geluk to see the fire damage. The road on Vertrek is almost finished now.

08/08/2007

Mike and the workers managed to get the male Giraffe back through to Weenen Safari's and all the fires seem under control and put out

Weekly Report 30th July - 4th August 2007

2007-08-20T02:54:00.001-07:00

30/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 20*C Min Temp : 04*C

08:15 We headed up the mountain to drop Roz off for some tracking

08:15 There was a young Kudu Bull about halfway up the mountain

08:40 On top of the mountain we spotted 12 x Zebra's in the middle.

08:45 On the far right hand side on our way to the right side of the mountain we saw a Martial eagle in a tree

09:00 We dropped Roz by the Natural spring near the border fence for tracking

09:05 There were 15 x Blesbok near the border fence on the other side. They looked a lot more relaxed today and we were able to get a bit closer than usual

09:10 1 x Duiker and a Mountain Reedbuck near the other natural spring.

09:25 About three quarters down on our way down the mountain we saw 3 x Zebra near the road

09:45 Did the reports and emails

10:50 On our way up the lodge we saw a small group of 10 Impala one a year old ram

11:00 On the Plateau near the lodge we saw the 6 Zebras (3 foals, 2mares, 1stallion) They were calm as well as we got out of the vehicle to go look for the Giraffes

11:05 Looking down from the plateau towards the mountain we saw a group of 4 more Zebras and another one of 3 near the slope

11:30 On the road towards the back from the lodge we saw a Kudu Bull

11:45 4 x Dassies round the back of the mountain near the dam.

11:55 4 x Mountain Reedbuck near the N3 round the back of the mountain

12:00 2nd Dam round the back of the mountain we saw 5 x Cows, a 2 year old Bull and a calf. There is no water in the dam anymore

12:20 On the road back towards the top of the mountain there was a tree fallen over into the road because of the strong winds. It took us some time to try to move it out of the road for the vehicle to pass.

12:40 We picked up Roz and Michael from the top of the mountain

13:15 At the ponds near the house there was a group of Impala's with a ram

14:00 We took Roz to the Ryefield for observation. 6 x Zebras, 2 x Blesbok, 7 x Warthog and the usual Impalas

15:00 We took Roz to town for some grocery shopping

17:30 On the Ryefield we were very fortunate to see 5 x Waterbuck. It looked like the released ones as 2 of them looked like the 2 young ones released.

31/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 21*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Did report

08:30 Took Roz to Geluk, to Mike's Lodge for some tracking. Saw some Impala bachelors by the stream

08:40 The Impala's were moving down towards the Ryefield.

08:55 At the 2 ponds we saw 4 x Warthog boars grazing. They ran off as soon as we stopped

09:20 Female Duiker on the way to the lodge

09:30 We got to Mike's lodge and only saw 2 x Egyptian geese on the water.

09:50 On our way back we saw another Duiker. This time a male

11:00 We went to pick up Roz again

11:30 5 x Warthogs on our way back from the lodge

11:40 1 x Kudu cow near the road on Geluk

11:45 A little further along we saw 2 x Impala rams near the road

12:00 At the 2 ponds near the gate we saw the same 4 warthog boars and sat there a while watching them

12:05 As we drove along there were 3 more Warthogs just opposite the Ryefield on the other side of the road

13:30 We headed into Ladysmith for some things

16:00 When we came back it looked as if the neighbour had started some firebreaks. The fire did not spread into UmPhafa so we went looking for the Giraffes.

17:00 Went back home without finding them

23:30 We saw a red glow on the mountain and it seemed that the fire spread over the top. We rushed up the mountain, but the fire had not spread over the border

01:00 We went back home

01/08/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 23*C Min Temp : 05*C

08:00 Took Roz to Vertrek for some tracking.

08:15 On the Ryefield this morning we saw 2 x Blesbok and the usual Impalas

08:20 We headed up the mountain to check on the fire and help Mike with it

08:45 Up on top of the mountain a secretary bird was taking advantage of the field fire and was feeding in the grass

10:30 We had a short meeting with Charles and received a quote on the building material for the school. We will start with the repairs as soon as possible

11:00 We went to fetch Roz on Vertrek

12:00 We headed back up to the top of the mountain to check on the fire. On our way up we saw 11 Giraffes as well as 3 kudu cows a 2year old bull and a calf

14:00 We spent the day keeping an eye on the fires

16:00 At the pond near the house we saw a warthog family of 5

16:10 On the Ryefield the usual Impala's, Blue cranes and some warthogs

16:15 3 x Warthogs at the 2 ponds near the main gate.

16:20 We headed to Geluk to give a hand with the fires

17:30 We took Michael and Mandla home to Colenso as Mike and staff was still busy with the fires

02/08/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 24*C Min Temp : 07*C

07:30 We took Roz to the back of the mountain to the dams for tracking

07:50 On our way there on the plateau near the lodge we saw 7 Giraffes browsing

08:25 Round the back of the mountain near the N3 we saw 3 x Duikers

08:55 4 x Mountain reedbuck on top of the mountain in the middle area

09:00 Saw the Blesbok on the top right hand side of the mountain. The fires was out and not a threat to Elworthy any longer

09:30 We saw a Jackal buzzard in a tree on top

10:50 On our way down the mountain we saw a 2 year old kudu bull, a calf and a cow.

11:00 We went to pick up Roz round the back

11:20 6 x Mountain Reedbuck by the road near the Tugela on our way back

11:50 We headed off to Vertrek to check on the fires there. Mike had everything under control there. The road was about 850m further than last Wednesday.

13:50 Headed up the mountain again for a check up on the fire. On our way we saw 4 x Kudu cows

14:45 We went to the Ryefield to check who which animals were on it for Roz to observe. 2 x Blesbok. the Impala's and 11 Warthogs

16:00 We took Roz to the Ryefield. We came across 6 Zebra's ( 3 foals, 2 mares, 1 stallion) They were heading towards the Ryefield but we did not see them down later on.

17:00 Took Michael and Mandla home as Mike was still busy with the fires on Vertrek

03/08/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 25*C Min Temp : 09*C

08:00 Went to drop Roz off at the back of Vertrek. On our way there near the pond at the house we saw the Giraffe and spent about 45min with them. Near them there were also 6 x Zebra. We then headed over towards the lodge and took that road round to the back

08:50 On our way towards the back near the dip we saw a young Kudu Bull

09:15 Dropped Roz off

09:50 Did the last 2 day's reports

11:00 Went back to pick up Roz and the rest. On our way back we saw that there was a big field fire on Geluk and we went to have a look. The mountain and back of Geluk was on fire.

13:30 We went to Ladysmith for some things and when we got back the fire was mostly under control

17:30 There were some female Waterbuck on their way to the Ryefield

23:00 The fire started up again and we gave Mike a hand. Got it out at about 00:45

04/08/2007

Weather : Cloudy
Max Temp : 19*C Min Temp : 05*C

10:00 We took Roz to Durban airport

Weekly Report 23rd - 27th July 2007

2007-08-03T13:40:00.001-07:00

23/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 27*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Did the report and sent it off

09:20 We took Roz to the dam near the base of the mountain where she did some tracks

09:45 Checked the progress of the lodge and looked for the giraffes

10:00 We headed round the back of the mountain to make sure that we did not miss the old Kudu bull, but it seems to be the dead one we found in the donga round the back.

10:05 Halfway between the lodge and the big dip we saw a porcupine running across the road.

10:25 Back of mountain near the N3 we saw a male Duiker

10:30 Back of mountain near the first dam we saw another male Duiker

10:35 Back of the mountain we saw another 2 x Duikers (female) as well as 5 x Mountain Reedbuck grazing on the new growth from the firebreaks

11:00 Base of mountain on our way to the top there were 4 x Kudu cows laying in the grass under the trees

11:20 We went to take a look at the carcass of the dead Kudu Bull. It was not touched except for a bit around the thigh

11:30 Top of the mountain on left hand side of the top we saw 9 x Blesbok. They are usually on the other side of the mountain.

13:00 On the Ryefield we saw 12 x Warthogs, 4 x Blesbok and the usual Impala's and Blue Cranes

13:05 At the 2 ponds near the main gate there were 6 x Zebra's. The stallion, 2 mares and 3 foals (recently released ones)

13:25 We went to check on the road progress at Cloustons. They are about 80m further since last Wednesday.

14:00 We went home and sorted out some photos.

15:15 We took Roz to the Ryefield for some observations

17:10 On our way from the Ryefield near the pond at the house we saw the 6 Zebra's again and a group of impala as well

24/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 25*C Min Temp : 09*C

07:30 Near Donga on the way to dam we saw 6 x Hartebeest

07:55 At the dam near the house we saw a Spoonbill feeding

08:10 We headed up towards the Lodge to see if we could spot the Giraffes, but we could only find one near the base of the mountain close to the dam

08:20 Near the Lodge toward the back we saw a young Kudu Bull.

08:45 Across from the field near the house there was a female duiker hiding in the grass

08:50 Near the ponds at the house we saw 3 x Warthogs

09:00 At the pond - Giant kingfisher and the reed Cormorant

09:30 Took Roz to the dry riverbed (Big stream) where she did some tracks

09:45 Worked on the video footage and photos most of the day / Looked for the Giraffes

14:00 Took Roz to the Ryefield to do some observation

16:00 Pick Roz up and went to find the dried casts of the prints she took.

17:00 Went home.

25/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 27*C Min Temp : 15*C

07:30 Took Roz to Vertrek for some tracking along the River and border fence of Vertrek

08:00 Did report and readied everything for Mr and Mrs T

11:00 Went to pick Roz up from Vertrek

13:00 We went down to the Ryefield so Roz could do some observation. Hannes went with Ed to check on the progress of the road on Vertrek

15:00 Mr T arrived round about this time on UmPhafa.

26/07/2007
Weather : Cloudy morning
Max Temp : 22*C Min Temp : 13*C

06:00 Took Mr T and the family for an early morning drive. Spotted eagle owl on way from lodge as well as some Impala and 6 x Zebra in the early dawn. Saw some Impala on the Ryefield. Near the river in a tree we saw a Longcrested Eagle. 3 x Warthogs ran across the road just behind us. We went towards the mountain to see if we could spot the Black-backed Jackals, but we were unlucky.

08:45 - 13:00 We headed off to Ethuleni School to hand out the letters. It was a great trip. The children danced for us and little Ollie joined in after a while. They also sang us some songs. After the dancing we handed out the letters and took down the children’s names. They responded to the letters with much enthusiasm and replied immediately. Kevin and Hannes headed to Ladysmith and decided to treat the children with some sweets which they really enjoyed. I was reminded to just say thank you to Stanway School and Action for the Wild for all their efforts.

14:00 Sorted out the letters and did yesterday's report

15:00 Took the family on a game drive again. Headed over the hill from the lodge and saw a Kudu cow near there. Close to the big dip on the side of the mountain we saw a lone Giraffe. We could not see the others

16:30 We headed up the mountain to show everyone the top of the mountain. We saw 15 x Blesbok on top of the mountain. It was very windy up there. We headed back down and got back at about 18:00.

27/07/2007
Weather : Extremely windy

Max Temp : 23*C Min Temp : 16*C

07:30 Report for yesterday and worked on some of the footage from the school

09:00 Had a meeting with Mr and Mrs T

11:20 Took Roz to the River for some tracking

11:30 Took Mr T and the family on a game drive. The wind was terrible and we did not see much. We saw only 1 giraffe when we use the binoculars.
It was taking shelter from the wind near the slope of the mountain. We did however see a group of first 6 x Hartebeest and about 5 min later 2 more on our way up to the mountain.

16:00 We went on another game drive with Mr T and the family and took Roz with us this time. We took the road leading to the back of the mountain from the lodge. We saw a Marsh Harrier having some real difficulty with the wind. It kept having to land because of the strong winds. We headed down to the Ryefield. On our way there we saw about 2 groups of Impalas. There were only a couple of Impalas on the Ryefield and some Zebras. We saw a Common Reedbuck male near the road by the field. At about 17:50 we saw another common Reedbuck just at the turnoff to the lodge.

There were huge field fires near Winterton area and close to Ladysmith. Millions of Rands worth of field was destroyed and quite a lot of cattle died. Some people lost their lives and some were seriously injured. Many farmhouses and huts burned down and more than 2million hectares were destroyed. We were very fortunate. We could see the blaze from UmPhafa and there was smoke over the N3. Luckily for us the wind was blowing away from us.

Weekly Report 16th - 20th July 2007

2007-07-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

16/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 24*C Min Temp : 06*C

07:30 Did last week's report and paperwork

08:30 We took Roz on a short trip on UmPhafa to just have a look around. There were Impalas and Blue Cranes on the Ryefield.

10:00 We took Roz grocery shopping in Ladysmith.

14:30 We took a drive to Geluk over the mountain, but did not see anything.

