Lion Sands Journals » 2008

May 2008

Rainfall and Temperatures

Temperatures

Average maximum temperature:27 °C / 80.6 °F

Average minimum temperature:13 °C / 55.4 °F

Highest temperature recorded this month:38 °C / 100.4 °F

Lowest temperature recorded this month: 06 °C / 42.8 °

Rainfall

Total May: 7 mm

Year total to date: 258 mm

Field

Maintenance

Maintenance during the month involved the repair of the water pipeline and installation of the new water pump to pump Warthog Wallow Pan. Many of the existing pipes were old and began to leak between the joins, thus preventing large amounts of water from reaching the pan. Towards the end of the month, all the leaks were repaired and we began to pump the pan, thus ensuring that there is sufficient water available to support the wide variety of animals in the Lion Sands Private Game Reserve.

Roads

Very little work was done on road maintenance during the month, as all efforts were concentrated on the repair of the pipeline to Warthog Wallow Pan. As we are now in our winter season, the lack of rainfall provides an excellent opportunity to undertake routine maintenance on several roads in the Reserve, before the rains return. Routine maintenance involves the opening of mitre drains and the repairing of their associated humps, as well as the filling of potholes and the removal of obstructions such as rocks. This is very important as is facilitates the removal of water from the roads surface.

Vegetation and Water

With the lack or rainfall that accompanies the winter season, most tree and grass species are beginning their dormant phase. Trees lose there leaves and grasses store there nutrients in there roots. These are both strategies to save water and nutrients to allow for rapid growth when spring arrives, as a result, the vegetation looks dull and dry, making game viewing excellent.

The water levels in the main waterholes in the Reserve are high, with all the pans full of water, thus being able to support the wide variety of animals. Most of the small natural pans and mud pools have now completely dried up, forcing animals to move to the waterholes and Sabi River in search of drinking water.

Animals

Reptiles

Winter is now here and nearly all the reptiles have found refuge and a shelter to hibernate and spend the winter, making the chance of seeing these fascinating creatures rather slim. As reptiles are cold blooded, they rely on environmental conditions to regulate their body heat and since temperatures in winter are low, they are forced to spend this period dormant, awaiting the warmer temperatures of spring. There were however a few reptile sightings during the month which included:

- Tree agama (Acanthocerus atricollis)

- Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

- Mozambique spitting cobra (Naja mossambica)

Birds

Temperatures have remained warm during the beginning of the winter period, and we therefore on the odd occasion still catch a glimpse of some of the migrant species which should have left during the onset of winter. These include species such as Eurasian and Purple Rollers. There have also been several sightings of predatory bird species, including Bateleurs, Whitebacked Vultures, Blackshouldered kites and Little Banded Goshawks. Saddlebilled (Image below) and Woollynecked storks can also still be seen at many of the drying up mud pools and natural pans, feasting on the small crustaceans and vertebrates.

Special Sightings

The first flowering Impala-lilies, otherwise known as the Sabi-star were seen in the Reserve during May, during the summer, these shrubs and small trees usually go totally unnoticed, blending into the surrounding environment, but during winter, they produce there flowers, and become an incredible sight to behold. These are one of the only plant species in the Reserve to flower during the winter period when the plant is leafless, and seem to only grow in the warmer drier areas, among rocks or in sandy open woodland areas.

The flowers are very showy, white or pale pink in colour, with a pink to crimson red border making them an incredible sighting in the barren landscape.

Mammals

Leopard

We have once again been treated to some incredible leopard sightings during the month of May. On several occasions we have located our dominant male, the Sandriver male, patrolling his territory, in search of females and protecting it from rival males. We have also located two mating pairs, and we hope that we will soon have leopard cubs in the Reserve.

Lion

During the past couple of weeks, we have had regular sightings of the Southern Pride. The males are usually seen alone, away from the females, protecting their territory and the cubs from rival males, whilst the females are usually seen together, with the six cubs. The addition of the six cubs to the pride, has forced the females to undertake more hunting, and many of the lion sightings have been on kills over the past two weeks.

All the cubs are strong and healthy and are continuously on the move, from one kill to another. One of the other females has left the pride and we believe that she too has had cubs, but we will keep you updated.

Elephant

The past month our guests saw plenty of elephants. Large breeding herds were all over Lion Sands numbering into the hundreds! This presented ample opportunity for our guests to see everything from the tiniest baby elephants to massive bulls. The large breeding herds often resulted in ‘road blocks’ for our game drive vehicles, only to the delight of our guests!