With the rains starting late in mid December the weather pattern so far of “stop” and “drop” has brought on rather erratic migratory movements!
These erratic rains normally force the migration off the plains and into the western and southern Serengeti woodland border in search for food and water.
Two periods of heavy showers were followed by a mixture of hot, airless days, with howling winds which in turn did a very efficient job of drying the new, young vegetation and it really only took some 7-10 days for the wildebeest to be on the move again.
Consequently, there have been impressive lines of wildebeest in big concentrations going west and east with the animals starting to form long lines leaving the plains….
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
This is the time we sometimes get our famous ‘lake-crossings’, their sheer numbers bringing them galloping down the north-eastern steeper side of the lake. This year has already brought quite a few spectacular crossings. With the present level of the lake being so low, most times the wildebeest can walk straight through the middle of it, making it easy for the few calves already born to keep up with mum!
Wildebeest calves have now been seen in small numbers since last week of January.
As we move into February, the calving will continue and hopefully take place on the plains around us. Wide open space is important when calving occurs, with so many predators lurking nearby! Here is where the wildebeest want to be when that momentous period in their wandering lives occurs. There are even reports already of lost calves searching for their mothers and trailing tourist vehicles, always a sad sight!
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
Let’s hope the remainder of this wet Season rainfall will be as close to normal as can be, so we will be able to see many more migratory movements!
The new rains always bring out some interesting flowers too like the beautiful Crinum Macowanii, more popularly known as ‘pyjama lily’, that can be found around Ndutu. Also several orchid species starting to flower towards the end of January…. Two of the dominant Acacia species here, acacia tortilis and kirkii exploded into flower in the beginning of February, and during a very brief moment it looked as if Ndutu had had a light snowstorm, with many trees sporting white crowns!
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Picture by Simon Pettit |
Cheetahs as usual have been the focus of attention although one cannot help but feel sorry, with constant visits of vehicles, exhaust fumes, chattering of the guests and drivers using radios and mobiles…. In high season our resident cheetahs hardly have an undisturbed day! Our three brothers, Mocca, Latte and Espresso are still wandering in the Two Trees area, holding their own and one known male roves the Kusini plain beyond; there are not less than 6 females with a variety of cubs spread out on the Meadow, Caracal Plateau, and Big and Small Marsh…. Hard work for the mothers to cope not only with ever-demanding growing youngsters, but also the competition of other predators in the area.
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Picture by Simon Pettit |
For the lions the same applies, it appears the male “Half-Tail” has disappeared, the Marsh pride and the Masek pride are still there in their changed ranges, accompanied by a confusing mixture of different sized cubs including three tiny, adorable small ones in the big marsh. The huge lone female is doing very well, managing to hunt for herself and her three cubs, often in the area around Lake Ndutu. She looks enormous and is a clever, successful huntress, all by herself most of the time!
Two other “specials” need mentioning: the female Caracal with 2 kittens that roams the Causeway area has been seen several times by our guests and was a wonderful extra… best time to spot her is dawn and dusk, when often you see her hunting amidst the sueda bushes that grow all over the causeway.
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Picture by Simon Pettit |
The second one is the striped hyena! I know it is not the first time I have talked about this very handsome animal which was sighted a lot during the past two months, both at Masek and the Causeway as well as around Long Gulley. Solitary, mostly nocturnal, these beautiful creatures are often seen just before dark. When excited they raise their bushy mane, which makes them look even larger!
Several guests showed me their photographs and I am always again so impressed by the difference between the striped and the spotted hyena, but also just how handsome this rather secretive animals is!
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Picture by Simon Pettit |
Most of the time after the first showers of rain the little waterhole in front of the Lodge filled up enough to hold water for some time; day and night ‘residents’ started to drop by, and for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year we were entertained sometimes 3-4 times during the day by herds of elephant. Great and small would plunge into the pool, play, drink and bathe…. Then out the water and looking for the bare patch on the ground to finish off with a nice dusty swirl! It was a highlight over the festive period and ended when the wellness mud bathing exercise had turned the mud into rock-hard crusty squares! Since then, all the elephants have disappeared and we hope that after more good rains they will return for more fun at the poolside!
The Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis) is an attractive black bird with a very distinctive fork-tail; although definitively part of the ‘home’ birds around the Lodge, for some reason they appear to be more noticeable this year at dawn and dusk.. They seem to work up a frenzy of calls and highly variable songs, their winning imitation the call of the pearl spotted owlet! They use a perch and from there “fly off the handle” chattering and calling non-stop just when darkness sets in…. quite extraordinary and it has been fun watching them display and listen to their many calls! Of course the pearl spotted owlet (Glaucidium perlatum) is very present around the Ndutu woodlands, and being quite active during the day, their distinctive call easy to imitate for those that love stealing sounds!!
