Oxpeckers - 12:21 pm

06 Jun 2010

The Xakanaxa pride spent the night moving closer towards our campsite. They roared constantly, not only did the roars become louder, but once the ground started to vibrate, we knew they were close.
At sunrise we found them lazing in the grass within 200 metres of the tents. They were completely inactive and looking like staying that way for the rest of the day. We headed over 3rd bridge to see if the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) coalition was around, the staff back in camp kept an eye on the lions and would radio us if they started to move.





There was no sign of the coalition and after chatting to the tour operator camped in the area, the cheetah seemed to have moved on. Earlier we had come across fresh buffalo (Syncerus caffer) activity and decided to go find the herd, as normally the buffalo are shadowed by lions. Thanks to the crackling calls of the yellow-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus africanus), the buffalo were easy to find. The herd was relaxed and spread out over a large area, not usually a sign that are lions about. The buffalo may have been relaxed, but the oxpeckers were as busy as ever.






These small birds offer an important service to the buffalo and many other animals, by controlling ectoparasites. The yellow-billed oxpeckers will pluck ticks and other invertebrates from the skin, whereas red-billed (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) use a scissor-like action, combing the hair for the ticks. The oxpeckers also act as an early warning system and they often alert their host animals to the presence of predators.
We returned to the Xakanaxa pride, whom had barely moved the whole day. Their bellies are not bulging anymore and I’m sure they will again be after the buffalo.
-Jason Loughran

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A Buffalo Goes A Long Way - 01:04 pm

05 Jun 2010

With the Xakanaxa pride moving on during the night, it was time for the scavengers to take advantage of their departure. In the early morning light, those scavengers that held back yesterday had already started to feast on the remains of the nari (Syncerus caffer) carcass.





2 phokoje (Canis adustus) were feeding on different pieces of the carcass, while the numerous hooded (Necrosyrtes monachus), white-headed (Aegypius occipitalis) and white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) watched on, waiting for their chance to feed. The phokoje kept a wary eye on these winged scavengers and chased off any that got to close. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the phokoje left the carcass and we choose to leave too.






The tau (Panthera leo) had not moved far from the carcass and were sleeping in the shade of a motsebe (Croton megalobotrys) about a kilometre away. Even though their bellies were not quite as swollen as yesterday, they still spent the whole day sleeping and recovering from their huge feast.





A young eagle landed in an tree nearby that cause a fair bit of discussion between us, which helped pass the time while the lions slept. We could’t agree upon what species it was. I thought it was an immature Tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) and Jason thought it was an immature Wahlberg’s (Aquila walhbergi) eagle. Whichever species it was, we were both in agreement that it was a pale colour morph. Even checking all the reference books in the camp shed no further light.
Any birders out there, can you help settle this debate?
- Leo Hughes

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Spotted Jinx Shattered - 01:38 pm

04 Jun 2010

As it was getting late, we left the Xakanaxa pride and headed back home.
Barely 1 kilometre from camp, there was movement in front of us. Something crossed the road ahead in the fading light.
Grabbing the camera, we headed in for a closer look. There moving through the long grass was an nkwe (Panthera pardus) and this was no fleeting glimpse of a tail.





It appeared to be a young male, probably the same one that we had been hearing calling most mornings in camp and we had been hoping to locate.
With tail flicking, he moved through the long grass, then jumped up onto a fallen mohata (Lonchocarpus nelsii). From this vantage point, he seemed to be checking us out.






We sat with him for a short while, but with the increasing darkness and even shooting on 1600 ISO, it was becoming harder to capture the grace and beauty of this solitary cat.
Stealthily and silently, he leaped down from the mohata and disappeared into the long grass. With a final glimpse of the tail, he was gone and with him, my leopard jinx.
After 3 days and 2 leopard sightings, my leopard jinx was finally well and truly shattered!
- Leo Hughes

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A Scavengers Breakfast - 12:48 pm

04 Jun 2010

We returned to the scene of yesterday’s encounter with the tau (Panthera leo) of the Xakanaxa pride at sunrise.  Knowing lions, there was a good chance that after feeding for most of yesterday, they would have not moved far from the nari (Synercus caffer) carcass. That was an understatement as they had barely moved 10 metres overnight, just replacing one Motsebe (Croton megalobotrys) for another.
While the pride slept, rolling onto their backs and showing off swollen bellies, there was a chance for others to have breakfast.






Those winged scavengers, who had spent the night perched above the tau, made the most of the cats lethargy. In flew the hooded (Necrosyrtes monachus) and the white-headed manongs (Aegypius occipitalis) to feed upon any scraps and left overs. A solitary white-backed lenong (Gyps africanus) arrived, the first of many to come.








A few phokoje (Canis adustus) skulked hoping to get their chance to feed on the nari carcass, always wary of the tau.
We also glimpsed a lone piri (Crocuta crocuta) in the distance, but there it remained, not wanting to venture too close while the tau were still around. The piri of Moremi seem to display a great fear of the tau, unlike in other protected areas and we are not sure what may have caused this.
The tau seemed not to care that these scavengers were finishing off their scraps, as they had already taken the “lions” share. The Xakanaxa pride spent the rest of the day lounging around under the shade of the motsebe, doing what tau do best.
- Leo Hughes

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Persistence Pays Off - 02:41 pm

03 Jun 2010

Having left the Tau (Panthera leo) of the Xakanaxa pride pursing the Nari (Syncerus caffer) deep into the dense mopane forests the previous evening, we decided that this mornings mission was to pick up the trail. It proved not to be too difficult to track down some 800 odd hooves. Now we hoped that it wouldn’t be too long before we caught up to the tau.
But the early bird catches the worm and even leaving camp at 06h00 is sometimes too late for the cats. For when we caught up with the tau, they had already caught their “worm”. Maybe it was the light of the waning moon, or the first light of dawn that aided them, but sometime in the early morning, their persistence had paid off and they had brought down a large bull nari. The rest of the herd was long gone.





Breakfast was well underway when we caught up to the pride and the males seemed to be taking the lions share of the carcass. Even though the previous day they had been carrying full stomachs, it seemed they still had an appetite for more and dominated the carcass for most of the day.
As the sun rose higher into the sky and the winter temperature increased, one the males decided that enough was enough and pulled the carcass under the branches of a motsebe (large fever-berry, Croton megalobotrys) to eat in the shade.






Through the day, all the tau got a chance to feast on this large carcass, including the two females who returned last week looking a bit worse for wear. They both seemed to be recovering from whatever ordeal they had suffered while away from the pride, though they still bare the scars.
Dining out lion style is never a truly civilized affair and there were many squabbles amongst the pride as they jostled for a place at the buffalo table.








We left the pride, in the twilight, still feeding on the remains of their fallen enemy, under the watchful eyes of winged scavengers.
- Leo Hughes

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Back with a Splash - 01:26 pm

02 Jun 2010

It was straight back into the old early morning routine and we headed out to follow up on a leopard (Panthera pardus) sighting. Locating the impala (Aepyceros melampus) carcass up a tree, we knew we were in the right spot, but alas there was no sign of the culprit. It was looking like my leopard jinx had stuck again.
Even tracking back on the leopard spoor along the roads yielded no results. Jason decided that the best course of action was to return to the carcass and play the waiting game, hoping the leopard would return. As we returned the carcass, we noticed it was now at the base of the tree and there was a fleeting glimpse of the back and tail of the leopard disappearing into thick bushes; my jinx was broken.
We stayed in the area for the next 2 hours, but no further spots were seen.





It was time to move on and follow up on the recent report that the buffalo (Syncerus caffer) were back. A large herd had been seen in the vicinity of the Xakanaxa airstrip and there were lion (Panthera leo) tracks hot on the buffalo’s hooves.
It wasn’t longer before we encountered the herd in the mopane (Colophospermum mopane) forests and close by, in the long grass, was the Xakanaxa pride, including both the male lions.






In the cool winter morning temperatures, it wasn’t long before the lions decided it was time to test the herd.
They managed to isolate a small group of buffalo as the herd moved on. As the lions closed in, the buffalo centered on a termite mound by a small pool, and these swamp cats were not afraid to get their feet wet attempting to bring down one of the bulls.
But the buffalo were ready and chased the lions back, scattering the pride through the water.









With the lions beaten for now, the buffalo headed on, deeper into the mopane to rejoin the main herd. We stayed with the pride for the rest of the day, as they pursued the buffalo into the forests, finally losing sight of them both. They were now deep in the thick mopane, where vehicles fear to tread.
What a wonderful first day back in Moremi, my leopard jinx broken after 3 long years in Botswana and the buffalo were back in the heart of the Xakanaxa pride’s territory.
- Leo Hughes

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The SK Experience - 01:20 am

28 May 2010

Sakhile Radebe has been in Moremi for the last 2 weeks, mainly to capture the beautiful sounds in 5.1 surround sound.


This was my first trip to Moremi and what an awesome experience. My last deployment in Botswana was in September 2008 in the Makgadikgadi Pans and all the water here in Moremi has been completely different to the dry, moonscape of the Pans. Moremi showed me so much in the brief time I was here.
We were up before 05h30 everyday and spent most days out in the field, sleeping and eating on the vehicle. Spending this amount of time with the animals allowed me to see them closer than ever before.
The coalition of 6 cheetah was very interesting as I’ve never seen so many cheetah together and to see them hunting was very special.
To finally get to see the Xakanaxa pride was a privilege. I’ve seen countless hours of footage of the pride in the office and felt like I already knew these lions. It was sad to hear that yet another cub has gone missing and seeing the sorry state of the 2 lionesses did not give me much hope that it could still be alive. I’ll have to ensure a return trip to see the lions again.
I managed to capture great sounds of the elephants feeding. I’ve never been so close to so many elephants. These elephants are far more relaxed than the last ones I saw at Kafue National Park in Zambia, last year. Even the young calves were unfazed by us and walked with a metre or 2 of the vehicle.
The cherry on the cake was the wild dogs. I have only ever seen these carnivores once before and that was at a fair distance. I’ve never realised how large their ears are in relation to their body size.






