Thursday, March 31, 2016

March 31, 2016 Sunset Drive



 
James Hendry presenting with Wium Dornbrack on camera.
 
Brent Leo-Smith presenting with Bryan Joubert on camera.
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

James,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Woo- Hoo! James is Back!!
With an elephant, he's a nervous bull around 16 years old James guesses. HE heads toward the Djuma pan where there is a buffalo. On the way we see a Nyala bull and some impala at a quick glance.
The elephant chases one buffalo out of the water then another to a mud hole in the dam area, where several other buffalo bachelors are resting. HE then lies down in the mud and then goes towards James in the vehicle.

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Is with Tingana already a leopard Great start!!

James,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Headed to find lions.

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Has left Tingana and is trying to find some elephants he heard.
Sydney's dam with a large herd of Waterbuck, and a couple Zebras.
Chinspot batis for a second
Bachelor herd of Impala
Wildebeest

James,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
With the half truck female's herd of elephants at Djuma pan
All kinds of animal near by
Marabou stork, Buffalo, Impala

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Weeping wattle bush
17:20 White-Backed vulture silhouette

James,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Four Birmingham boys sleeping
Since the boys are sleeping and giving a under carriage shot none of us care to stare at James decided to go to  find a hyena den. He missed them while on leave. Wium agrees.
Lambs tail or string of stars

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Out of the vehicle talking caterpillars and the butterflies (African Vagrant) they become and plants they eat

James,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
No one was home at the hyena den.
17:52 Banded mongoose running away we don’t get a view other then a blur.
Crested francolins

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:58 has arrived at the Birmingham Boy coalition's sleeping spot.  One of them sits up and yawns several times. Another rolls over and has a boo-boo on his toe. 

James,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Tingana who tries to hoist his warthog kill into a tree but the tree and the weight and awkwardness of carrying it seems to be too much and he jumps back down drags it a big and beings eating again while nervously looking around

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
We go to Brent since the B.boys are getting more awake and grooming.

James.                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
One last look at Tingana as James is leaving the sighting to not increase the likely hood of hyenas finding it.

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Several of the boys are up and grooming themselves but so far not up and walking.
Brent tells us the exciting news that one of the Styx lioness has given birth to cubs So exciting news new Birmingham Boy's cubs!!
One of them is still off mating with a lioness. The boys get up and start to walk south and Brent is going to let the other vehicles go head of him he will then loop around for us to get a great view of them

James.                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
James is headed to Quarantine clearings to see if he can find the Serval or one of the other rare animals we have been seeing. 

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Following the B.Boys who get a quick drink act like they heard something and change direction.
While Brent repositions so the lions walk towards him we go to James.

James.                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
James and Wium say their good nights.

Brent,                                                   ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The B.boys have laid down now. We can see two of them 

Brent says goodnight for he and Bryan

End of Drive



© 2016 Chell Taft
All rights reserved. None of this written material may be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by media of any kind.

March 31, 2016 Sunrise Drive



  
Brent Leo-Smith presenting with Dave Eastaugh on camera.
  
Jamie Paterson presenting with Jeandré Gerding on camera.

Jamie,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 Impala rams

Brent,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 with Cape turtle doves
Magpie shriek

Jamie,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
African harrier hawk. Being dive bombed by many other birds and hunting from tree to tree.

Brent,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
06:31 He has found Tingana, who starts to stalk something. Oh it's impala but he jumps the gun and is spotted so as he wanders back down the road the impala continue to snort like crazy.
06:37 Brent follows Tingana to a pan. We get great shots of him drinking.

Jamie,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Still with the Harrier hawk being bombed by all the other birds. We see it pull something from a nest hole. In slow motion FC tells it looks like a baby squirrel.
Jamie elephants

Brent,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
following Tingana
Goes to carcass to eat

Jamie,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Baby hippo in Buffelshoek resting head on mom.

Brent,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Tingana still feeding

Jamie,                     ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Elephants. One trumpets
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Jamie says the Goodbyes and goodnights for all.

End of Drive



© 2016 Chell Taft
All rights reserved. None of this material may be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by media of any kind.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

March 30, 2016 Sunset Drive



 
Brent Leo-Smith presenting with Wium Dornbrack on camera.

Jamie Paterson presenting with Dave Eastaugh on camera.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent,
Baboon track
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Jamie,
 at Karula's kill and it looks like she hasn’t been there to eat.
Nyala female
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent,
Wium spots the leopard as Brent drives right past him.
Tingana!!
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A super huge thank you to Crystal Safari for taking notes for me this drive. I had a dentist appointment. Here are her notes.

Jamie,                 ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
16:33 -Buffalo in a pan.
16:37 -Karula tracks meandering up and down the road. She's going back and forth between her den site located south of our boundary on a property called 'Little Gowrie'.

Brent,                  ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
- Back to a flat Tingana. He rolled over once.
- Brent discusses leopard dynamics.

Jamie,                 ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
16:42 - To Karula who is stalking something around Treehouse Dam! Go girl! We can't see what she is stalking though. Jamie had felt that the tracks were fresh, and boy were they!
- Karula stops stalking and lies down in a bush. We move in for a closer look at her Queenship.
- We pull up next to Karula, and a herd of bachelor impala move along behind her! Now we know what she was stalking! They continue to move behind her, unaware of her presence.  She looks quite full, and she doesn't seem all that interested, so maybe she has given up the hunt. After all, an adult male impala for a female leopard is a wee bit big, but most definitely not impossible. Plus, she still has half of her baby nyala kill tucked into a tree in the Mlowathi drainage line.
16:49 suicidal francolin running next to Karula on the road.  VIDEO
- Karula gets up and moves, ignoring the impala. It looks like she's heading back to her nyala kill.  Of course, we follow along behind her. She passes Treehouse Dam on her way, not stopping for a drink. Good thinking, as the buffalo in the pan may not be too terribly thrilled with her.
- Karula walks along the dam wall, almost being dive-bombed by blacksmith lapwings, but they thought better of diving on a leopard. Smart birdies.

Brent,                  ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
16:54 - Back to Tingana who is up and grooming himself. It doesn't last long though, and he flops back to the ground but he's still grooming. Maybe he'll get moving soon?
- Brent discusses leopard sizes and dominance.
- We move around to the other side and get a much better view of the gorgeous man's face. It does look like he's getting ready to pop up and get moving, but who knows.
- Nope! The big guy gets up, but only to re-position and flop back down flat. Sleepy Tingana.


Jamie,                 ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:17 - Back to Karula who is lying down peacefully on the bank of the drainage line by her Nyala kill, and nowhere near as flat as Tingana. She is still lying with her head up, on the alert. She is panting heavily and looks quite tired, but Jamie says she moved quite quickly to her kill, which is about a kilometer (over 1/2 mile) from where we found her. She covered that distance in about 10 minutes at a fast walk. No wonder she's panting.
- After a while, Karula flops out flat as well, only flicking her tail from time to time.

Brent,                  ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:34 - Back to Brent and a sleepy Tingana. He's rolled over a few times and is now on his belly with his nose shoved into the ground. Silly boy. It is starting to cool down though, so hopefully he'll be up and off soon. He's looking hungry as well, so maybe a hunt is on the cards? One can hope!

Jamie,                 ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:38 - Back to Jamie who has a moving Karula!! Or... not. Jamie said she got up and moved toward the kill with great purpose... only to flop down a little ways away from where she was. She then began to groom herself.
- And she's up! She's moving to the tree with her kill, and... she stops for a scratch...
- Jamie repositions for a better view before she climbs up the tree.
- No tree climbing just yet! Karula decides not to climb up after staring up into the branches for a bit. Instead, she moves up to the top of the drainage line and sniffs around, investigating something. Satisfied, she then finally decides to ascend the tree, but only to grab her kill and pull it down to a more comfortable spot to feed on. At least she stayed in sight.

Brent,                  ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
- We go back to Brent so Jamie can re-position and let another vehicle in the sighting get a view of her Queenship.
17:46 - Tinga-nana is still a flat cat. Well, until we decide to go look at the sunset, which he then decides is the perfect time to get up. Probably because Brent's jack got caught on a gwarri bush and made a loud noise, waking him up. Apparently he figured it was a good time to get up anyway, as he began to groom himself before getting up to test the air.
(17:53ish ) - Tinga-nana let loose his sawing call to proclaim his dominance before grooming some more and getting up to eat some grass. Such an amazing sound!!

Jamie,                 ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

17:58 - Back to Karula while Tingana is busy gazing. Karula is also busy eating, but on her nyala carcass. She got up to move a few feet away and flop down right behind some bushes... Jamie tries to move and get a better view, but it's not too terribly much better and it's the best we're going to get for now. We watch her feed as the sun sets and the night time chorus begins.

Brent,                  ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
18:11 - Back to Tingana who is up and about! About time silly man! He's heading down the road and deeper into Djuma, exactly where we wanted him to go. He looks like he's on a mission, but perhaps he's just on a territorial patrol, as he is scent marking as he goes. I hope he calls again, I do so love that sound!
- He meanders down the roads, and a few times directly into the gorgeous setting sun. It seems he is heading towards the Djuma camp at the moment.
- Tingana suddenly veers off the road with his nose in the air, but after a moment of sniffing, he decides it's nothing and heads back to the road, coming less than a foot from the vehicle.
- More scent marking, but no calling yet. It seems he's getting closer to Karula as well. Will he steal her kill tonight?
18:33- Oh my gosh! We loop around Tingana and come across a genet!! It's sitting so nicely! What a cute lil' guy!! Ahhh! We get a quick glance before Brent flicks the light off and it runs off. We definitely don't want Tingana getting a hold of this lil' cutie! -- It has a black tipped tail. One genet species has a white tip, the other a black. One is a lesser spotted and one a greater spotted. Brent asks us to guess which one this is! Do you know?
- Speaking of, Tingana comes around the corner a moment later.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Tingana is still on the move patrolling his territory. Brent said that he is now moving away from Karula and her kill, so she should stay fat and happy tonight thankfully.


Good night Brent & Wium, Jamie & Dave!! We leave Tingana to vanish into the bush, but we'll be back in the morning to see if he's still around! I surely hope so!


End of Drive



© 2016 Chell Taft
All rights reserved. None of this material may be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by media of any kind.