200 different Animals for a Non-birder on a Winter Trip?

[Flutterby]

Great info Toks...thanks!

[puppy]

You should easily get your 200 species, Toko. I am sure even though you are not a birder you will have at least that many birds alone - but maybe not photographs?
Your non-bird creatures are looking good too.

[Toko]

Common Ostrich Struthio camelus

2014 was not the very best ostrich year for me, but at least I found a male and a female to post here


Male, Marakele National Park, 16 August 2014


Female foraging at the park main gate. Marakele National Park, 17 August 2014

Top facts
The distinctive ostrich is the heaviest of all living birds, and it has the biggest eyes of any land animal!
The ostrich is the only bird to have just 2 toes, one of which has a formidible 10 cm long claw!
The ostrich has been known to make a 'booming' call, which can resemble the roar of a lion
Despite being flightless, the ostrich can run up to 70 km per hour, making it the fastest running bird!

Identification: Very large size; male mostly black with white wings and white, buff or rufous tail; female brownish grey; neck and legs very long; neck nearly naked, bristly. Chick: Striped buff and black on head and neck; body with black and white bristles overlying buff down; below off-white.

Distribution: Struthio camelus occurs throughout much of Africa, with a range encompassing Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Habitats: Bushveld to desert.

Habits: Occurs in flocks of 30-40 birds when not breeding; up to 600 birds may gather at waterholes in desert regions. Adults and young of 1 month old or more can run at speeds of at least 50-60 km/h, sometimes with wings held out for balance. Males may perform elaborate displays in courtship and distraction when breeding.

Food: Adults eat exclusively plant material, mostly soft annual herbs such as Gazania, Indigofera and Lepidium; also grass, young shoots, seeds; preferred food contains about 24% protein, 70% water; chicks up to about 2 months old also eat live insects.

Breeding: The breeding season and strategy of the ostrich vary with location. Where food is scarce, breeding pairs tend to be monogamous, but elsewhere breeding groups usually form, consisting of a territorial male together with a main or “major” hen and several secondary, “minor” hens. At the start of the breeding season, the male scrapes out a nest, a mere depression in the ground, and then attempts to attract females using an elaborate courtship display, which involves dropping to the ground, opening the wings and tail, shaking each wing alternately, and moving the tail up and down, while swaying the head and neck from side to side. The male will then approach the female with the wings open and the brightly coloured neck puffed out, while stamping the feet.
After mating, the main female lays up to 11 creamy white eggs, while the other females lay around 2 to 6 eggs each, in the same nest, and may also lay eggs in other nests. The egg of the ostrich is the largest in the world, although relatively small in relation to the size of the bird, at around 16 cm in length and 1.5 kg in weight, with a 2 mm thick shell. Incubation is performed only by the male and the main female, and lasts between 42 and 46 days. Any surplus eggs which the pair cannot cover are pushed out of the nest by the female, who is somehow able to recognise and retain her own, leaving about 20 eggs in total. The young are buff-coloured with black lines and specks, and leave the nest within the first three days. The pair may sometimes take chicks from other broods, and large crèches often form, escorted by one or more adults. The adult birds may attack potential predators when defending the young, and have even been reported to kill lions with a kick. The young ostriches fledge at 4 to 5 months and are fully grown by about 18 months, reaching sexual maturity after 3 to 4 years and potentially living for up to 30 to 40 years.

[Toko]

Broad Scarlet Crocothemis erythraea

First time ever that I photographed dragonflies on a south Africa trip, they are very pretty, but I am not equipped for insect photography.


Male, Marakele National Park, Tlopi camp, 18 August 2014

Habitat: Broad Scarlets inhabit almost any freshwater body. The largest rivers with backwaters are also used as are temporary waters, pools and still reaches. Their usual micro-habitat is rushes, where they generally colonize the local waters in great numbers.

Distribution: The species is widespread in Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and west Asia, extending as far east as Yunnan in China. Also widespread and common throughout Southern Africa.

Identification: Medium-sized, wide-bodied, all bright red. Dark red abdomen, reddish-brown thorax. Yellowish to orange pterostigma. with small basal amber patch on hindwing.