15:30 We took a drive down to the Ryefield again and took a walk down to the River. There were 7 Warthog on the Ryefield and the usual group of Impala, 4 x Blesbok and Blue cranes.

17:00 We saw the Giraffes on our way to the Ryefield. When we left for home we found them again at the 2 ponds near home having a drink.

17/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 21*C Min Temp : 06*C

07:30 Did yesterday’s report

08:30 We left to go look for the Old Kudu bull. Its health has been going backwards for a while and we need to step in, since there are no natural predators for the big game like the Kudu Bulls on UmPhafa

08:40 Near the base of the mountain 9 x Impala's (1 x ram, 3 young male lambs, 5 ewe's)

09:00 On our way down the back of the mountain Duiker female

09:30 Just at the base of the mountain near road 5 x Kudu's (1 bull, 4 cows)

09:40 Round the back near the second dam Duiker on the right hand side of road and a young Kudu bull on the left side

11:15 Near the N3 round the back of the mountain Near the border fence we spotted a female Mountain Reedbuck.
11:20 Back of mountain A male Duiker ran across the road

11:45 On our way to show lodge 3 x Kudu Bulls enjoying some of the aloe flowers

11:55 Near the Lodge We counted 12 Giraffes including the 3 claves. Unfortunately, yet again, we were unable to see whether the new calf is male or female

13:00 We went to Cloustons and headed up a stream, we went to check on a trapdoor spider.

14:30 We headed up to the new road to see the progress. They have gone another 150m since last Wednesday.

15:00 9 x Hartebeest on the Ryefield when we went pass there.

16:00 We went to take a look on the Ryefield to get some pictures of the Hartebeest. Unfortunately when we got close enough to use the binoculars we noticed the one with the lame leg was among them. We decided not to go any closer. It seems that its leg has gotten worse. We notified Charles and if the leg continues to deteriorate we will try to dart it and have closer look

18/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 20 *C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 We had to go look for the old Kudu Bull again today. Over the mountain and down the back

08:00 On road to mountain A Black-backed Jackal was running down the road towards the mountain

08:15 Near the base of the mountain 4 x Shelley's francolin

08:30 On top of mountain 2 kudu cows, 1 bull and a mountain reedbuck in the middle of top, about 200m away

08:45 On our way down the back of mountain we saw 12 Zebra's on the side of the mountain

09:10 Back of mountain We saw about 3 Hartebeest. There should be at least 7, but we could only see 3

09:15 Just a bit further down the road we saw 2 x Mountain Reedbuck near the 2nd Stream. We also saw the group of Kudu's usually in this area (1 young bull, 2 calves and 3 cows)

09:30 Round the back near N3 3 x Duikers, near the fence (2 female, 1 male)

10:10 We went home and did yesterday's report.

11:30 We hiked to the big stream and down it towards the Tugela river in search of tracks and signs. We identified some Water Mongoose tracks, Civet latrine area and tracks, Serval tracks, Black-backed Jackal tracks and Porcupine faeces. At the Tugela river on the far bank we witnessed a fight between 2 Duiker males. We could not see them clearly as they were fighting in the reeds.

11:15 Hannes and Michael went to Ethuleni School to dig some holes for the post on which the sign will be placed. The soil was really hard and they poured some water in the holes to soften it up. The digging will continue tomorrow

13:15 Hannes and Michael then headed off to the back of the mountain to go look for the old Kudu bull again. They could not find him, but did however come across a dead Kudu cow. Its insides had been eaten and it looked quite fresh. We do not know how it died, but do not think it was a predator. We will try to find out more, but I don't think we will get anything conclusive

16:30 Back home

19/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 23 *C Min Temp : 06*C

05:00 - 07:00 We took an early morning drive towards the mountain, the Ryefield and round dawn back towards the mountain. It was not a very successful drive. We only saw some Impalas and scrub hare.

07:30 Did yesterday's report.

08:30 We went looking for the Giraffes up near the Lodge, so Roz could spent some time with them. we found them halfway between the lodge and the big dip.

10:00 We hiked up a stream nearby to look for some tracks. We found some Caracal and Serval tracks.

13:00 Went home for some lunch.

08:30 - 14:00 Hannes, Michael and Mandla went looking for the old Kudu bull again. They found a Kudu Bull. It seemed to have fallen down a crevice and broken it's neck. We are not sure that this is the old Kudu Bull and will have another look around, but it could be the one we are looking for.

14:30 The Kudu's head was taken back and the glands removed for analysis.

15:30 We loaded transport boxes for the Common Reedbuck.

16:00 We headed out to Nottingham road to dart some Common Reedbuck for release on UmPhafa

18:30 We arrived at Nothingham Road, where Charles was waiting for us and preparing the darts.

19:00 We headed out to find and dart some reedbuck

23:30 We darted 4 x Common Reedbuck through the night, boxed them up and headed back to UmPhafa. (3 males, 1 female)

02:00 We arrived back at UmPhafa safely.

20/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 22 *C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 We left to go release the 4 Common Reedbuck we captured last night. We released them at the loading ramp near the Ryefield

09:30 We left for Ethuleni School to dig the holes for the sign. Roz went to talk to the children about animals and taking care of your environment. We put the sign up and it looks great.

13:30 Headed back home.

Weekly Report 9th - 13th July

2007-07-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

09/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 11*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Last weeks report and e-emails

08:30 We headed up the mountain first today and came across a Black-backed Jackal in the road on our way up

8:45 Just before we started up the slope we saw a slender Mongoose crossing the road ahead of us

08:55 On our way up 6 x Kudu's (3 cows, 1 x calf, 2 very young bulls)

09:00 On top in middle area Mountain Reedbuck

09:05 We saw the 14 Blesbok over in their usual spot on the right hand side of the top of the mountain

09:20 When we headed down the mountain we saw 3 x mountain reedbuck (2 males, 1 female), one we saw earlier

09:45 Just at the bottom of the mountain we saw the old Kudu bull that usually stay in this area.

10:15 Round the back of the mountain We spotted another Slender Mongoose just next to the road. Very close to this there was a Longcrested Eagle in a tree

10:20 Back of the mountain near N3 Duiker female

10:30 On our way to show lodge near the turn off we saw a male Duiker in the donga

10:40 Near the show lodge at big dip 5 X Kudu cows browsing on the acacia's

10:55 Near show lodge in clearing on the hill we saw 10 Giraffes, (2 older calves looking healthy)

11:05 We headed down to the Ryefield. Near the Big stream there was a Bachelor Impala group of about 14

11:10 There were 4 Blesbok, 66 Blue Cranes, more than 15 Hadeda Ibis, 1 x Warthog and 47 Impalas on the Ryefield this morning

11:50 We headed up towards the dam at the base of the mountain, but did not see anything. On our way back though we saw 7 Hartebeest on the other side of the Donga.

13:00 We took a hike up toward the show lodge in search of the Giraffes in the area.

14:30 Found the Giraffes near the Lodge in the bushes spent some time with them.

15:10 Searched the area to see if We could find the new calf and it's mother. The other giraffes had moved down towards the lodge

15:30 We found the mother in the valley near the top, but was unable to see the calf. We followed the cow for a while.

15:50 We eventually saw the calf as the cow started moving up the hill away from the valley. We could not see it properly, just that it looked ok.

16:30 Hiked back home

10/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 19*C Min Temp : 03*C

07:30 Did report and some paperwork

08:20 Near big stream About 20 bachelors near the stream

10:30 We headed round the back of the mountain past the lodge first and found the Giraffe cow with the calf near the lodge. We tried to identify the calf but it was lying down in the grass.

10:45 Further up the road we saw 2 x giraffe male play fighting, there was another male nearby

10:55 We went round the back, but we did not see any animals today. We headed up the mountain

11:45 In the middle area on top we did see a Duiker female

11:50 On the usual spot on the right hand side of the mountain were the 14 Blesbok.

12:10 We drove down the front side of the mountain and at the base of the mountain we saw 6 x Zebras near the road

12:25 Near the donga on our way back we spotted 7 more Giraffes browsing, the 2 older calves included

12:40 Ryefield 4 x Warthog (1 boar, 3 sows), 34 Bachelor Impalas, 38 Impala ewes with a ram, 4 Blesbok another 5 x Warthog (1 sow, 4 piglets), and 72 Blue cranes

13:30 Took a hike towards mountain and down the stream at the base but did not see anything special. Spent some time with the Giraffes on my way up.

15:45 Headed home

14:10 Hannes took the decorators around some of UmPhafa. They headed up the mountain

14:30 They saw 5 Giraffe on their way up. The others were just out of sight.

15:20 By the dam near the house they saw a Spoonbill

15:30 Ryefield The usual Impalas, 5 x Warthogs, 4 x Blesbok and 2 Longcrested Eagles

16:00 He took them back and they headed back to Durban

11/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 23*C Min Temp : 03*C

07:30 Yesterday's Report

08:00 We headed up to the mountain. Just on top of the mountain we saw a Gymnogene in a tree.

08:40 Right hand side of mountain 3 x Mountain Reedbuck on the hill

08:45 Not too far from there on the right hand side as well, we saw some of the Blesbok. We were unable to count them all,

09:10 On our way back down 2 x Grey Duiker females in the bushes at the base of the mountain near the road

10:00 - 13:00 We went to Ladysmith to take a tyre in for a puncture. We also went to Colenso School to discuss the research student and sports equipment needed.

13:15 Near show lodge We saw 2 of the Giraffes. The progress on the lodge is looking good

14:00 Cloustons 2 x Shelley’s Francolin's. New road about 150m since last Wednesday

15:00 Ryefield 42 x Blue Cranes, 5 x Blesbok, and the usual group of Impalas

15:30 Went home and did some paperwork

12/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 22*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Near big stream 2 x Warthogs and just on the other side a group of Impala bachelors

08:20 We went to Mike's Lodge on Geluk to have a look around, but could not see anything.

09:00 We went to Colenso school to discuss the sport fields. We will take Mike there tomorrow to see how we will improve this

10:40 We headed up to the new road to see it's progress, 50m since yesterday

11:30 Ryefield There were 11 Warthogs, 4 Blesbok, 71 Blue cranes and the usual 70+ Impalas.

12:00 We went to the show lodge to see if we could spot the Hartebeest, but were unable to see them. We were able to spot 3 Giraffes near the base of the mountain near the border fence

13:00 I hiked towards the dam to see if I could locate the Hartebeest, Hannes headed toward the mountain up the road near the main gate.

13:20 Hannes saw the Hartebeest at the foot of the mountain in the thornveld

13:50 Just on the other side of the dam I came across 4 x Zebras

14:00 The Hartebeest started moving in the direction of the Ryefield

14:20 Near Ryefield on the road 1 x Warthog boar

14:30 The 3 giraffes had moved up to the road near the mountain

14:45 3 x kudu bulls near the show lodge

15:00 I walked down the stream from the dam towards the river and about halfway down came across 3 x Spotted Eagle Owls

15:30 I headed back home to do yesterday's report

NIGHT DRIVE:

18:30 On road to mountain, close to house we saw a Spotted Dikkop in the road

18:45 Near the Donga on the way to mountain we saw some of the giraffes on the left side of the road and a Black-backed Jackal in the road ahead of us, they were very vocal last night

19:00 When we came back down we headed to the dam at the base of the mountain. There were only 2 Egyptian Geese on the dam

19:20 We headed toward the lodge and near the farm house we found the 6 released Zebras that usually hangs around in this area at night ( 3 foals, 2 mares and a stallion)

19:30 Halfway up to the show lodge on the right side of the road we saw a group of 8 Mountain Reedbuck in the grass

19:45 On the other side of hill near the lodge we saw a female Duiker lying in the grass.

19:50 Halfway between the lodge and big dip on our way back we saw another Duiker

20:00 We were on our way to the Ryefield when we saw a Small spotted Genet in the road, it ran across and into the field

20:10 Just at the turnoff to the Ryefield, by the stream we saw another Small spotted Genet in the road. It headed down into the dry stream and into a pipe going under the road.

20:20 On the Ryefield we saw 6 x Porcupines, a Spotted Dikkop, at least 2 Hartebeest and the usual group of Impalas. There were 2 Black-backed Jackals and 4 x Common reedbuck (1 ram, 1 ewe, 2 lambs) as well.

13/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 20*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Yesterday and last night's report. Hannes and Mike took the Vehicle to change the oil and filter.

08:30 Hannes helped Mike burn the last of the firebreaks.

10:00 They went to Ethuleni School to see what can be done about the sports field.

10:30 Took a hike up towards the mountain and down one of the streams. Saw 3 Giraffes near the donga on the way up.

11:45 Saw a monitor Lizard in the stream I came down.

13:00 We put the signs on the vehicle. Looks very nice.

