Upper Dune Road

[Toko]

That's a beautiful Ground Agama, Lis

Nice birdies now the blurds, please

[Toko]

Four-Striped Grass Mouse Rhabdomys pumilio feeding on Tsamma Melon Citrullus lanatus.



Tsamma melons are an important source of water for many animals during the dry season. They grow after rains in the dune veld and on the plains and ripen midwinter. The melons grow on a vine plant on a long trailing stem, and the meat is whitish and dense. It consists of 90 to 95% moisture. Striped mice in particular love the seeds, which are rich in oil and proteins.

[Toko]

Dune crests are dominated by the tall grass Stipagrostis amabilis



Kalahari Dune Grass or Dune Bushman Grass is a hard, shrub-like, tufted grass producing stolons and rhizomes, growing up to 2 m in height. lt has hard, needle-like leaves which often form clusters at the nodes. It is a very effective sand binder and a successful coloniser of dunes. It occurs predominantly on the loose and very loose sands of dune slopes and dune crests in the Kalahari duneveld. It is a diagnostic species for the plant community of this habitat.
Stipagrostis amabilis is not very palatable and animals such as gemsbok only graze on young green, soft and palatable shoots. Dune Bushmen Grass is used extensively by the social weaver to build their nests.

[Lisbeth]

Kori bustard

The kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) is the largest flying bird native to Africa. It is a member of the bustard family, which all belong to the order Gruiformes and are restricted in distribution to the Old World. It is one of the four species (ranging from Africa to India to Australia) in the large-bodied Ardeotis genus. In fact, the male kori bustard may be the heaviest living animal capable of flight. This species, like most bustards, is a ground-dwelling bird and an opportunistic omnivore. Male kori bustards, which can be more than twice as heavy than the female, attempt to breed with as many females as possible and then take no part in the raising of the young. The nest is a shallow hallow into the earth, often disguised by nearby obstructive objects such as trees. The specific epithet kori is derived from the Tswana name for this bird - Kgori

[Peter Connan]

It's like another world up there!

[Toko]

When did you find the Lake Malawi there, Peter? I wonder what the sandpipers are

That's the best Black-chested Prinia I have ever seen

[Peter Connan]

Moravet waterhole, 22 December 2013 Toko and Lisbeth, both the waders and the Prinia.

for the compliment.

[Lisbeth]

I love the meerkat

Surprising to see waders and water.......or the other way around

[PRWIN]

Young lion spotted on a dune before Moravet:

[PRWIN]

Vaalpan in the summer: