SUNRISE SAFARI- April 21,2016

And as the sun begins to peek above the sunrise we are live, we are live.

This morning we have Sam as our guide with Dave on Camera

and

Brent our amazingly animated guide with Bryan on camera (The two of them make up what we call the "Killer Bees" team

We start with  Sam as he is in  Djuma at the Hyena den. There is one Hyena partially awake and stretched out in the long grass. 

Spotted Brown Hyena

 We are not sticking around  the Hyena den this morning as they have decided not to be early risers this morning.

Sam is off to search for Tingana

Sam stops for a few minutes to show us the first bit of sunlight.

With Brent now 

Brent heard a report that a cheetah was seen and so he is heading to Cheetah Plains to look for those elusive Cheetahs 

Brent has a different view of the sunrise for us

Low mist hanging about.

Mornings in South Africa have a nip in the air but temps will be in the 80's later on during the day.

((( This is my own insert for info )

The Seasons

South Africa does not really experience four distinct seasons. Throughout South Africa the transitional seasons of Autumn and Spring tend to be very short. Most analysis of climate is done using the assumption that January is mid-summer and July min-winter.

Brent stops to speak to a guide from Cheetah plains and he also has heard reports of cheetahs. Off to patrol with Brent.

Back to Sam because Brent is having technical issues and losing signal.

Sam showing us the various kingfishers in the area

Sam's book with our most popular Woodland Kingfisher

Sam discussing briefly about a kingfisher and biomimicry

Ecology is his main interest.  Everything has a unique way of living on the planet

Everyone doing a disappearing act this morning

Sam has lost signal so we are back on with Brent who now has signal for us

 We are moving along the Northern Edge of Cheetah plains near the 3 in a row pan.

Brent is discussing the location of our Safari Live Drives.

The Sabi Sands Games reserve is in the Mpumalanga Province and is adjacent to the Kruger National Park.

Sabi_Sand_Game_Reserve

Djuma where  we travel most often is inside the Sabi Sand Reserve

And approximately 2 weeks ago, we acquired the privilage of being able to travel through Cheetah Plans as well.

Krueger park is slightly east of where we traverse.

A beautiful sunrise with Brent.

We stop to watch the Wildebeest munch on the sweet grass still covered in dew.

Brent is explaining that around the camp, the staff have a tradition of throwing a bucket of

water on whoever is celebrating a birthday that day. And since yesterday was Bryan's ( on camera) birthday, he did indeed receive the congratulatory bucket of water. Luckily it was warm water

SAM now

African Dawn. with Sam calling it surreal.

Sam has chosen to share with us that he has a twin brother..  His Birthday May 17th less then a month away.  He will be going on holiday around June so we will see him for a while. he is turning 26

Now moving into Quarantine area with Sam.

Back with Brent and on the move.

Coming up to a large open area in Cheetah plains

Brent has a gut feeling we might see a leopard that we have not seen before (that would be awesome)

Back to Sam who has some SHARP vegetation to show us 

Flaky Thorn Acacia

Very Sharp

Thorns are a mechanical defense mechanisms whereas some plants contain tannin's which the animals do not like the taste. 

Sam talks about walking around here the other day and stepped on one of these thorns and it went right through his shoe and into his foot,

Sam showing us photos and talking about leaf structure. Simple vs compound

Friday is EARTH DAY and he wants everyone to do something for EARTH DAY

i.e compost, plant a tree, plant a garden

Sam discussing leave structure for identification

Figuring out which leaves are which

Sam is now on Rebecca Road. ( find a map and post it)

back to Brent

He is doing a loop around the buffalo on Cheetah Plains

Brent is talking about what animals can be seen on Cheetah Plains

Black backed Jackal. Sable Antelope, Ostrich, Cheetah

Buffalo with a collar

Buffalo one has collar.. part of  TB research in Kruger..  Tuberculosis Bovine research

The diff between a bison and a cape buffalo have no shaggy coats. Both are from the same family but are different species and related to cows.

Cape buffalo occur in Africa and Bison in North America.

