December sightings, wildlife monitoring and interesting research projects.`
Sightings of the month
Thank you to all who recorded their sightings in the book this month! We had 179 recorded sightings, with an average of 5.8 per day. The number of sightings of some species is below:
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The overall number of sightings has increased drastically for the month. Total recorded sightings in the book totalled 179, of which recorded leopard sightings totalled 40 - a whopping 22%! Lion sightings totalled 14, while Wild Dog sightings totalled 15. Here are some of the highlights and notable sightings for December:
- A leopard was chased up a tree by a pack of wild dogs, while another leopard was seen chasing a porcupine with two small porcupettes!
- A genet with a young kitten was seen at the swimming pool.
- A hyena den was discovered on Buffelsbed, with two tiny cubs present. Unfortunately, a rather shocking sighting was witnessed when an adult hyena killed one of the tiny cubs at the den.
- A large pack of wild dogs was seen multiple times, which has been identified as the Klaserie pack. They seem to be taking over the area of the Umbabat pack. Following an incident where three wild dogs were killed by lions, the Umbabat pack has moved further south towards Ngala Private Game Reserve.
- A Spotted Bush Snake was seen and photographed eating a Foam Nest Frog at Elephant Pan Hide!
- Birding highlights were a Bat Hawk in camp and a Dwarf Bittern on the reserve. Along with this, the return of the migratory birds was a welcome sight, as plenty of European Rollers, Woodland Kingfishers, European Bee-eaters and plenty of swallows were seen.
- Mammalian species recorded: Lion, Leopard, Wild Dog, Elephant, Buffalo, Honey Badger, Wildebeest, Hippo, Genet, Sharpe’s Grysbok, Vervet Monkey, Chacma Baboon, Nyala, Kudu, Bushbuck, Impala, Steenbok, Klipspringer, Spotted Hyena, Warthog, Porcupine, Tree Squirrel, Dwarf Mongoose, Banded Mongoose, Zebra, Giraffe, Slender Mongoose, White-tailed Mongoose, Springhare and Scrub hare.
- Reptile species noted: Crocodile, Serrated Hinged Terrapin, Marsh Terrapin, Rainbow Skink, Rock Monitor Lizard, Leopard Tortoise, Spotted Bush Snake, Mozambique Spitting Cobra, Yellow-bellied Sand Snake and Black Mamba.
- Bird species recorded in December:
Dwarf Bittern, Bat Hawk, Verreaux’s Eagle-owl, African Fish Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Saddle-billed Stork, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Red-billed Oxpecker, Tawny Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, African Hawk-eagle, African Harrier-Hawk, Grey Go-away Bird, White-crested Helmet-shrike, Helmeted Guineafowl, Southern Ground Hornbill, Retz’s Helmet-shrike, Grey Heron, Black Crake, Fork-tailed Drongo, White-backed Vulture, Woodland Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Three-banded Plover, Bateleur, African Scops Owl, Woolly-necked Stork, Golden-breasted Bunting, Arrow-marked Babbler, Crested Barbet, Chinspot Batis, Little Bee-eater, White-fronted Bee-eater, Dark-capped Bulbul, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Ring-necked Dove, Laughing Dove, Namaqua Dove, Jameson’s Firefinch, Crested Francolin, Egyptian Goose, Green-backed Heron, African Grey Hornbill, Southern Red-billed Hornbill, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Hadeda Ibis, Yellow-billed Kite, Red-crested Korhaan, Blacksmith Lapwing, Crowned Lapwing, Black-headed Oriole, Brown-headed Parrot, Black-backed Puffback, Lilac-breasted Roller, European Roller, European Bee-eater, Double-banded Sandgrouse, White-browed Scrub-robin, Magpie Shrike, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Natal Spurfowl, Swainson’s Spurfowl, Burchell’s Starling, Cape Starling, Violet-backed Starling, White-bellied Sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, African Openbill, Water Thick-knee, Groundscraper Thrush, Southern Black Tit, Blue Waxbill, Cape Weaver, Red-headed Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Green Wood-hoopoe, Kori Bustard, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Jacobin Cuckoo, Levaillant’s Cuckoo and Golden-tailed Woodpecker.
To summarise 2024's sightings, the recorded numbers of sightings for some species throughout 2024 are below, as taken from the sightings book at Reception:
- Greater Painted Snipe
- Lesser Flamingo
- Kori Bustard
- Narina Trogon
- Bat Hawk
- Dwarf Bittern
- Common Ostrich
Highlight bird species seen during 2024 included:
Overall, recorded sightings for 2024 were truly spectacular, and we thank you for taking the time to report and record them for us!
Words by Tess Woollgar, images courtesy of Heitlé Booysen & Tess Woollgar.