The first thing we do when searching for scorpions is to find an area that has a lot of big rocks. We then carefully start turning over every single rock one by one until we find one. Once we have found a scorpion, we carefully go about catching it. Before catching it we always look at the relative size between the pincers and the tail. A large tail and small pincers means that the scorpion is venomous. And a small tail and large pincers means that the scorpion is relatively harmless (it will still hurt like hell if one bites you though, ask our dads, they have both been bitten by scorpions). We normally use a pair of braai –tongs to pick it up and place it in an old container. We do this so that we can identify and study the scorpion.

When handling scorpions we always treat them with the utmost respect and therefore usually avoid touching them, but one of us sometimes just has the urge to get up close and personal to one, so we sometimes let them walk on our hands. We definitely don’t do this with venomous scorpions though!

After studying scorpions we always release them back under the rocks where we found them, as this is where they belong. Remember that scorpions won’t just come and sting you, so leave them alone and you’ll be fine. They can kill so always walk with shoes on at night!

Scorpions are amazing critters that we will always search for. We have found black ones, brown ones and red ones, and will carry on searching for scorpions until they sting us and we die! Just joking, I don’t think they will kill us. You never know though.

In terms of the diversity of species on our planet, insects are by far the most numerous.  And beetles make up nearly half of all insects. He then took us through all the different beetle groups, giving us interesting information about each.

The first group he talked about was ant beetles. They are especially adapted to living with ants and are in fact parasites of ants. They do so by secreting a special substance that literally drugs the ants. If they get into any trouble with the ants they secrete two poisons from their glands, which explode when they meet, releasing acid at over 100 degrees celcius, thus frying the ants in seconds. Every species also specialises on a specific ant species.

He also told us about water beetles, which live under water. They have one huge aqualung as they carry an air bubble which allows them to breath under water for long periods without them having to come up for air. They also have very smooth wings as they secrete a soapy liquid, helping them to move easier through the water. They can fly but are very clumsy when walking out of the water. Some large specimens are up to 30mm long.

Other interesting beetle facts that we learnt:

• CMR beetles or blister beetles are very poisonous and contain a powerful drug that used to be used in medicine. They also contain a juice that makes one’s skin blister.
• Some dung beetles on the Cape Mountains are so rare that they are idolised by collectors and can be sold for $20 000 a specimen.
• Ground beetles, or oogpisters, can shoot acid from their glands up to 75cm.
• Toktokkie beetles get their names from the fact that they make knocking noises to attract mates. Males have a Velcro-patch on their backs that allows them to stay on top of females when mating.
• Some beetles play dead to scare off potential predators. The predators leave them alone as dead beetles have very little water in their bodies. They dry out an hour after dying, thus making dead beetles useless as a food source.

We really enjoyed the speech and learned a bucket load. Prof. Eric Holm is such a knowledgeable and charismatic man that can speak non-stop for days on end about insects. We were really privileged to be able to listen to him and learn just a small section of the vast amount of information that he has.

Mom was understandably scared of my buffalo but still came along and sat a few meters away from them while I fed them.

Dad on the other hand was nearly always working while I went and visited my buffalo and so he only came along a few times. But when Ruth and I went on holiday to Carl-Daniel and Maja inPretoria, he took care of them for me. He went and fed them and spent a little while with them for me. Even though Hop had charged him before, he managed to overcome any fears and touched her again, but this time it was a peaceful touch. Everyone loved Hop and Skip, and why shouldn’t they?

Pumba followed me to Hop and Skip the one day. She somehow managed to get into the camp after I locked her out. I don’t know why I didn’t want to her to come with me though, as I had nothing to worry about.

Skip was fascinated with Pumba and the two of them immediately started playing together. Skip would chase Pumba around the camp before Pumba would turn around and start oinking at Skip, making her run away. Even though Skip was double Pumba’s size, she was still not sure of herself yet. Sometimes Pumba would start licking Skip’s nose and then Skip would lick her back. It was the weirdest thing watching the two of them.Buffaloand warthogs normally ignore each other, but my animals are different. But then again so am I, so in a twisted way it’s actually quite normal.

Pumba and Skip - big buddies!

While the two animals were playing, I managed to spend some time alone with Hop. I lay down against her back, closed my rubs and rubbed her. She also closed her eyes and allowed me to do pretty much anything with her. This meant I could rub her all over her body and pluck ticks from her, therefore making her the cleanest buffalo in the world. But the thing that she loved the most was when I scratched her tail. She would go into a trance, and when she was happy then I was happy.

When I wasn’t lying with Hop I was helping Pumba get away from Skip because my buffalo would sometimes get a little out of hand. But they played peacefully most times and really had fun.

Skip’s birthday arrived and I decided to do something special for her. She had been a great friend to be in the last year and deserved a present. It was difficult finding the perfect gift for her though, as she is a buffalo. It might sometimes be difficult giving a girl the perfect present, but what do you give a buffalo. I decided to make something for her. I cut a hole in my old soccer ball and tied a rope through it. The idea was that I would hang it in a tree so that she could push against it instead of me.

Soccer buff!

I also took some fruit and dog pellets and made my way to visit my buffalo. I sang to Skip when I arrived and laid out her assortment of food. She and Hop didn’t really like the funny things I brought and just ate the normal food. Skip enjoyed her ball though and pushed against it for a while before getting a little aggressive with me. She was pushing me so roughly that I had to climb a tree to get out of her way. When I left her that afternoon I really felt scared and despondent.

Mothers Day arrived next and this went much better. I just took the normal food along and spent a relaxing afternoon with my buffalo. They loved it and it just shows you how their behavior can change. It’s normally good but can sometimes get bad, and that’s what I have to watch out for.

I decided to spend a few hours in the dark with Hop and Skip the one evening. I went to them a little later, but took everything I usually took along as well as torch and a radio just in case they acted differently in the dark. As soon as it got dark Skip got a little playful and cause me a few problems as she just wouldn’t lie down and kept pushing me. She and her mom grazed for about an hour before finally lying down together. I lay down against Hop and closed my eyes and relaxed. I nearly fell asleep it was so peaceful. Hop and Skip act the same in the night as they do in the day. They might graze a little more as it is cooler, but they don’t change much. Spending some time under the cover of darkness with them showed me that they really trusted me. The loved me, and I loved them just as much.

