Fauna & Flora

With the sighting on Argyle Road in July, we want to honour the elusive aardvark (Orycteropus afer) as our species of the month.

Bungalow # 197 offered this account of witnessing a fantastic interaction between the African Barred Owlet and the Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis).

An endearing trend that occurs each winter in the camp environment is the frequent visits, if not semi permanent residency, of a couple of old bachelor buffalos.

It was another month of elephants in camp, breaching the perimeter fence most nights.

The African Scops Owl is the smallest owl species in Africa with a weight between 50-90 grams.

Through November, the African wattle (Peltophorum africanum) was an endearing feature in the landscape.

The African Wild Dog, (Lycaon pictus), remains a frequent visitor to Ingwelala, and once again have been active in the Umbabat during the early summer.

At this time of the year the aloes have just finished providing the most beautiful colours against the drabness of passing winter. The flowers are alive with buzzing insects and birds feeding on the sweet nectar.

Anthrax has a worldwide distribution and is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis) resulting in a non-contagious disease that can affect wildlife, domestic animals and humans. 

A beautiful image in the landscape at this time of the year is the prolific flowering of the tree Philenoptera violacea, formerly known as Lonchocarpus capassa.

An interesting presentation on our more poisonous species; how to identify them and what to do.

An iconic tree in the landscape is the Baobab (Adansonia digitata), currently in full leaf. In Afrikaans, the Baobab is known as Kremetartboom and in Tsonga as Ximuwu.

Our gorgeous Baobab tree was spotted flowering in early March, during the day! Thanks to this rarity, it has been chosen as our species of the month.

A fascinating event is that of a few Wahlber’s Epauletted Fruit Bats (Epomophorus wahlbergi) roosting under the eaves of the office block. What intrigues me is that these bats used to roost under the eaves

Bee-eaters are brightly-coloured, insectivorous, birds in the family Meropidae. There are 9 species in South Africa.

The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is a snake often seen on Ingwelala. Paging through the 2011 sightings register reminded me how often this reptile is encountered, and avoided by most at all cost, certainly by me on at least one occasion.

The blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) is an antelope that needs little introduction to wildlife enthusiasts. It is also sometimes called the common wildebeest.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease affecting cattle and a variety of wildlife worldwide. It is caused by a bacteria (Mycobacterium bovis) that gains access to the body via the respiratory or alimentary tracts or through the skin. 

The topic of this month’s report is again one of those mammals that rarely get a mention in the Reception sightings book, the secretive and elusive Bushbuck.

In recent months a Bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus) ram and ewe have been moving through camp, and the ewe seems to have made this area her home range for the better part of the last few months.