A couple of days ago Jason and myself pulled some people out of the sand at 4th Bridge. I was assured that people get stuck all the time. Sure enough, on my second last day, we had nearly completed the Bodumatau Loop and had 1 more crossing to make, but we got stuck. After spending the last 6 hours making many crossings and transversing plenty of water, we (Jason) managed to not make the last obstacle. It was over 3 hours later that we were free. Later that same evening, one of the lodge game drives was stuck and we went to go help. Only to get stuck ourselves, but we were out in no time and shortly later pulled the other vehicle to dry land. I think that with more water on its way, there are going to be many more hours of packing logs for all of the people working in Moremi.






I adore the sounds in Moremi. There is never a quiet moment. There is always a bird chirping, hippo grunting, lion roaring or frog croaking. What an awesome time I’ve had.
SK





Cheers SK, looking forward to your return.

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Birds of the Day - 12:36 pm

27 May 2010

It was another day without any cats, but other predator species were about and we happened to see some kills. The grassland areas of Mboma offer the perfect habitat for secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) and this male was searching for its breakfast.





The secretary bird will catch the majority of its food on the ground, killing the prey with hard downward blows from its feet. They have a wide variety of prey, including insects, reptiles, birds and small mammals.
The technique is simple: walk slowly through the grass, if something moves, kill it and eat it.






This bird only managed to get one dragonfly, before being rudely interrupted by a pair of blacksmith lapwings (Vanellus armatus). Their persistent mobbing, frustrated the secretary bird enough that it flew off to continue hunting elsewhere.






It was only after sunset that we neared our campsite and at the last pan were treated to a more specialised hunter. A hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) had just caught itself dinner, a common platanna (Xenopus laevis). The hamerkop lives and breeds on the margins of most sub-Saharan freshwater bodies and is a bit of a specialist frog hunter, but will also feed on small fish and aquatic insects. Unlike the secretary bird, the hamerkop is more patient and can wait motionless, until its prey swims within reach.








The hamerkop made short work of the platanna and once it had finished swallowing, it flew to its nearby nest to spend the night. This hamerkop is becoming very habituated to our vehicle and allows us closer every day.
- Jason Loughran

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Wild Dogs at Rest - 01:41 pm

26 May 2010

It has been nearly 2 months without a sighting of the resident wild dog (Lycaon pictus) pack and they were resting in the shade on the edge of Jessie’s Pools. This was a good spot for the dogs as they could see any antelope approaching the water and in the dappled light were well camouflaged. On this occasion though, they were not in a hunting mood and stayed down. I have never seen this pack of dogs so unmotivated.






The dogs barely moved and even getting an accurate count was difficult. At the last count, the pack totalled 12 and now it is only 10. The pack’s morbid mood could be a result of losing a member very recently.
We stayed with the pack for the next couple of hours and they only stirred when needing to have a drink.
- Jason Loughran






Previous posts on the wild dogs:
Wild dogs hunt on the airstrip; Hunting dogs; Wild dogs on the move; Pups emerge.

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Elephants head for Dead Tree - 01:54 pm

25 May 2010

After our unsuccessful morning searching for the Xakanaxa pride and cheetah coalition, we headed north in the afternoon, hoping for better luck. We focused on the forests just east of Dead Tree Island, as the lodge vehicles had seen fresh leopard (Panthera pardus) activity in the morning. It was a case of sitting quietly and listening, then moving to where squirrels and or birds were alarm calling. Our ‘big cat day’ was not panning out as on each occasion it was a mongoose or raptor which had caused the alarm, rather than a leopard.





We heard elephants (Loxodonta africana) moving through the forests towards our position and set ourselves up for their arrival. The elephant herds have not been frequenting this part of Xakanaxa, but are now starting to take advantage of the plentiful food sources. I was excited to see an old cow, pictured above, she is easily identified by the growth on her face. There is an injured calf in her herd, whom has not been seen since September last year and I was very interested to see how it is getting along. We did not see the calf, but spent an awesome couple of hours with the herd as they browsed and grazed all around the vehicle. These elephant were very relaxed and unfazed by our presence. It was only a couple of youngsters who on seeing the vehicle would give a little ‘rev’ and challenge us, but their courage was short lived and they quickly turned and joined the rest of the herd in feeding. It was late in the day when the elephants crossed the deep channel onto Dead Tree Island.
- Jason Loughran

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