Kruger & Sabie Parks.

Looking into Sabie Park.

We spent a few days running around in Pretoria & then left for Sabie Park on 25th January. The next few days were all about work: cleaning the house & doing odd-jobs around the house. When a house has been left for six months, then there is a lot to do.

Delana with the foundations for her little pool!

The new expansive door, 

which really makes the outside 

come into the house.

This is what it looks like at night.

Very cozy!

The only birding done in this time was around the garden & when I took the girls to Huntingdon I saw a Cuckoo Weaver, which is an erratic wet season visitor to these parts. It only occurs here in very good rainy seasons. 

Did a day trip into Kruger by myself on 29th January. (Delana was working remotely at home). I kept to the tar road driving to Lower Sabie Camp via Nkulhu Picnic Site & an extended stop at Sunset Dam.

Wild Dog: this pack is the biggest I have ever seen.

 I only problem with driving this route in the early morning is that one is driving into the sun, making photography very difficult. And as luck would have it I spotted a pack of 28 Wild Dogs running towards me just before the Skukuza turnoff. They were being followed by 7 Spotted Hyena. No doubt the Hyenas were waiting for them to hunt, so they could steal their kill.

Lion

There were two males & two females, 

walking down the road.

The problem of being on your own, 

when trying to take scenery photos!

European Roller

White-fronted Bee-eater

European Bee-eater

Yellow billed & Marabou Storks

at Sunset Dam

Black Heron at Lower Sabie Camp.

A bit of a rarity in Kruger.

24 White-backed Vultures.

This spot on the Sabie River, is regular for Vultures

 bathing & sunbathing mid-afternoon.

Elephants at Leeupan

Saddle-billed Stork.

Golden or Yellow-crowned Bishop.

This is an isolated breeding population 

of this species at Leeupan.

Tawny Eagle

European Roller

Didric Cuckoo

Red backed Shrike

I did a big all day trip into Kruger on 31st January. This time I went north to Tshokwane & Orpen Dam, returning through the grasslands towards Mlondozi Dam. It turned out to be an excellent choice of route, as I saw some great mammals & great birds!

Buffy Pipit

This is a localized species within Kruger.

Cheetah

This pair of brothers gave extended excellent views.

About 6 kms north of Tshokwane.

The western end of Orpen Dam.

Cape Buffalo enjoying the mud!

Saddle billed Stork

Temminck's Courser

Very lucky to come across these confiding birds.

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark

The view from Nkumbe viewpoint.

As one drives south along the tar road towards Lower Sabie, one enters the southern grassland biome, which holds some very special, but difficult to see birds. Today was my lucky day!

Not one of my best, but it is a Black Coucal!

This individual was very secretive & difficult

 to observe in the long, wet grass,

Verreaux's Eagle Owl flushed by the car.

Shelly's Francolin looking out for

 possible predators.

Lesser Grey Shrike

Common in the grasslands this time of year.

Rufous naped Lark

This was a very good day out, seeing some normally difficult species.

On 1st February we visited Lake Panic Bird Hide & had lunch at Skukuza. It was a grey, dull day with not much happening on the wildlife front. 

Striated Heron

Spotted backed Weaver

We did have exceptional close views of Striated Heron & the Spotted-backed Weaver colony was in full swing on the lake.

Delana & I were up early on 2nd February & into Kruger. We had shopping to do & decided to go through the park down the Diospane Road early on. 

Adult Great Spotted Cuckoo

Nice to see this species here,

 as it is quite rare in this part of Kruger.

We had good views of a Great Spotted Cuckoo, which is a tough bird to see in this portion of the national park. 

Wahlberg's Eagle

Normal color phase.

Pale phase.

We also had great looks at Wahlberg's Eagle & lot of general plains game. It was a very enjoyable way to get to the shops!

On 4th February we visited Skukuza & the nearby golf course & bird hide. Nothing exceptional was noted, but it was a nice trip out & the breakfast at the golf club was really excellent! The place is under new management now & they have made a lot of beneficial changes to the place. 

The Sabie River in its normal state, 

just before the rains!

Taken from the picnic site.

