We arrived back in South Africa early morning on the 5th after a long flight. Egypt Air are not among the best carriers in the sky. We were staying in the flat at Pebble Rock Golf Club. Rowan had been working in Durban & Pretoria so she got dropped off by her driver & we enjoyed a nice catch up & meal at the Golf Club.
Rowan, Delana & me!
We were up very early the next day as I was admitted to hospital for a minor operation to both remove my stent & to blast by laser any remaining kidney stones. The operation was a success & I was discharged later that day.
Meanwhile Delana had been packing, so we could get an early start on the 7th November to drive to Sabie Park & meet up with Rowan & Jonathan, who had flown to Skukuza direct from Johannesburg.
The next day was all about getting the house ready & groceries in. We did enjoy a late lunch at the Cattle Baron at Skukuza, where we met Rob, Cath & Julia. We hadn't seen them for around eight months, so it was good to catch up.
A family herd of Elephants on the Sabie River.
This pair of Lesser Striped Swallows were collecting
mud to make a nest.
Jonathan, Rowan & myself enjoyed a full day in the park on 9th November. It was a long hard day, but a memorable one. We drove the Salitjie Road to Lower Sabie, then on to the gravel H5 for the long haul back.
Cheetah!
Male Reedbuck
A family of Egyptian Geese
Black-winged Stilt
African Jacana
Lesser Masked Weaver
After birding both Lower Sabie Camp & Sunset Dam it was time to head for the long & winding gravel H5 road.
Hooded Vulture
Awaiting its chance!
However, we spotted three sleeping Lions by the side of the road & a little further on a Lioness sprang out of the bush & latched on to a Cape Buffalo carcass. We spent around twenty minutes at this sighting & another Lioness joined in.
The remote H5 road.
This is a part of the park that we don't cover very often as it is a long way from the house & for the most part travels through thick bush. We also called in at Mpondo Dam, which always seems to have something of interest.
Elephant
Plains Zebra
Young Spotted Hyena.
Squacco Heron
This was the end of a memorable day in Kruger. We all enjoyed some great sightings & covered a less travelled part of the park for us.
Blue Wildebeest around the house.
The 10th November was spent at home. I did some early morning birding around the house & along the fenceline.
Jonathan & Rowan.
Later that evening we had a
Large Spotted Genet visit us.
We then met up with Rob, Cath & Julia & spent the rest of the day at the picnic site. We didn't see a great deal but it was a lovely afternoon.
Kudu
Common Duiker
Steenbok
Dark Chanting Goshawk
Brown Snake Eagle
Being attacked by Fork-tailed Drongo!
Green-winged Pytilia
On the 11th November we ventured into the park again. We drove slowly down the S3 road looking for the Leopard with two cubs that we had seen around six weeks ago. Alas we drew a blank! We then continued along the S4/Diospane Road, down the Waterhole Road to Transport Dam. We returned via Stevenson Hamilton Memorial to the Golf Club where we had lunch. A male Little Bittern flew across the lake.
Nyala
Female Nyala
Female Bushbuck
Squacco Heron
Brown-hooded Kingfisher
After lunch we visited the Lake Panic Hide, where an Elephant entertained us!
Warthogs at the house.
Baboons drinking from the garden pond.
Rob, being the braii-master!
The spread!
The next day was spent around the house with me not feeling great. But on 13th we all met up at the Sabie Park Picnic Site for an extended lunch.
Martial Eagle
Pied Cuckoo
Brown-headed Parrot
Black-backed Puffback
On 14th November we again entered the park. This time driving towards Lower Sabie & traversing the savannas- open bushlands just north of there. It wasn't a great day for game viewing but we did manage to see a few birds!
White-crowned Lapwing
Wood Sandpiper
Lesser Masked Weaver
Sunset Dam was quite worthwhile as usual. Then we moved into the more open areas & the first (for this year) Palearctic migrants were seen.
European Roller
European Bee-eater
Lesser Grey Shrike
Lilac-breasted Roller
Wattled Starlings
Zitting Cisticola
Cape Buffalo
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
We came across a herd of around 300 Cape Buffalo with at least 12 Yellow-billed & 5 Red-billed Oxpeckers on them. Yellow-billed has really expanded its range southwards in recent years. Now it can be expected to be seen on herds of Buffalo in the southern portion of the park. The rest of the journey home was uneventful.
Woodland Kingfisher
African Penduline Tit
On 15th November Delana & I had a little walk around Sabie Park. We found our first Woodland Kingfisher of the year in the garden. A little later we managed to photograph a Red-chested Cuckoo, which is no mean feat! Further afield we manage to get great views of African Penduline Tit. This is an uncommon resident in Sabie Park, and always difficult to locate.
Lion
Young Spotted Hyenas
It rained throughout the night & dawn the next day was dismal. The rain was continuous but by mid-afternoon we all wanted to get out of the house & so we did a drive into the national park. Because of the heavy rain, all gravel roads had been blocked off, only the main tar roads were available. So we drove towards Pretoriuskop on the main road. We had reasonable views of a male Lion & several sightings of very wet Spotted Hyenas. They den in the culverts & of course with the heavy rain these get flooded & they come out into the open.
Lioness with two tiny cubs.
We were all up early on 17th November. We planned a big day in the park as it was Jonathan & Rowan's last full day of their holiday. It was a dismal, dreary morning with continuous rain. Game was hard to spot but we did have a great sighting of a Lioness with two tiny cubs in the river bed.
Wild Dogs trying to keep warm!
A very wet Brown-headed Parrot
Martial Eagle
Lappet-faced Vulture
We drove all the way to Satara without seeing a great deal apart from a pack of nine Wild Dogs all cuddling together to try & keep warm. After lunch we drove towards Sweni Bird Hide, which was open but the cold wind was cutting through the place & we beat a hasty retreat back to the car.
Lioness
In the river bed close to Tsokwane.
Then it was a long drive back home on the main road.
Great Spotted Cuckoo
What a contrast the morning of the 18th was! We awoke to a beautiful sunny morning. What a contrast to the last couple of days. Jonathan & Rowan packed we we went for a short drive seeing a nice Great Spotted Cuckoo. Then a long lunch at the Cattle Baron in Skukuza. Afterwards we took them to the airport for their long flight home. Always sad to see them go.
Female Bearded Woodpecker
Sterling's Wren-Warbler
Uncommon & secretive species here.
White-browed Scrub Robin
Southern Black Tit
Cape Buffalo at the fence.
It was a dull, dreary morning on 19th November, so Delana & I decided on a walk in Sabie Park. It was quite productive, the highlight being a Sterling's Wren-Warbler in full song. We also added White-browed Scrub Robin & Southern Black Tit to our 2025/26 bird photo challenge. Bearded Woodpecker was also seen well.
Leopard
Taken through the windscreen!
Striated Heron
Malachite Kingfisher
In the afternoon we met up with Stavros & Kayla (from Pearly Beach) at the Golf Club. On the way we saw a Leopard on the main tar road. After a nice lunch, we paid a brief visit to Lake Panic Bird Hide where the highlight was a Malachite Kingfisher.
On the 20th November I visited the picnic site in the morning recording a creditable 55 species including 2 Glossy Ibis flying down the river. This is quite a rare species here.
Lesser Spotted Eagle
A big tusker at our fence at dusk.
The next day we drove through the park to Hazyview, shopping for our jaunt up into northern Kruger. We recorded a Lesser Spotted Eagle along the way. This is an excellent record for this part of Kruger.
