ants and elephants, turds and terrapins & other silly ta *

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:19 pm

the full title should have read

of ants and elephants and turds and terrapins and other silly tails... i mean tales..


:D :D :D :D

so having been forced by my conditions of employment

i was stuck with more than a month's vacation time during december and january.......

what to do ?? what to do?? :? :? :? :?

ah ha !!



two weeks in the park in december and then.....

after a few days back home to wash the car, do the laundry, eat some vegetables and exchange pleasantries with friends .....

another two weeks ......

feel free to join me as i relate most of the events (those that i can still recall) from this trip.

we will meet new people, meet some old friends, experience "lifers", encounter some characters and even discover a brand new species !!!!!

it may be a drawn out affair as i need to sort through approximately ten thousand (yes - 10 000!!) photographs that i took during this time, i will most likely be deleting most of them, but as you will see, the photographic luck gets better as the trip progresses.

crocodile bridge was my port of entry as the first week's stay would be at lower sabie in my favourite and most affordable spot.

entering at croc bridge is always guess work
as you have to guess whether to park and report to reception or drive straight to the booths. this is the case at phabeni, phalaborwa and numbi
i went straight for the gate and was greeted by a very polite and helpful attendant who welcomed me and as an overnighter and was ushered through with haste and efficiency.

i first popped into the camp to unpack my cameras and stuff and to use the public amenities
and the first creature to make my acquaintance was this delightful mantid.



i then set off

the park is so pretty at this time of year





and all the little ones waiting to become a tasty morsel

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:01 am

:) :) :) :)

these community nest spider constructions seemed to be everywhere.



and then of course the landmark sausage tree that reminds you that you are close to lower sabie.

i wonder how many folks have parked under this tree to enjoy the shade and got more than they bargained for ??





i arrived at my lodgings and was pleased to see that the gardens had been extended since my last visit in october and very pleased to see that all the items that needed attention in unit 41 and the surrounding areas had been attended



to and even more chuffed to see that the disability ablutions had been revamped into a practical and workable unit...

i took a leisurely drive to mlondozi and was rather astounded to see the water level so low, and this for december is quite unusual




while at the picnic site i took some time to snap the structures of the horn moths as they established themselves

on their keratin pantry







and to marvel at the skeletal scull of this feared yet mostly placid animal
8) 8) 8)





so heading back towards sunset dam

these red-billed oxpeckers seemed to be carrying out some sort of a mating dance on the back of the bovid







and these vultures where heading off to roost somewhere..





the water level at sunset dam was rather low and as you can see water was being pumped into the dam from the river



the next morning i would be ..... as robert likes to put it.... "at my favourite spot"... to see if i could match my october luck......

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:20 am

:) :) :) :)


so next morning there i was....... parked at sunset dam............... a bit late though............

i had slept in a bit 'cause the early morning was overcast.......... cloudy mornings just do not do it for me....

the fish eagles, egrets and herrons had finished breakfast by now and the gyppos had settled down

only the yellow-billed storks and hadeda ibis and a kingfisher or two were still hanging around

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:31 am

:) :) :) :)

now..... those common and garden noisy hadedas that wake you up at home can put on quite a display of affection while in their wild habitat.







the following is parental guidance approved rating

there was a mating ritual taking place at the top of the sunset tree that seemed to have been monitored throughout by an observer or chaperone of sorts...





maybe it was a novice that was observing the ins and outs of maintaining the species ??

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Tue Jan 17, 2012 1:24 pm

:) :) :) :)

so i wandered off down the h 10 ... or is it up the h 10 ????


a bit of social interaction in the road









heading for the den under the road where so many seem to be



then it is always intriguing to see the baboons

this chap having a snack



so, too this little fella

who was sure not to stray too far from is mommy







now....
we are mostly familiar with the physical changes that "baboonettes" have to undergo

when they want to entice the advances of the male gender of their kind

and it, together with other hormones floating around, is meant to "turn the guy on"

however........

when this change seems to invade almost the entire rear end of the lady's body

it might become a bit too intimidating for some "men"

as we see with this guy who is just pretending he is too busy to notice her

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Thu Jan 19, 2012 4:01 pm

:) :) :) :)

so it seems as though there is a subsidence in the water levels

many uncomfortable people and lots of repair work to be done.

so ...........................................................

shall we continue ????????????????????????

having left the h10,,, i headed down the h4-2 towards crocbridge and came across this very busy african harrier-hawk








while he was busy snacking away he was being constantly harassed by a very agitated starling

(i could be mistaken, but i think it is a starling
help me out if i am wrong, please)





he either got a bit annoyed

or he just moved on to another tree close by









where this persistent starling continued to show his dissatisfaction





so.................................

after what looked like a bit of an exchange of "squawks"

the harrier-hawk decided to move off to other feeding grounds

or should that be "feeding trees" ???




with all the activity over

i too, moved on.......................................................

i stopped to watch these guineafowl rummaging in the elephant dung

for some undigested tasty morsels .................................




and,,,,,, as i was about to drive off,,

i looked up to see the moon was evident in the late afternoon sky

and there was a brown snake-eagle just sitting there waiting for his photo to be taken

(i could be mistaken, but i think it was a snake-eagle..

help me out if i am wrong, please)

usually when we can't identify a raptor it becomes a brown snake-eagle by default.

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:01 pm

:) :) :) :)


what is the name of that movie about the americans in vietnam that was around in the 80s ?

(there were loads of vietnam movies weren't there ?????)

i think it is entitled "apocalypse now" ?
when you hear that "gung ho" soldier,
after they had strafed a vietcong village,
shouting
"i love the smell of napalm in the morning"

well ...........................

i love the smell of dung in the morning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!



it reinforces my senses about where i am

8) 8)


so here is the thing.......................

don't you just love this notice that they erect at the start of most (should be all) dirt roads in kruger ??????



i mean


"take note of corrugation on road surface"
helloooo !!!!!!!!!!!!

and i often wonder how much does it have to rain for it to be sufficient ?????????
(i reckon perhaps if you wait long enough then the road will wash away with more than sufficient rain
then "problem solved")

but seriously though, because this road had loads of puddles along the way



and even one of the seasonal water holes had sufficient water in it



this is one of my favourite routes to take



as it has these stunning rocky outcrops



with these opportunistic "rock-figs" that seem to grow out of the rock itself



and these wild orchids that establish themselves in the trees ......




now i know where the landscape gardeners get the idea from

just after this fellow sprinted across the corrugations



i came across this verreaux's eagle owl



(i shall now stop using the new name..... cause it is too long to type and spell..... and it sounds gay... it's bad enough that this giant eagle owl is identified by his pink eyelids... now he must use this new name)

so after i reached renosterkoppies i headed north on the s114 and who should i meet but





i had now gone to skukuza and now tackled the "ben schoeman highway" back to lower sabie hoping and praying that i don't come across a traffic jam

for the first time i noticed this sign



why do they limit the speed at which a ground hornbill may travel ??

i actually had no idea that they could go that fast !!! or even read !!!

maybe it's the new breed that have those white running shoes that this is aimed at

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:53 pm

:) :) :) :)


so when i reach the luyelubye i notice this splattering on the armco barrier


apparently

when the hippo leave the water to graze at night they also mark their territory

by spraying their dung around the area,,,,,, be it on trees, or on termite mounds,,,,,,

or even on the armco barriers



a short distance down the road near to where i had seen these folks in the morning



this violet-backed starling and i



saw a fairly large herd of buffalo



make their way down to the river to drink




and then get spooked



and a whole bunch of them scamper off...................

they then get spooked again and scamper back towards the river



drink,,,,, and then calmly go back towards where they came from



there was a time that i came across a spot where this well built fellow was having a drink

and along waddled a scaly visitor who,

upon greeting,, apologised for the disturbance,

stating that he had merely come to monitor the water

to check on it's quality, as that was his job in the kruger





he too, then proceeded to have a sip



and insisted that, to get a better idea of the quality he needed to be fully immersed.....




the rhino sauntered off unimpressed



just then an intruder appeared near the water.

this poor chap looked very unhealthy indeed,

with a dull watery eye and a runny nose...

he was panting for air with a rather audible snorting sound



it was not long before he was chased away by the "local landlord" and he galloped away sprating a solid stream of dark yellow urine behind him.......




a bit later that day back on the h10 i observed these ladies......

all dolled up in there black stockings,,,,,,

maybe they were off to an adult stag pajama party as the "invited ladies"






to end off the day,, there was a traffic jam on the s 28

caused by this chap and his brother




so,, i did not stay long but headed for home and stopped to observe these two docile creatures.