On the 6th I had to pick up Patsy from Skukuza Airport, so birded the rest camp beforehand racking up 62 species! She is staying  over a week with us & is a friend & colleague of Delana's. They are currently working on a project together. 

Red billed Oxpecker

The next few days were spent at home in Sabie Park. Was hoping to do some serious birding, but the weather was quite poor with lots of prolonged rain.  

Our lookout points are in danger, 

from the rising water levels.

Patsy & myself feeling a little damp!

Patsy.

Hippo

Water Thick-knee

Over the 8th & 9th February we has around 20 hours of torrential rain. It just didn't stop! We walked to the perimeter path bordering the river & saw the Sabie River had risen alarmingly during the night & was still rising! Normally dry channels were in full spate. A quick trip to the picnic site confirmed our worst fears. I reckon the water level had risen around three meters during the night! 

The view from the bridge at Kruger Gate.

Cape Buffalo

White backed Vulture

In the afternoon I drove into the park, along the Sabie River to the high water bridge to a sight that I have never seen before! The flooding was serious & all dirt roads were closed, as were portions of the main tar road (i.e. the portion that runs over the two lower water bridges, crossing both the Sand & Sabie Rivers). Managed to spot four Wild Dogs & a very wet male Lion, but because of poor light didn't take any photos. We enjoyed a nice early evening outside before the heavens opened up yet again & it was torrential rain through most of the night.

We awoke on the 10th to a very soggy Sabie Park! A quick run down to the picnic site to view the river revealed surprisingly the level of the river had gone down. However, it was still in full spate. The weather forecast is not good, with heavy rain expected until 16th February! 

The bridge across the N'waswilshake River.

In the afternoon I had a run through the park to do shopping in Hazyview. The town was quite badly affected by flooding, with tons of sand on the roads, making driving quite difficult. By the time I arrived home the river waters had risen dramatically! And it was still raining! Time to start getting worried!

Spent all day in Sabie Park on 11th February, mainly checking water levels at regular intervals & getting increasingly worried by these natural events!

Even though he was soaking wet, 

he still managed to look good!

He was very confiding.

A Tawny Eagle trying to dry out!

Spotted Hyena

Young Vervet Monkey.

We decide to do a run inside Kruger on 12th, as Patsy wanted to visit. But what a day we picked! It rained heavily all night & in the morning as we left the house the rain was torrential. All dirt roads inside the park were closed & even a couple of the tar roads were blocked off. So we were limited in where we could go. 

We did a run along the Sabie River as far as the high water bridge, then back to Skukuza. Patsy was amazed at the changes made to the camp since she last visited, when she was working there. We arrived home around mid-day to find the water levels had gone down a little & it had stopped raining! Phew!

A brief break in the weather. 

This storm hit us a few minutes later

 & the rain was once more torrential.

All day on 13th February was spent at home. A Thick billed Cuckoo called & was briefly seen. This species is always elusive! It is a rare summer visitor here, to have a chance of seeing it well one has to be here in November/December when they first arrive & are calling constantly. Weather wise it was quite a good day with the water levels dropping somewhat & only the occasional heavy shower.

It rained heavily most of the night, so dawn on 14th was a dreary affair & river level was once again high. Kruger is in flux with things constantly changing, flash floods washing out low water bridges etc. Some tourists have been evacuated & others moved to camps further north. 

It rained heavily most of the night, so went to look at the Paul Kruger Gate Bridge on the morning of 15th February to get an idea of the present water levels in the river. This topic has dominated my life in recent days!

On 16th I drove Patsy to the airport. We went in two cars & I dropped my car to Palm Motors to be looked after for the next four months! Then I had to drive to Nelspruit to pick up the ring! It was a long day driving but we enjoyed a nice evening at home overlooking the flooded Sabie River!

The next few days were all about packing & watching the river levels. It has been one of the more unusual visits here this time. Many of the things we wanted to do didn't happen because of the weather. We never even got to drive on any dirt roads in Kruger this trip! We left the house on 19th & drove to Pretoria experiencing more heavy downpours along the way! Hope to be back here at the end of June, when the conditions should be very different.