Water to die for....

In our recent quest to get images of Brown Hyenas (see Brown Hyenas at Tswalu) we set up a camera-trap at a small water-hole. We did get some fleeting images of a Brown Hyena but, for me, there was something more interesting happening there.

This image, taken at mid-morning showed a pretty peaceful scene: Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) doing what they probably do most days of their lives.

They were followed a little while later by some Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) and Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) who initially looked pretty chilled......

......until the Zebra got spooked by something.

The Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) then ambled down to the water..........


....until they too had a panic attack.

But this is dry country so it wasn't long before the Zebra were back......

.....but didn't stay long.

However their thirst got the better of them....

.......until.....

The reason for their panic became obvious shortly thereafter:

....................................................................................................................................................................

I'm grateful for a great many things in my life but I've just added a new one:
that I don't need someone to watch my back when I get a drink of water!

Postscipt:
We were driving in the area the next day when we came across this scene:

There is not much of the carcass left, but the last remains of a Zebra can just be seen.

Precious tracks

Late last year I was involved in a fascinating project where we attempted to link images of black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) to their footprints using camera traps. Linking these rhinos with their tracks doesn't sound like a particularly difficult task given the size of these animals (and their tracks) but it can be. This is mostly because the black rhino is a browser and spends almost all it's time in thick vegetation. So when you come across one suddenly there is almost always running involved - either them or you. They are pretty foul tempered and so following one with a tape and camera is not an option for anyone who cares to see his family again!

I have debated for some time whether to actually post the images that follow due to the horrific amount of  rhino poaching currently taking place. I have no interest in helping the poaching syndicates locate these precious animals. So for that reason I can't tell you the location of the project but I'd still like to show you the images.

So why is a project like this useful? Its simply that wildlife reserve managers don't see their rhinos very often but regularly come across their tracks. So if you know who the tracks belong to then you can get some insight into the movement of these beasts and can confirm that they haven't fallen prey to the poachers.

So we set up a number of cameras at water-holes that showed evidence of recent rhino activity. But it's not just rhinos that visit water-holes and we recorded over 30,000 images in just over a week. These were some of my favorites:

Black-Headed Heron

Young Impala ram

Ostrich with his chicks

Red Hartebest

But did we get what we were really after? You bet we did.....loads of great images that should forever help the management of this reserve monitor their precious rhinos.

A New Site

I'm embarrassed that I haven't posted anything for a while. It's not that my interest has waned - it's just that I don't feel inspired by images that I've been recording. I figure that if I'm not excited by the same-old-same-old pics that I've been getting, then there is no reason why my followers should be.
However, I've recently been allowed into an access-controlled nature conservancy which I think is going to be rewarding. Here are some of my first photos:

 A male Grey Rhebuck (Pelea capreolus) with female in the background. These antelope are fairly common in these parts but one usually sees then dashing away with their white tails flashing as warning signs.

 A Common Eland (Tragelaphus oryx) which is the world's heaviest antelope, weighing up to 900kg. Even though they have something of a cow-like appearance, and attitude, they are great jumpers and can clear a 2m fence. Perhaps that is why they are not farmed for their meat (which is apparently of high quality) more often - although many people have tried.

 Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra zebra) - distinguished from the more common Plains Zebra by the lack of stripes on it's belly. It was once widespread in the mountainous areas of the southern tip of Africa but now is largely restricted to nature reserves.

A couple of young Red Hartebeest (Acelaphus buselaphus). This species was also widely distributed in the old days but, again, is now largely confined to protected areas.

However this was my favorite image:

The Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius). If there is a "big 5" of the African bird world this guy has to be on the list. They are very successful snake killers and do this by dancing around the unfortunate serpent and striking it with downward blows of their feet. Sadly their status is listed as near-threatened and it would be a sad day if one never again saw them striding across the African grasslands.

However, what excited me most about my first images were these:

Notwithstanding the fuzzy images there is no doubting that there is a leopard (or leopards) patrolling the area. It's time to set up the Cuddebacks along this jeep track to see if I can capture some more impressive shots.