Weekly Report 2nd - 6th July 2007

2007-07-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

02/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 15*C Min Temp : 04*C

07:30 Did some office work

07:50 07:55 Pond near the house
A Pied Kingfisher that seem to be in the area most of the time

08:20 We went to the Ryefield
There were about 40 Impala down there. They were lying in the grass. Also some hadeda ibis

08:30 2 ponds near main gate
A hammerkop and the brownhooded Kingfisher that is always at the pond

08:35 We went up towards the mountain-near gate
There were 9 Impala bachelors on our way up

08:45 On way back to main road
We saw 6 x Giraffes on our way back toward the main road. We saw the 2 older calves but not the new baby

08:55 We went to check on the zebra foal carcass. There was nothing left

09:20 Near big stream
Some Impala bachelors (youngsters) were mock fighting near the road by the stream

09:30 We drove up to the dam near the base of the mountain and only saw a female Duiker on our way there

09:50 On our way back however we saw 2 x Common Reedbuck near the Donga

10:30 We drove round the back of the mountain toward the show Lodge.

10:45 We saw a lone Hartebeest and a Gymnogene near the lodge

12:10 We went back to the Ryefield to see what other animals went down there to graze.

12:15 Near big stream
A small group of Impalas were drinking from the small pools in the stream

12:25 Ryefield
This time there were loads of Impala and an Impala bachelor group. They were fighting and chasing each other around. There were also 4 x Blesbok on the field and about 9 Warthog. The family of 5 was also there (1 female, 4 piglets)

12:45 We headed up the mountain to check on the blesbok and the zebra

13:20 On top right hand side
We saw 14 of the Blesbok on top of the mountain

13:30 On the left hand side
We saw a lone Blesbok on the other side of the mountain

14:00 We headed down the back of the mountain and toward the show lodge again. We only saw a male Duiker at the back of the mountain.

14:40 Near the show lodge
The lone Hartebeest was still in the area when we went past there

15:10 We were very fortunate to see a young Martial Eagle on our way back to the farmhouse

15:20 Went back home and did the report

03/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 16*C Min Temp : 04*C

07:30 07:50
We went down to the Ryefields again early. There were only 3 Impalas

08:05 Spotted Dikkop on the other side of the field

08:55 We spent most of the day on Geluk. Went down to the Lodge and up the mountain. We saw 3 x Egyptian Geese and a duiker near the lodge

09:05 We spotted another Duiker on top of the mountain and found a tree that we are still trying to ID. It is somewhat difficult identifying trees in winter

09:30 We saw 2 x Spoonbills at the dam on top of the mountain

11:30 We went by the Ryefield again and this time there were 36 Blue cranes on the field as well as a group of 39 Impalas, 48 bachelor Impalas and 4 x Warthogs.

11:40 We saw 5 of the Giraffes in a clearing close to the base of the mountain

12:30 We went up the mountain, down the back and all the way around

12:30 Road up toward mountain
5 x Zebras (3 foals) near the donga. We could not see the other one

12:45 Halfway up the mountain
On the side of the mountain we saw 4 more zebras.

13:40 Round the back of the mountain Here we saw 7 Kudu bulls. 4 of them were quite young and the other 3 were adult

14:00 We did not see anything else the rest of the day.

16:00 Report

04/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 15*C Min Temp : 04*C

07:50 08:05 On way round towards back of mountain
2 x Common Reedbuck

08:45 On our way to show lodge
We saw an adult Martial Eagle in a tree. Very beautiful. It was chased off some time later by about 5 Pied Crows

08:55 Near lodge
A group of 12 Impalas grazing near the road

09:20 Near big stream
There was a group of young bachelor Impalas grazing.

09:40 Ryefield
12 x Impalas (1 x ram) and another group further along the road

09:50 On the other side of the field
4 of the Blesbok came down to graze and relax on the Ryefield this morning

10:00 2 ponds near the main gate
A Hammerkop that usually spends it's time either here or by the pond near the house

10:10 We took a drive up toward the mountain again, near the main gate but were unable to see anything.

11:00 Went home and tried to identify 2 trees. We are still trying :)

12:30 Went to Cloustons and up the new road they are building there. Marked out the new road most of the day

13:00 Saw 2 x Warthogs in the road there.

15:30 We saw 10 Kudus while marking out the road

16:00 When we came back there was a group of Impalas at the 2 ponds near the main gate.

05/07/2007

Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 17*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Did yesterday's report

08:00 08:00 Near the house
4 x Impala females

08:05 At the pond near the house
The resident reed Cormorant and Pied Kingfisher were in the tree early this morning

08:15 We took a look at some tracks in the big stream to find out if there were any dog tracks. We heard dogs the previous night and were concerned that they might have been on the farm. We only found some Black-backed Jackal tracks

08:25 Ryefield
There was a group of about 42 Impala females and 4 rams

08:30 We drove up towards the mountain. In the area near the main gate. Unfortunately we did not see anything

08:50 On our way back towards the road we did see a Gymnogene and some young bachelor Impalas near the road

09:00 We drove to the dam near the base of the mountain and only saw 2 x Egyptian Geese on the dam. On our way back we saw 4 Impalas near the kraal. (1 ram, 3 ewes)

09:20 We headed up the mountain to check on the Blesbok up top

09:45 Just on top of the mountain
There were 2 Kudu cows browsing next to the road

09:55 Right side of mountain top
The 14 Blesbok were at the usual spot and looking good

10:00 Left side of mountain top
The one Blesbok we saw there yesterday, still alone

10:25 We headed down the back of the mountain again, round the back and toward the show lodge.

10:30 Just before we started our descent we came across a group of 12 Kudus browsing near the road, 2 of them adult bulls and 2 calves

10:50 Down at the bottom we saw a duiker male in the brushes

11:05 We saw another duiker in the near the 2nd dam at the back

11:20 On our way toward show lodge
There were 9 x Kudu's here. 4 were adult bulls and 1 very young bull, as well as 3 adult females and a calf.

11:45 Near the show lodge
7 x Zebras

12:45 We drove up to the show lodge to see if we would be able to spot the giraffes. We found a few and I decided to go look for the rest of them

13:00 I set off from the farm house toward the mountain. We spotted some of the giraffes near the area. There were about 6 Zebras near them

14:00 I finally found 10 of the giraffes, this included the 2 older calves. I could not see the new calf or its mother, so I decided to look for the 2 of them. There were a group of 7 zebras near the 2 giraffes as well, which brings the number of zebras seen today to about 20

14:30 I found them quite near the base of the mountain. The mother was not quite at ease with me and kept moving away, but as far as I could tell, both the calf and the mother is doing well

14:55 I hiked in behind them and found them again on my way back towards the farm house. They were near the dam at the base of the mountain

15:30 On my way back near the donga that leads to the big stream I came across the 10 giraffes again. They were moving towards the clearing between the dam and the fence. Near them on the other side of the Donga were the 6 zebras.

16:00 I moved down the donga towards the big stream and then headed back. Near the farm house I spotted the 10 giraffes in the clearing followed by 6 Zebras

13:00 My brother went to Geluk to have a look around there

14:10 Spotted a Lazy Cisticola

14:35 Found some caracal tracks and followed them.

14:45 Found some caracal droppings but lost the tracks in the bushes. There were also some Duiker and Kudu tracks there

16:20 Went home and did today's report

06/07/2007
Weather : Sunny
Max Temp : 19*C Min Temp : 05*C

07:30 Helped carry furniture for the lodge

08:00 08:00 Near house
4 x Impala ewes

08:10 Near big stream
a Group of bachelor Impalas browsing

08:25 Went to Geluk round the back to the border of UmPhafa

08:30 On way up the mountain
A duiker female

09:10 Round the back of Geluk
A Duiker female

09:55 At border fence round the back
A duiker female

10:25 We then went to Cloustons to check on the progress of the new road. They had done about 50m more since Wednesday

10:50 Near Mike's house
A family of 5 Warthogs (1 female, 4 piglets)

11:00 We headed toward the mountain near the main gate. We did not see anything on our way up, but on the way back we spotted some Hartebeest near the river close to the fence with the binoculars and counted 5

11:10 Ryefield
4 x Blesbok and 5 x Warthogs (4 piglets, 1 female)

11:15 Ryefield
34 bachelor Impalas, 37 ewes (1xram) only 5 of these were juveniles

11:30 near big stream, house side
a group of Impalas (about 20) only saw about 3 juveniles, but they were in the bushes and it was difficult to count all the impalas.

11:35 just a little further along
We saw 9 giraffes ( 2 older calves )

12:00 We went to the dam but only saw some Natal francolin

12:30 We headed up to the mountain
4 x Kudu's ( 2 cows, 1 young bull and a calf )

12:50 On top of mountain in the middle We saw the group of Zebras usually in this area. We were unable to count them, as they were in the bushes. (We counted 5, there should be 13)

12:55 On top of mountain
2 x Shelley's Francolin

13:00 Right side of mountain
The 14 Blesbok that usually stay here

13:45 Near 1st pool at back of mountain we saw a nice big Kudu Bull lying under a tree

14:30 On our way down from the show lodge we saw the giraffes again and counted 10 this time

15:00 I hiked toward the river through the veld and headed for the big stream.

15:20 Near the river I came across 3 Common Reedbuck

15:30 I walked up the big stream back towards the house. Found a lot of Black-backed jackal tracks, Kudu, Giraffe, and some cat tracks, either genet or serval and maybe both. Some mongoose tracks as well

16:00 Headed back home

15:10 Hannes took a drive down to the Ryefield. He saw 40 Impala there. 1 ram, 5 juveniles,34 females. 32 Impala bachelors, 3 x Warthog sub-adults (2 male, 1 female) and 5 Blesbok. Also a male and female Stonechat

15:20 Ryefield
An adult Warthog showed up on the field

15:30 Ryefield
The released group of 6 Zebras came down to the field to graze. 3 adults (1male,2females) and 3 juveniles

15:50 The zebras left the Ryefield again

15:55 Spotted a Brown-throated Martin

Weekly Report 25th - 29th June 2007

2007-07-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

25/06/2007
Weather : Sunny / windy
Temp max: 19*C Temp min : 04*C

07:30 08:00 Ryefield
Group of Impalas

08:30 Monitor valley
1 x Common Reedbuck

09:00 Road to mountain
2 x Cape Vultures

10:00 Mountain
1 x Mountain Reedbuck

11:25 Top of mountain
4 x Blesbok

12:00 Top of mountain
15 x Blesbok, 1 x Blackbacked Jackal

12:45 Back of mountain
6 x Kudu's

13:40 Ryefield
80 x Impala's

14:30 Near Ryefield
4 x Red Hartebeest

14:45 Ryefield
20 x Blue Cranes, 5 x Warthogs

15:25 Geluk Farm
1 x Shelley's Francolin

16:00 Geluk Farm
5 x Grey-Winged Francolin / Scleroptila africanus

26/06/2007

Weather : Sunny / windy
Temp max: 19*C Temp min : 05*C

07:30 Left for Cloustens

08:00 Stopped at Geluk to drop of some fuel for the TLB.

08:30 Cloustens
Drove around on the farm, did not see anything, the wind blowing something awful, dropped of 2 of the game guards at the back of Clostens.

10:00 Ryefield
Small group of Impala grazing.

11:00 Main gate
3 x White-fronted Bee-eaters / Merops bullockoides

14:00 Home
Saw we had a flat tyre, so we changed it and put on spare tyre. Having tyre fixed.

15:00 Went to Ladysmith to fetch game viewer from workshop, had it serviced. Took Flat tyre to get it fixed.

16:00 Ryefield
4 x Blesbok, 38 x Impala's 3 x Warthogs

16:20 Near house
5 x Zebra, 2 adults, 3 juveniles, 27 x Impalas, 1 x Shelley's Francolin, 1 x Tawny-Flanked Prinia / Prinia subflava

27/06/2007

Weather : Cloudy / Raining
Temp max: 21*C Temp min : 04*C
Rainfall : 15mm

07:30 Was raining, so we didn’t see any animals while driving around on Elworthy farm. Saw the usual Impala groups lying down.

10:00 Stopped raining for a while, so we put up the sign for the office and lodge.

12:00 Got tyre back from Ladysmith, changed the tyre, so the truck is good to go again.

13:00 Drove up to the lodge to see the progress on the building, did not see anything on the way, all the animals are lying down
or under cover from the rain

14:30 Started raining sleet / ice

16:00 Office work / report.

