As the sun rose over the reserve this morning there was an unusual and very special sighting in store for Bronson as he approached a dam close to the lodge. A feisty young white rhino took the lead and took a short cut through the dam as the rest of the crash (collective term for a group of rhinos) followed behind carefully & slowly in single file. If there was a caption for this photo I think the young rhino might be saying “I won! I won! Hurry up slowcoaches!”
Whilst tracking a female leopard and her young cub on foot, Maggie heard the familiar sound of a predator feeding on bones and upon further investigation came across a spotted hyena scavenging on the carcass of a kudu bull. Whilst the sound of hyena at night is a common one, they are very illusive and so to see one, especially in daylight, was a rare treat.
Two herds of elephant were seen this morning and the calves in one herd were feeling especially playful. They were interacting with each other and throwing sand from the road over themselves – perhaps to cool off or protect themselves from parasites, or maybe just for the sheer fun of it! There is a young male elephant in one of the herds that we affectionately nickname “sticky foot”. He suffered an injury at birth and as a result one of his back legs is shorter than the other causing him to limp. In spite of this he still manages to keep up with the herd and this morning he was determined not to miss out on any of the fun.
And not to forget our wonderful and abundant feathered friends today was a great morning for eagle sightings. We saw a number of species of eagles this morning, including a mature bataleur eagle (directly translated this means marvellous face, short tail). He was perched on a dead tree in all his finery, scanning beneath him to see what he could catch for breakfast.
Sarah-Estelle Sangster- (Kapama River Lodge Ranger)
