THE MASHATU RANGERS' DIARY

Mashatu Game Sightings February 2010

WEATHER AND VEGETATION

During this month we experienced sunny weather, and the vegetation is still looking green from the rains in January. There were isolated showers during the second week of February, but only 16mm of rain was recorded for the entire month. 

GAME SIGHTINGS DURING FEBRUARY

LEOPARDS

As always, leopard sightings were good. At night a leopard was heard vocalizing around camp on several occasions - a hoarse rasping cough that is repeated at intervals as a warning to other leopards in the area. On game drives the secretive animal was spotted in a variety of scenarios, from hunting to actually bringing down its prey (which it then dragged to the nearest big tree for safety).

LIONS

This expert stalker was observed on an afternoon game drive making use of the barest cover to close in on its prey. In stalking, the head and body were held low to the ground, eyes fixed on the intended victim as it moved towards it slowly and purposefully. Our ranger Fish and one of our repeat guests, Bruce Varley, watched with keen interest as the lioness made the final sprint to catch the Blue wildebeest by the rump - bringing it to the ground, seizing it by the throat and killing it by strangulation.

CHEETAH

Cheetah sightings have greatly improved during the month of February. This predominantly diurnal cat has peaks of activity around sunrise and sunset. During one morning game drive, a cheetah with her sub-adult cub were observed simply walking up to their prey, pausing motionlessly from time to time when the impalas showed anxiety. At roughly one hundred meters away, the impalas sensed danger and took off. The cheetah chased after a male and slapped it with its front limbs while the impala was still running, throwing it off balance. The final part of the process was rather drawn out as the young sub-adult struggled to strangle its prey. The strangulation process took place within twenty meters of one of our game viewing vehicles, and our guests had a wonderful opportunity to take some fantastic photos.       

ELEPHANT

Herds of up to 100 elephants were observed feeding along the Vlei and also along Elephant Valley on several occasions, with a lot of youngsters in the various groups. Herd sizes increased dramatically soon after the rains due to the availability of grass and browse.    
  
BIRDING

Bird watching is one of the most enjoyable activities, and is one in which most of our guests participate. Summer migrants are around in large numbers, and at the Vlei different storks can be observed as they hunt insects. Observations show that the water birds are the most viewed on many of our game drives as the Majale River has multiple pools of water spread out over its meandering course.

Mashatu is a beautiful scenic area with variety of wildlife and interesting history. If you are a bird lover this is a place to be! Sitting on the terrace in the morning overlooking the waterhole, one could enjoy different birds such as the hamerkop, guineafowl, darters, cuckoos, weavers, crested barbets (with their distinctive calling), yellow-billed hornbills (fighting for territories with the squirrels), grey herons and many more.

Take a walk through the Mopane woodland with our experienced guides and walk along the river to watch all the aquatic birds. This will allow you to get up close and personal with nature – you will undoubtedly enjoy watching black crakes, saddle-billed storks, marabou storks, and many of the other water birds. While on the nature walk go up the little kopje to the huge baobab tree where the buffalo weavers have built huge nests.