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What am I doing wasting much paper space below on birds? It is just that amidst the constant, never ending hang to see the carnivores, people sometimes tend to forget all the other interests around here!! And the birds are so spectacular, especially at this time of the year, with many migratory species thrown in as well!
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
From the beautiful Eurasian roller to the plovers, the various birds of prey, European storks, the cuckoos, ruffs and reeves, all in all they form a most wonderful feathered collection!
Rarely have there been so many flamingos and the numbers of shorebirds has been amazing…. Stints, Chestnut-banded Sand plovers, Avocets and Black-winged Stilts, ducks and huge clouds of Terns are all feeding frantically.
As the rains have not filled Lake Ndutu to the brim this year, it apparently created just the right kind of delicious un-deep soup which seems to lure all manner of water fowl!! Some of the flamingos have been displaying, flocking into a tight group, flicking their heads left and right and marching necks tall, while joined by stragglers in their wake….
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
During at least 4 weeks from just before Christmas, an unlikely small area next to the road into the Lodge just near the barrier was home to a family of Spotted Thick-knees (Burhinus capensis) or also called Stone Curlews. We normally associate these rather strange looking large-eyed birds with the night, as their hauntingly beautiful call is heard especially during full moon time. Stone Curlews often sit or stand immobile, well camouflaged. Unnoticed by many safari vehicles, it was quite funny to see the parents with a charming, gangly fluffy youngster just 3 feet off the side of the road, with all traffic in and out of the Lodge apparently not ruffling their feathers!
Whereas Lake Ndutu is in bird mode, Lake Masek has its numbers of hippo! At the moment the population stands at approximately 22 individuals, four being still very small calves born recently…. What foxes me is where they get enough food, as the Maasai and their cattle have done a first-class job of clearing in the area…. not a blade of grass standing and hippos need lots of grazing!!
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Picture by Eva Marie Widmark |
The resident crocodile does not have to worry about grass…. Nearly every afternoon it is seen napping away on the little island often surrounded by a few black-winged Stilts. One presumes it would only take just one or two wildebeest calves to be sufficient to keep him/her hibernating more for the rest of the year!
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Picture by Eva Marie Widmark |
Why is it that during night time so many animals seem to loose their fear of us humans? While sitting around the fire, the dikdiks, the hares, an acacia mouse, wildebeests and zebra all close in, unfazed by people chattering away. Of late, we have watched a group of zebra regularly graze in front of the rooms and work their way to the fireplace with us sitting quietly talking. One evening we were better prepared and had our cameras ready and even then the flash did not chase them away! In the end, they came as close as 2 meters from the nearest safari chair and still did not mind! A memorable experience again!
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Picture by Eva Marie Widmark |
“One Horn” has taken over the guarding of the Lodge. Actually the first reports originated from the guests, who commented on this ‘gnu with the broken-off one horn’.
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
He has been in residence now for 3 or 4 weeks, grazing away all around the premises, at times welcoming safari vehicles along the entry to the Lodge!
He clearly has decided to call the Lodge area his temporary home and can be seen somewhere near at all times of the day! When not long ago I returned early morning he stood and grazed along the entry sign to the Lodge, right along the track, checking everybody out!
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
Inside the Lodge our famous -all-time- Genets have recently been very active in the roof of our dining room…Photogenic they may be, when they lounge on the specially constructed poles and little feeder every evening to the great delight of the guests. But up in the roof is where they sleep, meet, mate, give birth, and fight! As a result, the inside ridge became a disentangled mess, and the other day while we were having dinner a piece of “migomba” (banana thatch) fell down between the tables!
Normally this sort of maintenance is done outside the High season, but since the last job just before December, the genets must have had an all-out….
To be able to reach the ridge we have had to make a scaffold that needs to be carried in, and we have no option but to operate after the last guests have gone to bed! Sure enough, first night up there and working, a curious genet came to inspect what it was all about…not the least taken aback by all the commotion!
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
The main entry door to my house is like a stable door, the top part opens independently and is mosquito screened. About four evenings ago I was just leaving the house, heading for the guests and fireplace, when as I opened the top part of my double ‘stable-door’ out of the corner of my eye I noticed a red-brown form on the ground outside lying against the wood. I quickly quietly shut the bottom part again, and looked from above: lying next to my door was a very young impala calf! We looked at each other a few moments, and I retreated, got my camera and shot a few pictures, then left the house via the veranda and walked around. I left it lying there and was told that a small impala herd was nearby and that a little while later the calf jumped up and joined its mother again, so Happy Endings!!
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Picture by Aadje Geertsema |
Aadje,
Mid-February 2011
