Winter Migration To MZNP

[Pumbaa]

Incredible landscape shots, PJL

[PJL]

Lovely!! And so many different landscapes.

Thanks Flutts... the landscapes really are amazing. And totally different as you look in different directions. For a small park I'm amazed how varied the landscape can seem at times

Beautiful scenery

Are there no trees in MZNP?

Well that depends what you count as a tree
There are small trees... I guess more bush-like than tall-tree, and generally quite sparse

Varied scenery!

And what a scar!

Apparently the noise from the boulder could be heard all the way over in Cradock

Couldn't agree more about the beautiful landscapes! And with some fluffy sheep cloud it's even better.
I also love when the sun breaks through an almost covered sky in the late afternoon. Awesome colours
appear in the mountains (and beyond).

Thanks Mel. I know a few photographers who seem to do it justice but they are few and far between

Incredible landscape shots, PJL

Thank you Pumbaa

[PJL]

Decent Distant Sightings

We had a number of really good sightings, with the only frustration being that they were quite far away
In fact it felt for a while that we wouldn't get to see some of the more 'interesting' animals up close... but that's another story to come

On our first evening in the park whilst driving around Rooiplaat, D spotted something moving through the grass in the distance. After working out exactly where he was talking about it became clear there were two or three animals moving around, and on closer inspection they were definitely Aardwolf

We moved along the road slightly to try and get a better view of them but they were really well hidden. These shots were about the best I could manage....






On our previous trip to the park we saw more black-backed jackal than we could count! This time however they seemed happy to take more of a distant appearance and they proved to be a lot harder to spot. This one was just sitting for a moment on the Sonnenrust trail before dashing away



Whilst on the Juriesdam trail we again had a few far-off jackal sightings. This was probably the closest where it was absorbed in hunting mode allowing us to get a bit closer




I don't really need to say much about this other than it was our only sighting of the trip for a change.... still very special to see




Roy and Nomad had been transferred from Addo to MZNP earlier in the year and so we were really keen to try and see how they were settling in. After a few days of lion drought we finally found them, but far away on a hillside with Roy's female companion. When we first saw them it was nearly the middle of the day so Nomad was flat out of view.



At then end of our afternoon drive we went back to them to see if they would move. As we arrived the lioness went for a bit of a wander - it was clear that she was one of the young girls who were born in the park a few years back.



The boys didn't seem keen to follow, but as we sat watching them we could hear roaring from another male down in the valley below them which finally pulled Nomad into view




D certainly had a bit of luck spotting Aardwolf this trip. Whilst we were cruising along the main road he piped up that there was an Aardwolf right by the road that we had driven past

Unfortunately reversing caused it to bolt fairly quickly and it was already trundling away by the time we got some pics... still - another Aardwolf is always special




The last of these distant sightings was a bird of prey that we spotted on our final morning in the park. At the time I really couldn't make out what it was. Only after checking the pics at 100% resolution did I realise that it was a martial eagle carrying some kind of snack



I have no idea how rarely or often they are seen in MZNP but my guess is that it's more on the rare side

TBC

[Richprins]

What lovely sightings, Peej!

Aardwolf again!





Interesting that the animals seem quite far away much of the time, so not too many tourists?

Makes for nice scenic shots though!

[Lisbeth]

Wow! Not one aardwolf, but two How many are there in the park?

I am happy for you that you saw tour old friends, Normad and Roy Isn't it rare that two males stay together with one female Maybe they are just three pals When I was a kid I only played with boys (climbing trees and playing cowboys and Indians)

Is that a black rhino?

A bit of a pity that such great sightings were too far away to really enjoy just looking at them, but stil

[Flutterby]

Wow, great sightings!!

[Pumbaa]

WoW and to your aardwolf sighting, PJL

plus lions as well - What incredibly exciting sightings and as always stunning shots

[Mel]

Now that was an incredibly successful day! Had you seen a cheetah on top of it,
it couldn't have gotten any better than this. Amazing! And makes me consider
even harder returning next year. It's been some time and I actually start missing
this place - and Addo

[PJL]

Now that was an incredibly successful day!

These sightings were over a few different days Mel... decided to do this TR by categories of some kind
However that second aardwolf sighting was not the only one that day

[Mel]

Ja, now that you remind me again… you said so at the beginning