In Search of Some Good "Spots"

[steamtrainfan]

Wow, nectar to a hyenas lips.

Very protective mother. We just love ellies to over the moon and back again.

And the crowd are eagerly awaiting the arrival of............................

[Flutterby]

Nice morning sightings.

And now we wait!

[Pumbaa]

Great hyena and ellie shots, Ratel

[Lisbeth]

Caught up after five weeks absence and you had not got too far............but what do I found? A cliffhanger

[ExFmem]

Still lurking here when I get a few minutes - wonderful narration, as always, and your enthusiasm for wildlife really shines through - quite infectious!

...and now....

[Ratel]

OK everyone, thanks for hanging in there. Been very busy lately. Sorry if your popcorn has gone cold!

Saturday 26th August - Delaporte Day! continued...

Sometime after 9am an OSV pulled up next to us. The driver was pleasant enough, though seemed a little jaded by the "Groundhog Day" aspect of his job. We filled him in on what was going on with the kill in the tree and the Leopard's behaviour from the day before, and he indicated that another OSV driver had briefly seen the Leopard earlier today from the bridge. Apparently she came along the riverbed but was chased off by a Hyena. We had no idea she had made an appearance so were quite surprised to hear this. Obviously we couldn't see any action in the riverbed from our position at the waterhole.

We all agreed that the Impala behaviour suggested the Leopard might be nearby, so the OSV driver decided to prop with us for a little bit. In addition to the herd milling around the waterhole there was also an Impala herd on the far bank of the river, and suddenly they began barking madly while staring up the river. Our hearts started pounding!

"They can see her" the OSV driver stated, urging his guests to look carefully for her to appear.

Then one of his guests gestured excitedly that he could see her. Lyca picked up where he was looking and quickly locked onto her also. I did not.

Apparently she poked her head up above the riverbank to check out what was happening at the waterhole, then disappeared back down again. Lyca was watching carefully though, and saw a flash of Leopard print dart up the 'kill tree' from the reverse side. I honed my binoculars on the tree and soon located her mostly-obscured form on the branch with the kill. Picture our cheesies! She was finally here, but what was she going to do next? Feed? Sleep? Drink?

Lyca stated she was keen to get a pic of the Leopard in the tree, which meant surrendering our prime parking spot and driving to the bridge. I was not convinced it was a great plan, but urged Lyca to make the call quick as the bridge would not be clear for long now that the Leopard was back. She told me to go, and I hooked a nifty maneuver to get us out before several of the other cars. We swung onto the road and pulled up in a prime position on the bridge behind a large coach that must also have spotted the Leopard. As soon as I stopped Lyca was ready with the camera and started clicking.

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It was not a great view, but Woo Hoo!!! LIT!

[Ratel]

Another OSV coming from Skukuza had pulled up next to us on the bridge, blocking the traffic. Several of his guests were having a particularly hard time spotting the Leopard, but we gave them some assistance and eventually they got onto it. We were keen to head back to the waterhole now, but were boxed in so had to patiently wait for a chance to get out of the scrum.

Then Lyca realised that her camera battery was flat. I reached onto the back seat to get another one out of her camera bag while she removed the dead one from her camera. As I handed it to her I noticed out of the corner of my eye the OSV take off veryquickly. I subconsciously recognised this as unusual since they are normally quite sedate as they roll away from a sighting, but was too busy helping to solve the non-functional camera situation to give it another thought. It was only when Lyca went to take another photo that the alarm bells went off in earnest.

"She's gone!" Lyca stated in a most perplexed tone. I raised my binoculars and saw a Hyena standing below the tree, but no Leopard. Where was she? Had she bailed when the Hyena arrived? Then the penny dropped...

I pulled out from behind the bus, cleared the bridge, then hung a u-turn to head back across to the waterhole carpark. As we left the bridge and the waterhole came into view I briefly looked to my right.

"I think she's at the waterhole" I said with very little conviction. There was an odd shape there which my brain could not match with what I expected to see, but I thought it had spots. The next chance I got I looked again, and this time my brain figured it out. If its possible for your heart to race and sink at the same time, then that's what mine did.

"She's got something" I informed Lyca.

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I pulled into the short track leading to the already-packed carpark, stopping at a place that afforded us a clear, albeit slightly distant view. If we went any further our view probably would have been obscured by either cars or vegetation.

The Leopard's efficiency was outstanding. By the time we were in position she already had the Impala dead, and soon started dragging it towards the river. In the pictures you can see that her lower half is wet, so she must have ended up in the water during the surprise attack. There had been little time for a stalk so she must have spotted the Impala in a vulnerable position, launched out of the tree and sprinted straight over to the waterhole. If we had stayed put we would have had a front-row seat at the most amazing sighting of our lives, though still may not have gotten any good pics if it was as swift an attack as we think.

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As she disappeared down into the riverbed we took advantage of being out of the scrum and drove back to the bridge. She dragged the carcass right across the river and up the other side, resting for a few moments before hoisting her prize up a completely different tree and out of sight.

And just like that it was over! We took a few deep breaths and started talking madly about what we had just witnessed. It was so unfortunate that we had missed the actual kill, but what a special sighting none the less!

Given that the Leopard could spend the next few hours feeding in the tree out of sight, we decided to bid her a fond farewell and head back to Skukuza for breakfast. We were ecstatic! All the cars we passed on the way saw us looking like this.

[Pumbaa]

What an incredible sighting, Ratel

DeLaPorte is always a worthwhile stop

[Richprins]

Wow wow wow!!!!


So very lucky, Ratel, and quite close for pics!

quite a small leopard, interesting how they take down prey larger than themselves!

I like this comment: the "Groundhog Day" aspect of his job

[Mel]

What a fabulous sighting!

I'm sure, the leopard would have never made a kill had you stayed at the waterhole.
At least that's what I think when we miss an opportunity like that. We just were meant to see it
and if we had been around the site of action, our presence would have spoilt it for the others
by nothing happening