For the second morning I was up and awake at the crack of dawn. I made myself a cup of coffee in the outdoor kitchen, useful to avoid waking up Claire.
Suddenly there was a loud bang.
That sounded like a gunshot.
A few minutes later another one.
My spine tingled with apprehension. Please not poachers.
I wandered over to the bird hide with my mug. I wasn't the first one in either, a lady from Cape Town had beaten me to it and she was quite excited at what she'd seen. She showed me the photo she'd taken and sure enough, although it was almost dark, the white plumage confirmed it was a White-backed Night Heron. A very nice bird to see indeed and largely nocturnal. I certainly didn't expect to see one here although the No 1 bird on my target list was, according to the SANParks website, one I might do. When you saw how low the river was that wasn't very likely indeed. Pel's Fishing Owl would have to wait but this was indeed a bird worth getting up a bit earlier for tomorrow!
I mentioned the gunshot and she confirmed she'd heard them too, she'd also seen three Rangers armed with a gun heading off earlier too.
I returned to our chalet when it was a lot lighter, Claire was awake, up and ready to go on the early morning patrol slowly driving the loop looking for that Leopard again.
Once again we drew blank, well on Leopard ,but at least I has a new addition for my bird list. Cinnamon-breasted Bunting.
We also found a pair of Klipspringer which surprised me before returning to camp.
I was still wanting that Leopard though.
I wandered across the grassy lawn back towards the bird hide and took a few bird snaps on the way.
Blue Waxbill
and the Crombec
both seen regularly so not too exciting.
Inside the hide was quite busy, maybe half a dozen people but there was enough space for all. The chap in the corner was looking through the shots he'd taken on his early drive around the loop. He'd seen a Leopard. The photo was fabulous and that just increased my frustration at not finding it!
We had some action in front of us, the Brown-headed Kingfisher had caught a Dragonfly.
Having battered it in to submission it was ready to try to swallow it.
It looked rather comical in the end, as if it had two ears!
Our next door neighbour arrived in the hide declaring that he'd just come back from driving the tar road and he'd had fabulous sightings including a Leopard. He said it was up a tree exactly 15.5kms from the end of our private gravel road. It was looking sleepy and he thought it would hang around there for some time.
That was it, on a mad impulse I set off to find it.
Did Claire want to come. She thought better of it and declined.
The gravel road is 11kms long, the speed limit 40kph max, and that's only when you can go that fast. The tar road was another 15.5m and that's a beautiful open road but, for the safety of the wildlife there's a speed limit of 50kph. A total of 26.5kms seemed to take an eternity sticking to the speed limit. I was pretty certain I'd found the correct tree but there was no Leopard to be seen. I knew it had been a silly idea really.
It got worse though, another car came along from the opposite direction and I asked them if they'd seen a Leopard. Yes, they'd seen one on a kill just off the road further back. Thanking them I set off to find it but stupidly hadn't asked how far as they'd said there were a couple of cars there.
I drove on.
And on.
And on.
Clocking up another 17 kms to the H9 without seeing a thing.
Which way now?
I assumed they must have come from the Orpen Gate, so off I went that way.
Another 8 kms.
This was getting very silly indeed, I was now 90 minutes from camp!!
Oh well. I had tried but that was the end of it.
The turn off to Sable Hide is at the junction of the H14, the road I'd come down on, so I might as well take a look.
It was a huge open lake but other than a distant Giraffe that too was deserted. It was getting very hot by now. I felt a fool for making such a rash decision, the only saving grace was I got my best views and photo opportunity of a Brown Snake-eagle on the way back.
and not being in such a rush, I investigated two places of interest on the way.
The first had a massive tusker in the near dry river bed.
I also noted the remains of a Buffalo on the edge of the tar road too but that was no Leopard kill and it was a day or two old as well.
A little further on there's an unmarked loop road which takes you right down to the river bank and a really pretty spot to boot. It was however empty.
Back at base I explained to Claire the reason I'd been so long. I'd wasted time and fuel in to the bargain, the irony being that we'd decided to return to Phalaworba the following day anyway to stock up with a lot more provisions to enable us to carry on self catering rather than using the restaurants.
The only good news was an African Openbill had landed on rocks right in front of our chalet.
If I stood on the bench I could get a clear shot over the top of the electric fence too!
I wasn't to know it wasn't working was I !
In the distance I spotted a huge amount of Vulture activity. Something had disturbed them.
Back in the hide I discovered that the gunshots I'd heard earlier was that of the Rangers. They'd taken the decision to shoot the rogue Elephant, and that was what the Vultures were feeding on.
Sad but the only course of action when it was likely to come back to camp and cause more damage.
The slightly re assuring news was that someone else had set off to find the Leopard up the tree and they too had failed to see it. It was reassuring only in as much as I hadn't missed it by finding the wrong tree.
I consoled myself with some action shots of the Pied Kingfisher and it's huge catch.
It still managed to swallow it. It's the equivalent of me swallowing a whole salmon!
As the sun cooled, once again, off I went in search of the local Leopard.
