Krugersdorp Game Reserve can be found
about 40 minutes to the west of Johannesburg. It is a large expanse of
grassland with a spring feeding lush meadows.
It has a good head of game which
is protected within its 1500 hectares (3750 acres). Most are antelope species
with Gemsbok, Impala, Springbok, Red Hartebeest, Blesbok and Eland. There are
also Zebra, Vervet Monkeys and Giraffe.
There used to be White Rhino, but I
hear that these are no longer to be found in the reserve. However, one can
still find Black Wildebeest, Connochates
Gnou, which is otherwise unlikely to be seen living naturally in the wild.
Also known as the White-tailed Wildebeest, The Black Wildebeest, was hunted for
hides and its numbers fell to around 300 by 1938. A concerted breeding effort
has brought numbers back, but their genetic pool is very shallow and their
former range in the highveld has been paved.
Most people pass them by without
knowing their story as they head for the lion enclosure. The Krugersdorp Pride
has a large enclosure in which to live, but they can be difficult to find even
in this restricted space. No wonder I can never find them when they are allowed
to roam free. This morning I was accompanied by PJ, and we missed the lions on
our first pass, so we took a turn around the meadows and returned just after
12.00.
The lions get their weekly feed on
Sunday at 12.00, so I was confident that we would see them at our second
attempt. Sure enough, they were found, surrounded by cars, at the feeding
station at the far end of their enclosure where the weekly feed had been left
for them.
The pride consisted of a large male
lion with a few females and large cubs. They did not fight as lions so often do
over food, but fed cheek to cheek until they had eaten enough, then stopped for
a drink or slunk back into the shade.
One of the interesting birds seen
here was an African Quailfinch which, according to all my field guides, takes
the latin binomial, Ortigospiza
atricollis. eBird disputed the bird last time I submitted it, but did not
put forward an alternative. Hence the picture.
There was once a rather fine aviary here which was built by putting a net across a small quarry. This has fallen into disrepair as at December 2013, but new management may try to restore it.
Birds seen;
Ostrich 2, Egyptian Goose 2, Helmeted
Guineafowl 8, White Stork 1, Black-headed Heron 1, Cattle Egret 8, Sacred Ibis
30, Hadada Ibis 4, Black-shouldered Kite 1, Blacksmith Plover 4, Crowned
Lapwing 3, Wattled Lapwing 1, Ring-necked Dove 5, African Grey Hornbill 1,
Common Fiscal 4, Rufous-naped Lark 1, Common Bulbul 10, Common Myna 2, Cape
Wagtail 2, African Pipit 3, Orange-throated Longclaw 4, Southern Masked-weaver
4, Red-billed Quelea 5, White-winged Widowbird 5, Red-collared Widowbird 1,
Long-tailed Widowbird 12, African Quailfinch 1, Pin-tailed Whydah 2.
Krugersdorp Mammals seen;
Black Wildebeest, Springbok, Zebra,
Red Hartebeest, Giraffe, Gemsbok, Blesbok, Lion, Waterbuck, Eland, Black-faced
Vervet Monkey.
Krugersdorp is open from 08.00 and charges
an entrance fee of R100. The entrance gate can be seen on the Rustenberg Rd to
the southwest of the town at Google Earth ref; 26 6 22.51S 27 43 26.5E
Krugersdorp is close enough to
include in a morning with Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens at Google Earth ref; 26 5 11.53N 27 50 40.55E. We dropped in for
lunch to find the car park overflowing. This was a Sunday lunch-time in the childrens' holidays and Nelson Mandela was laid to rest this morning. The restaurant there was not too busy
however as most people were picnicking or meandering towards the waterfall.
We actually concentrated more on lunch
than birds, but PJ did seem quite taken with “Nessi”, the young Verreaux’s
(Black) Eagle. I’ll make a birder of her yet.
Nessi is due to fly any day soon and Africam sponsor the cliff mounted monitoring system that streams live pictures to their website. Even if you are not interested in an
eagle fledging, the sound of water and frogs is very soothing to have on as
background sound.
There were still a few birds to see and
a Tawny-flanked Prinia teed itself up nicely for us.
A Karoo Thrush took advantage of the
watered gardens to probe the soft lawns for worms.
Birds seen;
Helmeted Guineafowl 6, Verreaux’s
Eagle 3, Red-eyed Dove 1, Ring-necked Dove 3, White-rumped Swift 2, African
Palm Swift 4, Speckled Mousebird 2, Southern Boubou 1, Bokmakerie 1, Common
Fiscal 1, Common Bulbul 1, Tawny-flanked Prinia 1, Karoo Thrush 1, Common Myna
4, Red-winged Starling 4, White-breasted Sunbird 1, Cape Sparrow 6, Red Bishop
1, Southern Masked-weaver 30
For previous posts from Walter Sisulu
Botanical Gardens, follow the links below;
Visit the dedicated African Page for
more from JNB, including;
Birding,bird-watching, Bird watching, Johannesburg, Safari, South Africa, Krugersdorp, Lions
That's a huge nest!
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