My buffalo

1. Look at the SIZE of the bird- compare it to a guineafowl, pigeon or sparrow.
2. Make a note of the BEAK SHAPE and COLOUR.
3. Look at the LEGS – their LENGTH and COLOUR.
4. What HABITAT the bird is in – this often gives a big clue to which family to search through.
5. What PLUMAGE COLOURS or MARKINGS strike you – many birds have very specific markings on their heads, wings, body and tail.
6. What the bird is doing – is it hopping, swimming, flying, eating or hunting – try to detail its ACTIONS as closely as possible.
   

   Doing some birdwatching with my dog

What you need for bird watching:

Binoculars: 8×42 or 10×42 will suffice, but the better your binoculars are, the better your birding will be.

Bird book: A Newman’s, Sasol or Roberts’s bird guide is compulsory.

Notepad: This will help you when trying to identify LBJ’s. Sketch the bird and any interesting features to help you.

I would also recommend that one gets a Roberts Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa programme. This contains all bird calls and valuable info. One can get it in PDA format or for your laptop. Check out www.sabirding.co.za

My birding equipment

Birding Jargon:

Beginner: person who has just started birding

Birder: intermediate birder

Twitcher: very good experienced birder

Lifer: new species for you

Tick: rare bird

Mega Tick: very rare bird

Some birding jokes:

Birders can be classified into three groups:

1. People who just like watching the birds in their garden and seeing birds on holidays but aren’t really interested in seriously learning them all.
2. People with their fancy new binoculars and cameras who just started birding as “The Jones” had started birding.
3. People with an old pair of binoculars and a bird book that try their hardest to find new birds.

If you want to find out if people are listening to you when you are showing them birds, quickly show them a bird and tell them what it is. Then, when you see the bird again, tell them that it’s a DOUBLE- BREASTED MATTRESS- THRASHER. If they don’t say anything strange, then you know that they aren’t listening. By the way, a double-breasted mattress-thrasher is a very descriptive way to describe women!

Well, I hope that these posts have taught you a little more about birds. They are fascinating creatures and I really hope that they grab hold of you, just like they did with me. So, what you waiting for? Start birding!

Birding is not just about the birds, but about the whole experience and of course, that includes breathtaking views, like this one in the Kruger National Park!

We weren’t expecting much birding and animal wise and were pleasantly surprised by the abundance of birds. We immediately found flocks of European Bee-eaters and a bachelor herd of impala crossed our path. Other interesting birds included a party of Green-winged Pytilias, Long-billed Crombecs and a pair of Chestnut-vented Tit-Babblers. We were lucky enough to see a Fork-tailed Drongo chasing a Gabar Goshawk, and we many interesting beetles under rocks that we overturned.

A flash of brown and orange in the trees drew our attention, leading us around in circles after a pair of Kalahari Scrub-Robins. This was a new species for both of us and while following them we also found many other interesting things, including a site with several half-eaten and moving dung-beetles, and active bee-hives.

We carried on walking down the main road and picked up a few more species of bird, like Crimson-breasted Shrike, Violet-eared Waxbill and Scaly-feathered Finch. When we reached the end of the road we were helped by friendly landowners who even sent their son to show us how to get to the river. On the way to the river we passed a little dam and to our great surprise we found a beautiful and secretive African Crake sitting just two meters away. It was amazing to watch this uncommon and shy water bird from so close.

We continued on towards the river through dense bush and grass that was as tall as trees. When we finally reached the river we sat down to enjoy the scenery. After sitting a while we noticed a water monitor sunbathing on an over-hanging tree on the opposite bank. We watched it and then walked around for a while before heading back after a very pleasurable experience.

In total we saw 60 birds, with both of us getting new species. We are very, very happy, like we always are when we spend time in nature.

• Sparrows, waxbills, weavers, bishops, canaries, whydahs.etc.
• Short fat bills used for eating seeds.
• Often breed colonially and attracted to food in gardens
• Normally found in small parties.

Nectar feeders

• Sunbirds, sugarbirds.etc.
• Have long thin, down-curved bills for nectar-probing.
• Flight swift
• Females often very drab brown while males very colourful.
• Quite small – most species >15cm but some can be up to 30cm depending on the length of their tails.

Insect eaters

• Larks, pipits, crows, drongos, orioles, bulbuls, robins, chats, thrushes, warblers, cisticolas, starlings, shrikes, flycatchers, tits.etc.
• Small to medium-sized birds
• Have sharp, medium-lengthened bills
• Hawk insects- often found in gardens
• Vary in size and colour.
• Very difficult group of birds to identify – especially the LBJ’s (little brown jobs). Often only separated by normally distinctive calls.
  

  Groundscraper Thrush

Aerial feeders

• Swallows, martins, swifts.etc.
• Have extremely short, sharp bills.
• Build nests with mud – often found under bridges and roofs.
• Eat and even sleep on the wing

Fruit eaters

• Mousebirds, parrots, louries, bulbuls.etc.
• Fruit-eating birds.
• Most have short, rounded beaks. Often have crests.
• Found in small flocks in gardens and dense bush around fruit trees.
• Normally very colourful and reasonably active and vocal birds.
  

  Purple-crested Turaco

Other smaller, “left out” groups:

Cuckoos and coucals: Cuckoos are parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other bird. Have thin, long tails and a hawk-like appearance in flight. Shy, but have distinguishable calls. All are migrants. Three are green in colour, while the others are black and white.

Coucals are larger and more robust that build their own nests.

Kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers: Very colourful birds. Bee-eaters have long tails and are aerial-feeders. Kingfishers have dagger-like bills. Breed in holes in banks or trees. Some eat fish while others are insectivorous. Rollers are heavy-billed birds with croaking calls. Eat large insects and breed in holes in trees.

Lilac-brested Roller

Barbets: Short-billed. Characteristic calls. Feed on fruit and insects. Nests in holes and are colourful.

Woodpeckers: Small robust birds. Pointed bills, stiff tails. Glean insects and their larvae from crevices in trees by taping their bills, creating the pecking noise. Occur in woodland areas and are very similar, with touches of green and red.

Hornbills: Insectivorous, but eat fruit. Have heavy-looking, curved bills. Flight heavy; nests in holes where female usually seals herself in during incubation.

