Our Pilanesberg Adventures

[Flutterby]

April 2012

Yesterday morning the Brat and I left home at 4am, we fetched my dad and then were on our way to the Pilanesberg. We got to Manyane gate just after 6, but before entering the park my dad wanted to go into the camping area to try to find a friend of his that was staying over. WOW!!! I have never seen so many campers in one place before...they were packed in like sardines!! I don't know if it's always like that, or maybe because of the long weekend, but it did not look like my idea of fun!! :lol: Needless to say, we could not find my dad's friend. :roll: We left the campers to enjoy their sardine tin, paid the entrance fees, and decided to take the Dithabaneng road.

Our first sighting (which the Brat spotted) was a Secretary bird in a tree...something we have never seen before. It was very far away so apologies for the bad pick.



At the first waterhole the Brat spotted a jackal..also far away. :roll:



There were lots of LBJ's around and for once they stayed still long enough for me to get some pics. I haven't had time to check ID's yet, so any help would be appreciated.

Could these be Flycatchers?







Next was a tree full of squirrels, enjoying the morning sun...especially for Lis.



A cisticola?



Not sure what this is. :?



The Brat spotted this well-hidden coucal...he was in top spotting mode this morning!! :lol:


Malatse Dam had lots of bird activity - Spoonbills, Egyptian Geese, Reed Cormorants, but the ones that caught our eyes were these Blackheaded Herons which my dad and I had never seen before!! :P



I assume this is a juvenile.



By this time the Brat was heartily sick of looking at birds, and demanded some action, and we all know that what the Brat wants, the Brat gets.......

[Dewi]

Great sightings & photos Flutts.

The Flycatchers look like Marico - the last one a recently fledged chick.

The "Cisticola" is a White-browed Scrub-robin. Eyebrow, moustachial stripe, streaks on breast, wing bars.

I'll hazard a guess that the last one is a young Red-headed Weaver or a Canary maybe? Do you have another pic of this one?

More of this TR please.

[Flutterby]

So we left the herons and carried on. We saw quite a few impalas and wildebeest, and then my dad made the comment that there didn't seem to be too many giraffes around...2 minutes later we saw out first giraffe! :lol: I said to the Brat that we should try that again and said "There don't seem to be too many lions around." We contemplated taking the turn off to Bakgatla, but decided to stay on the Dithabaneng road, which was a good thing....traffic jam!! Everyone was peering into the bush on the left and I grabbed the binocs trying to find what they were looking at. Then the Brat shouted "Lion....right behind us!" I had been looking too far into the bush and hadn't even noticed this lion sneaking past us! :lol:





We then noticed 2 lionesses approaching the road.



They were too close for me to get a full body shot! :lol:





They crossed the road and started to walk through the long grass.







They moved back into the bush and settled down to catch some rays. The Brat was a happy chappie!! :lol:

We had arrived at the perfect moment and had the good luck to see them so close. We settled down to watch them for a while, and everyone was happy...until a Jeep Jockey arrived. He muscled his way through the traffic and then started shouting at the driver of the vehicle next to us who had just arrived and was looking at the lions. The JJ couldn't wait for these people to have a look before moving out of the way, so he squeezed between us and another vehicle and went off-road, moaning about people being selfish!! My dad and the other driver both shouted at him, pointing out that he wasn't the only one at the sighting and that he didn't have any special rights!!! By the time he got back onto the road he was right at the back of the queue and was stuck there!!! -O

[Flutterby]

There were a lot of cars...but most people were well behaved and considerate. There were one or two people out of their sun-roofs but a park official came past and read them the riot act!! :lol: We did see some interesting behaviour later on....and I wished I was a park official!! :roll:

[Flutterby]

We left the lions and headed down Korwe Link where we met up with this fellow. :D





Soon after, we found our first ellies.........a very placid fellow. 0Y



We watched them for a while and started to move off, only for my dad to stop again to chat to someone coming the other way. My dad loves to share sightings and was busy telling them where to find the lions when I happened to look behind us. The driver behind us was gesticulating madly as there was a queue behind him, and an ellie about to use someone's car as a stepping stone!!!! I yelled at my dad to drive, he put his foot down..... and stalled the engine!! Luckily he got the car started again and moved off so the frantic people behind us could get away from the ellie!! We got lots of black looks as everyone passed us, and I gave my dad a good scolding!!! :roll: Sometimes, he really is in his own little world!!! :?