Breeding: Emergence to eggs is less than 90 days.

Flight season: The rainy season, mainly October to May.

[Toko]

Red-veined Dropwing Trithemis arteriosa

Here a slightly better photo


Female, Marakele National Park, Tlopi camp, 18 August 2014.
She is an very old lady, they darken with age and are usually yellow.

Habitat: Red-veined Dropwings are usually found in rivers with sections of reeds, wetlands below dams and some temporary waters.

Distribution: Trithemis arteriosa is one of the most widespread and common dragonflies in Africa, southern Europe and the Arabian Peninsula. In East Africa the species is common and widespread in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi.

Identification: Medium-sized (wingspan 58 mm), slender. Both the male and female red-veined dropwing have orange flecks at the base of the wings and large crimson eyes.
Male: Bright red abdomen with a black underside and other markings reaching the dorsal. The upperparts of the thorax are purplish-red. The wing veins are bright red especially in flight.
Female: Dark brwon, yellowish brown and straw.

Breeding: Females have to produce eggs during the entire lifetime and produce as many eggs as possible. Dragonfly nymphs are aquatic and after completing a number of developmental stages, they emerge from the water and moult into an adult dragonfly. The newly emerged dragonfly matures and gains its unique colouring before breeding.

Flight season: Throughout the year, more common between November and April.

Habits: Red-veined dropwing nymphs are ferocious predators, feeding on small invertebrates. Adults perch prominently on vegetation at the waters edge. Perching is thought to help the red-veined dropwing locate and catch prey and allows the male red-veined dropwing to lookout for female mates and intruders. Male red-veined dropwings are very territorial, and can battle with other males of the same species for around 20 minutes. The defender often flies tightly around the intruder, known as ‘spinning’, and attempts to force the intruder to fly upwards. These conflicts often cause severe wing damage and wing condition deteriorates with age.


Male, Kruger National Park, Crocodile Bridge camp, 29 August 2014

[Toko]

White-faced Duck Dendrocygna viduata

Duck-wise this trip was not very special, however, I have found some

Hlane is actually a very good birding spot and the two bird hides or the picnic spot overlooking Mahlindza Waterhole always produce some nice birdies. A good place to sit with some picnic goodies and drinks for a while and watch antelope and birds.




Swaziland, Hlane Royal National Park, Mahlindza Waterhole, 30 August 2014

Identification: Size medium; mainly brown with longish dark neck and conspicuous white face (usually stained brownish in dirty water); no white in wing; feet extend beyond tail in flight; barring on flanks visible at close range. Immature: Similar, but face light brown. Chick: Above olive brown; below pale creamy yellow; cream patches at base of wing and sides of rump; crown dark with pale eyebrow; pale line from under eye to back of head.

Distribution: The white-faced duck is found in tropical parts of Central and South America and Africa. In Africa, it occurs south of the Sahara from Senegal to Ethiopia, southwards to South Africa, Madagascar and the Comoros Islands; in South Africa mainly absent from dry W (vagrant to Orange River mouth, Port Nolloth, Fish River Canyon and Windhoek); spreading southwards.

Habitats: Larger inland waters; rivers, lakes, dams, pans, sewage ponds, floodplains, usually with some aquatic vegetation.

Habits: Gregarious, sometimes in flocks of hundreds or thousands (up to 24 000 in Zambezi Valley); usually in pairs or family parties when breeding. On land stands upright on longish legs; often allopreens. Swims high in water with neck erect. Dabbles or up-ends for food; often dives, sometimes in dense rafts of up to 500 birds; often forages at night.

Food: Buds, seeds, grain, rhizomes, tubers; some insect larvae; incidentally also grass, algae, fruit, molluscs, crustaceans.