28/06/2007
Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 17*C Temp min : 06*C

07:30 09:40 Pond near home
Pied Kingfisher / Ceryle rudis, Reed Cormorant

10:00 Ryefield
4 x Blesbok, 7 x Impala, 5 x Warthogs, Golden-Breasted Bunting

10:30 Cloustens
1 x Grey Duiker

11:45 Cloustens
3 x Greenspotted Wood-Dove, 1 x Malachite Kingfisher

13:30 Pond at foot of mountain
7 x Giraffes, 7 x Zebras

14:30 Top of mountain
15 x Blesbok

15:20 Back of mountain
7 x Red Hartebeest, 2 x Mountain Reedbuck

15:30 Back of mountain
1 x Kudu Bull

16:10 Foot of mountain
5 x Zebra

29/06/2007
Weather : Cloudy / Raining
Temp max: 21*C Temp min : 04*C

07:30 09:35 Pond near house
2 x African Black Duck, Pied Kingfisher

10:00 Next to road leading to house
2 x Warthogs, Group of bachelor Impala

10:10 Tugela River
2 x Egyptian Geese

10:30 Ryefield
3 x Warthogs, 6 x Impalas

10:40 Ryefield
16 x Black Crows harassing 2 x Gymnogenes in the sky over the field

11:30 Foot of mountain
1 x Red Hartebeest

12:10 Pond at foot of mountain
2 x Giraffes, 8 x Zebras

13:10 Road leading to house
6 x Zebras

14:00 2 Ponds near main gate
9 x Red Hartebeest

14:30 Showlodge
5 x Impala females

15:10 Back of mountain
2 x Mountain Reedbuck

15:45 Tugela River
2 x Egyptian Geese, think it is the same 2 we saw earlier

16:00 Fence at N3 Highway
Dead Barn Owl hanging from top wire of fence, must have flown into the fence.

Fact of the week : In the wild female leopards bear up to three young, but usually only one or two survive.

Weekly Report 18th - 21st June 2007

2007-06-30T09:55:00.001-07:00

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

Weekly Report 11th June - 15th June 2007

2007-06-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

11/06/2007

Weather : Sunny / windy
Temp max: 19*C Temp min : 05*C

07:30 Got everything ready to finish the firebreak at the back at the N3 highway.

08:30 When we got there the wind was blowing something awful, another day we cannot burn on account of the weather.

09:30 Tugela river
28 x Impala

10:00 Drop the guys of at Tugela river to ringbark some Saringa trees.

10:20 Ryefield
40 x Impala

11:15 Back of mountain N3 side
2 x Rock Dassies or Rock Hyrax / Procavia capensis

12:30 Near showlodge
1 x Kudu bull

13:15 At house
Crested Barbet, Forktail Drongo, Fiscal flycatcher

13:45 Pond at foot of mountain
6 x Zebra

14:00 Road to mountain
13 x Impala ewes

14:40 Top of mountain
2 x Chinspot Batis

15:40 Pond near house
5 x Zebra

16:00 2 Ponds near main gate
2 x Warthogs

16:20 Monitor Valley
1 x Longcrested Eagle, 7 x Pied Crows

12/06/2007

Weather : Sunny / windy
Temp max: 20 *C Temp min : 06 *C

07:30 Went over the previous days work

08:00 Ryefield
27 x Impalas 5 x Blesbuck

08:50 Tugela river at ryefield
Saw dog tracks all over the riverbank

09:00 Tugela river
1 x Common Stonechat, 2 x Reed Cormorant

09:35 Tugela river
2 x African Black ducks

10:00 Ryefield
3 x Warthogs

13:15 Road to pond at foot of mountain
11 x Giraffes, 10 x Zebras

14:00 Pond at foot of mountain
1 x Grey duiker

14:30 Tugela river at back
28 x Impala ewes

14:45 Tugela river at back
23 x Pied Crows feeding on the pecan nuts from the pecan nut trees.

15:00 Road to house
1 x Blackshouldered Kite

13/06/2007

Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 19 *C Temp min : 07 *C

07:30 08:00 Road to main gate
5 x Blesbuck making their way to the ryefield

08:50 Cloustens
1 x Black-backed Jackal

10:20 Pond near house
6 x Zebra - 3 adults, 3 juveniles, 20 x Impala - 15 females, 5 males

10:30 Pond near house
2 x Redbilled Oxpeckers

10:55 Other side of Tugela on ploughed field
13 x Blue Cranes

11:00 Back of showlodge
1 x Black-Crowned Tchagra

11:30 N3 Highway side of farm
1 x Kudu cow, 1 x Grey Duiker female

12:00 Finished burning the back section firebreaks along the N3 Highway side next to fence.

12:10
1 x Jackal Buzzard at the burn site

14:50 Ryefield
6 x Warthogs - 2 adults, 4 juveniles, 5 x Blesbuck, 1 x Brownhooded Kingfisher

15:05 2 Ponds near main gate
2 x South African Shelducks / Tadorna cana - male and female 1 x Malachite Kingfisher

15:20 2 Ponds near main gate
4 x Yellow-fronted Canary

15:40 Thornveld at mountain
4 x Red Hartebeest

14/06/2007

Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 19 *C Temp min : 06 *C

07:30 08:00 Chameleon Valley
5 x Zebras

08:50 Geluk
16 x Impalas

10:00 Geluk
6 x Greenspotted Wood-Dove

10:15 Geluk
1 x Slender Mongoose

12:25 Geluk
1 x Kudu Bull

13:45 Road to main gate
1 x Grey Duiker

15:00 Road to mountain
5 x Warthogs

16:30 Pond at house
2 x African Blackducks

16:45 Ryefield
17 x Helmeted Guineafowl, 3 x Warthogs

17:00 Thornveld at base of mountain
1 x Red Hartebeest, 7 x Zebras, 9 x Giraffes

15/06/2007

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

07:30 - 11:45
Fixing the water pipe that leads to the house

12:00 Cloustens
2 x Vervet Monkeys / Chlorocebus aethiops

12:45 Ryefield
14 x Warthogs, 5 x Blesbuck, 9 x Guineafowl,
70 x Impala

13:10 Thornveld below mountain
8 x Giraffes

13:15 Pond near house
1 x Giant Kingfisher, 1 x Familiar Chat

13:30 - 15:15
Finished fixing and cleaning pipe and valve of tank that provides water for the house

16:00 Top of mountain
4 x Cape Weavers

16:25 Top of mountain on burn site
14 x Blesbuck

16:50 Road down from mountain
1 x Grey Duiker

Weekly Report 4th - 8th June 2007

2007-06-17T02:06:00.000-07:00

04/06/2007
Weather : Sunny / windy
Temp max: 20 *C Temp min : 08 *C

07:30 Went over the weekends photo's I took of birds and animals, got a beautiful shot of the sunset at Cloustens Farm. Got everything ready for the next firebreak at the N3 highway side.

09:00 Went to burn site, the day was perfect for burning breaks, no wind.

09:45 Started burning. We burnt for about 20 min, when the wind picked-up and we decided to stop and try at another location at the back of the mountain at the N3 highway. When we got there the wind had turned and was too strong. Phoned the weather station to get a report on the weather, wind is going to be blow till Thursday. We are going to continue that side on Thursday.

12:00 Saw the Giraffes on the way back at the base of the mountain

12:00 Base of mountain 11 x Giraffes, 6 x Zebra

12:45 Went to top of mountain, saw the Giraffes and Zebra on the way, they moved to the other side of the mountain.

13:45 Top of mountain 11 x Blesbuck (Very windy up there)

14:30 Went to Ryefield, one of the sprayers had broken, fixing it.

14:45 Ryefield 5 x Blesbuck, 1 x Blackheaded,Heron, 22 x Impala rams ( Group of bachelors ),14 x Hadeda Ibis

15:00 Tugela river at Ryefield, 1 x Perigrine Falcon chasing ( hunting )Turtle Dove.

15:20 Monitor Valley 13 x Impala rams ( another group of bachelors ).

16:00 Arrived home, sorting photo's on computer and writing the daysreport.

05/06/2007Weather : Sunny / windy

Temp max: 24 *C Temp min : 10 *C

08:00 Meeting

10:00 Monitor Valle 6 x Zebra ( 3 adults, 3 babies )

10:20 Near Ryefield 32 x Impalas ( 1 male, 25 females, 6 juveniles )

10:30 Ryefield 5 x Blesbuck,19 x Impalas,34 x Hadeda Ibis,Have not seen the Blue Cranes for a while now.

11:10 Pond near house The Zebra we released are settling in there,they look very calm.

12:45 Road near monitor valley 5 x Waterbuck ( 1 male, 4 females ),

13:00 Went with Mike to see where the firebreak has to be finished at theback of Geluk Farm, spent the rest of the day there. Fixed the roadup there for the tractor and vehicles that we are going to need forthe burning of the firebreak. Saw most of Geluk Farm just to know the area at the back there. Really nice there. Saw 1 x Kudu female and lots of Duiker and Warthog tracks.

16:10 Geluk Farm 2 x Warthogs, 1 x Emerald spotted Wood-Dove

16:25 Arrived home.

06/06/2007

Weather : Cloudy / Raining
Temp max: 23 *C Temp min : 14 *C

07:30 Went over yesterdays work.

08:00 Went to Cloustens to check on the progress of the fence.

08:30 Checked the fence, it is coming on well, could not burn firebreakstoday because of the weather, it was raining the whole day.

09:00 Spent some time marking and making holes for the fences cornerposts.

10:00 Ryefield 27 x Impalas ( 1 male, 22 females, 4 juveniles ),1 x Blesbuck

11:00 Took the gameviewer to drag a tree out of the road, that fell downand was blocking the road, went well, got the tree out of the way.11:30 Pond near ft of mountain 7 x Hartebeest ( 6 adults, 1 juvenile )

12:00 Road to top of mountain 1 x Hartebeest male,1 x Giraffe male

12:30 Side of mountain at showlodge 5 x Zebra ( It is some of the newone we released, they look in good condition ). There are 6 xZebra from the released group of 14 that is settling in nicely next to the house at the pond, 3 females and 3 juveniles. We are very happy and glad, they all look in great condition.

13:30 Top of mountain 11 x Blesbuck at the burn sitewhere we made the fire breaks.14:30 Went to Cloustens

14:50 Mountain at Cloustens near road at Tugela river - Vervet Monkeys in the bushes near the river, could not see them, but you could hear their calls and screams

14:55 Mountain at Cloustens 2 x Kudu females ( 1 adult, 1 juvenile )

15:25 Mountain at Cloustens 2 x Kudu males

15:35 Mountain at Cloustens Little Bee-Eater / Merops pusillus

16:00 Mountain at Cloustens 1 x Grey Duiker

16:35 Mountain at Cloustens Saw a Buffalo Thorn tree that hasbeen knibbled at the bottom by a porcupine, took some photo's.

17:15 Arrived home.5 mm of rain today

07/06/2007
Weather : Sunny Temp max: 19 *C Temp min : 05 *C

07:30 Yesterday's report

08:00 Got everything ready for the burning of the firebreaks

08:30 Went back to the N3 side next to the fence

09:00 Started the fire, but the grass was too wet from previous day's rain.It burned really slow

10:45 It was starting to get drier so we burned more intensely

11:25 Burnt about 900m along the fence, saw a White Stork on the burntareas and it was joined by 4 Blackheaded Herons12:00 Stopped after 1.8km

12:10 Went back home to fill watercarts and firefighters

12:50 Moved to a new location and saw 3 x Jackal Buzzards on the way

13:30 Got to the cornerpost at back next to N3 and started the fire for thefirebreak again

15:10 We stopped burning as the wind was starting to pick up and it gottoo risky to keep burning

15:45 Got back home and saw 6 x Cape Vultures and 1 xBlackshouldered Kite along the way

08/06/2007

Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 10 *C Temp min : 04 *C

07:30 Yesterday's Report and put the capture clips on cd

08:30 Prepared the new vehicle for the farm. We took the canopy off. Didsome road clearing for new vehicle, trimmed branches

10:00 Pond near house Hammerkop10:25 Road to Ryefield 3 x Adult Egyptian Mongoose running

10:30 Ryefield 5 x Blesbok and a big group of Impalas

10:35 Ryefields Hadeda Ibis and a BrownhoodedKingfisher

10:45 On way from Ryefield 4 x Warthogs just next to road

10:50 Went up the road toward Saw nothing on way upmountain, near gate

11:10 On way back down 6 Zebras which includes 1 x foal and a l lone Hartebeest

12:20 On road up the Mountain We saw some of the Giraffes when wewent up the mountain but could not count them

12:35 Near base of mountain 1 x Kudu Bull, 1 x cow and 3 calves

13:10 On top of mountain Yellowbreasted Pipit (Anthus chloris)

14:00 Went down the back of mountain

15:00 Back of mountain 2 x Blackheaded Herons feeding on thefirebreak

15:15 Further along 1 x Kudu bull, 3 cows and 1 x calf

15:35 On way to farm back from Longcrested Eagle in a treemountain

16:00 Back homeFact of the week : Blesbok rams mark their home ranges with dung middens. The territorial ram anoints his face in them so that the scent marks him as the dominant male in the area

Weekly Report 28th May - 1st June

2007-06-17T02:01:00.000-07:00

28/05/2007
Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 20 *C Temp min : 08 *C

08:00 08:30 Pond near house
2 x African Blackducks, 1 x Hammerkop, 1 x Brownhooded Kingfisher

09:00 Ryefield 66 x Blue Cranes - Saw the broken legged crane again
Today, 2 x Grey (Southern) Crowned Crane /
Balearica regulorum, 2 x Egyptian geese, 1 x Hadeda Ibis, 3 x Impala females,1 x Warthog, Loads of Greater Cane Rats / Thryonomys swiderianus in the grass next to ryefield

Drove to Geluk farm to walk around there and see what I can find.

09:50 Geluk farm 1 x Grey Duiker female

10:00 Geluk farm 2 x Impala males

10.30 Geluk farm 1 x Green ( Emerald ), spotted Wood Dove

10:40 Geluk farm 1 x Grey Duiker male, 1 x Hammerkop

10:45 Geluk farm 1 x Mocking Cliff-Chat female

10:50 Geluk farm Saw some nice fresh monitor tracks and I followed
them for a while to find 2 x big Monitor lizards, on the banks of a dried out stream.

11:45 Geluk farm 5 x Kudus - 3 adults and 2 juv.

12:00 Geluk farm Walked in a dry stream when I saw a swarm of
bees moving over head.

12:25 Geluk farm Walked to the end of the stream to a pond next to
the mountain saw: 2 x Egyptian geese, 2 x African Blackducks,1 x Warthog wallowing in the mud.

13:00 Got back to the Gameviewer to go back, when a big Hammerkop
flew about 2 meters over head. Stopped at ryefield to check on things.

13:30 Ryefield 67 x Blue cranes, 58 x Impala, 10 x Hadeda Ibis
2 x Black Crows

Stopped at monitor valley to walk to Tugela river, saw the usual birds and the monitors at their den at the Tugela.

15:30 Road to pond at 3 x Kudus - 1 male and 2 females
ft. of mountain

16:00 Near pond at 3 x Giraffes
ft. of mountain

16:10 Pond at ft of mountain 8 x Warthogs - 4 adults and 4 juv
8 x Impala females

29/05/2007
Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 21 *C Temp min : 04 *C

07:30 - 10:00 Writing report and identifying birds and insects from photo's
taken the day before.

10:00 10:10 Monitor valley 3 x Giraffes, 2 males 1 female

10:20 Ryefield 30 x Impala, 65 x Blue Cranes ,1x Lanner Falcon
1 x Peregrine Falcon, The Lanner Falcon was harassing
the Peregrine Falcon in the air, beautiful arial skills was
displayed by both falcons.

11:00 Ryefield 1 x Forktailed Drongo, 2 x Longcrested Eagles, they
were very vocal flying from tree to tree, maybe breeding
pair, 2 x Black Crows, 1 x Brownhooded Kingfisher

11:30 Fence near main gate 1 x Cape Robin, 1 x Natal Francolin,
1 x Forkedtail Drongo

12:00 - Took lots of pictures of birds for the website and identification at home.

12:20 - Arrived home

12:30 - 16:00 Spent rest of the day identifying the photo's of the birds
and insects and writing the report.

Birds photographed: Cardinal Woodpecker
Blackeyed Bulbul
Kurrichane Thrush / Turdus libonyanus
Cape Turtle-Dove
Black-Collared Barbet
Blue Waxbill
Southern Boubou
Pin-tailed Whydah female
Crested Barbet
Forktailed Drongo
Longcrested Eagles - Nice photo of both sitting on the top branches of a tree.
Blue Cranes

Insects photographed: Snouted Harvested Termites / Trinervitermes
Cockroach / Deropeltis erythrocephala
Whipscorpion from the Order Amblypygi

30/05/2007
Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 21 *C Temp min : 05 *C
07:30 Got everything ready for the burning of the firebreak on mountain next to fence

08:00 Depart for mountain

08:40 Started burning - Burned about 800m along the fence on top of mountain, where the Blesbok are -
- 14x Blesbuck
- 1x Kudu at corner post

10:45 Finished burning

11:30 Got back to house - went to main gate for the arrival of the 5
female waterbuck that is going to be released on the reserve.
- 3x adults
- 2x sub-adults

12:00 Truck arrived - animals conditions checked by vet before release –
Released successfully.

12:20 Ryefield: - 47x Blue Cranes
- 5x Blesbuck
- 50x Impala

12:50 Monitor Valley - 5x Giraffe (drinking water)

13:00 At House - Bachelor group Impala

13:35 Got call that 14 Zebra arriving to be released on reserve:
- 10 females ( 4 young)
- 4 males

15:00 Zebras arrived, checked by vet, all in good condition

15:25 Successfully released.

15:40 Saw 1x female Zebra near release sight, could hear released Zebra
group calling each other for regrouping.

Am very happy with the success in the release of the 2 antelope species, and will continue in monitoring on a daily basis (if possible).

31/05/2007
Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 21 *C Temp min : 07 *C

07:30 Got everything ready to finish the next stage of the firebreak up at
the mountain

08:00 Left for the mountain, saw 5 x Zebra on the way near the show
lodge at the bottom, it was 5 of the Zebra we released yesterday, they look calm and settled in and you can hear their plaintive two-phase barking brays as they call to each other.

08:40 Got to the top, but it was too windy to burn a firebreak, had to turn
back.

09:20 Went to Geluk farm to test burn down there, too see if the wind was
going to allow us to burn down there, burned a little patch, but it got
too dangerous to carry on, the wind was swirling too much, so we
stopped. Decided to change plans, went to check the game fence for damage, saw 2 places that needed fixing. ( Kudu messed up the fence at Cloustens Farm on the road )

11:00 Fixed the Fence

12:30 Returned to main gate for arrival of 5 x Waterbuck females that is
set to be released on Elworthy Farm.

13:30 Waterbuck arrived, we checked their condition, looked good,
successful release.

14:30 Went to Cloustens with Ed and Mike, to look for a good place to make
the main road for the reserve. Got a photo of a Strangular Fig tree
strangling a Paperbark Acacia on Cloustens.

15:30 Cloustens farm 5 x Kudus, 2 Females, 3 Males

16:45 Cloustens farm 1 x Grey Duiker

17:15 Cloustens farm 1 x Common Reedbuck

17:30 Returned home.

01/06/2007
Weather : Sunny
Temp max: 23 *C Temp min : 08 *C
07:30 Wrote Report of previous day and went over yesterdays work.

09:00 Left for Cloustens farm.

09:30 Walked 7km at back of mountain on Cloustens where they are
going to build the lodges and hotel. Mike, Ed and I were walking around to look for the best place to build a road to get around to all the building sites. Saw 1 x Grey Duiker while walking around up there, the terrain is very rocky and to build a road up there will be
difficult but possible. In the 2 days we were their we walked 13km
around the area.

12:30 Got back to Gameviewer

13:00 Road back to house 4 x Kudus, 3 Sub-adults, 1 Juvenile
near ryefield

13:10 Ryefield 45 x Impala
25 x Blue Cranes
10 x Hadeda Ibis
1 x Warthog

14:45 Arrived home, went over the places we thought will be a good place to build the roads, got GPS locations for them. Going to go back Monday and see if we can find better terrain or places we missed. But so far it looks good.

16:00 Finished report.

FACT OF THE WEEK : The Hammerkop is the only member of its family and is confined to Africa and Madagascar.

Weekly Reports 21st - 25th May 2007

2007-06-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

21st May

Weather - Sunny but windy

Temp Max 21*C / Min 07*C

8.00

Took Richard to see Colenso School. Videoed school and new fencing

Near the house - 1 Group of Impalas

At Rye fields - 5 Blesbok, 45 Impalas and a little way on 3 Impala Bachelors

Rye fields - 1 Warthog near road and 2 Warthog Boars fighting in middle of field

Near 2 ponds house - Slender Mongoose running across road

Near show lodge - A Secretary bird was feeding in the grass

Fields near house - Group of Impalas

15.00

Noticed smoke over mountain - turned out to be a big veld fire, luckily it was on other side on N3 and far from UmPhafa

22nd May

Weather - Sunny but cold

Temp max - 17*C min - 11*C

Dee spent most of the day getting Richards’s video footage ready and on CD

8.30

Rye fields - 6 Blue Cranes and 9 Hadeda Ibis and 40 Impalas on other side of field

Big stream leading to Tugela - Eagle Owl

Tugela River - 2 Nile Monitors

Big stream - Unidentified toad near the area where we saw the Owl

Big stream towards mountain - Walked about 400 m up and found snake shedding in a hole in the dry bed. Fierynecked Nightjar. We walked to the end of the dry stream near the foot of the mountain and then walked back through the bushveld to the Gameviewer. On our way back we came across an old Zulu hut. It had no roof but the walls were still standing

Night Drive

Weather - cold

19.00

Field near house - 2 Duikers and big herd of Impala on field

Rye Fields - 5 Blesbok then 4 more few minutes later

We did not see anything else for rest of the trip

23rd May

Weather - Sunny but cold

Temp Max 16*C / Min 2*C

8.30

Walked down mountain on N3 Highway side - nice dense rocky areas, signs of Kudu, Mountain Reedbuck and Scrubhares. Took us about 1.5 hours to walk half way down mountain because of the rocky dense conditions

Dry Stream bed - Chinspot Batis and Greater Double Collard Sunbird

Got to a nice rock face on side of mountain - expect will be a nice waterfall come the rainy season. Signs of Porcupine and a Porcupine den. Found pottery shards between the rock crevices, may be clay pots of earlier settlers or Zulu pottery. Sent them away for dating. Took some nice photos and video footage

Hiked back to game viewer on a different route - 2 Kudu bulls

On way back - Lots of Pied Crows and a Longcrested Eagle

Ryegrass field - group of Impala and Bachelor Impala, 6 Blue Cranes, 1 Warthog

2Ponds near main gate - 6 Giraffes (baby looks wonderfully healthy), 5 Zebra stallions

24th May

Weather - Sunny but cold

Temp Max 15*C / Min 2*C

Meeting from 8.00 in regards to releasing Elang, Zebra on Elworthy farm on Wednesday

12.00

Ryegrass - 15 Blue Cranes, 5 Blesbok, 45 Impalas

Geluk Farm - 3 Kudu's. Kudu cow chewing on a bone, probably looking for some trace element out of the bone. That is called Osteophagy - the practice of eating bones by an animal in who the behaviour is not common, for example, an antelope

Walked up the mountain on Geluk farm for any rock paintings, saw Blackeyed Bulbulls and loads of Hoopoe, Duiker and Kudu tracks

No rock paintings so far

Geluk Farm - 4 Red billed Oxpeckers on a cow, 4 Impala rams, 2 Greenspotted Wood Dove, 1 male Warthog

Ryegrass field - 2 Warthogs males, 15 Blue Cranes, Heron, 1Blackheaded and juvenile Impalas, 11 Impala rams

Foot of mountain - 7 Giraffes

25th May

Weather - Sunny but cold

Temp Max 17*C / Min 4*C

8.00

Foot of mountain - 7 Red Hartebeest
Stream that leads to Tugela - 1 Duiker male
Pond at foot of mountain - Brownhooded Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher
Road back from pond - Neddicky, Fiscal Flycatcher, Blackeyed Bulbulls
Near house - 11 Impala females, 3 x Impala juvenile both males
Road leading to Rye field - 6 Giraffes 2 males, 2 females, & two young ones. 1 Zebra follows the Young Giraffe around. Can hear Blue Cranes n the rye field, very vocal today
Rye fields - 31 Blue Cranes, one badly broken leg, 36 Impalas
2 Ponds near gate - 1 Warthog
Near main gate on road - 4 Kudu females
Went home to get Richard ready for trip home, and write report, it was a pleasure to have Richard here and we hope to see him again someday

FACT OF THEWEEK: the Blackheaded Centipede-eater feeds exclusively on centipedes, occasionally centipedes manage to kill and eat the snake instead.