Brent calls the buffs big mobile fertilizing machines

Back with Sam and some Elephants

Elephants playing

The little ones having a wonderful morning and playing and kicking up dust

Ellies love eating the thorny acacia. Their mouths are very resilient to any type of thorn

Ellies eat 22 hours out of the day Ellies are very relaxed today.

Little Elephants will sometimes step on their trunk because they have not yet learned the skill needed to always control its movement

Sam talking about saying WOW too much.. He talks about when he first started and was in awe that we as views pointed out that Karula has a "wow" spot pattern on her  forehead and he cannot stop thinking about it.

Back to Brent

And we see Ostriches!

Ostriches are farmed for their rich meat. used to be used in Victorian days for feathers in their hats

and used to make feather dusters. The Ostrich's largest threat is the Cheetah.

Mid Step

The Ostriches struttin their stuff

Ostriches will drink water if available but are not dependent on it. They get it from their food and from the morning dew

ostriches can lay up to 20 eggs at a time and both male and female guards the nests.

Brent is attempting to show us a fairly rare bird to photograph called the Temminck Courser. I am posting a pic but it is not a great shot.  Brent shows us a pic in his book

Very poor and blurry shot or the courser

Photo of the Temminck Courser from Brent's book

Brent showing us and talking some facts about Elephants.

 An elephants hide can be up to 3 inches thick. This thickness protects them from being injured while moving through and grabbing thorny trees and bushes.

And one last view as these amazing animals move off into denser bush.

so alas.. no cheetahs on the plains this morning as of yet

Brent is saying perhaps Mr. Q will be around   (Quarantine-male leopard)

He talks about identifying the various leopards according to their spot patterns

Leopard spots are as individual as your fingerprints

You need to count the spots above upper whiskers and then again for the spotted row above the previous one.

karaula (Queen of Djuma Female leopard who currently has 2 cubs) has a 3- 4 spot pattern

Tingana (King of Djuma- male leopard) has a 4-3 spot pattern

HE cant remember what Quaratines spot ident is (I will try to look it up as I have it listed somewhere and will let you all know)

Brent takes us on our last loop around and we watch some Hamerkops preening.

Hamerkop

Hamerlop close up

Hamerkop preening

ohhhhh We now know why we haven't hopped back with Sam

He had a flat tire. and it has now been changed

Poor SAM.. broken camera episode, then getting stuck, and now a flat tire

James is there and waves to us all as he came and helped Sam with the tire. James is a good man. Always there when needed.

Sam is just booting along the road at quite a clip right now. 

Sam is planting a garden to grow spicy chiles to make some salsa ( for Earth day)

 Sam has stopped to show us a Terrapin OUT OF WATER! A rare sight indeed

Terrapin out of water!

Terrapin in the grass

SAM- Excited to see this Terrapin out of the water.  Sam is talking to the Terrapin and asking "Why are you out of the water Mr. Terrapin?" Sam thinks he is looking for new grounds to meet females and is tired of his watering hole

This is a serrated Hinged Terrapin

Terrapins enjoy climbing onto the back of sleeping hippos in the pans to nibble on mites and ticks

(note- Do not rely on spell check . I googled "serrated hinged terrapin" and it changed it to Sedated hinged Terrapin. LOL )

We are back to Brent as Sam is experiencing Gremlins again (Gremlins is another word we use for technical issues or loss of signal)

Brent is heading westward as he has scoured cheetah plains

Brent talking about animals that live in low densities so we don't see them often such as the

honey badger( native to Africa- also known as a Ratel, servils *( African medium sized wild cat)

Lodge pan is one more waterhole we have not checked so heading there now. not a cloud in the sky

Close to Cheetah Plains lodge

Impala

 Brent stops for a moment to view an Impala

And we are right back with Sam

Sam is saying that the lions were walking in this area a few minutes ago according to reports

Sam is looking closely for tracks or a visual..

Lions have moved over 2 roads so he is picking up speed to move to where they are.

currently he thinks they are lying down in the shade.

I am wondering since Sam said they were male lions.. YES. Sam just said they are the Birmingham Boys! YAY!

Back with Brent while Sam travels and tries to find the BB boys

There has been a great deal of driving  around  on this drive but sometimes you have to travel around and around to find the animals or birds we are hoping to see.

