The Hoodlum of the…
Patrolling the skies, undeterred, with a swagger and an attitude like that of a mob boss, warrants this bird the title I like to give them, “the hoodlum of the sky”. This is the Dark Chanting Goshawk. It dawned on…
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Ranger News
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Marula Season!
It’s early February in the Lowveld and that can only mean one thing, MARULAS! New Year in the Lowveld is perfectly timed as it is the beginning of the Marula season. During the first few weeks of January the fruit…Read More »
How to kill a…
A neat find while walking about in camp today is a little bug called the millipede assassin bug nymph! A gruesome name but in reality a necessary part of the environment – just like other creatures. Because of the defence…Read More »
The Mighty Mapoza
Having first been spotted in Thornybush in 2018, and now dominating the central and northern sections of the reserve along with his two counterparts known as the Xikukutsu males, the Mapoza male has fast become one of my all-time favourite…Read More »
The ‘Cape Mountain Rifles’…
THE CMR BEAN BLISTER BEETLE The CMR bean beetle (Milabris Oculata) is a large, conspicuously coloured beetle in the family Meloidae (blister beetles) that is frequently seen all over the Lowveld. ‘CMR’ refers to the Cape Mounted Rifles, a military unit…Read More »
Net winged beetle
The Net-winged Beetle is a beautiful beetle which groups for only a short period of time. Even though they are seldom seen, they are always around, usually living inside leaf litter or even under dying bark. They are similar to…Read More »
Red-headed weaver
A common sight along riverbeds, above dams and above pools across the lowveld are grass or twig nest structures hanging from branches. These structures are carefully and perfectly made by weaver birds, and in this case, specifically the beautifully coloured…Read More »
Not fun becoming a…
This past week I had the privilege of viewing this Spotted Hyena (Crocuta Crocuta) feeding off the scraps dropped by a leopard on its impala kill in a Marula tree. This specific hyena was very slow, disorientated and had visible…Read More »
New young leopard in…
Over the last few weeks we have had a frequent visitor moving through the camp in the form of a young male leopard. It has been said that this up till now unnamed Leopard is believed to be “bred in…Read More »
Foam Frogs
With the onset of summer, large white meringue-like balls start appearing on logs and branches at our waterholes and pans – but what is this? The large balls of foam are actually the work of a frog known as the…Read More »