Q. Is the Blackheaded Centipede-eater venomous or not?
A. Yes, but only mildly venomous, and no danger to man.

Weekly Report 14th - 20th May 2007

2007-06-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

14th May

Weather - Sunny

8.00

Reports emailed and photos sorted

Went to Vertrek to have a look around and spent approx 4 hours there

Spoonbill on our way back from Clouston's near main gate at 2 ponds feeding in water

Saw: Trapdoor Spider, Wahlberg's Snake-eyed Skink, Lesser Dwarf Shrew

13.00

Up tree at the entrance to Vertrek - 1 Southern Tree Agama Lizard

Took a hike up the mountain over at Vertrek. Spent approx 3 hours. Lots of Wahlberg's Snake-eyed Skins, Baboon Spider, Centipedes

16.20

Home - identified following insects - Hike Elegant Grasshopper, Elegant Grass-mimicking

Grasshopper, Millipede Assassin

15th May

Weather - Sunny

Temp Max: 28*C Min 15 *C

4.30

Near house - Impala Bachelors sleeping, loads of Scrubhare around

Fields near house - 3 x Duiker, I Porcupine, 3 Common Reedbuck

Near planted fields - 1 Flap-necked Chameleon

Planted fields - 2 Impala Rams

Close to road - 1 Duiker male

2 Ponds near main gate - 2 African Black Ducks

Way back near planted fields - Impala group 2 starting to graze and browse

Further along road - 1 Fierynecked Nightjar

Near dam at base of mountain - Whitefaced Owl in tree

Dam - 2 x Redknobbed Coots

Road towards mountain - 1 Giraffe calf near road, Impala group 3

7.00

Home doing report

Went hiking again up towards the mountain and took a stream down back towards farmhouse, took about 4 hours. Tried to get some photos of insects for identifying, did not see many things.
Base of mountain - 11 Giraffes including the two calves, they were relaxed even though we were on foot, also saw Duiker in same area
Hannes took a different route today
Near house - Natal Francolin
Tugela River - 2 Monitor Lizards
Steam leading to Tugela - 2 Spotted Dikop
12.00
Home - identified the following insects today Red Driver Ant, Fire Ant, Holopterna Alata
Sorted out the report and some more photos

16th May
Weather Sunny
Temp max 20*C min 15*C

7.30
Spent most of the day having some trouble with my PC trying to copy photographs to disc. Spoke to KZN wildlife about a Rock Python that needs to be released on Gevonden. The snake has not eaten anything yet but is drinking water. We hope to release it in September. The snake was shot and has been recovering
Hannes and Richard went hiking
Road to mountain - 4 Giraffes
On hill near show lodge - Scorpion
Saw a possible Jackal or Porcupine den, and when they inspected the area they found a snare near the hole and removed it
Identified a Giant Jewel Beetle

Night Drive
20.00
Near base of mountain - Duiker in grass
Mountain road - 5 Kudu
Top of mountain - Spider on almost every aloe - same species, Blesbok in their usual spot
On top near fence - 3 Reedbuck
Way back down - Mouse/Rat in tree
Down mountain road - 1 Chameleon
Halfway to house - 1 Kudu cow

17th May

7.30
Wrote last night report
Round back of mountain and down the front - half eaten mole in he road, very fresh, and another half eaten rodent, rat or mouse about 100 meters from mole. Also fresh kill, little earlier than mole
Back of mountain up hill - Kudu cow
First pond towards mountain - 1 Duiker, Blackheaded Oriole
Top of mountain - Grey Duiker, little female
Way down - another lone Kudu, in a Aloe - female Southern Rock Agama

20th May
Weather - very windy and cool
17.30
2 ponds near gate - Male Waterbuck having a drink
On planted fields - Impala enjoying ryegrass
On road home - Bachelor Impalas
Near house - Another group of Impalas and lone Kudu cow

Weekly Report 7th - 11th May 2007

2007-06-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

7th May

Weather - Cool in morning, sunny

7.45

Near 2 ponds - Impalas

Mountain side of pond - We have not seen the 2 Egyptian Geese with the 6 remaining goslings since the Mongoose attacked the goslings last week

We went to the woods today to do some road clearning for the Gameviewer. We did not see many animals

Kittlitz's Plover

As the bush lodge - 1Dabchick, 1 Blackheaded Heron, 2 African Black Ducks, 8 Yellowbilled Ducks, 2 Egyptian Geese. Impala on hillside

Way back from lodge - Grey Duiker under an Acacia

Way up mountian - 3 Kudu cows

Way back from top - Greenspotted Wood-Dove

Near big stream near house - Only 1 Giraffe

Near pond by house - Impalas

On pond by house - 1 Hammerkop, 1 Giant Kingfisher, 1 Reed Cormorant

13.25

Near house - Young Warthog

On our way back - Redbilled Oxpecker

Planted Fields - nothing but some Pied Crows and Hadeda Ibis

Base of mountain near gate - lone Giraffe from earlier. Not too far off Hartebeest - but unable to count them

Road towards mountain - Lone Kudu by the Donga

Base of mountain - 5 Kudu

Way back - 1 Duiker (female)

8th May

Weather - Cool in the morning, sunny

Spent the day with Charles and a representitive from KZN Wildlife. They discussed wildlife releases on UmPhafa, especially the Rhino that AFTW want to release on Elworthy. We took them on a gamedrive in the Gameviewer around Elworthy and had 3 sightings of Kudu, 2 Duikers, 10 of the Giraffes, lone Hartebeest that is always in this area, with a group of Impala. Richard Hazelgrove arrived at UmPhafa and we took him grocery shopping

Night Drive

21.00

Other side of main gate - First sighting of Aardvark, but unfortunately it was the other side of main gate

Fields near house - Small Impala group (9), 4 Grey Duikers. Took Richard and went looking for Chameleons

Fields near house - found first and only Chameleon

Big stream - 2 Giraffes

Spent the rest of the night looking for more Chameleons but could nto find any. The Jackals were very vocal at about midnight

9th May

Weather - Cool in the morning, sunny

Spent the morning trying again to get video footage on CD

Dam near base - Water Monitor

Identified a Blackcrowned Tchagra

Planted fields - Impala group with 1 ram, 2 young rams close to the as well, they are constantly being chased off by the big ram

Base of mountain - 7 Giraffes at base

Big stream to Tugela - 1 Agama (lizard)

At Tugela- biggest Water Monitor we have seen so far. About 1.4 m

Other side of Tugela - 2 Water Monitors

Near the house - 1 Red Sided Skink and an Impala group

10th May

Weather - Cool in the morning, sunny

8.00

Went to near base of mountain and took a walk up. 3 Giraffes and not far from them 5 Zebras

Road to mountain - 1 Slender Mongoose

On top of mountain - 5 Blesbok, 2 Blesbok on other side of fence as well as 1 Hartebeest

On top of mountain - 3 Mountain Reedbuck

In sky over N3 tar road - 3 Cape Vultures

Unidentified Snake seen

Blackheaded Centipede eater or Cape Centipede eater

Actually managed to get the video footage to CD and can now be sent to Colchester Zoo

11th May

Weather - Cool in the morning, sunny

8.00

Pond near house - lots of Yelloweyed Canaries in the long grass

Near house other side of pond - Impala group with 1 single ram

Planted fields - 2 Egyptian Geese

Just left of planted fields - 1 Warthog boar eating long grass and a Longcrested Eagle in a tree

In grass next to road - Lots of Common Waxbills

2 ponds near main gate - 1 Brownhooded Kingfisher, Kudu cow

Spent some time at 2 ponds - Fiscal Shrike fighting a Blackcrowned Tchagra, Streakyheaded Canaries, Cape Wagtails, Cape Turtle Doves

2 ponds near main gate - Impala group (3) with one ram

Walk back from 2 ponds near road in a dead tree- 2 Cardinal Woodpeckers

Near planted fields closer to road - Impala group (2) 1 ram

Big stream towards mountain - 1 big Warthog boar. Most of the usual birds but nothing else in the stream

Near house - Juv. Fortailed Drongo

Road towards back of mountain - Ground Agama Lizard and Wolf Spider

Near N3 highway - Baboon Spider

Further towards back of mountain - Lesser Dwarf Shrew

Near show lodge - Longcrested Eagle

Near road on way to farm house - Blackbacked Puffback and a Redface Mousebird

Indentifed the following insects: Dotted Veld Antlion, Yellow Pansy, Green Milkwood Locust, Vinegar Flies, Paper Wasps, Broad-bordered Grass Yellow, Bagwork, African Monarch, Spotted Joker, Topaz Blue, Cockroach Family

12th May

Weather - Cool in the morning, sunny

8.30

Planted fields - Check progress of reygrass. Saw Impalas on field testing the grass

Dam near base of mountain - Saw the residing Monitor Lizard and 2 African Black Ducks

Put the pump off at the field and on the way back saw a Blackheaded Heron and a Reed Cormaornat

2 Ponds near gate - Blackcollard Barbet

Near house by pond - Brownhooded Kingfisher

Near base of mountain - 7 Hartebeest, could not see the 2 calves

Fencing : By Wednesday the fencing team had finished to the Geluk/Vertrek boundary, a distance of just over a kilometer. The rest of the week was spent stripping down the old cattle fence, cutting down trees and starting to neaten up between the fence and the districk road.

RAINFALL - No rainfall all this week

NUMBER OF BIRDS IDENTIFIED SO FAR: 123

Weekly Report 23 - 29th April 2007

2007-06-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

23rd April

Weather - Sunny

7.45

Field near house - Duiker

Back of the mountain - no animals at all. Identified some birds, 2 new ones - Blackcrowned Tchagra, Wailing Cisticola, rest the same - Stone Chat Bully Canary, Golden Breasted Bunting, Longcrested Eagles, Pied Crows, Blackeyed Bulbul, Bule Waxbills

13.00

The Creche Impala were near the house and stayed all day

Big stream, gate side - the whole Giraffe group was there

Ploughed fields - Some of the Bachelors there, I was quite close to them, so they are getting use to the gameviewer

4 Shelley's Francolin on the fields as well as some Hadeda Ibis

2 Ponds near gate - Main Impalas were there. Group is not as big as it used to be. Most of the impalas are forming new smaller groups

On the pond - 2 Adult Egyptian Geese with 8 Goslings

Road towards mountains - nothing to see but had some vehicle trouble and was stuck for 10 minutes, eventually got the Gameveiwer started and got back safely

Mike helped us with the Gameviewer - now working fine

24th April

Weather - Sunny

7.45

Went to clear some more road for the Gameviewer at the new road going from the top of the hill near the lodge. Unfortunately we had some more trouble with the Gameviewer and stuck for an hour. Mike came, filter clogged.

Near lodge on way road clearing - 14 Impalas grazing

On road - A young Kudu Bull

We went bird watching for 1 1/2 hours - Cape White-eye, Streakyheaded Canary, Blackeyed Bulbul, Swee Waxbill, Cape Robin, Pied Barbet, Speckled Mousebird, Brownheaded kingfisher, Bully Canary Cardinal Woodpecker, Brownhooded Kingfisher

Walked back to house due to problem with vehicle - 1 Duiker near the road at back of mountain, another Duiker near the river not far from frist, a Spotted Bushsnake near the river, Lots of Pied Crows everywhere again, 3 Egyptian Mongoose on the road, a mother and two youngsters, another Cardinal Woodpecker and a Brownhooded Kingfisher

Also saw the Reed Cormrant today that is usually on the pond near the house

14.00

New filter in Gamewviewer, on way to vehicle saw 10 of the Giraffes and all looked healthy

Call from one of the gameguards who found a dead male Duiker in the dam near the base of the mountain. It seems to have been caught by a Caracal and got away somehow, ran into the dam and drowned. It looks like it could have happened about a week ago

On way to dam we saw 4 Kudus

Night Drive

18.30

Fields near house - 3 Mountain Reedbuck, 4 Duikers lying in the grass

On road to ploughed fields - 1 Fierynecked Nightjar

Near ploughed fields - 5 Adult Warthogs digging for bulbs and roots and chasing each other around. They didn't seem bothered by us.

Ploughed fields - Some Impalas - but since group broke up we couldn't tell which group it was

Further down - 1 Black-backed Jackal

2 Ponds near gate - 2 Yellowbilled Ducks and the Egyptian geese with goslings sleeping under the females wings

Past the house - 1 Whitefaced Owl on a post

Dam near base of mountain - Went back to see carcass, nothing had happened to it, untouched

Road up to mountain - 2 Duikers on way up and 5 Kudus (3 bulls, 2 cows - the bull with the single horn was there)

Home - Barn Owl in tree

25th April

Weather - Sunny but cool in the morning

8.00

Did report and sorted photos

Dam near base of mountain - Carcass, stomach had been eaten and some of the soft parts. Legs, head and ribs left. It was dragged some way further from where we took it out. There was a Longrested Eagle by dam

2 Ponds near gate - Only Egyptian Geese with goslings, could only count 7 today

Up road towards mountain near gate - Only some Impalas on way up and down

Fields were planted and is being fertilised today so no animals on the fields. Did see an Orangethroated Longclaw

Impala rams scattered all over the road to the gate

Up mountain - 5 Zebras on right side on way up. Common Reedbuck on the left side top of mountain and 4 Mountain Reedbuck not too far off

Right side of mountain - 3 more Mountain Reedbuck (male, female and younster)

13.20

Finally saw all 12 Zebras - all look fine (3 foals seem to be doing well). Also on top of mountain 16 of the Blesbok. Group of Kudus on way down (2 bulls)

In distance towards the gate - I Hartebeest and 7 of the Giraffes

Home - Kudu bull with the one horn in distance near the mountain

26th April

Weather - Windy and cool

8.00

Walk around the back - Could only spot Egyptian Mongoose again. Some Impalas and some mountain Reedbuck

Went to Colenso School to pick up the list we asked for and see how things were there

27th April

Weather - Cool in the morning, looked like a cold front, very windy

10.00

Helped Mike put up the new tank

28th April

Weather - Cold and wet

13.00

Fields towards gate area - Only Egyptian Geese with their goslings on the pond. We spent some time with the Impalas grazing near the field. There were some Sacred Ibis on the fertilised field

Road towards mountain - nothing but Impala rams lying in grass. It was a cold and rainy day so not many animals

Saw 6 Warthogs (family) and some Shelley's Francolin

Spent some time trying to identify new birds but only saw the usual. Only new bird was the Sacred Ibis

29th April

Weather - Cold day

16.30

Road towards mountain - 7 of the Hartebeest

On way back - 5 Zebra Stallions

Went up towards the lodge to see if I could see the Giraffes. Have not seen them in a while

UMPHAFA FACT OF THE WEEK

The male Giraffe has better developed horns and those of the female's and sometimes even grows a third horn on the forehead. A Giraffes tongue is about 45 cm long

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Q. How many vertebrae does a Giraffe have?

