Wednesday 14 October 2015

GraduANTs Refresher Weekend 2015

We hope that you are surviving the heat wave! Phew, a GraduANT's Refresher weekend (for past Nature Enthusiast Course students) seemed like a good idea at the time...

By way of background to this story, two of our mentors have developed a habit of staying at the training venue in the Waterberg until late on Sunday afternoon before heading back to the city. One weekend earlier this year, they were going for a walk in the northern part of the (two hundred and fifty hectare) farm and they stumbled upon a huge Southern African Python, basking in the sun.

The Southern African Python, basking - Photo by Justin van Doorene
We sent a photo of this snake to one of South Africa's leading herpetologists (a lecturer on the Nature Enthusiast Course), Professor Graham Alexander of Wits University, and asked him if this animal interests him. 

He replied, saying that the snake is a female, probably between four and five metres long and that (at the time) she would be looking for a mate and would be laying eggs in October...and yes, he is interested! 

We invited him to participate on our GraduANTs Refresher Weekend by giving us a lecture on the digestive physiology of Pythons and taking us to look for this animal.

One of our mentors came up with a lovely idea, called The Amazing Race, which involved giving four teams a set of tasks to accomplish within two hours. On Saturday morning, each team was given a decorated, colour-coded pizza box which contained some necessary items.

Well done to the Blue team, who won The Amazing Race - Smarties!
From left to right: Salim, Rooksana, Sue, Ditmar and Shayleen
The tasks were to do with identifying plants, collecting samples of those and some dung, taking photographs of certain things and identifying some reptiles. 

Each team received a puzzle piece for each correct answer and had to put together the puzzle pieces...then, on Sunday morning, give us all a short talk on the animal in their picture (Pangolin, Black Rhino, Wild Dog, Riverine Rabbit).

The training team guided the students through and everyone really enjoyed it and learnt a lot! 

On Saturday afternoon, three groups went through an hour-long rotation of photography, looking for the Python and interpreting a staged tracking scenario. It was excruciatingly hot, but everyone drank plenty of liquid and managed not to get dehydrated.

Below is Professor Alexander with a zebra skull that we found when we went searching for reptiles. He's carrying a tool that herpetologists call a 'stump ripper' - which looks a bit like a golf club - which is used to pull up dead logs and other debris, to see if snakes are underneath.
Professor Graham Alexander with a zebra skull we found in the veld
The Prof was very disappointed that we never actually found any snakes, let alone the Python, but he did come across a snake skin! 

He cut this open (they shed their skin like we take off our sock, so inside-out) and counted the scales, (which is how you identify them, 19) and concluded that it was a Snouted Cobra...famous for being predators of Puff Adders. So that was very exciting! 

In a way, I think people were relieved that we didn't find a live sample. The area apparently isn't rocky enough to be good habitat for snakes.

Nyala bull drinking - photo by Caroline Culbert
During one of the photography sessions, a beautiful male Nyala came down to drink at the dam...which is as dry as a bone, but there is a concrete basin into which they pump water for the animals. 

Shame, the poor thing could hardly reach the water, as it was a bit too steep on the sides. Anyway, that was a lucky sighting and everyone had a chance to practice their skills.

We had sundowners at the dam and then returned to the campsite for a communal braai. Below is the lapa area (lesser bushbabies shelter in its roof!) and pool. It's a beautiful place to camp.

In the morning, we had an early start and set off in small groups and enjoyed a wonderful bird walk. 

Some of the highlights were a nesting Fork-tailed Drongo and a trio of Marico Sunbirds shouting at each other from the top of a tree, with their iridescent colours glistening in the sunlight! The Drongo chose a particularly silly place, given that the sun was very unforgiving and that she is black (therefore a heat sink) - it was a bare tree, out in the open.

It would be remiss of us not to mention the rare and much sought-after yellow morph of the Crimson-breasted Shrike, which also made several appearances for us - what a special treat!

This image  of the yellow morph was taken by the 'birthday girl', Caroline Culbert
Ps. Andre and Justin stayed late again and checked the camera trap that we had set up...the python apparently came out to bask from 12:39 until 13:03 about two metres from where she had originally been seen! Prof. Alexander said that she has not yet laid her eggs and so will probably leave the hole to find another nest site very soon. It would be great if we could find out where she goes – when the babies hatch, there would be a two week period where there would be many babies basking outside the hole throughout the day. Based on the assumption that she is about to lay, they are predicted to hatch in the second or third week of February.

The ANT Blog

Monday 5 October 2015

Correspondence Course Practical September 2015

Hi there everyone!

The first summer rains have arrived.
 
This means that the bush has taken in a breath of new energy and is changing colours day by day. I can never decide what my favourite season is in the bush but I must say… when we arrived at Nkombe Camp early September, I was blown away!