Breeding: Season: October to April in KwaZulu-Natal, December to May in Gauteng, January in Orange Free State, September to May in Zimbabwe; mainly summer months in South Africa. Breeding starts at the beginning of the local rainy season, when the white-faced duck may nest in solitary pairs, small groups, or loose colonies. The nest is a simple depression in the ground amongst long grass or reedbeds that is placed over, or just a short distance from water. A clutch of 4 to 13 creamy white eggs is laid and then incubated for some 26 to 28 days before the chicks fledge 8 weeks after hatching. After the breeding season, the adult birds undergo a flightless moult period that lasts for 18 to 25 days. During this time, they are particularly vulnerable to predation and so seek cover in densely vegetated wetlands.

[Toko]

Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis

This is an immature one and it's the first one I found in Kruger


Kruger National Park, Letaba River, S46, 25 August 2014

Records
By far the largest and heaviest duck or goose species in Africa. The next heaviest is the Egyptian goose at a maximum weight of 3.01 kg.
Heaviest adult female: 6.10 kg
Heaviest adult male: 7.45 kg
Lightest adult female: 2.20 kg
Lightest adult male: 3.30 kg
Longest living: 7 yrs 9 months
Longest distance travelled: 686 km

Identification: Size very large; boldly pied; mainly black with variable amount of white on face and belly; forehead, bill and legs red; ♂ larger than ♀, bare facial skin extends to behind eye (confined to base of bill and forecheek in ♀). Immature: Feathered on face; body feathers browner; white areas less extensive. Chick: Above and through eye yellowish brown; two pale yellow bands on sides of body at base of wing and at sides of rump; face and underparts buffy yellow.

Distribution: Africa S of Sahara; in South Africa mainly absent from dry W; vagrant to Maltahöhe, Namibia.

Habitats: Mainly larger inland waters; floodplains, pans, dams, sewage ponds.

Habits: Highly gregarious when not breeding, especially during moult; flocks number up to 2000 birds. Usually in pairs on smaller bodies of water when breeding. Shy and wary. Rests on shorelines and sandbanks; forages in flooded grasslands, pastures, cultivated fields in early morning, evening or at night. Flocks fly in staggered lines, sometimes in V-formation; wings make swishing sound in flight. When disturbed, flies to nearest water, settling far from shore.

Food: Grass shoots and seed, grain, lucerne, tubers (like potatoes), fruit, aquatic plants. Sometimes damages crops if numbers large enough.

Breeding: Season: September to April in Orange Free State, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal; August to October in Cape Province; December to May in Zimbabwe; generally breeds during rains. Nest: Grass-lined hollow on ground, 40-45 cm diameter, 8-9 cm deep; usually in dense grass near water; also in reed clumps, on termite mounds, on top of Sociable Weaver, Hamerkop or African Fish Eagle nests; very rarely on cliffs, in tree holes or in Aardvark burrows; some white down present. Eggs: Glossy ivory to pale brown. The female lays 7-14 eggs and on clutch completion, incubates them for 30-31 days before they hatch. Clutches of up to 27 have been recorded but these are thought to be the result of laying by more than one female. The female leaves the nest to feed in the early morning and/or in the late afternoon, and while she is away from the nest, she leaves the eggs covered with down to protect them and to keep them warm. Young leave the nest soon after hatching and are cared for only by the female. They have developed their flight feathers (i.e. they have fledged) by about 85 days old and are able to fly soon after (earliest record of first flight is 100 days).

[Toko]

Comb Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos


Mapungubwe National Park, 20 August 2014

Identification: The goose-like comb duck gets its common name from the large, fleshy, dark grey growth or ‘comb’ on the top of the male’s black beak, an unusual and distinctive structure which enlarges during the breeding season. Size fairly large. Male: Much larger than ♀; back and wings black with purplish iridescence; below white; undertail yellow; head yellowish when breeding, otherwise white, speckled black; underwing black; large laterally compressed black knob on top of bill (reduced when not breeding). Female: Head and undertail white; otherwise similar to ♂, but smaller; lacks knob on bill. Immature: More speckled on sides of chest and flanks. Chick: Above brown; face and underparts yellow ochre; dark patch above thigh; bill slate-grey with yellow tip; legs and feet grey with yellowish webs.

Distribution: Africa S of Sahara, Madagascar, tropical Asia, tropical S America; in South Africa largely absent from S and W.

Habitats: Floodplains, pans, shallow marshes with clear water and emergent and surface vegetation.