A. 7 - the same as any mammal, they are just really big!

Weekly Report 16 - 20th April 2007

2007-06-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

16th April
Weather - Misty & cool a.m. / Sunny & warm p.m.

7.30
Giraffes were spotted opposite lodge
Spent day clearing roads to make safe for gameviewer to get through
Saw Kudu calf, cow and bull on our way back. The bull seemed a little lame on his back right leg
Also saw a little mouse peeping out of its nest between the grass
15.00
Walked up to the big stream towards dam and saw many blue waxbills, blackeyed bulbul and some familar chats
We saw lots of tracks - Spotted Necked Otter, Impala, Giraffe, Kudu, Duiker, Blac-backed Jackal
Saw a Warthog sow with 2 piglets digging for roots and bulbs and two water mongoose

17th April
Weather - Sunny and bright

7.30
Near Donga Road we saw 10 Impalas - newly formed group (1 x ram, 6x ewe, 3 youngsters)
On slope of mountain - Spotted Skaapsteker
Top of mountain - 12 Zebras and three foals
On way back - 3 Giraffes seen at the base of mountain in a clearing
Near big stream by road - Bachelor group browsing on the Acacia's
Further on - saw the rest of the bachelors which had broken off from the group and are on their own
Also saw 5 Zebras with 3 Giraffes from earlier
Took a walk up to the dam and down the big stream - Big lone Kudu Bull on way to dam
Dam near base of mountain - usual birds spotted - Blackheaded Oriole, Olive Thrush, Woodhoopoe, Cape White-eye, Thickbilled Weaver, Cardinal Woodpecker, House Sparrow and the two Redknobbed Coot always found on the dam
A water monito swam in the dam and some terrapins sunbathing
A lone Impala ram came right up to us (5m) without realising we were there, it was very inquisitive and got quite a fright when it realised we were not part of the scenery
12.30
We moved on to the stream - a female Duiker, a Spotted Eagle Owl, 2 Nightjars we could not id and another lone Impala ram
Walked back to the farmhouse - saw the usual birds and crows everywhere

18th April
Weather - Overcast with rain

8.35
Main group had split into 4 groups we could see. The bachelor Impalas were also split up this morning
No animals at ploughed fields
Not many animals around on account of the weather
We went to Colenso School to meet with Cindy, the headmistress, to discuss the ideas from Colchester Zoo and Stanway School
11.30
Spent rest of day getting the photos ready for Charles to take to Colchester Zoo on his trip to England
15.45
By Kraal - found new bird - Streakyheaded Canary, the usual Yelloweyed Canary, Cape Robin, Cardinal Woodpecker, Crested Barbet
Hannes Worked with Ed and Mike (UDP)

19th April
Weather - Overcast

The DFA people were here today
7.45
Kraal Area - Birdwatching but no new birds
Near big stream on field side - 2 Impala rams
Nothing at ploughed fields but some Pied Crows
Up towards the mountain, near main gate and our way back saw about 11 of the Bachelors relaxing
At the two ponds near the main gate we saw the Creche, they had moved down from the lodge area down to gate area. We spent some time there to get them more use to us being there.
Way back - 2 Warthogs, saw the rest of the bachelors and spent some time with them they were mock fighting and enjoying the browse
Went to the dam near base of mountain - only saw 2 Water Monitors and a Reed Cormorant
Went on the road to the mountain passed the donga, where we found 8 of the Giraffes and 3 Zebras. 2 Calves looks good. We could not see the other 4 Giraffes or the other 2 Zebras - but thick bushes, so we are sure they are around
Drove up to Show Lodge but didn't see anything of interest
DFA people arrived, Gameviewer used for UDP
Night Drive
Weather - Partly cloudy
Fork in road going up to lodge - small Spotted Genet
Fields near house - 4 Mountain Reedbuck in field and 2 Grey Duikers
On road near big stream - 1 Porcupine and some Bachelor Impalas
On way towards ploughed fields - another small Spotted Genet
On ploughed fields - 3 x Black-backed Jackals on right side of field hunting for mice
Middle of plough - Fierynecked Nightjar on field
Further infield - 2 Porcupines and about 10 Bachelors
On road to dam - Grass Owl in a tree
Nothing at dam
Road up to mountain - Giraffes in same area as earlier, Cape Eagle Owl on a termite mound
Further up the road - Serval standing up on his hind legs trying to see what we were. It took off into the bushes.
We saw 25 Chameleons throughout the trip

20th April
Weather - Sunny

Found an Acacia Tree that we count not quite ID, turned out to be a Hook Thorn Acacia

7.45
We headed up the mountain again to clear the road for the gameviewer and went down the back clearing some more road - on way up saw the Giraffes in the same spot as yesterday
On the trip we saw 8 of the Zebras and 5 Mountain Reedbuck on top of the mountain, We also saw 3 x Kudus (1 x bull, 2 x cows)
Round back of the mountain we only saw 2 Duikers (ewe with lamb)
Near big stream - 2 x Impala rams
Ploughed fields - 2 x Impala rams and some of the main group on the left side, no rams with them
Road to mountain near main gate - only saw some Bachelor Impalas
On way back - 1 Impala ram with 4 ewes
Base of mountain - 15 Kudus (2bulls)
Nothing at the dam
12.00
On road to gate- 7 Warthogs (family of 6 and a lone boar)
Ploughed fields - Only two lone Bachelor Impalas
Ponds near gates - The Egyptian Geese with the 8 Goslings - the Creche Impala also near the dam
2 Longcrested Eagles in the sky and a Blackheaded Heron at the pond near the house

Weekly Report 2 - 4 April

2007-04-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

2 April
Details of Animals Seen

3 x Blesbok, could not see rest of group
Another Zebra has given birth over the weekend, which brings the number of foals on the mountain to 3
7 x Hartebeest, including 2 calves
1 x Warthog (boar) taking a mud bath!
10 x Giraffes, including the 2 calves.
We also saw a Spotted Bush Snake

Birds seen
Cape Batis
Southern Tchagra
Yelloweyed Canary
Blackeyed Bulbul
Blackheaded Heron

3 April

Details of Animals seen

8 x Hartebeest grazing, (2 calf's in group)
4 x Zebras
4 x Giraffes, the 2 calves look well
15 x Blesbok overall today
3 x Mountain Reedbuck

Birds Seen
Pipt
Spectackled Weaver

Greyheaded Sparrow
Brubru
Familiar Chat
Forktailed Drongo
Egyptian Goose

4 April

Details of Animals Seen

3 x Kudu's – 1 bull, 2 cows
2 x Grey Duikers
2 x porcupines
Lone Black-backed jackal
3 x Blesbok
Bachelor Impala group, sleeping under the Acacia's
3 young Black-backed jackals

Saw at least 20 chameleons

Weekly Report 26 - 30 March 2007

2007-04-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Wildlife Species Seen this week

Birds

Species Name: 2 x Redbilled Oxpecker / Buphagus erythrorhynchus
: Hoopoe / Upupa epops
: Greater Doublecollared Sunbird / Nectarinia mariquensis
: Bearded Woodpecker / Thripias namaquus
: Blackheaded Herons (Adult) / Ardea melanocephala
: Peregrine Falcon / Falco peregrinus
: Whitebellied Sunbird / Nectarinia talatala
: Black Sunbird / Nectarinia amethystina
: Whitebreasted Cormorant / Phalacrocorax carbo
: Cape Batis / Batis capensis
: Blackshouldered Kite / Elanus caeruleus
: Redbilled Woodhoopoe / Phoeniculus purpureus
: Brownhooded Kingfisher / Halcyon albiventris
: Plumcoloured Starling / Cinnyricinclus leucogaster
: Redbacked Shrike / Lanius collurio
: Whitefronted Bee-eater / Merops bullockoides
: Cape Batis / Batis capensis
: Helmeted Guineafowl / Numida meleagris
: Glossy Starling / Lamprotornis nitens
: Southern Tchagra / Tchagra tchagra
: Breeding pair of Blackshouldered Kite's / Elanus caeruleus

Night birds : European Nightjar / Caprimulgus europaeus

Trees this week

Species Name: Found a Jacaranda tree not ringbarked (Alien Species) will be done asap.
: Hook Thorn Acacia / Acacia caffra
: Bush Guarry / Euclea schimperi

Reptiles identified

Species Name: Mozambique Spitting Cobra (imFezi) / Naja mossambica

26/03/2007 MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw a herd of Hartebeest,only saw 1 calf but confident that the rest is around / Alcelaphus buselaphus
: Impala Creche split, all seem fine / Aepyceros melampus
: Main and bachelor group mixed up, some of the adults have split up and formed smaller groups around
the area. / Aepyceros melampus
: Saw 8 of the Giraffes, 2 calf's and moms not with the group, but they were spotted yesterday and looks well
Giraffa camelopardalis
: Lone Blesbok with the Impala at lands. / Damaliscus dorcas

Very windy day, cloudy and also some rain
Not a lot of animals were seen because of weather

27/03/2007 MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw 8 Giraffes again, they moved from the small valley on the left of the house, mountain side,
to the fence area near the main gate. Still did not see the 2 cows and 2 calf's, but they should be close to
the rest of the herd. / Giraffa camelopardalis
: Saw the same herd of Hartebeest near the Giraffes at the normal grazing spot. / Alcelaphus buselaphus
: Some Zebra's near the Hartebeest / Equus burchelli
: 2 x Warthogs (Sow) / Phacochoerus africanus
: Grey Duiker (ewe) with a lamb at the dam near the foot of the mountain / Sylvicapra grimmia

Again a cloudy day, but no wind.

28/03/2007 MAMMALS

Species Name: saw 5 Mountain Reedbucks at the back of the mountain / Redunca fulvorufula
: 1 Duiker in the same area / Sylvicapra grimmia
: 1 x Kudu bull and 3 cows with a young calf, same area / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros

29/03/2007 MAMMALS

Species Name: 1 x Warthog taking a rest at the side of the road (young male) / Phacochoerus africanus
: Giraffe cow spotted with the 2 calf's, look healthy / Giraffa camelopardalis
: a porcupine was caught and eaten by a predator / Hystrix africaeaustralis

30/03/2007 MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw 2 giraffe cows and the calf's this afternoon, all seem fine / Giraffa camelopardalis
: 3 more giraffes were spotted near the dam at the foot of the mountain, at about the same time / Giraffa camelopardalis
: 1 scrub hare / Lepus saxatilis
: 5 x Zebra also near the dam / Equus burchelli
: 1 Hartebeest (male) / Alcelaphus buselaphus
: 1 x slender mongoose (red) / Herpestes sanguinea

31/03/2007 MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw 2 bulls and 2 cows with the 2 calf's this morning (Giraffes) / Giraffa camelopardalis
new giraffe calf is female and both calf's look healthy
: Both the main and bachelor group were away from the fields, spent the day near the ponds / Aepyceros melampus
: saw a Narrow-headed golden mole / Amblysomus

NIGHT DRIVE MAMMALS

Species Name: 6 Grey duikers in fields closest to house / Sylvicapra grimmia
: 2 porcupines (1 female and a youngster) / Hystrix africaeaustralis
: 3 x Waterbuck at fields with impala (1 x male, 2 x female) / Kobus ellipsiprymnus
: 1 x Mountain Reedbuck ram near duikers / Redunca fulvorufula
: 4 Black-backed Jackals at fields by Impala / Aepyceros melampus
: Main and Bachelor Impala groups back in the fields / Aepyceros melampus
: Impala creche group at house / Aepyceros melampus

2007-03-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Weekly Report
05-09 March 2007