The beautiful Narrow-leaved Morning Glory
The earth had been craving water for so long and finally the thirst has been quenched. My senses were more awake than ever… the smell of fresh vegetation and wet soil – an earthy scent that cannot be bottled or replicated. I absolutely love the sounds of buzzing insects calling incessantly at dusk and the characteristic calls of many male frogs in the hopes of attracting females.
 
The bush is alive and it’s just getting better!

 
Inspecting an old buffalo skull
This blog is, however, not dedicated to the wonders of the ever changing bushveld. It is dedicated to our first Correspondence Course practical of 2015! Students from all corners of the earth came together for two spectacular weeks with one thing in common – an everlasting passion for nature!

The students arrived on the 19th of September and we wasted no time in getting them into the swing of things.


The first thing they saw, before even arriving at the famous Nkombe Camp, was the most beautiful female leopard. She was lying beneath a tree with a couple of Spotted Hyaenas lurking nearby. This is because she had made an impala kill which we saw dangling in the tree above. What a way to get settled in ;)
 
Always amazing to see...
The next thing on the agenda for the first day was 'welcoming sundowners'. We unfortunately didn’t see the sun go down as the weather was not ideal and continued to drizzle for a day or so. That being said, we were so impressed with the students, as they never once let the weather get the best of them. We had an amazing sundowner stop under an impressive Jackalberry tree and enjoyed Mandla’s homely chicken potjie around the captivating fire whilst getting to know each other.

The first few days were spent learning about trees and birds.


Just one of our spectacular sunsets
Dave Strydom (our expert birds and trees lecturer) truly has an impeccable way to give students the tools to gain the skills of successfully identifying trees and birds. We enjoyed bush walks every morning, as one tends to learn more whilst on foot.  There is more to see, smell and hear without the noise and distractions of a vehicle. The one thing I was not so keen about was all the pepper ticks! I walked through at least three nests and I sit here now itching and itching with over thirty bites (yes, I counted)! It seems they have grown immune to Tabard. Nevertheless, it was completely worth it!
 
A group of vultures patiently waiting...
One day stood out in particular: the 25th of September. We went for a long game drive to the south of the reserve and had two absolutely stunning sightings. The first was of a pride of lions on a buffalo kill. This was the Southern Pride – experts in eating buffalo. We also enjoyed seeing a massive dead tree covered in various species of vultures waiting for their turn to devour the leftovers. What an unforgettable scene! This was also the first ever sighting of lions for one of our students!
 
Joe and the bull elephant
The other magnificent sighting was of a herd of elephant - our favourite animals of all. It started as we saw a bull elephant on a mission. He covered a lot of distance in a very short time. After following the determined elephant, we came across a breeding herd. The bull was in hot pursuit of the females, but they were showing no interest. I predict the bull was too young and not in musth. After failing to impress the females, he moved off. It was that perfect time of day just before the sun started to set. We parked our vehicle some distance from the herd and let them approach us. It was incredible. The females passed right by us, carrying on with their usual activities. One relaxed female even fed on a tree less than five metres away from Joe (a student from England). He claims this to be one of the best moments of his life. A young calf was gently guided by her mother - stunning to watch. My best sighting of the week!

This day also happened to be my birthday. I couldn’t have been happier spending it in the bush with this amazing group of people. The students even made me a special gift – they carved onto a piece of wood and all wrote a special message on it. Thanks again guys!
 
Before we knew it, it was assessment time! We treated our students to a surprise bush breakfast with an amazing view of a dry riverbed and the open plains beyond it. This was also our way of saying 'good luck!' to everyone for the upcoming days. We are so proud of each and every one, as they all passed their assessments with flying colours as well as their FGASA 1 exams. Congratulations ANTs!
 
The herd of buffalo
We haven’t even spoken about half of our fantastic sightings…We were treated to a visit by wild dogs which spent the day less than five hundred metres from camp! They are always fantastic to see and we loved the fact that they were so close to us for so long.

The majority of the time spent at Nkombe Camp was focused on the smaller aspects of nature which are no less important than the famous Big Five. The rest came naturally, as we saw all of the Big Five on the last day without even trying. We saw female lions on another buffalo kill, as well as a gorgeous female leopard which recently had hunted a duiker. We were privileged enough to see a massive herd of buffalo, after which we stopped at a famous granite outcrop to have some refreshments overlooking the reserve.  What a day it was!

After this course, we can all agree that we will never look at the bush the same way and we have a much better insight into the never-ending world of nature.

The ANT Blog
written by Chanyn-Lee Zeelie

What a great group of people!


A lioness with her meal in the background


Conrad exploring Jacana Pan
A group of Blue Wildebeest graze as the sun starts to set


A beautiful picture of the end of another day in Africa

Nkombe Camp managers - Chanyn and Conrad Zeelie

Surprise Bush Breakfast!

Christin's practical assessment


A silhouette of a windmill near Nkombe Camp