During this commotion my dad had found out that lots of ellies had been seen around Twin Dams, so we headed that way, and soon found them. There were about 20 of them, of all different ages, coming towards us. I made my dad get ahead of them and made sure there were no cars behind us! :lol:



The Brat was hiding behind the seat as usual, but I eventually coaxed him to take some pics. :roll:





This teenager made much ado about nothing, which sent the Brat diving for cover again! :lol:





Big Mamma bringing up the rear.

[Flutterby]

We left the ellies and came across this smudge...know what it is? :lol:



Another LBJ I need help with. :oops:



This poor fellow had a sore leg and took a while to cross the road. :(



This mom kept her little one hidden from us. :lol:



And another one...HELP! :lol:



A handsome boy.



Coming around a corner, this sight greeted us!! 0Y



Unfortunately it was accompanied by this sight!!



The ellies all went into the water, and behind the trees and we could not get any closer to the water to getter a better view. :(

[Dewi]

Great pics again Fluts.

Love the ellies by the lake, shame someone spoiled the view for you though.

The first bird looks like a Lark maybe? Not really enought to go on.

The second one is a Pipit. I'd guess at African from what I can see in the pic, but it's a guess only. You really need to hear calls and see their behaviour to be anywhere close, and even then it's not clear cut as to which one you are looking at.

Is the smudge a Wildebeest? :lol:

[Flutterby]

We carried on and came across this Black-shouldered Kite - the closest we've ever got to one. :D





I hoped he would then fly off so I could get some pics....he obliged....and of course I wasn't ready and this was the only one I got!!! :roll: :roll:



DEWI.....I need your help again! :lol:



This very tired ellie kept us entertained for a while. :lol:



Do you see he has no tail?





Those big heads must get very heavy after a long day. :)



He rested his tusk in the fork of the tree and went to sleep!!! 8-)



The zebbies were also feeling the heat and taking a break.

This zebra used her foal as a head-rest!! :lol:



I don't think I've ever seen a zebra lying down and we wondered if this one was expecting soon? :?





This little one had us worried until it lifted its head.

[Amoli]

FB - you had good sightings...

Here is a Media pic of that Ellie when he overturned a car last year big news it was.
If I recall correctly, Indlovu knows of him, as he told me to keep a look out . :lol:

[Flutterby]

The afternoon was moving on so we started to make our way back towards Manyane.

An old favourite came to say hello.



Then my dad spotted this scurrying around in the grass...a Temminck's Courser - a first for us!!



We found two Precious Ones snoozing under a tree, but couldn't get a nice pic. We decided to head back to where the lions had been in the morning to see if they were still around. I have since found out that this group was made up of a lioness called TT, and her two sub-adult cubs. We found the spot, but no lions. We stopped and gave the area a thorough sweep with the binocs and....bingo! We found them quite far off, but they were difficult to spot without the binocs. We still had time before having to leave so decided to wait and see if they started moving around, after all they had been in the same place the whole day.



Of course, the traffic started building up again, and soon chaos reigned!! A man who was on his own drove his 4x4 off the road and parked next to a bush. He had a bazooka lens pointed at the lions, and his camera was connected to a laptop. He pointed the lions out to some other people who then parked a bit further on but still couldn't see the lions. No problem....the woman got out of the car, walked down the road and got into the car with the guy so she could see them on his laptop!!! People were out their sunroofs or windows, and doors were open so people could stand on the door ledge, so no surprise what happened next....the lions disappeared!!!! :roll: :roll: Everyone was upset that they had moved off and my dad made a point of telling a few of these idiots that if everyone had stayed in their cars, the lions might still be around!!

See you next time Mr Impi!



Our last sighting...another Precious One....but he sensibly kept his head hidden! :lol:



Till next time!!