Rainfall and Temperatures

Temperatures

Winter has definitely arrived and this can definitely be felt in the early mornings and evening periods.  The average maximum temperature for this month was 29°C / 84°F and the average minimum temperature 12°C / 54°F.  The average maximum temperature for May 2009 is slightly lower than May 2008 but falls within the range of temperatures that have been experienced during the previous years which gives the indication that temperatures are not increasing.  The highest temperature recorded for May was 36°C / 97°F and the lowest was 4°C / 39°F.

Rainfall

Luck was on our side as we had small thundershowers during this month.  This has done wonders for the vegetation and slowed down the rate at which the vegetation and pans are drying out.  A total of 31 mm was received during the month, bringing the total rainfall received during this rainfall season to 770.5 mm and the total for 2009 to 390 mm.

07/05/2009 12 mm 08/05/2009 19 mm

Field

Maintenance

Most of the maintenance work was undertaken at River Lodge during May where the Habitat Squad and I constructed several gabions.  These gabions were constructed along the walkway from River Lodge to the Island River Deck to help stabilize the ground supporting the walkway as well as to prevent the soil from being washed away during the rainy season.  The gabion will also prevent the walkway and soil from being washed away if the Sabie River bursts it’s banks.

In addition, work was undertaken at 1933 Lodge where a structure was built to conceal fire-fighting equipment.  As we have entered the fire season it is extremely important that we are prepared for any fire emergency.

The repair and rehabilitation of two-track caused by vehicles during off-road driving for animal sightings was also undertaken during May.  Once again only a few two-track were in need of repair and rehabilitation.  These are usually created when the Rangers have located a predator on a kill and have to drive off-road which gives excellent sightings for a couple of days.

Two-track repair and rehabilitation involves chipping the soil crust and adding rhino dung before brush packing the sight with vegetation.  The soil is chipped to allow water to infiltrate the soil while the rhino dung acts as an important seed source of various grass species and the brush packing reduces the impact of raindrops on the soil surface while also reducing herbivory on the sprouting grasses.

Roads

Only minor work was undertaken on a couple of roads on Lion Sands Private Game Reserve by the Habitat Squad during the month.  Roads which received routine maintenance included Marula and the lower sections of Tamba.  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.  These mitre drains and humps are extremely important as they prolong the life of a road and ensure that the surface water is quickly removed from the roads surface which prevents damage to the roads surface.

Due to the lack of rainfall during May there are several roads which will undergo maintenance during June which includes the lower section of Marula, Zebra and Puza Manzi.

Vegetation and Water

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

The water levels in the main waterholes in the Reserve are still high with all the pans full of water which supports 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 main waterholes and the Sabie River in search of fresh, clean drinking water.  The Sabie River remains fast flowing and still holds large amounts of water due to high rainfall in its upper reaches.

Animals

Birds

The cold spells during the past month have resulted in less bird sightings than the previous month, however, there were still several incredible bird sightings.  The Sabie River still remains a hype of activity and we have had several sightings of African Fish Eagles along the banks, scouting for fish in the shallow waters.  There have also been several sightings of a sub-adult Martial Eagle in the central region of the Reserve and our resident flock of Ground Hornbills (images below) have occasionally been seen in the East.

  

Reptiles

Winter is now here and nearly all of the reptile species have found refuge and 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)

Special Sighting

Leopard female shows off her cubs …

A particular female leopard in the East has become a regular sighting for our guests on game drives over the last couple of months.  On most occasions when the she has been sighted we have seen her moving in and around the dry riverbeds and the thicket vegetation surrounding the riverbeds.  She has been in the same area for about three weeks now and this lead us to believe that she might have cubs in the area …

On Saturday morning our hopes were realized when one of our Field Rangers, D.J. Malan, located both the female leopard and her cubs sunbathing on an old dead tree stump in the area that she had been frequenting!!  This litter includes two cubs which are approximately two months old as their coats appear to be smoky gray as the rosettes are not yet clearly defined.  This was an incredible sighting for our guests got to see the cubs and their mom interacting during the day!

Females are capable of breeding at two years and will produce litters of one to three cubs after a pregnancy lasting about three and a half months.  Leopard cubs weigh around 500 g at birth and their eyes open after about a week. F or the first two months the mother keeps her cubs hidden in dense bush, rock clefts or hollow tree trunks to minimize detection from predators.  The cubs will venture from hiding after about six to eight weeks by which time they are rather successful tree climbers.

Mothers leave the young cubs for periods of up to 36 hours while hunting and feeding before returning to suckle them.  She brings solid food to her cubs when they’re about six weeks old and the cubs are weaned at about three months but stay with their mother for the first 22 months.  Less than half of the cubs from a litter will on average survive to adulthood.

   

Mammals

Buffalo

Lion Sands seldom sees large herds of buffalo but during this month we have been fortunate to locate two large herds of approximately 200 animals each.  It was incredible to see such a large, coordinated herd of animals moving through the Reserve looking for suitable grazing to feed there large bulk.

Sightings of lone males, called dagga boys, are more common in the Reserve and we have had several sightings of dagga boys at the waterholes in the Reserve.  These males leave the herd to regain their strength allowing them to return to the herds and compete with other males in the herds for mating rights.

   

Lion

Members of the Hilda’s Rock pride have been seen a number of times mostly on the southern bank of the Sabie river.  It appears as if the three cubs in the pride are still doing well.  The female with the cubs is often seen near a rocky section along the Msuthu River which is near the Eastern border of Lion Sands.

In addition, a new female has been seen on the property.  She too has cubs - four of them in fact!  We suspect that she comes from a pride in the Kruger National Park though none of the pride members have been seen on Lion Sands to date.

The Southern pride was seen occasionally and often not all members are seen together in one group but the pride tends to be fragmented a lot of times.  Predation was average and a number of impala kills were recorded and our neighbours told us that the Southern Pride had been stalking a small herd of giraffe in their area and manage to take bring down an adult female.

   

Big Five Sightings