Brent is going on a bird search in the air and in the trees

WOW! Brent has noticed baboon tracks

Baboon Tracks

AND BACK TO SAM and we have 4  of the bb boys

The bb boys are totally relaxed and sleeping soundly. They pay no attention to the vehicle that Sam is in with Dave.

Birmingham Male Lion having a snooze

BB Boys having a nap

This boy is out like a light

And since the Birningham Boys do not look like they are moving anytime soon, Let's hop over to Brent and see what he is up to.

Brent is showing us amazing birds. and some are having a nice bath

BRent making sounds with his mouth spsss spessss to mimic alarm call so birds will pop out to have a look.

Brent is on the search for a green winged batilia

 Brent really came through for us with all of these amazing birds for us to add to our bird list.

We have a yellow fronted Canary and a Waxbill.

Yellow Fronted Canary

Waxbill

Canaries and a Waxbill  having a bath

Canary bathing

Brent just witnessed 2 baboons running across the road right in front of him (While we were with Sam)

Brent is very excited and loud and is saying  BABOON FIGHT!. We can hear the baboons screaming and creating a great deal of noise but they are on in the thick bush and cannot see them.

Now all has gone quiet.. 

Brent is on the move

still looking..

Brent thinks we might see more baboons because they are moving into a wider arc area due to the drought.

Brent is looping around the block and hoping to catch up with the baboons

While Brent attempts to off road for us to find the baboons, we go back to Sam.

Sam looks very hot ( as in sweaty hot)

BB boys looking very hot and right in the sun/partial shade

This Male has a pronounced limp

Sam talking about the lions remaining resting until later in the day when they will go get  a drink and perhaps start their nightly hunting expedition (spelling)

Back to Brent who has found the baboons but they are so far away into the bush that a good pic is close to impossible. Even viewing they are very blurry (sorry)

and now they are gone

leopards will hunt baboons but it is extremely risky.

Leopards will panic the baboons at night and pick off the youngsters

Below is a VERY poor pic of the baboon

Sorry for poor quality pic of baboon- we could not get close enough

Brent re tells an important story of his childhood 

Story about lion and baboons

Northern Botswana.He inherited the story from a guide who he grew up with watched troop of baboons A lion stormed them. 9 baboons.

The females made it to a termite mound and a jackelberry tree  . 7 baboons climbed the tree

and a smaller tree was where the dominate male sat

Brent is laughing while telling us from the baboons point of view.. they all scatter and do not know where the lions are.

Baboons are shouting 

LIONS!    

WHERE? 

 THERE!

JUMP !

NO! NO! NO! don't jump and they keep shouting

eventually the baboon females  flung themselves out of the tree.. lioness was on her

The male shouted STOP STOP STOP!

6 baboons got eaten because  ofthe one who yelled jump jump!

The other male. closed his eyes put his head between his legs and didn't move. He was the only one that survived.

Brent was very animated and yelling out the baboon commands   lol.

If you get a chance, pop onto you-tube and watch the last 15 minutes of this mornings drive to hear Brent tell the tale. ( it isn't as exciting when seen in print)

Back to Sam

Sam telling a story from a viewer who has followed these boys and the lioness prides )explain) about the BB boys killing 4 of the Nkumah lioness's which leaves 5 now.

Scrapper and Blondie are 2 of the Birmingham Boys

Scrapper was very thin the last time we saw him

and Scrapper has a scar by his eye

Sam says it is very hot and he is burning. ( it looks like his face is actually getting sunburned)

He needs some shade

Coming close to the end of our drive. It has been a gorgeous day and now is very hot.

Brent sends us off with some amazing butterflies. Let's take a look

Citrus Swallow Butterfly

African Vagrant Butterfly

I may only be providing  complete commentary for 1 drive per day as yes, it is very time consuming and I have other things in my life that need attending to.. i.e a yard, pool, a dog. You know.. Life things! lol

But even though there may not be complete commentary, I will post as many screen caps as possible.

Will still be keeping up with the Sunrise Safari drives with commentary.

Cya soon!

Will have the next Sunrise safari on line for sure

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE