Pilanesberg NP, Johannesburg, July 2014

My day dawned as I drove through the pass at Hartebeestpoort and the sun slowly brightened the sky. By 07.20, I had reached Bakubung Gate at the southern edge of Pilanesberg NP, 2 hours west and a bit north from Johannesburg. The roads of the park had been repaired since my last visit, but they were still rutted and rough. Nevertheless, it always surprises me how far one can get on pitted roads in a two-wheel-drive car.

The birds were quiet and even the whistles of the Crested Lark, so often a feature of a drive in the park, were absent this morning. Mammals too were reticent to come out to be seen. Hippos in the first dam were to be expected, but very little else was around. Particularly missed were the Elephants and the other big 5 animals. I like to promote a holistic approach to safari, but the star turns do bring a frisson to the day that was missing on this occasion.

Nevertheless, the bird list slowly began to build and included Hamerkop, Rufous-vented Warbler and Eastern Clapper Lark before I pulled in to the hide at Makorwan Dam. Here an African Black Duck, Blacksmith Plover and Pearl-breasted Swallow were seen.

On the dirt trails that cross the western side of the park, the usual mix of Wildebeest, Impala and Zebra were found along with African Pipit, Tawny-flanked Prinia and Blue Waxbill,

At Pilanesberg Centre there were lots of cheeky birds as usual with Grey Go-away-birds, Marico Flycatchers and Crested Francolins seen at close range.

Namaqua Doves kept their distance from the terrace, but the expected Yellow and/or Red Hornbills did not materialise.

One of my strange, unfounded superstitions is that a mongoose sighting will bring good luck, so a really good look at a Slender Mongoose in the car park of the Pilanesberg Centre filled me with optimism for the rest of the day.

Hoping to turn the slow burn into an explosive burst, I headed for Mankwe Dam and the wonderful hide that reaches out over the water. Even here things were slow, but the resident Barn Owl did not look worried.

I am always astonished by the size of the fish that herons or cormorants consider to be consumable. This Grey Heron had a lot on its plate.

At last I started to find a few animals and a small herd of Giraffe fed very close to the edge of the road.

I spent lunch time at Fish Eagle Picnic Site, a high vantage point overlooking the large lake. African Spoonbill could be seen in the distance but apart from the Little Grebes there were very few waterbirds compared with previous trips. The water levels were very high today and the birds and animals were not forced to stay close to permanent water, so I guess they took the chance to roam where the fancy took them.

It was well into the afternoon before I eventually found a pair of White Rhino and I had had to venture beyond my usual hot spots to get them. 

I returned to my usual haunts for the rest of the afternoon and was rewarded when a White Rhino suddenly appeared from nowhere and pulled up to the edge of the dam for an early evening drink.

A few birds were also added from here with White-faced Duck, African Hawk-Eagle and most notably, a Giant Kingfisher.

It was just a little bit further down the road that shortly afterwards a male and a female Lion were seen at the bottom of a slope, hiding in the long grass. As the light faded a small herd of young Kudus ventured close to the road and a Magpie Shrike sat out for a quick snatched photo.

Before leaving the park, I managed to get snarled up in a Leopard scrum. Despite the park being quiet as far as animals were concerned, there were plenty of people and vehicles and they all appeared to be clustered together on the road ahead. Four large open safari trucks hogged both carriageways in an attempt to see the cat, effectively blocking out any self-drive punters.

Bird list for Pilanesberg; 75

White-faced Whistling Duck 7, Egyptian Goose 15, African Black Duck 1, Yellow-billed Duck 10, Helmeted Guineafowl 60, Crested Francolin 8, Natal Francolin 3, Little Grebe 50, Great Cormorant 25, Long-tailed Cormorant 15, African Darter 6, Hamerkop 5, Grey Heron 1, Great Egret 3, Sacred Ibis 180, African Spoonbill 3, Black-shouldered Kite 1, African Fish-Eagle 2, Black-breasted Snake-Eagle 1, African Hawk-Eagle 1, Blacksmith Plover 12, Crowned Lapwing 2, Three-banded Plover 3, Speckled Pigeon 1, Ring-necked Dove 15, Laughing Dove 4, Namaqua Dove 3, Grey Go-away-bird 25, Barn Owl 1, Speckled Mousebird 8, Red-faced Mousebird 12, Malachite Kingfisher 1, Giant Kingfisher 1, Pied Kingfisher 4, Green Woodhoopoe 4, Crested Barbet 1, Crimson-breasted Gonolek 3, Magpie Shrike 2, Fork-tailed Drongo 3, Pied Crow 3, Eastern Clapper Lark 1, Sabota Lark 1, Pearl-breasted Swallow 4, Common Bulbul 35, Bar-throated Apalis 2, Rattling Cisticola 1, Tinkling Cisticola 1, Piping Cisticola 4, Tawny-flanked Prinia 2, Black-chested Prinia 2, Rufous-vented Warbler 1, Pale Flycatcher 10, Kalahari Scrub-Robin 4, White-throated Robin-Chat 1, White-browed Robin-Chat 1, Stonechat 1, Mocking Cliff-Chat 1, Familiar Chat 15, Capped Wheatear 4, Kurrichane Thrush 1, Karoo Thrush 1, Common Myna 2, Cape Glossy-Starling 8, Red-billed Ox-pecker 1, Cape Wagtail 2, African Pipit 1, Golden-breasted Bunting 2, Yellow-fronted Canary 20, Black-throated Canary 6, House Sparrow 5, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver 1, Red-billed Quelea 15, Common Waxbill 3, Blue-breasted Cordonbleu 30, Green-winged Pytilia 4.

Pilanesberg National Park is run by North West Parks and their website can be used to check the prevailing conditions in the reserve.
Opening times vary during the year. For the most part if you work on 06.00 to 18.00 you won't be far out.Exact gate times can be seen at the web link above.
To drive from Johannesburg will take a little over 2 hours. Sun City shares the volano and can be used as a good direction finder for Pilanesberg NP.
Self-drive safari is the customary way of getting around, but ranger-led open sided safari vehicles operate from the camps at each gate. Again, see the website.
There is no fuel available in the park, but filling stations are conveniently sited close to the gates.
There are toilet facilities at each of the rest stops and hides and refreshments, including hot food at the Pilanesberg Centre in the middle of the park.

Please follow the links below to previous posts from Pilanesberg.
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/delicious-dilemma.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/08/do-elephants-grieve.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/pilanesberg-johannesberg-jnb-south.html
http://www.redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/pilanesberg-part-1-johannesberg-south.html
http://www.redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/pilanesberg-np-part-2-johannesberg.html
http://www.redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/pilanesberg-national-park-johannesburg.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/pilanesberg-np-johannesburg-south.html

Visit the dedicated Africa Page for more posts from South Africa.
 Birdwatching, birding, safari, South Africa.

Pilanesberg NP, Johannesburg, South Africa, March 2014

My beautiful colleague, GJ, joined me today on a restricted trip around Pilanesberg National Park. It was restricted by damage to the roads and bridges caused by biblical rain over the last couple of days. The topography of the park funnels water down gullies in the mountain-sides and feeds streams that barely see a flow from one year to the next. Most of the roads in the park are unmade and had flooded or been washed away. We were limited to the main tarmac roads; Kubu/Kgabo that runs northeast/southwest and Tshwene that spurs from the Pilanesberg Centre to Manyane Camp in the east.

The flow had ebbed by the time we arrived at 06.30, but evidence was all around. Vegetation for many meters either side of tiny streams had been knocked down by the torrents and meadows were flattened as sheets of water washed down the slopes without the benefit of a gulley to guide them. The first turn-off from Kubu crosses a bridge, but the road had almost completely gone from the nearside of the span. The dam at Lengau, where the Baboons often spend the night on the wall, had become a waterfall.

Animals usually rely on the dams as reliable permanent water and can be predictably found in the proximity, but with so much water and green vegetation available, there was no reason for them to stay nearby and they were widely dispersed and difficult to find during the morning.

Impalas however, are always reliable and a young male was found shortly after we entered the park. He looked bedraggled and cold, but out of respect, I show him only from the neck up where he looks much better.

Brindled Wildebeest are also very common and were seen a number of times during the day.

Rufous-naped Larks appeared to top every thorn bush that projected above the grass. Their call was a constant presence through either window of the car. One called from close to the road and enhanced his performance with a wing flap at intervals.

Our first puzzle was set by a Levaillant’s Cuckoo which stubbornly refused to turn around to show its streaky throat that would distinguish it from the otherwise similar Jacobin Cuckoo. Secretary-Birds at the top of an acacia bush (possibly on the site of a nest?) were easy by comparison. 

We were close to Mankwe Dam and cheekily poked our noses down the gravel road that leads to the hide, but were immediately turned back by the flood water. A bridge the crossing a small river looked to be damaged. 
We gallantly allowed a young lady to go first from the opposite direction to see if her low-slung car would become grounded in the large pot-hole. She negotiated it successfully, so we were able to continue on to the Pilanesberg Centre.

At last we started to find a few animals as we drove along Tau Link. GJ was especially pleased to find Giraffes.

We were headed towards the eastern gate and found more Impala, Kudu and Zebra along the way.

We brunched at Golden Leopard’s Manyane Complex and compiled a list of 23 birds in just a short walk there, including the day’s only sightings of Crowned Plover, Black-collared Barbet and Groundscraper Thrush.

A Crested Barbet was very approachable as it fed from a fruiting tree near the entrance and a family of Warthogs were relaxed enough to crash out on a small lawn beside reception.

Back in the park we decided to head to Bakgatla to pad out the bird list and were stopped along the way by a large bull Elephant as he crossed the road. I am sure that the elephants of Pilanesberg should have an identification guide, but I was unable to find one on the web. This one should be very distinctive with his broken right tusk. He was leaning on his longer, left tusk and digging it into the ground. He ate some of the dirt that he had dislodged and threw the rest up onto his back.

Shortly afterwards, we came across a small group of White Rhino. I heaved a big sigh of relief at seeing some of the mega-fauna at last. My companion was very patient and seemed to be enjoying the drive, but I wanted her to see some of the big stuff.

Other animals and birds began to appear and be more cooperative. A herd of Zebra were feeding by the roadside and a young foal followed its mother out onto the tarmac causing a short-lived zebra-jam.

European Bee-eaters sat out on dead snags and hawked for insects in flight and the smallest giraffe I have ever seen passed in the wake of its huge mother.

At Bakgatla, also run by Golden Leopard, we took a stroll around the camp and added Green-backed Camaroptera, Cape Wagtail and Rufous-vented Warbler that would otherwise not have appeared on the list below.

Two Southern Red-billed Hornbills with the vacant stare of new parents everywhere were feeding their large youngster which appeared happy to sit and ingest anything that came its way.

The last pass down the main road featured mostly giraffe with a number of close sightings. The day had brightened up and the place appeared to be drying out a little and getting more productive. 

We stopped in at Pilanesberg Centre, I can’t remember why, and found a large herd of Kudu licking the ground where the salt lick used to be (it may have dissolved in the rain). A White Rhino had just come close to the centre and was still grazing just beyond the waterhole.

Finally and to GJ’s delight, we found a family of Hippo in the stream beneath Lengau Dam. The stream was much higher than normal and would not normally be able to support such big animals. No doubt they will return to the dam as the levels drop.

Birds seen; 67

Ostrich 2, White-faced Whistling Duck 2, Egyptian Goose 2, African Black Duck 2, Yellow-billed Duck 2, Helmeted Guineafowl 5, Natal Francolin 11, Little Grebe 1, Great Cormorant 3, African Darter 4, Cattle Egret 30, Sacred Ibis 30, Black-shouldered Kite 6, Brown Snake-Eagle 1, Secretary-Bird 2, Blacksmith Plover 3, Crowned Lapwing 3, Speckled Pigeon 12, Red-eyed Dove 2, Ring-necked Dove 29, Laughing Dove 17, Grey Go-away-bird 13, Levaillant’s Cuckoo 1, Dideric Cuckoo 2, White-browed Coucal 2, African Palm-swift 2, Red-faced Mousebird 15, Woodland Kingfisher 1, European Bee-eater 15, Lilac-breasted Roller 2, Southern Red-billed Hornbill 3, African Grey Hornbill 3, Crested Barbet 3, Black-collared Barbet 1, Black-backed Puffback 1, Crimson-breasted Gonolek 2, Red-backed Shrike 9, Lesser Grey Shrike 2, Fork-tailed Drongo 3, Pied Crow 4, Rufous-naped Lark 20, Sabota Lark 1, Barn Swallow 15, Pearl-breasted Swallow 1, Greater Striped-Swallow 6, Black-fronted Bulbul 16, Green-backed Camaroptera 1, Rufous-vented Warbler 1, Cape White-eye 2, Spotted Flycatcher 9, Familiar Chat 3, Groundscraper Thrush 1, Karoo Thrush 1, Common Myna 20, Cape Glossy Starling 20, Red-winged Starling 4, Red-billed Oxpecker 12, Cape Wagtail 1, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting 2, Black-throated Canary 3, House Sparrow 6, Cape Sparrow 8, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow 3, White-browed Sparrow-weaver 2, Southern Masked-weaver 30, Blue-breasted Cordonbleu 11, Pin-tailed Whydah 2.

Groundscraper Thrush

Mammals seen; 13

African Elephant 1, Black Rhinoceros 1, White Rhinoceros 4, Giraffe 22, Impala 60, Kudu 45, Brindled Wildebeest 120, Waterbuck 3, Springbok 20, Zebra 25, Vervet Monkey 2, Hippopotamus 5, Warthog 12.

Pilanesberg National Park is administrated by the Northwest Parks Board. It has a dedicated website at this link. http://www.parksnorthwest.co.za/pilanesberg/index.html  The website includes a phone number for the park office. If I had used this number, they may have been able to forewarn me that many of the roads were closed. Would that have mattered? Would I still have gone? Of course I would have!

The park is about 2-2.5 hours drive northwest from Johannesburg. Call it 3 if you are heading out from the airport. It is close to Sun City with which it shares the volcano.

The closest entrance is at Bakubung, the southern gate (Google Earth ref; 25 20 22.75S 27 3 48.45E)

Facilities in the park include; Restaurant and gift shop at Pilanesberg Centre and Toilets at each viewing hide. There is accommodation at each of the 4 gates, but they differ greatly in standard and budget. See the link above.

Smith's Bush Squirrel

For previous posts from Pilanesberg, follow the post links below;
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/delicious-dilemma.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/do-elephants-grieve.html
http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/pilanesberg-johannesberg-jnb-south.html
http://www.redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/pilanesberg-part-1-johannesberg-south.html
http://www.redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/pilanesberg-np-part-2-johannesberg.html
http://www.redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/pilanesberg-national-park-johannesburg.html

Visit the dedicated Africa Page for more posts from Johannesburg including; Walter Sisulu Botanic Gardens, Zaagkuildrift Road and Kruger National Park

 Birding Birdwatching, Safari, Pilanesberg, Johannesburg, South Africa

Pilanesberg NP Part 2, Johannesberg, South Africa, June 2013

I am having trouble with Blogger and wonder if the original Pilanesberg post is too big. So I have cut it into two parts hoping that the text and photos can live together in harmony rather than trying to push each other off the page.

 This is Part 2.

Part 1 can be found at this link and contains the bits about the close encounter with White Rhinos and a visit to the hide at Mankwe Dam.

I had enjoyed a glorious couple of hours at the hide at Mankwe Dam before reluctantly moving on to the Pilanesberg Centre. There is a restaurant and gift shop at the old colonial building in the centre of the park. A salt lick and a small waterhole make this an attractive spot for animals to call in too. This morning the air was filled with dust from an active Wildebeeste herd.

A strong fence is designed to keep the Elephants from getting too close and damaging  the building or perhaps a diner. It makes a good perch for many birds including the Marico Flycatchers which were making the most of the flies often to be found in the proximity of Wildebeeste.

Fork-tailed Drongos and Yellow-billed Hornbills also found the cable to be a fine place to perch for a while.

Out on the short grass and dust in front of the verandah, Kalahari Scrub-robins shared space with Sabota Larks.

Red-faced Mouse-birds kept watch from a low acacia bush as Giraffes approached from the distance.

From mid-morning, the excitement slowed a little. A highlight was a bone-sucking Giraffe. Was this an attempt to increase its calcium intake *(see below)? Porcupines need a lot of calcium to produce their spines and are known to gnaw bones to get it. A second giraffe was salivating spectacularly and appeared not to be able to close its mouth. I suspected that it was also chewing a bone and was concerned that I might have to step in with the Heimlich manoeuvre at any moment.

*Nicely hedged huh? if in doubt ask, a rhetorical question that no-one knows the answer to.
After a few minutes on the internet it became clear that the answer was not as obvious as one might think. Many people went with Calcium deficiency, but a few insisted that the giraffes were in search of Phosphorus.
Giraffes need the two elements to build their unique skeleton. It is especially important for young giraffe as they grow, but there is also a daily requirement that must be fulfilled. The Calcium needs can be mostly achieved through browsing, but it is unclear where the giraffes find enough Phosphorus to maintain the required levels. Osteophagia was assumed to be the answer, until....

"Can Osteophagia provide Giraffes with Calcium and Phosphorus?" - A study by Bredin Skinner and Mitchell, 2008.

In their study, Bredin, Skinner and Mitchell assessed how much Calcium and Phosphorus could likely be obtained by sucking and ingesting bones. They concluded that the amount of minerals that may be digested into the system was negligible. So I ask the question again, "why were they sucking bones? 

A Springbok stood for pictures along the northern shore of the dam.

It is winter in South Africa at the moment, but the day still reached a respectable 20C. The nights are chilly, but the warmth of midday was enough to encourage the animals to seek a little shade and a few moments rest. I passed around the northeastern part of the park and was returning towards Mankwe Dam along the main road from Manyara Gate.

Capped Wheatear

A Black-tipped Mongoose crossed the road. Since I was introduced to the superstition in India, I have held that a mongoose sighting will bring good luck. A second mongoose a few moments later promised an exciting afternoon, if you believe that kind of thing.

I wanted to follow the winding road that passes through some likely looking kopjes; great Leopard habitat. It was still early afternoon and the chances of finding Leopards at this time of day were slim, but I was hoping that my mongooses might swing things in my favour.

I scoured the kopjes around the first two bends and was almost put off at the third when the road became very rough and I wondered if it would be passable.

 With a bit of a run-up, I made it up the slope just as the Leopard stepped off the road on the next curve. I was thrown into a quandary. Should I stop and watch, or drive closer and risk spooking it? I took a rotten shot through the windscreen as it moved across the corner and headed out of sight.

It took a cursory look over its shoulder as I caught up, then crossed a tiny patch of sunlight before melting into the bushes and rocks of the kopje.

Suddenly the road condition was unimportant and I quickly reversed. The rutted, winding road doubled back on itself and I hoped to see the cat again as it came out of the kopje on the other side. I waited quietly for ages and checked the dust in the road for prints. Nothing. I was the only car to have passed this way for about 30 minutes, so her tracks would have been obvious in the deep dust. She must have decided that it was too early to be up and settled down in the shade of the rocks for a nap.

Timing is everything. On safari as well as when you are birding a moment taken here or there can put you in the right place at the right time through no skill or knowledge on your part, just luck.

Was a Leopard worth 2 mongooses, or did I still have one to use up?

If I had not stayed for a while hoping to see the cat again I would have sailed past Sheena and her tiny baby before they came into sight over a rise. The herd of Elephants were feeding on their way to the dam. The large female with the radio collar is known as Sheena and her baby had been born just one week earlier.

It looked very confident for such a young age and played excitedly with the other calves. His mother appeared very relaxed and they nonchalantly passed my car within a tail’s swish.

While the older calves used their trunks to throw dust over their backs, the tiny one had not yet mastered control of his trunk and was unable to follow their example. Instead, he launched himself into the drift of dust at the side of the road and wriggled. That was worth his weight in mongooses.

A researcher arrived and told me the family history and pointed out various members of the herd.

The rest of the evening could not live up to the afternoon, except for watching from the Eagle’s Nest picnic site (on the hillside at Google Earth ref; 25 16 10.92S 27 7 35.85E) as the elephants continued towards the dam, meeting up with a few more as they went.

Some Zebras became very bold as the sun sank behind the hilltops in the west and the light began to fade.

It was dark by the time I reached the Bakubung Gate again at 18.00. It was only then that I realised that I had not ventured to the west of the road at all. The whole day had been to the east and I had not even covered half of the park.

Kudu

Pilanesberg

Birds seen; 78

Ostrich 1, White-faced Whistling Duck 4, Egyptian Goose 8, Spur-winged Goose 3, African Black Duck 5, Yellow-billed Duck 2, Helmeted Guineafowl 12, Crested Francolin 20, Natal Francolin 8, Little Grebe 25, White-breasted Cormorant 20, Long-tailed Cormorant 10, African Darter 4, Hamerkop 1, Grey Heron 3, Great Egret 1, Little Egret 1, Sacred Ibis 200, African Spoonbill 1, Osprey 1, African Fish-Eagle 3, Brown Snake-Eagle 1, Verreaux’s Eagle 3, Black Crake 2, Blacksmith Plover 10, Three-banded Plover 7, Black-winged Stilt 3, African Jacana 1, African Snipe 2, Red-eyed Dove 15, Ring-necked Dove 6, Laughing Dove 4, Grey Go-away-bird 35, African Palm-swift 2, Red-faced Mousebird 20, Malachite Kingfisher 2, Giant Kingfisher 1, Pied Kingfisher 7, Lilac-breasted Roller 2, Eurasian Hoopoe 1, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill 2, Black-collared Hornbill 1, Cardinal Woodpecker 1, Crimson-breasted Gonolek 2, Fork-tailed Drongo 6, Pied Crow 5, Sabota Lark 5, Pearl-breasted Swallow 5, Common Bulbul 40, Rock-loving Cisticola 2, Tawny-flanked Prinia 2, Rufous-vented Warbler 4, Arrow-marked Babbler 7, Marico Flycatcher 7, Kalahari Scrub-robin 3, Red-backed Scrub-robin 3, White-throated Robin-chat 5, White-browed Robin-chat 3, Stonechat 2, Familiar Chat 2, Capped Wheatear 1, Groundscraper Thrush 1, Kurrichane Thrush 3, Common Myna 2, Cape Glossy Starling 15, Red-billed Oxpecker 8, Cape Wagtail 6, African Pied Wagtail 1, African Pipit 1, Golden-breasted Bunting 5, Yellow-fronted Canary 25, Cape Sparrow 15, African Petronia 1,  Southern Grey-headed Sparrow 4, Village Weaver 5, Common Waxbill 20, Blue-breasted Cordonbleu 6, Green-winged Pytilia 1.

Mammals seen;

African Elephant, White Rhinoceros, Leopard, Brindled Wildebeeste, Impala, Zebra, Steenbok, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, Springbok, Black-tipped Mongoose, Baboon, Warthog, Ground Squirrel, Dassie, Reedbuck, Waterbuck, Eland, Kudu, Mountain Reedbuck.

For previous posts from Pilanesberg, follow the links below;

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2009/06/delicious-dilemma.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/do-elephants-grieve.html

http://redgannet.blogspot.com/2010/09/pilanesberg-johannesberg-jnb-south.html