Addo Elephant Park - It's not just elephants

Steppe buzzard (best guess!)

 

More postings will follow about the amazing elephant experiences I had in Addo Elephant National Park in February this year, but I was lucky enough to see a lot more than just hundreds of elephant.

This is one of the postings that doesn't feature a single elephant!

I based myself at Main camp in the north of Addo for 3 nights and that gave me plenty of time to explore that scenic rolling area of thickly bushed hills and gulleys with large open areas inbetween. 

It was only when I drove down the centre of the park on day 3, to exit in the south, that I realised how much more there is to see.

My next visit will definitely focus a bit more on the southern section of Addo.

This selection of photos are as a result, mostly taken in the north.

 

 

Foraging for insects in old ele dung

 There are both lion and spotted hyena in Addo, but the Black-backed jackal is also commonly seen.

Scavenging a kudu hide

 Some of the other smaller wildlife I saw over the 3 days..........

The flightless dung beetle (endemic)

Many yellow mongoose

A scrub hare (typically nocturnal)

And although I wasn't specifically "birding", I did see a lot, including species that are not found in the north-east bushveld (Kruger NP and surrounds).

Denham's bustard

Crowned lapwing

A rather scruffy Fiscal fly-catcher

Close to one particular road junction, a pair of ostrich had obviously placed their clutch of eggs.

On my first morning, the male ostrich was sitting on the eggs, whilst the female was out foraging in the open field across the road, and on the second morning they had swopped positions.

They gave me a great opportunity to get close up shots of their faces.

And later on my third morning, in the south of Addo, I had ostrich mating - the pic below shows the male flirting/showing off for the female just out of the frame.

Being late summer, there wasn't a spectacular amount of flowers out, but the dense thickets were full of the creamy flowered Caustic-creeper, with dashes of pink flowering spekboom and blue plumbago.

Brown-veined White Butterfly on the Caustic creeper

Spekboom

Plumbago

Some more birds.......

A handsome Bokmakeri

Female Red-backed shrike

I saw more procreative activity in the 3 days than I've ever seen before. Those ostrich, a life-time sighting of mating elephant (will be posted about separately), and then this amazing pair of Angulate tortoises.

To wrap up this first, of several, postings on just 3 days in Addo Elephant National Park, I'll include an always cute pic of a warthoglet and it's mother.  

October to January, Dry Season to Wet Season - A dramatic contrast

Sunset over the Great Escarpment and the Valley of the Olifants

Since October I've been fortunate enough to have been back on safari to Kruger several times.

It's been a really good re-introduction to safari life and a great reminder of why I love this work so much.

Looking over my photos from the last 3 months I also realised how quickly and dramatically the bush changes from the scorched earth of spring and the drawn out end of the dry season, to the lush green vegetation that seems to appear so abruptly once the rains arrive.

This year, the rains delayed and delayed, but since arriving in late December, they have made up for lost time with endless grey, drizzly days interspersed by frequent deluges.

These photos are some of my favourites of the last 3 months and also show quite clearly the transition from dry to wet..........

Mid October


When we went out on our first afternoon game drive in the Balule, these lions were still chewing on a baby giraffe they had killed much earlier that day.










After dark the cubs were allowed onto the carcase, and once their bellies were full they thirstily gulped water from the nearby waterhole.














Other highlights from our October safari......

The rare Black Rhino - not much nourishing green in that mouthful

Displaying a little aggression on approaching the lodge waterhole

My best photo ever of a Steenbok

Black-backed Jackal

A stately Waterbuck

November

Pied Kingfisher

An amazingly close encounter with a Verreaux Eagle-Owl

Kruger does have some evergreen vegetation, trees that grow on the riverbanks or in wetter areas, giving these birds that lovely green backdrop.

By the end of the dry season one can see the river courses from quite a distance away, the only green visible in thousands of square kilometres.

 

Much to the relief of the browsers (giraffe, kudu etc.) Kruger's acacia trees start coming out in their spring leaf well before the rains arrive. 

For me it's always a slightly bizarre sight - dry, sun-bleached veld dotted with the vibrant spring green of the acacias.

A multitude of different animals at Transport Dam

By the end of November there had been a few days with scattered thunder showers - just enough to get a sprinkling of green grass in some areas, but the large waterholes were still the only places the wildlife could drink.  (there were also buffalo and rhino at this waterhole)

January

And after just a couple of weeks of rain...........

Lots of babies around by mid-summer

This bull elephant was enjoying the lush green grass around & under the bushes

After a night of exceptionally heavy rain, this leopard mother had just caught an impala and was watching her cub enjoy it's meal.

Wildlife, mountains & lakes in the Pilanesberg

A popular wildlife destination for those who can't get to Kruger, is the Pilanesberg National Park, only a couple of hours drive from Jo'burg.

Three weeks ago, my niece and I spent a few days in this very scenic part of South Africa.

We were both "on holiday", so we didn't do the "serious" safari bit, but relaxed, didn't keep to a schedule, and still managed to get many awesome wildlife sightings.

It's both higher in elevation and drier in this north western corner, so in addition to impala, there are also springbok to be seen. As well as blue wildebeest (aka gnu) we also spotted elusive hartebeest. Another special sighting for me was a colony of rock dassies (hyraxes) which we rarely see in Kruger.

The park is obviously a lot smaller but is nestled within concentric rings of high hills (we call them mountains here) which are the very ancient remnants of a volcano. So the landscapes are spectacular!

Here are just a few of my favourite photos / sightings...........

We only once got up before dawn,  it was worth it though!

We had quite a few great sightings of these awesome creatures....

and wildebeest and zebra were everywhere.......

no wildebeest babies yet but lots of zebra foals.













The Pilanesberg has plenty of waterholes / dams to attract the wildlife, and these are really beautiful.....

The elephant breeding herds remained elusive, with only one very distant sighting but we had wonderfully close encounters with these two male elephant.

We also saw many, many giraffe, but my favourite photo involving a giraffe was of this red-billed ox pecker:)











There were many other great bird sightings too......

White-faced Duck

Spotted Thick-knee and chick

Pied kingfisher

Then some of our most special moments waited until our last afternoon game drive.

We were admiring this herd of wildebeest walking, in file, across the silver green grassy slope when to our amazement a Brown hyena snuck into view. It didn't take long for the wildebeest to spot it and swiftly chase it off !

We were still oohing and aahing about the hyena, when around the next corner we spotted a pair of Black-backed jackal and their two pups in the road.

This small family was very shy and quickly disappeared from sight into their den under the road, but another kilometre on we came across a second mother with 5 pups! These were much more relaxed and we had a wonderful 15 minutes watching them play.....

The lighting was very bad so I apologise for the quality of these pictures.

And that was the Pilanesberg. It is always well worth a visit, especially if you cannot make Kruger.

We also saw lion, hippo, springbok, warthog, and many other creatures small & large.

Cheetah, leopard, buffalo and wild dog kept themselves out of sight, but maybe next time!