We arrived back from Mozambique late afternoon on 6th February. It was great to be back home & we enjoyed a lovely evening on the deck seeing & listening to Elephant, Hippo & Hyenas.
We didn't do much in the next few days because the house was in a bit of a mess, as the builders were here & in our absence had started work on our new bathroom in the master bedroom. We came home to a huge hole in the wall!
Nicci sent me some Clean green powder to put on my food as a supplement. It is hard going!
Male Lion
This was a mating pair, with the female being
very flirtatious!
They caused a bit of a traffic jam!
Male Sable
This is a very uncommon species in Kruger.
Lesser Spotted Eagle is a scarce summer visitor
to the savanna areas of Kruger.
Saddle-billed Stork
Male Knob-billed Duck
Lilac-breasted Roller
European Roller
This individual has a broken mandible.
Southern Carmine Bee-eater
Finally we made it into Kruger for the day on 11th February. We drove north along the S36 to Nhalanguleni Picnic Site, then further north before heading east along the little used N'wasswitsontso Road, before heading up the tar to Satara Camp for a much needed lunch break.
Spotted Hyena
We came across these three Hyena cubs
out on the road close to Tsohwane.
Senegal Lapwing
A highly mobile species, taking advantage of
local conditions.
A mating pair of Lions on the Sand River.
Giant Kingfisher at the low water bridge
spanning the Sand River.
We headed for home directly back on the tar road.
The next few days were spent driving to Nelspruit & back, shuttling supplies for the workers on site. But the work is coming along nicely. Out of the chaos, one can now see progress.
I also had a chat to my oncologist at the hospital. Each day I am feeling better & stronger. I no longer have to go for a couple of naps a day & I am feeling good.
Vultures
Cape Griffon
Hooded Vulture
On 14th I had to go to Hazyview to pick up materials for our new bathroom. I drove through the park seeing 27 White-backed, a Hooded Vulture & 2 Cape Griffons sitting in trees, obviously close to a kill from the night before.
We had a visitor: Thick-tailed Bushbaby.
We enjoyed a lovely evening in the lapa as it was it was Valentine's Day! Delana made a great meal & we sat outside enjoying the ambience of the bush.
The next few days were all about work on the bathroom. The house is full of dust & everything is in a mess. Hope it is all worth it after all this upheaval.
Martial Eagle
On16th February I again had to visit Hazyview for building supplies & \I came across this obliging young Martial Eagle along the S3 road.
This T-shirt is 29 years old!
Nothing much happened until 19th February when I went on a walk around Sabie Park. I recorded 49 species, best being Little Sparrowhawk; Bearded Woodpecker & Red-headed Weaver. I am trying to get my strength up. This morning I walked 4 kms & felt a little tired but not too bad. There was an African Wood Owl calling close to the house during the night.
I spent most of the day in Kruger on 20th February. Delana stayed home to project manage the bathroom building works. I drove to the High Water Bridge & then took the dirt S30 road, before heading north on the S128, which takes one through more open, savanna habitats.
Amur Falcon
Yellow-throated Longclaw
Red-backed Shrike
The highlight here was finding six Amur Falcons, which have been very scarce this summer here.
The view from Nkumbe viewpoint.
Two very distant male Lions
I had a wonderful few hours at Nkumbe lookout point watching a distant five Lions do very little, as a herd of twelve Giraffes approached within 30m of the Lions! I thought I might be on for some action, but it wasn't to be, the Lions just looking at the Giraffes!
Orpen Dam
I returned via Orpen Dam & straight back down the tar road.
Quite an old male Lion
A younger male Lion, just growing his mane.
This young male Lion was playing with branches.
I have not witnessed this behavior before in Lions.
On 21st February I had to venture into Hazyview for yet more building supplies. I drove along the entire S3 which is an excellent way to get to Hazyview. Came across five Lions just inside Paul Kruger Gate.
Pale phase Wahlberg's Eagle
Nyala
Bushbuck
The 22d was spent working around the house, the builders were going full steam ahead. However, it turned out to be a great days birding in the garden.
Red-chestedCuckoo
First a Red-chested Cuckoo started feeding in the enormous Marula tree. Although a common Intra-African migrant, it is rarely in the open to get a photograph.
CommoCuckoo
Then a second Cuckoo flew in & started dive-bombing the Red-chested Cuckoo. It was elusive but eventually I managed to identify it as a Common Cuckoo. This is a rare Eurasian migrant to this part of South Africa.
Later in the morning a Black Stork was seen on the river & a Dark Chanting Goshawk was noted behind the house.
Rowan & Jonathan
Moon Landing Cocktail.
Apparently all the parts are
edible/drinkable!
Goodness knows what this is!
Rowan & Jonathan went to Barcelona for the weekend & sent a few photos. It seems they spent quite a bit of time in cocktail bars!
Meanwhile in the UK Nicci was out on the town with Sara, Peaches & Peaches' friend.
On the 24th February we left home for Pretoria. We had a few things to do there, chief among them was Delana's visit to the dentist, to have two wisdom teeth extracted!
I walked 6.5kms this morning!
We arrived back in Sabie Park on 28th February. The next day I did a bird walk & recorded 53 species: best being Marabou Stork & 20 White-backed Vultures. I did a three hour walk, covering quite a lot of ground in an effort to get my strength up. I felt surprisingly good after my efforts.
Delana working on her shelving
for the new bathroom.
The leap year ended with us working with the builders on the new bathroom. It has been more than two weeks now, but it is finally over!