Yellow-billed Hornbill

As Pumba got bigger she started to explore more. And on one of our walks she took this to the next level. We were walking on the open plains on the farm when we came across a massive burrow, probably of an aardvark or warthog. I expected Pumba to just stick her head in, but instead she crawled right on in. She went in head first as well, which really isn’t such a good thing to do considering that warthogs usually go in backwards so that they can exit easier.

Tofi and I waited outside the hole for Pumba, but after a few minutes she was still in the hole. I started to get a little worried as she had never been in a burrow before and might have encountered a snake or even a hyena.

After another few minutes, I got down on my knees and crawled down the burrow. I made it about two meters before I got stuck. This scared me like crazy as I couldn’t see a thing and was heading down into the hole at a steep angle. I felt the sand sliding over me as I struggled to get out and to make matters worse, Tofi was right behind me. I couldn’t hear Pumba either. I started crying but then realized that I had to get out to give Pumba the slightest chance of surviving.

Oh yeah!

I scrambled make with all my might, finally making it back out into the blazing sun where I lay crying for a few minutes. I then shouted into the hole, calling Pumba’s name while the tears flowed from my eyes. She didn’t answer me in any way though and I decided to run home to try and get Dad to help.

Our house was about two kilometers from the hole and I ran the whole way, leaving Tofi behind as she surprisingly couldn’t keep up. I was running like a man possessed though and burst into the house crying. I told Dad the story and we immediately grabbed a spade, jumped in Mom’s little Toyota Tazz and raced off to try and save Pumba. The car really wasn’t meant for farm roads as we scraped it a few times along the way. But we just had to do it.

We were riding at a heck of a speed and I slammed into the dashboard when we suddenly braked just before the open plains. It was Pumba. She was making her way back home. I jumped out of the car and gave her a big hug before getting angry with her about what she had done. She obviously didn’t understand it though and then didn’t want to get into the car as she was now scared of me. So, we made her run home behind the car. She deserved it for nearly killing me.

Nosy piggy

After Pumba’s “hole” incident, she started going into every hole that we came across. I was nervous at first but after a while she just went in, sniffed around and came out. She didn’t come across anything in the holes either and just had a ball tossing the sand in the air. She was just being a warthog, and that’s all I actually wanted from her.

Pumba’s other hobbies were going with me to visit my buffalo. She often followed me to Hop and Skip and grazed around in their camp while they ate. But after Skip had finished her food, she and Pumba would chase after each other for the rest of the afternoon. Pumba would try to bite Skip at times, but then she also licked her nose. It was so strange but so cute. A normal buffalo and warthog would never ever do this but Pumba and Skip were different. They weren’t normal, just like me. And that’s the way I liked it. I sometimes had to step in to separate the two of them, but they normally behaved themselves. I never complained about Pumba coming with me to play with Skip, as it allowed me to bond with Hop!

Pumba and Skip - the perfect couple!

Pumba was quite a good piggy in general but she had her bad habits. These included messing the house up if she got inside and eating all the bird’s food. But the worst thing that she would do was follow us when we left the farm – and this caused many problems. The one day we found her right at the main gate of the farm, next to the tar road. If she managed to get out as car might kill her. This was starting to become a big problem for us and it got worse when we had to go on holiday. Pumba might miss us so badly that she might just leave the farm, and that would be catastrophic. So we had to make a really difficult decision – we had to say goodbye to Pumba.

Its a pig's life

We decided to give Pumba to the owners of our neighboring farm as they had previously raised warthogs. It was so sad for us when we dropped her off at their house. Ruth and I balled our eyes out crying and Pumba even tried to follow us when we said goodbye, but the electric fence kept her in. Pumba had made our lives so much fun, but we had to do what was best for her.

We went to visit Pumba a month after we gave her away. When we arrived she wasn’t there, but when she finally came she really made an entrance. She and another warthog came strolling up to us. Pumba instantly remembered us and lay down on her tummy for a scratch. It was like the good old days. We spent an hour giving her attention before she decided to go off into the wild with her friend. This is what we had always wanted for her. Pumba had given us many lasting memories but it was time that we went our separate ways. You know what they say: “If you love something, let it free.”

It's my world!

The three buffalo were caught two weeks later when the tests came back negative. Hop and Skip were now on their own and I left it like that for about a month before going in on the quad to check up on them the one day. They were about twenty meters from the road that ran through the camp and I parked and watched them for a while. They looked quite relaxed and I decided to try and get a little closer to them. I managed to get to a tree about ten meters from them before they started getting agitated. I climbed the tree and watched them for an hour before making my way home. Just spending time with them was great and I decided to start visiting them everyday.

I went and visited Hop and Skip the next day and found them in the same place that they had been the previous day. I parked the quad, got off, and went and sat a few meters away from it so that they didn’t start associating it with me. They seemed quite relaxed and just watched me from where they were lying. I spoke to them all the time while sitting there and when they started closing their eyes, I moved a few meters closer. As the afternoon progressed I managed to get closer and closer and ended up only seven meters away at the end of the day. It had been magical spending time with them and I just needed to keep gaining their trust.

Me and my buffalo

For the next few days I went in on the quad and steadily started getting closer to Hop and Skip. I even started taking food and water along for them, even though they had plenty of water in the camp and tons of green grass. I think it was my way of trying to get them to trust me and it started working as I managed to get within five meters of them without any problems. I got rid of the quad a few days later as it wasn’t helping me at all and just went in on foot. I took my trusted walking stick with me though, not that it would do much if Hop and Skip attacked me. The results were almost instant as I managed to get within a meter of them within two days. I probably could have touched Hop and Skip but the time wasn’t right. But being so close to such big creatures was amazing.

Buffalo love

The next day Hop and Skip were happier than usual and allowed me to sit right next to them while they were eating. I couldn’t quite believe it and made the most of it. When they were eating I slowly stretched my hand out and touched both of them on their heads. Reaching out and touching their heads instead of air was magical. I started crying as I was so happy. I never ever imagined that I would touch them. Getting such dangerous animals to trust me was difficult but I was starting to understand them more. They weren’t strangers anymore, but more like friends.

