Flavour of the Month Nov 2011: Sunset Dam

[Richprins]

Don't know this bird?:







Stilt:





Always a nice spot within easy range of Camp, and never empty, as it is fed artificially and acts as emergency storage for the Camp itself.

Very close to water for Photography, especially Hippo, Crocs and water birds.

[Sprocky]

Great idea for a thread RP, who gave you this idea???

Here is the first of my Sunset Dam contributions.

[Sprocky]

About ten years ago we went into the park for the day from Nelspruit. We spent a good few hours at Sunset dam while I was photographing birds. At that stage we were in the only car that we had, a small Fiat Uno. Every thing was quiet and peaceful, until I heard a leather like scraping sound. I turned too look back and there it was, a huge Elephant bull in musth heading towards the water with this "little obstacle" in it's path. All we could do was sit silent and watch as he walked right next to the car to get to the water.

He went past us with no issue and started drinking, we could hear each sound even the sound of him swallowing and the smell was real strong. I decided not to try and start the car in case it startled him. My SO and mom were dead quiet and shaking. After about twenty or so minutes he turned to leave the dam, once again his route was along side the car. This time when he walked past us, his swinging trunk kept hitting against the car. I couldn't get a photo as he was way too close, I could only see his legs and belly.

I did get this pic of him at the water. This shot was taken with a 18mm lens on a film camera using Fuji 800 ISO negative film. Please excuse the quality...

[Flutterby]

Great pics everyone.

Sunset at Sunset Dam.

[Flutterby]

Whitecrowned Lapwing at Sunset Dam

[Richprins]

A fascinating Article about the Soth American Water Lettuce (Pistia) plant that used to hammer Sunset Dam and elsewhere (Kruger Times):



SUNSET DAM
The water lettuce infestation on Sunset dam was sprayed with appropriate herbicides for fifteen years, whenever plant populations built up. However, during early 1992 it was noticed that the biocontrol weevil also occurred on surviving plants on Sunset Dam. A management decision was then taken to abandon the costly chemical control of Sunset Dam and more biocontrol agents were released in 1996 to boost the already present population.

By spring, September 1997, Sunset Dam was completely clear of water lettuce - an incredible crash in the alien plant population was experienced due to the effect of the host-specific weevil. With this dramatic crash of its food resource, the insect population followed suit and weevil numbers dwindled, with only a few remaining on the remnant plant population.

Throughout the summer season, the water lettuce population slowly built up and increased again and by late autumn and winter in 1998 Sunset Dam was again completely covered in water lettuce. Nevertheless, the cycle repeated itself and by November 1998 the Dam was again clear of water lettuce. This cycle of increasing and dwindling water lettuce cover on Sunset Dam, tracked by increases and decreases in weevil populations, was repeated annually until 2003.

SEED IN THE MUD
The recurring “colonisation” of the dam is largely due to the large store of water lettuce seeds that accumulated in the mud at Sunset Dam. These seeds are long-lived and germinate each spring with up to 2900 seedlings per square metre having been recorded. The annual re-growth, together with the cumulative effects of seasonal growth, then became very apparent by the end of each summer and persisted into autumn and winter when growth and reproduction of water lettuce plants and biocontrol weevils slowed down.

This pattern of alternating ‘clear and covered’ states of Sunset Dam continued until 2003. During these periods intense pressure was put on management to again begin chemical control of the water lettuce problem on the dam, a favoured sundowner spot for tourists. Even internally there was not always agreement that biological control options would solve the problem and pressure to begin spraying herbicides reappeared at the end of each summer.

Nevertheless, researchers accepted that the fluctuations in plant and weevil populations would lessen and stabilise at some stage, and that less dramatic differences between “covered” and “clear” periods would emerge. On the Sabie River it took six years to reach this stage, while on Sunset Dam it took seven years (1996-2003), with the dam being completely clear during 2004/05.




Anyone got pics from the old days?

[Richprins]

Some youtube videos:

First one is scary!!!




Second one from a guy called Michel367 ...apologies for the porn-type music....

[Mel]

Not the bestest photos but memories.

Hippo mum with youngster and crocs in the background:


Egyptian Goose:


A congregration of yellow-billed storks:


Surfing heron:


Warthogs crossing the road just behind us:


Hyena also on the road at Sunset Dam:


A few minutes later waterbucks checking in:


And finally an ellie just as we made our way back to LS:


Sunset dam is magic!

[leachy]

some activity on the far side....

[Richprins]

Some visitors may wonder as to the purpose of this concrete "vent" in the middle of the dam:







The dam is built in a tricky spot, and is actually only for emergency camp water, as said before.

So just in case rain should cause it to overflow, the water goes down there and through a huge pipe under the tar road, so that no water goes over the parking area/road.

I saw it working once, and it's quite remarkable!


Can't vouch for the year 2000 floods, though!


(Wonder what lurks in that huge pipe!.....)


(Pic courtesy of Flutterby)