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Mon Jan 23, 2012 7:23 pm

:) :) :) :)


so the next day i headed straight for my random water hole on the s22

'cause it was overcast and photography at sunset dam was futile.

just before the turn off i came across this unfortunate sight

eish .....................................



check out those skid marks ........







regardless of all the speculation and hype around this scenario it remains plainly and simply

an unfortunate sight..

apon my arrival at my random waterhole i was greeted by a multitude of ox peckers................





who seemed to be overwhelming these impala





it was like a scene from a hitchcock movie "the return of the ox peckers" as they sought to gain recognition after being removed from the oxen






even the lambs were under their spell





some of the lambs managed to sneak off to exchange secrets behind the shrubbery....



besides the ox peckers there were a few other feathered friends flitting about.







i was quite mesmerised by this quaint little paradise fly catcher who seemed to be in her own little world of isolated bliss....









this seemed to be the case until i was distracted just in time to catch this little show off

who was having what looked to be some sort of a splash and go to disrupt the peace and quiet of the flycatcher







did you ever go to a public swimming pool as a youngster

and just want to be on your own and have some peace and quiet

and inevitably the local show off boy was there

and he would wait for you to come walking past

then he would run and jump into the pool and make a "bomb" near you just to get you all wet ?????



well this seemed to be the plan of this "woody" just as the flycatcher was flitting past peacefully...



cowabunga .........



the kingfisher continued to show off










so i left

[leachy]

Posted by leachy on Wed Jan 25, 2012 4:08 pm

:) :) :) :)


now somewhere i spotted this rhino

i can't for the life of me recall where ??????

however, it was quite a distance away so the detail is lacking

but from what i see of the back and the head and the ears i am dead certain that it was (and hopefully still is !!) a blackie !!!









later on in the day i decided to go back to my random water hole to see if that show-off bird was there

i wanted to get some clearer shots of his water antics..

not much was happening at sunset dam

except this silly bird trying to imitate me



and these pretty flowers on the s 22




i arrived in time to catch this family of warthog trotting along to quench their thirst....







now we should all be familiar with the topic on the forums

"birds in flight"

after this day....... i wanted to start a topic entitled.........

"turds in flight"

this "dagga boy" was just standing there...... and then he lifted his tail

:? :?

and began to discharge waste from his bowels



i was rather impressed with myself

:P :P :P :P :P

i managed to capture the turd four times in flight before it landed

on the ground in a moist green pattie








there were one or two feathered critters from the morning still flitting about











but the woodie was nowhere to be seen



then i saw them........................

the oxpeckers (one word) had returned.........................

this time they had targeted a tower of giraffe

that had arrived at the pool for their sundowners
(did he just use the word "tower" as the collective name for giraffe?????)

and were most certainly making their presence annoyingly obvious.











eventually the group could settle down to some serious drinking......

imagine playing spillage with a giraffe...

the poor things will always be downing their drinks....











notice how there is always one in the group that keeps a look-out while they drink.






so back at camp i was to join robert and jordan and robert's v s o for a braai.

that italian sure knows how to braai a steak !!!!!!!!!! and it was great to visit his hospitable campsite again

after supper i offered to help wash up but robert ensured me he had it all under control
even after poor jordan would not leave his side

the reason for this being, that one of the spotted genets had paid us a visit during supper and was seen rummaging around at the entrance to their tent

we tried to convince jordan that the genet was more scared of him that he should be of it....

but he was having none of that ..........


:lol: :lol: :lol: