Winter in Welgevonden Private Game Reserve - Limpopo

Typical woodland in Welgevonden. The main trees are Burkea africana and Terminalia sericea.

I spent winter of this year in the Welgevonden Private Game Reserve, just outside of Vaalwater in the Limpopo Provence of South Africa. The job I was doing was working with researchers in the field collecting data for their university research. The data we were busy collecting was primarily concerned with elephant impact on the environment and also how that environmental impact effected birds. As far as jobs go this is one of the best jobs one can do, you are working with people who are switched on and enthusiastic about nature. There was a good energy and it was an excellent place to spend winter.

This carnivorous plant was a good find. It is amazing to see these plants, they are very strange. This is Shepard's Crook Sundew (Drosera aliciae).

Winged Wooden Pear (Schrebera alata). One of the many interesting plants found during habitat assesments.

Welgevonden is situated in the Waterberg Mountains and is an interesting mix of high plateau vegetation, grassland and woodland. The main trees dominating the landscape are Termenalia species, Faurea saligna and Burkea africana. All of these trees are adapted to survive the regular fires that burn through the grasslands every few years.

Faurea saligna, the Transvaal Beech. These mighty trees grow tall and superficially resemble Eucalyptus trees. 

Marico Sunbird flits around in a Cape Honey Suckle. The call of this little bird was often heard in the research camp.

The veld type in the area is considered sourveld. Sourveld is apposed to sweetveld and refers to the palatability of the veld, which is determined by the soil conditions which are broadly influenced by climate and geology. Sourveld generally occurs in regions where there is a lot of rainfall and very cold winters. The high rainfall tends to remove nutrients from the soil decreasing the pH value in the soil. Grasses growing in this veld are poor in nutrients and because of this are considered unpalatable, in addition to this the grasses, in an effort to prevent the loss of nutrients, withdraw nutrients from the leaves at the onset of the dry season making the grasses even more unpalatable and lacking in nutritional value.[i] During the dry season, Welgevonden management has to put out lick blocks in order to try and help animals get their vitamins and minerals.

Wildebeest that died of mange related complications. Wildebeest seemed to particularly suffer from mange on the reserve and I am sure this can be linked to the poor grazing of the sourveld.

From a biodiversity perspective the area is relatively rich considering its altitude and the veld type. The birding in the area was good and during the six weeks in the reserve, the group of researchers and I managed to compile a bird list that reached 126, which is not bad for winter. There were some notable sightings. Highlights for me include Cape Vultures, Black-chested Snake Eagles (we saw these birds a lot), Denham’s Bustard, Coqui and Shelly’s Francolin (these were also very vocal) and Lanner Falcons. [ii]

Ground-scraper Thrush. Very active little birds.

The Little Bee-eater. These are incredibly photogenic birds. They hawk insects from a perch and can often be seen in pairs.

An uncommon bird, Denham's Bustard. These birds are listed as near threatened due to habitat loss.

The Coqui Francolin. A beautiful little game bird.

Shelly's Francolin, another special little game bird that was heard and seen often at Welgevonden.

The Ant-eating Chat. This one has some mud on its feet and bill adding an interesting colouration to an otherwise drab bird.

There were many Familiar Chats on Welgevonden. Very interesting birds to watch as they are usually very active.

What tourists want to see. The lion, one of the big five.

Welgevonden Private Game Reserve exists in order to attract people to come on safari and enjoy seeing big game animals. Today seeing the ‘big five’ is one of the must do things in Africa and many of the private game reserves and their lodges cater to this need. Big five equals big money and that is the long and short of it. In a way it is unfortunate because lodge management really push this big five agenda on their nature guides and the entire experience becomes an artificial one. Guides are pressured into finding their guests the big five (this pressure does not necessarily come from the guests, but rather the management) and tend to neglect the smaller things that really make a bush experience magical. Radios tuned in, guides chase sightings often missing out on other sighting because of this tunnel vision. On one occasion in Welgevonden we had an incredible lion sighting at one of the central plains. Three lions stalked a baby rhino and then some warthogs. So many safari trucks must have driven past the plains and no one saw the lions until they saw us watching them because they were chasing sighting on the radio.

An interesting interaction. We watched these lions stalk a baby rhinoceros, the mother of the calf quickly showed them that she was not going to let it happen that easily.

Cheetah's are beautiful cats. Their sleek coats and slender build really are captivating.

Another aspect of the Game Reserve that struck me as artificial is the fertilization of the land to support more grazers and therefore more predators. There is also a constant restocking of game animals such as Wildebeest and Zebras. That said, Welgevonden Game Reserve is a good place for Game viewing. During the six weeks I was there, we had some very good game sightings. White Rhinoceros were especially easy to see and we had some incredible encounters with elephants. Welgevonden is also the first place I have seen Bushpigs from a vehicle in the day.

A view from the research camp. Typically on any day there would be plentiful game outside the research camp. In this picture there are Guinea Fowl in the foreground, Impala behind them and in the distance some White Rhinoceros.

Paper Wasps on their nest. These small colonies are dominated by a single female, her daughters help her gather food and raise a new generation of wasps.

A large Huntsman Spider (Sparassidae) found on a rocky outcrop.

These Darklings (Tenebrionidae) were sheltering under some bark that was being warmed by the sun.

One day some of the researchers caught this fish in a stream, I am not sure of the species, but I think the genus is likely to be Barbus.

In respect of smaller animals, Welgevonden Private Game Reserve has a lot to offer. There are many Klipspringers on the rocks, Rock Hyraxes and it was common to Black-backed Jackals. Banded Mongooses, Dwarf Mongooses and Slender Mongooses were regularly seen while out and about in the reserve. We also saw a surprising amount of reptiles. Surprising because it was winter and the work we were doing was not really conducive to reptile hunting.[iii]

A little female Klipspringer, these small antelope are at home in rocky areas, especially hill slopes that are inaccessible to other antelope.

Black-backed Jackals are commonly seen during the day in Welgevonden. Their nightly chorus of melancholy wailing is one of the most distinctly African bush sounds.

Foxy Charaxes (Charaxes jasius subsp. saturnus).

The Nile Crocodile affectionately know as the Flat Dog in Southern Africa.

Spotted Sand Lizard (Pedioplanis lineoocellata subsp. lineoocellata). The lizards are fast.

Trachlepis varia, the Variable Skink. This species is my favourite skink. They have a very large distribution and quickly become used to human presence.

A juvenile Transvaal Gecko (Pachydactylus affinis).

The Herald Snake, Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia. An amphibian specialist.

Bibron's Blind Snake (Afrotyphlops bibronii). A snake well adapted to a life underground. Scales have grown over the eyes which can be seen as dark points on the side of the head. The snake preys on termites and their larvae.

The Cape Centipede-eater (Aparallactus capensis) preys on centipedes. Not many snakes are invertebrate specialists, making it a good niche to exploit. 

Short-snouted Grass Snake (Psammophis brevirostris). A fast diurnal snake.

This Speckled Rock Skink (Trachylepis punctatissima) was trying to overcome a Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa). I am not sure what the result of this struggle was, but the lizard was committed.

 Overall it was a beautiful winter. The icy mornings with accompanying frost tangibly demonstrated the power of winter and its brutal nature: killing the weak and weakening the strong. As the morning progresses and the sun ascends, the warmth of that star becomes very noticeable. The fawn colour of the landscape and the atmosphere of starkness that is created by the leafless trees was arresting. I distinctly remember standing in the open one morning watching the grass moving with the wind. The motion struck me as fluid and for a moment I could see he air itself. These incommunicable experiences where one feels a powerful connection to the earth and nature are what motivate me to continue a lifestyle that is tied as closely to nature as possible.

View of one of the central plains early one morning.

  

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[i] F. van Oudtshoorn. 2012. Guide to Grasses of southern Africa. Briza Publications: Pretoria. pg 28.

[ii] List of Birds seen at Welgevonden:

Shelly’s Francolin, Coqui Francolin, Natal Spurfowl, Helmeted Guineafowl, Egyptian Goose, African Black Duck, Greater Honeyguide, Lesser Honeyguide, Bearded Woodpecker, Cardinal Woodpecker, Black-collared Barbet, Crested Barbet, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill, African Grey Hornbill, African Hoopoe, Green Wood-hoopoe, Lilac-breasted Roller, Malachite Kingfisher, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, White-fronted Bee-eater, Speckled Mousebird, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Burchell’s Coucal, Grey Go-away Bird, Barn Owl, Grass Owl, Pearl-spotted Owlett, Spotted Eagle Owl, Fiery-necked Nightjar, Freckled Nightjar, Speckled Pigeon, African Green Pigeon, Laughing Dove, Cape Turtle-Dove, Red-eyed Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood-dove, Denham’s Bustard, African Jacana, Blacksmith Lapwing, African Wattled Lapwing, Crowned Lapwing, Black-shouldered Kite, African Fish-Eagle, Cape Vulture, Brown Snake-Eagle, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Black Sparrowhawk, Gabar Goshawk, Jackal Buzzard, African Harrier-Hawk, African Hawk-Eagle, Martial Eagle, Rock Kestrel, Lanner Falcon, African Darter, White-breasted Cormorant,  Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Hammerkop, Hadeda Ibis, Black Stork, Black-headed Oriole, Fork-tailed Drongo, Brubru, Black-backed Puffback, Black-crowned Tchagra, Southern Boubou, Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike, Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, White-crested Helmet-Shrike, Chinspot Batis, Pied Crow, Common Fiscal, Southern Black Tit, Rock Martin, Brown-throated Martin, Pearl-breasted Swallow, Lesser Striped Swallow, Dark-capped Bulbul, Cape Grassbird, Long-billed Crombec, Arrow-marked Babbler, Cape White-eye, Croaking Cisticola, Rattling Cisticola, Neddicky, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Bar-throated Apalis, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Rufous-naped Lark, Kurrichane Thrush, Groundscraper Thrush, Southern Black Flycatcher, White-throated Robin-Chat, White-browed Scrub-Robin, African Stonechat, Familiar Chat, Capped Wheatear, Ant-eating Chat, Red-winged Starling, Cape Glossy Starling, Red-billed Oxpecker, Amethyst Sunbird, White-bellied Sunbird, Marico Sunbird, Red-headed Weaver, Southern Masked Weaver, Red-billed Quelea, Long-tailed Widowbird, Red-collared Widowbird, Common Waxbill, Blue Waxbill, African Firefinch, Jameson’s Firefinch, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Cape Wagtail, Cape Longclaw, African Pipit, Yellow-fronted Canary, Streaky-headed Seedeater, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Golden-breasted Bunting

[iii] List of Reptiles: 
Bibron’s Blind Snake, Cape Centipede-eater, Short-snouted Grass Snake, Western Stripe-bellied Sand Snake, Herald Snake, Distant’s Ground Agama, Southern Tree Agama, Variable Skink, Rainbow Skink, Speckled Rock Skink, Waterberg Flat Lizard, Giant Plated Lizard, Transvaal Girdled Lizard, Spotted Sand Lizard, Common Rough Scaled Lizard, Tropical House Gecko, Transvaal Gecko, Common Dwarf Gecko, Nile Crocodile

 

Winter Highlights and the harbingers of Spring 2013

I spent most of the winter in Johannesburg and this year’s weather turned out to be very mild. I spent a lot of time hiking in the Klipriviersberg, occasionally getting out and seeing other places around Johannesburg. Winter in Johannesburg is dry with warm days and cold nights. The sky is blue and the landscape becomes predominately fawn with darker and lighter colours standing out here and there.

A grassland scene from Suikerbosrand just south of Johannesburg.

Due to the generalised diminished activity of life forms in winter, everyday aspects of life begin to attract attention. A plant flowering or a minute crawling arachnid become points of interest that would not be as engaging had they been observed in the bounty offered by summer.

A 'large' free-living predatory mite of the Trombidiidae family. Mites are considered the most diverse group of animals after insects. Over 40 000 species have been described and 2 350 have been recorded in South Africa. 

This Aloe greatheadii var. davyana flowered early in winter. Standing out on the dried out landscape.

Later in the season large areas of the hills were covered in flowering aloes. 

The reason for this floral display: pollination, using insects in the the swapping of genetic material between individual organisms.

When walking in a dry landscape sources of water become a space where life congregates. This slowly moving river in the Suikerbosrand, along the Bokmakierie trail is full of algael life and water plants. The absence of life around the stream draws ones attention to what is happening in the water.

A slow moving stream with algae and water plants, an ecosystem.

Looking closer at the algae in the stream one notices many bubbles that have formed amongst the string like structures of the algae. What is happening is that the algae are photosynthesising. They are turning sunlight into energy and this process of photosynthesis is so important: all the food we eat and all the energy we use (fossil fuels, fire wood etc.) are products of photosynthesis.[1]

Oxygen being released as a waste product from algae.

Looking at a scene like this one can recall the early days of life on earth. Algae and other photosynthesising organisms that inhabited aquatic environments slowly, through bubbling oxygen as waste product, started to create an excess of free oxygen, first in the aquatic environments and then later the atmosphere. The process must have taken millions of years, but in time there was enough oxygen for new oxygen dependent organisms to develop. In time the atmosphere was filled with enough oxygen to allow animal life dependent on oxygen to begin colonising the terrestrial habitats. 


During a cold winters day I took a drive out to a wet land area to the east of Johannesburg called Marievale Nature Reserve. The reserve is in the middle of a rich gold mining area. There are mine dumps on the reserve and the water is no doubt being poisoned slowly through acid mine drainage. Yet there is a lot of life in the reserve. I saw many water birds and even a pair of Large Grey Mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon) which according to the reference material falls outside of their distribution.

A pair of African Fish Eagles (Haliaeetus vocifer) with a mine dump in the background.

Closer view of the African Fish Eagles.

The reserve has many interesting water birds. In the few hours I was there I saw some very interesting species: African Snipe, Cape Shoveler, Red-billed and Hottentot Teals as well as masses of Red-Knobbed Coots and many Little Grebes (Dabchick).

Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata), these birds are very aggressive and dominate most other birds in their home range.

Little Grebe (Tachybabtus ruficollis), a tiny waterbird. Grebes are unique among birds in the habit of swallowing their feathers to prevent injury while regurgitating fish bones and other indigestible material.

In the dry winter landscape, fires often move through large areas, leaving a strange black landscape. In these burnt out areas life continues as the fires are considered cool and they move fast. The damage is often superficial and an important part of the rejuvenation of grassland. In these black patches, even the drabbest birds stand out.

Cape Longclaw (Macronyx capensis) moving through burnt grass looking for insects.

Unlike most mammals the Rock Hyrax or Dassie (Procavia capensis) have little control of their body temperatures and sunbathe and also huddle together at night to keep warm. Hyraxes superficially resemble rodents, but they are from a different order that includes elephants, dugongs and aardvarks. The Hyravoidea family was once one of the dominant herbivores on earth and there were some that grew as large as pigs. With the rise of ungulates the order was unable to compete and now only the smaller forms remain.[2] 

Rock Dassie sunning itself.

In order to take advantage of the rains that may come in spring, many plants begin to flower in winter. This will allow them to drop seed during the early part of the rainy season and ensure that their offspring gets the maximum advantage of a warm wet summer.

Aloe marlothii in flower. Many birds are attracted to the flowers and help pollinate this plant. In the background the suburb of Glenvista is visible. I live in there somewhere.

Ledebouria ovatifolia floweing. These small plants grow close to the ground and flower late in the dry season.

These Moraea stricta flowers are also late winter bloomers.

In anticipation of spring, the Common Wild Pear (Dombeya rotundifolia) produces blossoms.

The Camphor Bush (Tarchonanthus camphoratus) has already flowered and set seed.

This Shield-back Bug (Scutelleridae) nymph has capitalised on the food source provided by the Camphor Bush. It is feeding on the seeds.

On days when there is not much to see, marks in the sand stand out and indicate rich interactions that have taken place unseen.

This porcupine track and dung point to a species that is very rare to see, yet it is a common animal. Porcupines are very secretive and strictly nocturnal.

Lichen slowly grows on rocks. Lichen is a composite organism that is made up of a fungus and an algae. The algae photosynthesises and creates a food source for the algae; the fungus provides moisture and a structure on which the algae can live.

A striking yellow lichen growing on a basalt rock.

Close-up of the lichen, its structure and growth form can be seen. Some lichens slowly chemically erode the substrate they are growing on.

This grey lichen has a more pronounced foliose structure than the yellow form.

Below are some interesting things I saw while walking in different places.

This gum that is being exuded from a Sweet Thorn Tree (Vachellia karroo) is edible and was once marketed as 'Cape Gum'.

This pair of Hadeda Ibises (Bostrychia hagedash) have become such a common sight in suburban Johannesburg, that they seem a little out of place here in their natural habitat. Photographed in the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve.

Thickbill Weaver (Amblyospiza albifrons subsp. woltersi) perching in reeds at James and Ethel Gray Park in Melrose, Johannesburg. These birds have found a sanctuary in the vegetation around a small dam in the middle of suburbia. Practically, right next to the M1 Highway, one of the busiest roads in South Africa.

Winter is a time of death. Many organisms that are not strong enough succumb to the cold and die. Vegetation dries out and dies back, often fires sweep through areas and burns moribund and kills the weak. This process is important in strengthening populations of organisms.

Even though this process of death is happening all over, life is still strong and the more robust organisms continue to live (at a slower pace) and one does not need to look hard to find life just waiting to for the warmth and rains to return. With the return of warmth come the harbingers of spring. Animals that have been waiting in dormancy for the return of life.

A bat of the Vespertilionidae family foraging in the early evening. Picture taken at the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve. Bats hibernate for the winter months. Emerging again with the warmth and return of their insect prey.

Summer is returning when reptiles start to emerge from their brumation. Below are the first reptiles of the season.

Cape Centipede Eater (Aparallactus capensis). A specialised feeder which feeds on centipedes which it overpowers with its venom. The snake is completely harmless to humans.

Southern Rock Agama (Agama atra) basks in the sun on it's rock. This lizard will spend the summer defending this rock from up and coming males and mating.

Transvaal Gecko (Pachydactylus affinis). This geckos tail was thin, showing that it used up its fat reserves during the winter. By the end of summer its tail will be good and fat.

[1] For a more detailed discussion of photosynthesis see Van As, J., du Preez, J., Brown, L. and N. Smit. 2012. The Story of Life & The Environment. Struik: Cape Town (131-138).
[2] See Estes, R. D. 1993. The Safari Companion. A Guide to Watching African Mammals. Russel Frieman Books: Halfway House (214- 222).