Claire sensibly declined to join me.
Yes, once again I failed to find it.
TBC
Suddenly there was a loud bang.
That sounded like a gunshot.
A few minutes later another one.
My spine tingled with apprehension. Please not poachers.
I wandered over to the bird hide with my mug. I wasn't the first one in either, a lady from Cape Town had beaten me to it and she was quite excited at what she'd seen. She showed me the photo she'd taken and sure enough, although it was almost dark, the white plumage confirmed it was a White-backed Night Heron. A very nice bird to see indeed and largely nocturnal. I certainly didn't expect to see one here although the No 1 bird on my target list was, according to the SANParks website, one I might do. When you saw how low the river was that wasn't very likely indeed. Pel's Fishing Owl would have to wait but this was indeed a bird worth getting up a bit earlier for tomorrow!
I mentioned the gunshot and she confirmed she'd heard them too, she'd also seen three Rangers armed with a gun heading off earlier too.
I returned to our chalet when it was a lot lighter, Claire was awake, up and ready to go on the early morning patrol slowly driving the loop looking for that Leopard again.
Once again we drew blank, well on Leopard ,but at least I has a new addition for my bird list. Cinnamon-breasted Bunting.
We also found a pair of Klipspringer which surprised me before returning to camp.
I was still wanting that Leopard though.
I wandered across the grassy lawn back towards the bird hide and took a few bird snaps on the way.
Blue Waxbill
and the Crombec
both seen regularly so not too exciting.
Inside the hide was quite busy, maybe half a dozen people but there was enough space for all. The chap in the corner was looking through the shots he'd taken on his early drive around the loop. He'd seen a Leopard. The photo was fabulous and that just increased my frustration at not finding it!
We had some action in front of us, the Brown-headed Kingfisher had caught a Dragonfly.
Having battered it in to submission it was ready to try to swallow it.
It looked rather comical in the end, as if it had two ears!
Our next door neighbour arrived in the hide declaring that he'd just come back from driving the tar road and he'd had fabulous sightings including a Leopard. He said it was up a tree exactly 15.5kms from the end of our private gravel road. It was looking sleepy and he thought it would hang around there for some time.
That was it, on a mad impulse I set off to find it.
Did Claire want to come. She thought better of it and declined.
The gravel road is 11kms long, the speed limit 40kph max, and that's only when you can go that fast. The tar road was another 15.5m and that's a beautiful open road but, for the safety of the wildlife there's a speed limit of 50kph. A total of 26.5kms seemed to take an eternity sticking to the speed limit. I was pretty certain I'd found the correct tree but there was no Leopard to be seen. I knew it had been a silly idea really.
It got worse though, another car came along from the opposite direction and I asked them if they'd seen a Leopard. Yes, they'd seen one on a kill just off the road further back. Thanking them I set off to find it but stupidly hadn't asked how far as they'd said there were a couple of cars there.
I drove on.
And on.
And on.
Clocking up another 17 kms to the H9 without seeing a thing.
Which way now?
I assumed they must have come from the Orpen Gate, so off I went that way.
Another 8 kms.
This was getting very silly indeed, I was now 90 minutes from camp!!
Oh well. I had tried but that was the end of it.
The turn off to Sable Hide is at the junction of the H14, the road I'd come down on, so I might as well take a look.
It was a huge open lake but other than a distant Giraffe that too was deserted. It was getting very hot by now. I felt a fool for making such a rash decision, the only saving grace was I got my best views and photo opportunity of a Brown Snake-eagle on the way back.
and not being in such a rush, I investigated two places of interest on the way.
The first had a massive tusker in the near dry river bed.
I also noted the remains of a Buffalo on the edge of the tar road too but that was no Leopard kill and it was a day or two old as well.
A little further on there's an unmarked loop road which takes you right down to the river bank and a really pretty spot to boot. It was however empty.
Back at base I explained to Claire the reason I'd been so long. I'd wasted time and fuel in to the bargain, the irony being that we'd decided to return to Phalaworba the following day anyway to stock up with a lot more provisions to enable us to carry on self catering rather than using the restaurants.
The only good news was an African Openbill had landed on rocks right in front of our chalet.
If I stood on the bench I could get a clear shot over the top of the electric fence too!
I wasn't to know it wasn't working was I !
In the distance I spotted a huge amount of Vulture activity. Something had disturbed them.
Back in the hide I discovered that the gunshots I'd heard earlier was that of the Rangers. They'd taken the decision to shoot the rogue Elephant, and that was what the Vultures were feeding on.
Sad but the only course of action when it was likely to come back to camp and cause more damage.
The slightly re assuring news was that someone else had set off to find the Leopard up the tree and they too had failed to see it. It was reassuring only in as much as I hadn't missed it by finding the wrong tree.
I consoled myself with some action shots of the Pied Kingfisher and it's huge catch.
It still managed to swallow it. It's the equivalent of me swallowing a whole salmon!
As the sun cooled, once again, off I went in search of the local Leopard.
Claire sensibly declined to join me.
Yes, once again I failed to find it.
TBC
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