Dargle Wildlife Sightings February 2013

Ashley Crookes – Copperleigh farm

Spotted this chameleon Right outside our gate, after one of the storms we had. It was sitting on a wattle branch in the middle of the dirt road. I moved it to the side of the road and snapped this shot. First time I’ve seen one!

Dieter Setz – Wakecroft

Besides the heaviest rainfall since we are in the Dargle we only saw the following:

After the flood I found at least 1 chameleon every day.

I also saw a few wild flowers, don’t know what they are.

Sue and Andre Hofman – Hazelmere

On Sunday morning we were amazed by the sight of a fully grown Pelican swimming in our home dam. At first glance I thought it was a very large Spurwing Goose, but rapidly changed my mind when it turned and I saw the beak. It spent about four hours with us, and did not, to the best of my knowledge, eat any of our trout. Whilst it was sitting on the rocks a Gymnogene circled it several times and then flew off to a tree to watch. I wonder what the raptor was thinking!

The other noteworthy occurrence was a bushpig very loudly crunching on walnuts right under my son’s bedroom window.

The heavy rain caused major flooding of our river, the Brookland, causing it to break its banks and go right over the top of our bridge.

Malvina and Evert van Breemen – Old Furth

We cannot believe the amount of rain in February, it has felt like non-stop rain. Even the garden has had its own waterfalls.

We have coined a new word for the incessant rain – delugional.

On the wildlife side it has been quieter, mainly because everything has been under cover; apart from a wonderful sighting of Giant Kingfishers on our bottom dam and lots of chameleons, storks and a lovely sighting of a group of crowned cranes flying overhead. We have also seen a troop of 17 baboons with some enormous males.

We also had this beautiful moth, anyone know what it belongs to?

Kathy Herrington and Wayne Lourens – Hopedale

While topping our fields last Sunday accompanied by 14 white storks – Wayne and I both saw a Pelican fly over!!  Wayne also had a good sighting of a Serval on our top farm last week. This week we saw 3 Kestrels together, perched on the defunct telephone wires, and a pair of giant Kingfishers by our lower dam.  The raptors are still making meals of our semi-tame guinea fowl – but we salvaged some eggs off the remaining female’s nest (leaving her only some of the eggs, as her last (3) hatchlings were snapped up within a couple of days!)  She did not seem to hatch any this time – but we incubated the salvaged eggs for a week, and now have 10 hungry/rather noisy chicks.  Wayne also relocated a large puff adder from next to our stallion’s stable a few weeks ago!

Rose & Barry Downard – Oak Tree Cottage

Buffspotted Flufftails – mother with two juveniles.
A young Crowned Eagle was chased away earlier this month by two crows, three geese and four hadedas who all ganged up together to see him off. On 3 March he was again chased off, this time by no less than a dozen hadedas, plus several geese, crows, drongos and other birds who definitely don’t want him around!  It’s the first time we’ve seen a Crowned Eagle over our property so it has caused quite a stir amongst the bird population!
A Burchell’s Coucal was seen at close range perched in our Chestnut tree near the house.
Swallows, Sparrows, Kites, Crested Eagle, Egrets, Amethyst Sunbirds, Doves, Southern Boubou, Olive Thrush.
Dwarf Chameleons. Red-lipped Herald. Frogs.
Lots of butterflies – Citrus Swallowtail, Gaudy Commodore, Common Diadem (male), Thorn-tree Blue, Forest White, Acrea

Nikki Brighton – Old Kilgobbin Farm

Plants: Wahlenbergia still flowering in profusion – they have been incredible this summer, Pavonia columella, Conostimum natalense, Plectranthus elegantus, Plectranthus dolichopodus, Kniphofia laxiflora, Kniphofia caulescens, Argylobium

tomentosum , Rumex sagittatus, Mentha aquatic, Impatiens hochstetteri, Isoglossa woodii, Nemesia sylvatica, Berkheya bergiana, Desmodium ricinocarpa (picture), Dissotis canescens.

Mammals:  bush buck, reed buck, scrub hare, samango monkeys.  Heard Tree dassies

Birds: Egyptian geese family down to 3 chicks (from 5) and now haven’t seen them for a while.  European storks, crowned Eagle, bulbul, white eye, orange thrush, mousebird, weavers, sunbirds, stone chat, swallows, malachite kingfisher, hadeda, cape robin chat, wagtail.  Heard Wood Owl.

Other creatures: guttural toad, common striped river frog, citrus swallowtail butterflies, dragonflies.

Pat and Sandra Merrick – Albury Farm

 Our 2 crane babies hatched out 31st January.  The 2 baby crane.  You can just see the smaller of the two on the left of the other larger one

After 4 days, there was only one.  He is growing in leaps and bounds.  Take photos every few days.  We see them practically every day walking the hills. At 4 weeks old.

One day, 2 other blue crane arrived.  There was lots of noise and our mom and dad flew over the dam to greet them.  Pat said he thought they had come for the christening of the baby ha ha.  There was a lot of flapping of wings and squawking and then mom and dad flew back to baby on other side of dam, and the others flew off.  Strange. The guests being greeted by mom and dad

When I went to town a few weeks ago, I saw 3 baby bush pig on the D18 at 10am.  They looked very lost and were running up and down the road.  I tried to shush them into the bush but they wouldn’t go in.  I guess they were looking for their mother.

Last month I mentioned a samango monkey coming into the garden.  Well we got back from Pmb one day and found our rottweiler had been badly savaged by him.  He had a severed vein in his leg and huge bites on his stomach.  After a 2 hour operation (and huge expense) he is now on the mend.  Have never seen the monkey again thankfully.

I also mentioned last month that my terrier/cross had been bitten by otters.  Well we have seen them frequently in the garden again and they are Large Grey Mongeese, not otters.  We have seen them on and off on the farm for 27 years.  They used to get into our garden at Endebeni at night, and pull the heads of the chickens thru the wire and bite them off.  Next morning, a couple of headless chickens.  My alsatian also fought a couple of them and got bitten on the nose.  They are very savage creatures.   Has anyone else seen these animals?  The african people don’t even have a name for them.

Reed buck in garden. Duiker, 1 oribi running through farm as if it were being chased, Still in residence  are the swallows,  sparrows,  rock pigeons and barn owls, 1 pr shell duck, 5 baby spurwing geese, 8 baby dab chicks, 7 baby yellowbill ducks, A pair of crested crane, Black crested eagle, fish eagle, steppe buzzard, yellow billed kite, gymnogene