My relationship with Hop and Skip got better and better everyday. Hop was the tamer of the two at first as she allowed me to touch her more than Skip. But one day I started rubbing Skip with my walking stick and she just fell into a trance. She stood there and let me rub her. She was so happy that she even allowed me to rub her with my hands and things just got better and better from then on. She started licking my hands and then even gave me kisses on my face. She allowed me to hug her and pluck ticks off her without even batting an eyelid. We spent the afternoons lying together and we even sparred together. She used to push against my shoes and had a great time. She didn’t have other buffalo to play with, so I decided that it was my duty to play with her. And it was so much fun.

My buffalo love their food

Because I was spending so much time with Skip, my relationship with Hop suffered a little. As a result I could still only touch her on her head, but one day I crawled around to her back and started rubbing it. She tossed her head at me and snorted, but when she saw that I didn’t mean any harm she relaxed. She started allowing me to lie down on her back and sleep, and this meant that I could lie with both my buffalo at the same time. I call them mine as I look after them and spend time with them, even though I don’t actually own them. They are just such good friends to me. I don’t really have any other friends but then again I don’t really need to when I have the best friends in the world in Hop and Skip.

I can lie with my girls for the whole day

Ocean birds

• Penguins, albatrosses, petrels, terns, gulls, gannets.etc.
• Most only come to land to breed, except the gulls and terns which are found closer to human habitation and some even inland.
• Glide and fly low over water. Penguins are the only ones that swim and don’t fly.
• Normally white or grey, with varying bill and plumage colours.

Inland water birds

• Pelicans, cormorants, herons, egrets, storks, flamingos, ibises.etc.
• Large birds, varying in size.
• Don’t often soar and fly with wings outstretched.
• Long, thin bills for catching fish and other water-inhabiting creatures.
• Long, thin necks and legs.
• Rounded heads.
  

  Hamerkop

Ducks

• Ducks, geese, swans.
• Medium-sized, wide, flat bills.
• Dive regularly to catch food.
• Largely nomadic, movements controlled by food, rainfall and breeding requirements.
• Swim on water nearly all the time, unlike waders.

Rallids

• Crakes, flufftails, rail, snipes.etc.
• Normally found on the water edges and in aquatic vegetation.
• Small to medium-sized birds.
• Make various noises – clucks, grunts and croaks.
• Most have short stubby beaks, excluding the rail and snipes which have long thin bills.
• Often very secretive, colourful birds.

Waterside birds

• Plovers, stints, sandpipers, jacanas.etc.
• Postures hunched, most are grey or drab white.
• Many are migrants.
• Bill length varies, from short in plovers to long in all the other species.
• Found next to oceans, dams, wetlands. Eat insects and aquatic invertebrates.
• Often found in large flocks.

Terrestrial birds

• Ostrich, cranes, bustards, korhaans, francolins, quails, sandgrouse.etc.
• Most are found in dry, arid or woodland habitats, except the cranes.
• Usually brown birds found in pairs or small groups. Sandgrouse and cranes in big groups.
• Ostrich, bustards, cranes and korhaans are large birds with long legs and necks, and short tails. Unusual calls, short bills and most fly with wings outstretched.
  

  Black-bellied Bustard

Raptors

• Eagles, vultures, buzzards, hawks, falcons, kestrels, snake eagles.etc.
• Have hooked beaks as they are carnivorous.
• Diurnal – birds of prey that hunt other birds and animals
• Often found on power lines, in tall trees and soaring.
• Many are migrants which breed in summer while most residents breed in winter.
  

  Brown Snake-Eagle

 Nocturnal Birds

• Owls, nightjars.etc.
• Nocturnal.
• Owls vary in size – all are resident though. Often found around human habitation. Important identification factors are their calls, facial patterns and habitat.
• Nightjars are insectivorous and hawk insects. Often found on roads and are only flushed at the last moment. Very difficult to distinguish between species – only really by call.

Part Three will detail the rest of the species accounts.

White-faced Duck

Birds – Part One I never really used to be interested in birds. I was always an animal man, interested in seeing the Big 5 on holidays. And when we didn’t, well, then the trip wasn’t that great. However, all this changed when I met a student from Holland who was interested in birds. At first this didn’t bother me, but after a while I thought that something wasn’t right. How can someone from another country know more about the nature in my country than I do? Being competitive, I wanted to be better than him. I started watching birds and after a while I realized why he enjoyed birding so much. There are so many birds and they are all different. My dad says that trees are his favorite aspect of nature as they don’t move so you can always find some way to identify them. But birds are challenging as you have to search for them. Even when you find them they fly away. This is why I love birds. I’m still an animal man but birds deserve credit. They challenge me and I’m going to challenge you to get interested in them. So this series will give you a brief background on birds. Hopefully the birds will grab hold of you like they did with me. Let’s start twitching!

A brief history of birds 

Based on fossil evidence, birds have evolved from reptilian ancestors. They evolved from reptiles by having their forelimbs configured into wings or flippers. Jaws were modified into a bill or beak with no teeth.  Birds are different from mammals in the fact that they have feathers. They also have hollow but reinforced bones. Birds are warm-blooded animals and lay eggs unlike mammals. There are about ten thousand bird species in the world, from the 2,25g hummingbird to the 130kg ostrich.

Birds can be split into three main groups:

Passerines: refers to perching birds, and the foot structure of birds. They are land-birds with four-unwebbed, level toes that are not joined in any way. Non-passerines: A very broad group of birds grouped together as they have nothing much in common with each other or passerines.

Near-passerines: This group consists of birds that have features of both passerines and non-passerines. Divisions are based on foot structure.

Hadeda

Mating systems in birds

Monogamy -Each sex only has one dedicated partner – a pair-bond. This bond can last for a season, a few seasons or for life like in eagles.

Polygamy- This is when one sex has many different mates in a breeding system. The sex that cheats determines how polygamy is further defined. If the woman cheats, it is called polyandry, but if the man is the culprit, it is called polygny.

This is just a brief overview on birds as a whole. The next part will detail the real important things, like how to start identifying birds.

Oh, no you don’t!