Wildlife Species Seen this week

BIRDS identified most birds same as last week

Species Name: Dabchick / Tachybaptus ruficollis
: Yellowbillled Duck / Anas undulata
: Paradise Flycathcher / Terpsiphone viridis
: Steppe Buzzard / Buteo buteo
: Thickbilled Weaver / Amblyospiza albifrons
: 3 x Longcrested Eagles (very vocal-in the sky) also 1 juv on tree / Lophaetus occipitalis
: Natal Francolin / Francolinus natalensis
: Arrowmarked Babler / Turdoides jardineii
: Southern Boubou / Laniarius ferrugineus
: Mocking Chat / Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris
: Redbacked Shrike / Lanius collurio
: Bronze Mannikin / Spermestes cucullatus
: Cape Vultures / Gyps coprotheres
: Pied Crow / Corvus albus
: Cape Turtle Doves / Streptopelia capicola
: Reed Cormorant / Phalacrocorax africana
: Yelloweyed Canary / Serinus symonsi
: Glossy Starling / Lamprotornis nitens

TRACK SEEN

Black-backed Jackals
Porcupine
Kudu
Giraffe
Impala
Water Mongoose
Spotted-necked Otter
Bushpigs / Warthogs

TREES identified this WEEK

Species Name: Common Cabage Tree / Cussonia spicata
: Natal Bottlebrush

05/03/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Kudu (female) and 3 calfs at dam near foot of mountain

REPTILES

Species Name: Terrapins and baby terrapin feeding on watergrass

06/03/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Giraffes - 1 female had a calf during the night, sex unknown, looks healthy
2 calfs in herd now

: Some Zebra seen with the Giraffes

07/03/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Black-backed Jackal tracks seen and a juvenile in the same area
: 1x Hartebeest near main gate area
: Bachelor herd seem in good health, away from main group today
: Saw only 7 giraffes today

08/03/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw 1 Hartebeest
: Saw Kudu bull (Biltong) with 2 and a half turns on horn and a Kudu cow on small hill(koppie) at back of house

Spent the whole day looking for the Giraffes, who seem to have dissapeared. We found them in a spot where they're not
usually seen. Could'nt see the two calfs, as the group was split up. We saw 7 in the 1 area and could only see 2 of the others
a bit further along on the other side of the road close on the left hand side of the foot of the mountain.

Cloudy day today, most animals seem to lay low.

09/03/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Zebras seen today (herd)
: 2 Kudu bulls
: saw the 3 juvenile Black-backed jackals early morning, very cheeky, spent some time with them.
: House Bat

Cloudy today

NIGHT

Species Name: 2 porcupines ( a female with a youngster)
: 2 spotted dikkop
: Zebras down at irrigation fields
: 1 Black-backed jackal
: Hartebeest
: Loads of Scrub hares
: Young Spotted Eagle Owl
: Some Kudus near house (females)

We think we saw a water mongoose, unable to identify, grass too high. Could have been an otter. not sure

Update from UmPhafa

2007-03-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

Weekly Report
26-01 February 2007

Wildlife Species Seen this week

BIRDS identified some the same as before

Species Name: Blue Waxbill / Uraeginthus angolensis
: Blackthroated canary / Serinus alario
: Longcrested Eagles / Lophaetus occipitalis
: Groundscraper Thrush / Turdus litsitsirupa
: Fiscal shrike / Lanius collaris
: Cardinal woodpecker / Dendropicos fuscescens
: Redwing Starling / Onychognathus morio
: Cape Wagtail / Motacilla capensis
: Grey Sunbird / Nectarinia veroxii
: Secretary Bird / Sagittarius serpentarius
: Pied Crow / Corvus albus
: Speckled Mousebird / Colius striatus
: Goldenrumped Tinker Barbet / Pogoniulus bilineatus
: Redeyed Dove / Streptopelia semitorquata
: Bronze Mannikin / Spermestes cucullatus
: Reed Cormorant / Phalacrocorax africana
: Yellowthroated Sparrow / Petronia superciliaris
: Blackheaded Herons / Ardea melanocephala

TREES identified this WEEK

Species Name: Wild Laburnum / Calpurnia aurea
: Horsewood / Clausena anisata
: Spike Thorn / Gymnosporia buxifolia

26/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw the Creche this morning and afternoon, all well ( Impala) / Aepyceros melampus
: Saw the main & bachelor Impala groups mix up, quite an old female with them and a male with a broken horn(right)
: Six Blesbok with the Impala main & bachelors / Damaliscus dorcas

Explored the back of the mountain, saw no animals, but beautifull scenery

27/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw 2 Black-backed Jackals this morning halfway on way up to mountain
: Spotted a warthog in the grass near the jackals / Phacochoerus africanus
: The creche (Impala) seem fine / Aepyceros melampus
: Saw 9 Giraffe, baby looks ok, near base of mt ( middle) / Giraffa camelopardalis
: 2 Zebras near the Giraffes / Equus burchelli

28/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Main & bachelor group looks fine, very playfull today ( Impala) / Aepyceros melampus
: Impala Creche fine, grazed at the house on the grass / Aepyceros melampus
: Saw a Slender Mongoose at the dam near base of mountain at about 15:00
: Saw 5 Bull Kudus near the same dam, nice and big bulls / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros

01/03/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw 4 Kudu bulls at the back of mountain near river.Very nice big bull(Biltong)2 and a half turns on horns/Tragelaphus Strepsiceros
: Creche all look fine.
: Saw 3-4 kudu females and a very young calf at back of mountain / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros

Quiet day because of the rain the previous day, everything wet

01/02/2007

NIGHT

Birds

Species Name: Spotted Dikkop / Burhinus capensis
: Saw some nightjars but very difficult to identify / Caprimulgus

MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw 6 Black-backed Jackals ( 3 near house, 3 nearer to the main gate
the 3 near house still very young, curious and unafraid) / Canis mesomelas
: Kudus half asleep / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros
: Impalas also half asleep / Aepyceros melampus
: Saw some Scrub Hares again / Lepus saxatilis

Rained quite a bit, very few animals late night, saw most of these early morning between 4 and 6 am

2007-03-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

Weekly Report
19-23 February 2007

Wildlife Species Seen this week

BIRDS identified most birds same as last week

Species Name: Longcrested Eagle / Lophaetus occipitalis
: Common Quail / Coturnix coturnix
: Laughing Dove / Streptopelia senegalensis
: Crested Barbet / Trachyphonus vaillantii
: Egyptian Goose / Alopochen aegyptiacus
: Brubru / Nilaus afer
: Goldenbreasted Bunting / Emberiza flaviventris

TREES identified this WEEK

Species Name: Forest Karree / Rhus Pentheri
: White Stinkwood / Celtis Africana
: Spike Thorn / Gymnosporia Buxifolia
: Mountain Cabbage Tree / Cussonia Paniculata
: Small Knobwood / Zanthoxylum Capense
: Buffalo Thorn (Umphafa) / Ziziphus Mucronata
: Pompom Tree / Dais Continifolia

TRACK SEEN

Black-backed Jackal (+ - 6.5cm) / Canis mesomelas
Porcupine (+ - 8cm) / Hystrix africaeaustralis
Caracal (+ - 5.5cm) / Felis caracal
Watermongoose (+ - 4.5cm) / Atilax paludinosus
Common Duiker (+ - 4cm) / Sylvicapra grimmia

19/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Saw only 3 Giraffes today, others most probably around. 15:00 / Giraffa camelopardalis
: Group of Hartebeest, unable to count them, very jumpy, seem to be 2 calfs. 13:30 / Alcelaphus buselaphus
: Impala groups, saw 3 groups - Bachelor group who seems to mix with the big group often and the Creche(60-70)
: Ichneumon (Egyptian) Mongoose at about 08:30 near main tar road at the fence / Herpestes ichneumon

20/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: 2 Groups of Giraffes - 3 and 8 near base of mountain (middle) / Giraffa camelopardalis
: Impala - bachelor group and big group mixed up. 2 other groups seen at back of house and base of mountain
: 1 lone warthog near kraal at house at 08:00 / Phacochoerus africanus
: Kudu (female) near stream at road, close to creche / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros

21/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Impala creche near house / Aepyceros melampus
: Hartebeest between the trees, hard to count, near base of mountain close to big stream (middle)

REPTILES

Saw a Water Monitor about 1 meter in length.

22/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: 10 Zebra (1 foal about 3 days old) on top of Mountain / Equus burchelli
: 17 Blesbok - got 2 back from other side of fence 17 on top of mountain / Damaliscus dorcas
: saw 4 blesbok near main gate at fence at around 13:00
: Saw whole group of Giraffes together, baby seems fine (11) near road on way down from mountain

REPTILES

Species Name: Found a dead Puffadder about 85cm / Bitis arietans arietans
: Found a dead Brown house snake about 1meter / Lamprophis fuliginosus
: Found a dead Common Night Adder about 30cm / Causus rhombeatus

Massive Hailstorm Thursday - started at about 16:00

23/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: 4 Kudus near the big stream at road - 3 adult females, 1 calf / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros
: 1 Black-backed jackal (quite tame) nea stream, seems to have caught and eaten a hare / Canis mesomelas
: 7 Hartebeest counted ( 2 calfs) near big stream(middle) / Alcelaphus buselaphus
: Full group of Giraffes counted ( the baby is a female)

Update from UmPhafa

2007-03-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Weekly Report
13 - 16 February 2007

Wildlife Species Seen this week

BIRDS identified

Species Name: Black Flycatcher / Melaenornis pammelaina
: Whitewinged Widow / Euplectes albonotatus
: Yellowbilled Duck / Anas undulata
: Greater Doublecollard Sunbird / Nectarinia mariquensis
: Blackeyed Bulbul / Pycnonotus barbatus
: Black Sunbird / Nectarinia olivacea
: Pied Barbet / Lybius leucomelas
: Blackheaded Heron / Ardea melanocephala
: Paradise Flycatcher (male) non mating plumage / Terpsiphone viridis
: Rameron Pigeon / Columba arquatrix
: African Black Duck / Anas sparsa
: Cape Robin / Cossypha caffra
: Spotted Eagle Owl / Bubo africanus
: Groundscraper Thrush / Turdus litsitsirupa
: Hadeda Ibis / Bostrychia hagedash
: Greyheaded Bush Shrike / Malaconotus blanchoti
: Common Waxbill / Estrilda astrild
: Hoopoe / Upupa epops
: Jackal Buzzard / Buteo rufofuscus
: Steppe Buzzard / Buteo buteo
: Cape White-eye / Zosterops pallidus
: Pintailed Wydah / Vidua macroura
: Forktailed Drongo / Dicrurus adsimilis
: Masked Weaver / Ploceus velatus
: Greater Striped Swallow / Hirundo cucullata
: European Swallow / Hirundo rustica
: Red Bishop / Euplectus orix
: Greater Honeyguide / Indicator indicator
: Cape Turtle Dove / Streptopelia capicola

NIGHT BIRDS seen : Spotted Eagle Owl / Bubo africanus
: Spotted Dikkop / Burhinus capensis

TREES identified this WEEK

Species Name: River Climbing Thorn Acacia / Acacia Schweinfurthii
: Paperbark Acacia / Acacia Sieberiana
: Sweet Thorn Acacia / Acaia Karroo
: Scented Thorn Acacia / Acacia Nilotica
: Crow Berry Karree / Rhus Pentheri
: River Bushwillow / Combretum Erythrophyllum

Parasites on some Acacia Trees

13/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Waterbuck (Male) Other side of fence near main gate. Quite aggresive, snorting,
mock charged then took off / Alcelaphus buselaphus
: Impala nursery (Creche) and Bacelor group near house. / Aepyceros melampus
: Lone Kudu (Female) near Impala Creche / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros
: Blesbok on mountain top near border fence / Damaliscus dorcas

14/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Bush or Grey Duiker at stream near river / Sylvicapra grimmia
: Giraffe group of 9 near base of mountain / Giraffa camelopardalis
: Impale Nursery (Creche) near road by stream / Aepyceros melampus
: Kudu (Female) near Creche / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros

Reptiles identified

Species Name: Spotted Bush Snake about 60cm long / Philothamnus semivariegatus semivariegatus

15/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Bush or Grey Duiker at stream near river / Sylvicapra grimmia
: Giraffe group of 9 near base of mountain / Giraffa camelopardalis
: 08:50 5 Zebra near house close to Impala nursery, moved with them till about 11:00

15-16/02/2007

NIGHT

Species Name: Scrub Hare / Lepus saxatilis
: Common Warthog / Phacochoerus africanus
: Impala (male) / Aepyceros melampus
: Calls from 2 groups of Black-backed Jackal / Canis mesomelas

Had to put down an very old female Kudu, her health seem to be failing.

16/02/2007

MAMMALS

Species Name: Lone young Giraffe near road close to farm near stream / Giraffa camelopardalis
: Lone Kudu (female) near giraffe, seems to be the same 1 that hangs around there with the nursery / Tragelaphus Strepsiceros

Strange wormlike thing found in pool of water at stream near river, yet to be identified