Good morning everyone, its still a bit chilly here in the park, but will hopefully heat up towards the end of the week! This will be our last blog for 4 days, we are currently on a photographic safari! Today we share with you a Secretary Bird at sunrise! Enjoy and see you at the end of the week!
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Black & White Friday – On Guard!!
Good afternoon everyone, today I share with you one of my favourite animals in the park! The meerkat standing guard, which is called the “sentry” makes peeping sounds when all is well. If the meerkat spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles. Enjoy your weekend and see you on monday!
Can you see any little ones, and how many?
CHiT CHAT !
Good morning everyone, sorry about not posting yesterday, but the internet was down! Today we have an Ant-eating Chat or Southern Anteater-chat (Myrmecocichla formicivora). The Ant-eating Chat is a Southern African bird that belongs to the Muscicapidae bird family group which includes birds such as Thrushes, Robins, Chats, Old World Flycatchers. This bird eats insects such as butterflies, bees, wasps, locusts and ants. Enjoy and see you tomorrow!
The little things!
Good morning everyone. Sometimes one should look past the lions, leopards and other big predators, and try to see the little things! Today we share with you a giant Ground Gecko.
The Giant ground gecko (Chondrodactylus angulifer) has a big head with a short snout on a large, strong, cylindrical body. The tail is shorter than the body. The eyes are a prominent feature, bulging with vertical pupils adding to the charisma of this species. They are terrestrial and nocturnal which stay in a short burrow, re-dug of an evening time, or a disused scorpion den that they have enlarged.
When these geckos feel endangered they will lunge and bite if necessary. They do carry a small amount of poison, which is harmless. Predators include the horned adder, bat-eared fox, suricates and owls.
Enjoy and see you tomorrow!
Close call!
Morning everyone, hope you had a great weekend! The Cape Foxes are growing up fast, mom and dad are working hard to keep up with the little ones’s appetite! Mice mice and more mice!
Yesterday morning a Lanner Falcon got too close for the father of the cubs, and he let him know straight away he is unwelcome! Enjoy and see you tomorrow!
Black & White Friday!
Leopard update!
Good morning everyone… Luna and the cubs disappeared about two months ago, and we only found her tracks 4 times in these two months, but without the cubs! We found her twice in the last week, but she is very skittish, also without cubs. We also found a new male in the area and that wasn’t good news! Rival males will kill her cubs if they were to be found. We also found a female in the Rooiputs area that we have never seen before, just show you how elusive they can be. Lets hope the cubs are still alive and well, I will keep you posted. Here is the new female in the Rooiputs area, she was chomping on a bat-eared fox when we found her. Enjoy and see you tomorrow!
Fox Heaven!
Good morning everyone… Sorry about not posting the last week, but unfortunately the internet here in the bush is not that great! Uploading photos was impossible! The Cape foxes are everywhere at the moment and the little ones are playing early in the morning and late afternoon around the den area. It’s very entertaining watching them exploring the neighbourhood! Biting on everything and annoying mom and dad! Enjoy and see you tomorrow!
Snake snack!
Good morning everyone…We bumped into a Tawny eagle with leftovers of a puff-adder in it’s claws yesterday! The snakes are out again, and the weather is getting scorching! yesterday was 38 degree Celsius! The Tawny Eagle’s diet is largely small mammals up to the size of a hare, snakes and birds up to the size of guinefowl! It will also steal food from other raptors. Enjoy and see you tomorrow!
PS Anyone knows of a person coming up from Cape Town or Durbanville area soon? Please drop me a line, thanks.
7 Little Wonders!
Good afternoon everyone, the foxes’ total is 6! One hiding behind the mom! Today I share one of the little beauties of the park with their striking colours, the Red Headed Finch – Amadina erythrocephala. Males are easily distinguished from the females by the rust red head coloration and more colorful breast color. Juvenile males often fledge from the nest with some red on their head, but do not have the breast color of the males, but resemble the females in this regard.
Enjoy and see you tomorrow!