My dad and his tracker were driving around one afternoon when they came across a leopard that had just killed a bushbuck. He immediately radioed the other rangers to come with their guests. While they were watching the leopard feed, a hyena came onto the scene and chased the leopard away. My dad felt sorry for the leopard so he took a full can of beer from the cooler box and hurled it at the hyena. The hyena disappeared and the leopard came back to eat. All the vehicles arrived and the guests were happily snapping away at the leopard with their fancy cameras. It was a great sighting and everyone loved it. A week later a picture was published in one of the local newspapers where this can of beer was next to the leopard. People started asking questions and my dad got into a load of trouble for throwing the hyena, but I’m sure that he leopard appreciated his kindness!

It’s a little difficult to run!

One morning my dad took a group of tourists on a walk. This was very normal for him, but the people weren’t. They all had some part of their body that was missing, be it a leg or an arm. This made the walk very difficult for my dad as he had to make extra sure that they didn’t get chased by an elephant or the like. A few minutes into the walk they made their way up this steep embankment. My dad was leading the way when he suddenly came across this huge black mamba. It was standing up with half of its body of the ground. Because of the embankment there was only one direction that my dad could go – backwards. He turned around to run down the embankment but ran straight into the crippled tourists. They all rolled down the hill and landed with a thud in the dry riverbed at the bottom. My dad said that he had never felt so bad before in his life, but the guests thought it was hilarious. They saw the feared elephants on the walk back but nothing compared to my dad tumbling down the hill into them.

Mala Mala vs. Sabi Sabi

My dad worked at Sabi Sabi and there was this one elephant bull there at the time that was so tame that one could actually touch him. One day one of my dad’s fellow rangers decided to stick a Sabi Sabi sticker onto the elephant when he touched it. This went perfectly well until the elephant went into Mala Mala with the sticker on its back reading Sabi Sabi. It took them a while to get it off and in that time a lot of people saw the elephant with the sticker on its back. Good advertising for Sabi Sabi if you ask me!

Eland reflection

I took this photo on one of my morning walks. Eland are not normally the tamest of animals, so for them to just stand there was great. And with their reflections on the water of the dam, this photo has to be one of my very best. 

Cute little thing, isn't it?

Aardwolfs are rare nocturnal animals that one barely ever sees, so finding one in the day was a real surprise. It just checked me out from inside its hole. I watched the little creature for about ten minutes before leaving.

Big head

Guinea fowl are so common. We all nearly have them in our gardens and I see them early single day. But until I took this photo of one in theKrugerNational Park, I never knew that their faces looked like they did. The wattles and crest were new to me and I now look more carefully at guinea fowl when I see them.

Tiny leopard tortiose

Tortoises can be very big, or they can be minute like this little one. It still had a soft shell and I therefore didn’t pick it up, but it would probably have fit nicely into my hand.

Woodland Doormouse

This little guy is a Woodland Doormouse. We found it living happily in our electricity box and it was surprisingly quite tame. When my dad saw one of these for the first time he thought he had discovered a new species because he never knew of anything quite like it. Unfortunately, he didn’t and this is the only one I’ve ever seen.

Creepy Little Critter

This is a yellow flower crab spider. We found it on a sunflower that we had in our house. We were fascinated with it and were even more amazed when it fell into the vase of water. It just started sinking, so we quickly helped it out. We thought that it was dead, but it was crawled back onto its flower and carried on with life.

I hope that you enjoyed the photos. Please comment on them and then I might post a few more in the future as I have hundreds of interesting ones.

As I was walking past Hop I noticed that there was this tiny white thing at her rear. It looked weird so I ran to tell dad about it. He said that it must be her bull string, which shows that she is on heat. That made me feel a whole lot better and I went back to the dam to find some birds. I had an interesting afternoon and saw a few nice birds before making my way home.

The next morning at about seven o’clock dad and I went to feed Hop. When we got to the boma I immediately went to see how Hop was doing while sad handled the food. She was in the furthest of the four compartments and when I got there I stopped dead still. Hop was standing up and right next to her was a small calf. Hop had given birth! I stared at it in disbelief for a few seconds before telling dad to come and look. I didn’t tell him that Hop had given birth, so when he saw the calf he couldn’t believe his eyes. We were both overjoyed and watched the two of them for a while before going to tell everyone about what had happened.

Hop and our new arrival, Skip!

When we got home and told mom she burst out crying. And what made it even more special was that it was on Mother’s Day. I had forgotten about that though but mom wasn’t at all bothered. Hop having a baby certainly made up for it. And I live on a farm, so how should I know that it was Mothers Day?

All the staff members on the farm went to have a look at kokai and her calf. They called Hop that because she was crippled, but they all loved her. The calf was a little girl and we decided to name her Skip. She and her mom didn’t like all the attention though so we left them alone for the rest of the day.

We were all so happy that Hop finally had company. She had been alone in the boma for eleven months without us knowing that she wad pregnant. It was probably better that way though as the surprise was well worth it, but I was kicking myself that I didn’t sit with Hop the previous afternoon. I would have seen her giving birth but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Baby Skip

Hop seemed much happier now that she had some company. She charged at us more than usual though, but that was just her motherly instinct. Skip always stayed at her mom’s side but was very rough when she wanted milk. She would butt her mother to stand up and when she was up, she drank and drank until Hop got tired and just had to lie down.

A week after Skip had been born we found that Hop had a big wound on her bum and so the vet had to come in to treat her. He darted Hop, but because Skip was still small and harmless, she didn’t need to be darted. While the vet treated Hop, Skip ran around like crazy. She didn’t know what was going on. She rammed into me the one time when she ran past and nearly knocked me to the ground. Even though she was small, she was still strong. It didn’t take the vet long to patch Hop up and the mother and daughter were soon reunited. We left them alone for the rest of the day. Hop’s life just gets tougher and tougher but at least she had Skip to help her through it.

After Hop and Skip had settled I went and spent time with them every afternoon. At first they only lay in the back of the boma and watched me, but I enjoyed every second that I spent with them. I spoke to them as much as I could to get them used to me. I lay down next to the boma and watched them day in and day out. They slowly got used to me, but still didn’t come closer.

Hop and Skip

One day when I arrived at the boma I found Hop and Skip eating at the bowl. They immediately started making their way to the back of the boma but I reassured them that I wasn’t going to hurt them. I sat down next to the boma and spoke to them, hoping that they would stop. And after walking a few meters they did just that. Hop lay down and Skip went and stood behind her mom. I was overjoyed that I was only a few meters away from them. At first, both Hop and Skip only stared at me with their big brown eyes while I spoke to them, but after a while they started to relax and they even closed their eyes at one stage. I couldn’t believe it and just lay there and spoke to them for the rest of the afternoon. I mumbled out all kinds of things to them until it got dark and I had to make my way home.