Habits: Highly gregarious when not breeding, sometimes in flocks of separate sexes; otherwise in pairs or groups of about 5 birds. Loafs for much of day on shorelines and islets; often perches in trees; feeds early and later hours by dabbling in shallows (mainly females) or by stripping grass seeds (mainly males). Sometimes polygynous, each ♂ having about 3 females. Rather shy. In flight wingbeats appear slow; all-dark wings contrast with pale underparts.

Food: Mainly seeds of grass, waterlilies, grain crops; also locusts and aquatic insect larvae and plant propagules.

Breeding: Season: November to March (mostly November-December) in S Africa, September to April in Zimbabwe. Nest: In hole in tree near water or up to 1 km away; usually lined with white down. Comb ducks usually nest close to water, in large tree cavities, holes in the walls of isolated buildings, abandoned nests of other birds, including that of the hamerkop, or sometimes on the ground. The nest is a rough structure built from twigs and course grass, and is lined with grass, leaves and feathers. In some areas comb ducks are monogamous, while in others males may hold small harems of two to four females, which they defend against other males. Between 6 and 20 eggs may be laid, though nests sometimes contain the eggs of more than one female. Incubation lasts 28 to 30 days, and is performed exclusively by the female. Within just a day or two of hatching, the ducklings leap from the nest, which may be up to 12 m above the ground, when summoned by the female. Fledging occurs at about ten weeks.

[Toko]

Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus


Pilanesberg,14 August 2014

Top facts
The Egyptian goose is a large and distinctively marked waterbird which is native to Africa, including Egypt.
Introduced populations of the Egyptian goose occur in a number of European countries, as well as in the United Arab Emirates.
The male Egyptian goose gives a hoarse hissing call, whereas the female gives a harsh, trumpeting quack.
As well as nesting on the ground, the Egyptian goose will also nest in tree holes or even the abandoned nests of other bird species.

Identification: Size large; gooselike; brown above, greyish below; dark brown patch around eye and on centre of breast; dark brown collar on neck; undertail coverts bright yellow ochre; in flight wings white with black primaries and green trailing edge. South African Shelduck similar, but whole body bright rufous, head grey (face white in ♀), no brown patches. Immature: Duller than adult; eyepatch small; usually no breast patch. Chick: Above brown; eyebrow, wingspots and underparts whitish.

Distribution: Africa S of Sahara, Egypt, Middle East, SE Europe; in South Africa widespread, but absent from Namib Desert.

Habitats: Most inland waters: rivers, dams, floodplains, pans, marshes; also estuaries, coastal lakes, cultivated fields.

Habits: Highly gregarious when not breeding; otherwise mainly in pairs. Swims high in water; spends much of day loafing on shoreline or sandbank. Flies early morning and evening to farmlands and grasslands to graze, returning to water to roost on shoreline or in trees by day and after nightfall. Large flocks congregate on larger bodies of water to moult. May be pest in grain farming areas when numbers very great.

Food: Grass, leaves, seeds, grain, crop seedlings; aquatic rhizomes, tubers.

Breeding: Season: All months throughout South Africa; peak May-August in Zimbabwe, August-September elsewhere. Nest: Grass-lined hollow on ground in dense vegetation; also holes in cliffs, caves, trees, buildings, up to 60 m above ground; often uses old nests of crows, raptors and Hamerkops in tree or on cliff; nest hollow lined thickly with grey down, used for covering eggs when parent absent; near water or over 1 km away. airs of Egyptian geese nest singly, typically building the nest out of reeds, leaves and grass, lined with down. The nest may be built among vegetation on the ground or near water, in a hole in an embankment or tree, on a cliff ledge or building, or even in the abandoned nest of another bird species. Between 5 and 12 unmarked, white or creamy eggs are laid, hatching after 28 to 30 days. The female alone incubates the eggs, while the male guards the nesting territory. The chicks fledge at around 60 to 75 days, but do not reach sexual maturity until about two years old. The Egyptian goose has lived up to 25 years in captivity

[nan]

nice to see this one moving a bit... and what good way