I was slowly gaining Hop and Skip’s trust and learning more about them each day. I was fascinated with them. Now all that I needed to do was touch them. But how was I going to manage that?

Pumba lying in the sand near the river.

The older Pumba got the longer walks I took with her. The one morning I took her and Tofi down to the river, which was about a 5km walk from our house. As this was Pumba’s first major walk she couldn’t stop investigating all the smells along the way. We saw a few warthog as well, but Tofi chased them before Pumba could get a look at them. When we finally arrived at the river Pumba was exhausted and flopped down onto the sand. She looked dead tired but was still lively enough to gobble up the peach that I had brought along for her. She struggled on the walk back and slept for the rest of the day when we got home.

Pumba loves peaches

Pumba spent most of the day walking around the garden and lying on the grass. She tried to get into the house whenever she could and when she succeeded the first place she went to was Tofi’s food bowl. She loved food and would eat the whole day if we let her. She was a greedy girl, but surprisingly had pretty good manners for a warthog. She didn’t just grab the food but would sit there and wait until you gave it to her. Her favorite thing was grapes. She loved it when their juice squirted out in her mouth when she bit into them. But she ate anything that she could get her hands on.

Pumba eating once again.

On one of our walks, Ruth and I took Tofi and Pumba to the seasonal river near our house. We walked through the ankle-deep water with them, swam in the deeper parts and rolled in the hot sand. The pets loved it and investigated all the different sights and smells.

But as we turned the one corner we stumbled upon this massive male warthog. Tofi immediately chased off after it and I ran after her to make sure that the warthog didn’t turn on her. Ruth was not far back and helped me to catch Tofi. But in all the commotion we somehow lost Pumba.

Me and my piggy.

We ran up and down the river calling her name but still couldn’t find her. Ruth and I both started to cry as we didn’t have a clue where she might be. We were determined to find her though and I continued searching while Ruth ran home to tell mom and dad. I searched for about two hours, shouting and crying as I walked.

When it started to get dark I dejectedly made my way home. I burst out into tears when I arrived and the situation didn’t get better when everyone told me to stop. I felt so sad until I heard a soft little oink, oink, oink next to me. I looked down and found Pumba alive and well, nudging my leg. It turned out that she had charged home as soon as she saw the warthog. We had been about a kilometer from the house, so for her to find her way home from an area where she had never been before was quite remarkable. And all the while I was searching for her in the bushes.

Monkey see, monkey do.

Pumba always ate the food that my mom put out for the birds and in the winter this food attracted other animals as well. One day a monkey strolled into the garden while Pumba was busy eating the food. She looked up at the monkey when it arrived before going back to eating the seeds. The monkey was fascinated that this warthog was eating so comfortably and went and ate with Pumba for a while. But when the monkey got too cheeky Pumba chased it off. This was her patch and she even chased impala out of the garden once.

What a life.

Pumba’s life is a dream. Eat, sleep, attention, and a little exercise each day. She is without a doubt the cleanest warthog in the world and the most loved. We even allowed her to lie on our chairs!

Pumba – Part One

Some areas of the farm are so full with thorn trees, in particular sicklebush, that you can’t see any animals. So to restore some grazing areas for animals, we had to do a little bush-clearing. Now this can be done it two ways: either manually, or with a tractor and slasher, which we called a bossiekapper. The latter option works much quicker, so that’s what we decided to use.

One day my dad, sister and I went to check up on how the work was going. We arrived in the now open field and had a look at how things were going. While we were walking around, we stumbled upon a baby warthog that had a big gash on its head. My dad quickly caught the poor thing and had a look at its injury. The gash was fortunately not as big as we first expected, but the poor warthog didn’t look good. She still had it umbilical cord and looked very weak.

Dad suggested that we just let nature take its course as mom wouldn’t be very happy having to look after her. But Ruth and I are very good at begging and we managed to persuade dad to at least let us show her to mom. Tofi also wanted her to go home, as she was sniffing the thing the whole trip home.

Mom wasn’t at all impressed when she saw the ‘present’ that we had brought for her. She said that we were just delaying the inevitable, that she would soon die. But when we started crying, she just had to give in. The warthog was getting a second chance in life that it deserved. We immediately got a box and lined it with a warm blanket. We wouldn’t keep her in the box forever, but just so that she could rest in peace and settle in. The little girl was so cold and still so small, but we made it comfortable for her and put her in the box. She immediately went to sleep, but we checked up on her every few minutes to see that she was alive. She was part of the family now, and she had to be treated like one.

We decided at supper that night to name her Pumba, after Pumba from the movie the Lion King. And we were all hoping that she would be just as charismatic as her name sake.

The next day we managed to get some powdered milk (for puppies), and a small bottle for her at the vet. He told us that we were silly to try and raise a warthog as there are so many of them in the wild. Little Pumba was here to stay though, and we were going to make sure of it.

Pumba didn’t want to drink at first but when she got a taste of the milk she didn’t want to stop. She was a pushy and greedy little thing, even though she probably was the runt of her litter. Ruth and I fed her every two hours in the day, while mom woke up every two hours at night to check up on her and feed her. She wasn’t very happy that she had to do this, but we could all see that she loved the little thing.

Pumba grew stronger and stronger, and after a week we moved her into one of Tofi’s old baskets. This allowed her to walk around the house whenever she liked, but preferred to spend her time in our arms, much to Tofi’s dislike. And at night when we had gone to bed, Pumba would lie on Dad’s tummy while he was watching television. This was perfectly fine with Dad, until Pumba weed on him the one time. She couldn’t go outside to do it so she just did it on him. Understandably, Dad was very happy with this and immediately sent Pumba to her basket. She didn’t mind the basket though, but treated it just like she did dad and did her business there as well.

Pumba’s first experiences of the wild were short forays into the garden with Tofi. They sniffed around together but Tofi was still a puppy and wanted to play. Pumba was the perfect size for her to test her skills on and they ran around chasing each other. Tofi always had the upper hand though and nipped Pumba’s nose to keep her in check. It was great to see them playing and Tofi enjoyed Pumba’s company even though she didn’t get as much attention as she used to. Pumba had settled in nicely with us, and her life was off to a good start!

For me, bird-watching isn’t always about the birds that you see, but about the experience along the way and the great times you have searching for them. Here are a few examples from my birding experiences:

We were on our way to the Kruger National Park, driving through the Middelburg area for one of our family holidays. Now, there are quite a lot of large pans next to the road, which are always a magnet for birds. We found a huge one next to the road that had hundreds of flamingos. I had seen the birds before, but I wanted a closer look at them. Ruth and I jumped overt the short cattle-fence and hurried down to the waters-edge. But before we got there, we flushed a few birds from the reeds. They had long bills, which were curved slightly downwards. I didn’t know what they were, but I knew that I hadn’t seen them before.

I charged off after them to try and identify them but didn’t plan things that well, so I ended up knee-deep in some thick mud. To make matters worse, I had my binoculars and camera with me, so I had to make sure that they didn’t go near the mud. I struggled for a few minutes to get out of the mesh, and when I had I came out minus a shoe. I couldn’t walk around with one shoe on, so I went back into the mud to dig it out. Now that I had both of my shoes, I set off to find the mysterious birds again. My determination was rewarded as I flushed them again. I ran back and forth trying to get a picture of them as they flew from one reed-bed to another. Finally I was rewarded with a photo, of what turned out to be African Snipes. They were a “lifer” for me – a term used to describe a bird one hasn’t seen before. Even though I was forced to sit on the back of the bakkie for the rest of the trip, I had managed to find a new bird for myself. And, I had also provided some entertainment for m dad and sister, as they said it was so fun to watch me running around through the mud!

I went bird-watching in Nelspruit Nature Reserve on the 24^th of December last year. I was blessed with three lifers in the first half an hour, which included Olive Bush-Shrike, Yellow Weaver and Tambourine Dove. I added a forth soon after that, but in the most peculiar of ways. I was walking next to the stream that runs through the reserve, when I suddenly slipped and fell. I landed with a thud on the rocks. And my clothes were sopping wet. I also had a big gash on my knee, which was bleeding heavily. But, I was staring straight into the nest of a Mountain Wagtail. There were two fluffy little chicks right in front of me. I took a few photos of them and watched them for a while before finding their parents nearby. I would never have seen the birds if I hadn’t fallen, so it just shows you how weird birding can be. You can search so hard for birds and not find them, and then just stumble on others without even looking for them. This adventure makes birding worth it!

Hop, Skip and Jump – Part One

June 2008 – Winter was in full swing on the farm, and because of it we had to feed the animals to prevent them from dying. Feeding doesn’t often happen in other nature reserves, but as we didn’t have lions or spotted hyenas to clean up all the carcasses, there was no use in letting nature take its cause.

After feeding the animals the one afternoon, we drove past all the feeding spots again to see what animals had come to eat. We saw the a few buffalo, hippo and lots of rhino, before arriving at the second last feeding spot. There were only two animals there, but they were two young buffalo calves. We were surprised that there mother wasn’t in sight, so we set off to try and find her, and around the next corner we did. She was limping badly though and was really suffering. As it was the end of the day there wasn’t much that we could do about her, but we arranged that a vet would come out the following morning to check her.

The next morning the vet arrived and we set off to find the buffalo. The helicopter located them in a matter of minutes as they weren’t far from when they had been the previous evening. The vet darted all three animals right away and then set about examining the female’s leg. He immediately said that it was broken, condemning our worst fears. There were only two options now: put her down, or let her live in a small camp for the rest of her life.Buffaloare expensive animals and knowing that her small calf’s life was also at stake, it was decided that she would be taken to the boma (small wooden enclosure) near our house.

All three buffalo were loaded onto vehicles using a big strong stretcher that about fifteen men had to pick up. We all then drove to the boma, where the animals were released and woken up. The all hobbled to their feet, especially the poor mother. Her two young male claves stood at her side as we drove away to leave them to settle in.

We decided to name the mother buffalo with the broken leg Hop-a-long, or Hop for short, because she had to hop around the whole time. We couldn’t think of names for her calves straight away, so we decided to just watch their personalities for a while to see what names would suit them.

We had to feed the buffalo every morning and afternoon as they couldn’t find their own food. So, we gave them a few kilograms of lucern and some game feed to keep them healthy. The one morning my dad and I accompanied one of the staff members to go and feed them. Dad wanted to put an elevated feeding bowl into Hop’s camp so that she didn’t have to bend down onto her knees to eat every time. We also had two injured rhinos in the boma, so while Klaas and I were feeding them, Dad attempted to put the food bowl in Hop’s camp.

Hop was standing in the back of the camp when Dad entered, but that changed in a matter of seconds. The next thing we knew Dad was lying on his back on the ground with Hop trying to gore him to death. He managed to slip out from underneath her though and jumped on the back of his bakkie. Hop rammed into the bakkie before charging off into the bush with her two calves. Hop had looked so harmless but she was still a dangerous killing-machine. Dad thankfully wasn’t too badly hurt and just had a few gashes and bruises all over his body.

The next day the vet arrived to dart Hop and her calves for the second time. It took them a while to find Hop, and when they did; her calves were nowhere to be seen. The calves must have rejoined the herd, so all we could do was dart Hop and take her back to the boma. The whole process went smoothly and in no time Hop was back in the boma. Only this time, she cut a lonely figure in the back corner of her enclosure. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

I went to visit Hop nearly everyday and just sat and watched her from outside the boma. She would charge me nearly every single time I arrived, and was always in an aggressive mood. I jumped back every time she charged, even though there was a barrier preventing her from getting to me. It was just that instinct that kicked in – if something charges at you, run! It’s not good to do that with wild animals though, but I couldn’t help it.

Hop slowly started getting settled into life alone in the boma. She didn’t charge me anymore after a few months and allowed me to sit and speak to her. She never came closer though, but I was happy to just keep her company. It was like she was living in a zoo – no freedom, no life. That had to change.

While we were catching our breath, we were entertained by two Rock Kestrels circling above us. They were then joined by a massive CapeVulture, which glided right on the edge of the cliff. It was seriously no more than fifteen meters away and I even struggled to get a good photo at first as it was so close. The dogs stared at it strangely as it circled us. They normally get excited when they see wildlife, but because of the vulture’s size, I don’t know if they even knew that it was a bird.

We continued on our walk when the vulture disappeared, but we were soon greeted by many more vultures. They just kept on gliding by. One, two, three four…. I tried to count them but just couldn’t keep up. There must have been over a hundred vultures, which made me a little nervous at times. I mean, vultures will never hunt people or animals for that matter, but seeing a hundred small planes above your head each with a wingspan of up to 2,5m isn’t the most comforting thing.

A pair of majestic black eagles entered the picture after a while, but they were unfortunately tool quick for a picture. A small group of black storks were also present, while Amur falcons, rock kestrels and pied crows popped in along the way. The mammal life also didn’t disappoint as we saw a herd of mountain reedbuck, a single black-backed jackal and a klipspringer.

The dogs and I stopped numerous times along the way to rest as the sun was killing us. There was a comforting breeze on top of the mountain, but we needed to sit in the shade for a while. We found a clump of trees in one of the small valleys between the mountains and went and sat there for a while.

Water was dripping out from moss in the rock crevices, so I filled our almost depleted water bottles with some. The water was as cold as can be and crystal clear. One downside of the mini-forest was the fact that it had stinging nettle things. I don’t know how to describe the things properly but they are small bushes with prickly little bristles on the end. But boy do they burn. It felt like my legs and arms were on fire. And it just wouldn’t go away. I poured water on them, rubbed them with my shirt and covered them in moss but nothing worked. I sat there in pain for a while before it finally went away. This was a cue for us to leave, and we set off down the mountain.

We were entertained by interesting birds on the way down, like willow warblers, striped pipits and mocking-cliff chats. The dogs flushed a scrub hare as well, which bounded off into the bushes. When we reached the foot of the mountain we followed a nature path for a while before heading off into the bushes in search of a road. Golden Orb spider webs filled our path, and I ended up with a spider in my face after nearly every one. We finally made it to the tar road though, where my mom picked us up. The dogs were absolutely exhausted, but the walk had been fun. The vultures were the highlight for sure, but spending time in nature is always rewarding. My legs still itch a bit though!

I did get to face a black mamba again, but this time it was on a game drive with my dad. We were taking some guests on an afternoon game drive and were on our way to have some sundowners on the top of the farm’s impressive mountain range. We always do it and it really end the day off perfectly.
I was sitting on the front of the land drover like usual, trying to spot the animals for the guests. But just before we got to the top of the mountain, I spotted something that I would rather not have.
I was scanning the bush for animals and was fortunate to glance back towards the road just in time. A huge black mamba was in the road and I immediately screamed at my dad to stop. He slammed on the breaks of the vehicle and sent me flying off the bonnet.
I was only in the air for a few seconds but I had a feeling that I was going to land on the mamba when I hit the ground. I thankfully missed it but landed with a hard thud on the ground, hurting my bottom a little in the process. And when I looked up all that I saw was this huge black mouth starring down at me. The black mamba was only a few meters away, standing up with its head raised. And it didn’t look like it was happy with me so close to it.
Even though my bum was a bit numb, I immediately shot up and jumped back on the vehicle, to a big sigh of relief from all of the guests. I was shaking like crazy but thankfully wasn’t hurt and more importantly, wasn’t bitten by the black mamba, because that probably would have meant death as the nearest hospital was 100km away.
We all sat back and nervously watched as the huge grey snake stared at us for a few more seconds before closing its mouth and slinking off into the long grass while showing us its charismatic smile of death. And it really could have meant death for me. We drove off when it was out of harms way and carried on to our destination. I was still shaking but it turned out that one of the female guests got an even bigger fright than me when she saw the snake near me.
I lived to tell the tale though and I can safely say that black mamba’s are the creature that I definitely fear the most, especially when the specimens that I encounter are normally around three meters in length!

Measuring the spoor made by a leopard's front paw

Making casts three years ago on Keta

Spoor-making is a fun way to enjoy nature and have a good reminder of it for the rest of your life. And you just might see some interesting animals along the way!

White-headed Vultures and Tawny Eagle

We were driving between Satara and Letaba when we suddenly came across a Tawny Eagle that was busy eating on a scrub hare that it must have caught. It had only just started eating and we watched in awe as it tore the meat apart with its sharp beak.

While we were watching the eagle, two White-headed Vultures landed on the scene and robbed the Tawny Eagle of its kill. The eagle jsut had to back away as the vultures were double its size and outnumbered it.

The vulturews dug into the meat, but allowed the Tawny Eagle to scavenge on the side. But the Tawny Eagle wanted its fair share and grabbed the carcass, flying off with it into a nearby tree, where it ate in peace.

I had never seen somehting like this before in my life. Even though we saw cheetah and many other interesting animals on the trip, this definitely was the highlight. Our national parks are the best place to see amazing things and we can’t say that we are nature lovers if we haven’t been to a few of them!

Shaka, the king cheetah

Of course, we didn’t really chase them. That’s something you should NEVER do. We just liked the title. The truth is we volunteered our time at the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre at De Wildt. With our sisters, Ruth Michaelides and Maja Steyn, we helped Rita (the staff member in charge of education) with a holiday programme designed to educate young children about nature (especially cheetahs). We were lucky to get up close and personal with a few stunning cheetahs, including Byron, De Wildt’s main ambassador cheetah. We played with three lively young cubs after cleaning their cage. We witnessed the amazing cheetah run – MUST for any nature lover and we even met the

Graca, the cheetah who annihilated Bryan Habana in a sprint-off for cheetah conservation

living legend herself, Ann van Dyk, who started the sanctuary.

De Wildt’s rehabilitation centre plays an important role in wildlife conservation, especially regarding endangered predators like cheetah and wild dog. They have successfully bred many cheetahs, including the rare king cheetah. Most of these magnificent animals have been reintroduced back into the wild. We would recommend their education programme to all young nature lovers. Rita’s passion for

One of the groups on the holiday programme

wildlife is inspiring and she’s also really good with children.

If you want to read more about cheetahs and the amazing work done at De Wildt, go to http://www.dewildt.co.za/. You can even adopt a cheetah, or any other animal at the centre that you fancy. Remember, cheetah numbers are dwindling fast and it’s up to us to do something about it!