SANParks.org Forums

Onewithnature – thanks for the nice comments and i guess as you say we all have to go back to work at some point to pay for our passion.

Flutterby - thanks for the nice comments

Kamadejo – thanks for the bird ID – after looking through my bird books again i agree with you 100%. Regarding the first photo i also checked through my bird books before i posted and found nothing. The lion looked great considering he was on his own.

JenB - thanks for the bird ID – after looking through my bird books again i agree with you 100%.

Vgstephens – thanks and when the birds bit it is addictive. See you going in march and if i read correctly somewhere you going to be at satara 14th march – if correct do not forget to spend some time walking around camp looking for birds which is good fun. Glad to share the bird / snake sighting.

Rusky – glad you enjoying report and nice to know that the ID questions are not only helping me.

AKadwa – trust me you are not the only one who finds the birds difficult. Also thought long tail shrike i think we are correct but the tail is just shorter than i have seen before.

PenFold - thanks for the nice comments

Micetta - thanks for the nice comments. No luck yet with the UFO ID’s.

Foxy – he really looked content and i think is going to grow up to be a very confident male.

Lionspoon - thanks for the nice comments

We arrived back at camp just before 3pm after the long drive and had a light lunch. We relaxed on the patio for about 30 minutes and then headed up the H1-2 to see if would could find the lions that had been posted on the sightings board.

Lion resting







Vultures



We arrived back in camp at 6h20pm and decided on ribs and chips tonight. It was our last night of this short visit and we had been amazed at what we had seen. We decided that we would drive to the lions early in the morning and then depart for home.

We got up at 4h30am and packed the van arranged the coffee etc before getting to the gate at 5h20am. To our surprise it was open so we dropped the key and departed to see what the lions were up to. We had decided on this as it was Monday morning so it should not be busy and was far from Satara therefore we hoped for a quiet sighting. On the way up the H1-2 we had a cloud burst that was quite heavy.

Forgot to mention the reason for going to see the lion was that they had killed 2 buffalo within a few metres of the road and they had finished one but not started on the other so we knew they would still be there.

As we turned the corner about 200m from the kill the rain started to stop and as if on request the lions were making their way to the kill and there was no other vehicle in sight. We really had good luck!!

It took 15-20 minutes for the next car to arrive and it really never got hectic. We stayed with them for over an hour. It was now after 7am and as we had to depart KNP we turned around and headed back down the H1-2.

Lions Eating

I'm no expert!
I'll go with you, kesheshe. That is a juvenile bateleur.
It's got a typical bateleur look although the coloration is not quite "there" yet.
Brown snake eagles are more uniform in colour, have more slender bills, an owl like face and big orange eyes which is diagnostic.

Love the lions!!
That is proper dirt!!

JenB – thanks on the bird ID and yes the lions really got dirty between the rain and eating.

vgstephens – you are right you have different emotions at these kind of sightings. My next trip to KNP i have not decided on but booked for KTP.

Kamadejo – The lions were very successful with 2 buffalos and it was not a big pride which made it even more amazing.

Micetta – 100% correct they have no table manners – anything goes

Flutterby – the most amazing thing was we were so close that the sound as they started to eat was something else.

Fotomaljohan - thanks for the nice comments and read your trip report it is amazing. Was it KTP / RTP / Augrabies / Mokala last October for 3 weeks – what a place? I have just finalised my booking for KTP for September this year – 15 days. Just like you are too far away from KNP i am too far away from KTP.

Foxy – it was a very nice experience to have them to ourselves for a while and yes really lucky.

Fenwickh – thank you for the nice comments and it was very special to be there on that weekend.

Male Lion Eating

Lion Cubs Eating

As we were crossing the bridge we were stopped by a game viewing vehicle from one of the lodges who told us there was wild dogs on the road about 5km going on the road towards Skukuza. We headed in that direction wondering all the way whether they would still be there. We spotted them from a distance away and once again there were only 3 vehicles their which meant we could relax and have a nice sighting.

Wild Dogs



















 

Vgstephens – i guess the more we visit the luckier we get

Kamadejo – it was a great sighting. The pride had 2 males, 3 females and 3 cubs if i remember correctly and yes they were all very dirty. We were surprised by the lack of traffic as it was not that far from Skukuza – Monday morning thou so maybe that helped.

Flutterby – they started at the rear but the one male wanted to eat at the front. They really did need a bath. 7 wild dogs.

AKadwa – thanks and they were morbid but them i guess that is nature at work. Nice comment on the wild dogs.

Foxy – thanks for the nice comment.

fenwickh – thanks for the nice comment.

Lionspoon – thanks for the nice comment.

Penfold – thanks for the nice comment.

RayK – thanks for the nice comments and yes i could have done with some cooler weather from your side. It was hot during the short trip. The animals were great and relaxed which allowed for the close ups.

The dogs were nice and relaxed and then they bolted down the road straight past our vehicle flying on both sides. They chased the impala and missed. We thought that was the end of that but to our surprise they returned to the road – hunt failed. We decided to drive down the road a few hundred metres in the direction they were walking to see if we could get some front on shots. As we thought our plan had worked out they went from zero to max speed in no time and even with a high shutter speed we had no chance – we both looked at each and said where did they go!

They had gone hunting again and scattered impala into the bush one dog got within metres but the impala got lucky and reached thick push and once again the attempt failed. They once again regrouped on the road and after walking on for a short distance disappeared down a bank into a dry river bed – what a morning we were having.

Wild Dogs



















Chameleon



We eventually departed KNP at after 11am and arrived safely back in Pretoria at just after 3pm.

Thank you all for reading the TR - it was fun doing it as normal. i will now provide a list of my bird and animal sightings plus some more photo's in black / white and grayscale. Lets start with the birds:











Birds

1. African Fish Eagle
2. African Grey Hornbill
3. African Hoopoe
4. African Pied Wagtail
5. Barn Swallow
6. Bateleur Eagle
7. Blacksmith Plover
8. Black Headed Heron
9. Brown Snake Eagle
10. Burchells Courcal
11. Burchells Starling
12. Butterflies
13. Cape Glossy Starling
14. Cape Turtle Dove
15. Carmine Bee Eater
16. Cattle Egret
17. Crested Barbet
18. Crested Franklin
19. Crowned Plover
20. Double Banded Mongoose
21. Egyptian Geese
22. European Bee Eater
23. European Roller
24. European Swallows
25. Fork Tailed Dronga
26. Go Away Bird
27. Grey Heron
28. Ground Hornbill
29. Guineafowl
30. Hadeda
31. Hammerkop
32. Hooded Vulture
33. Lappet Faced Vulture
34. Laughing Dove
35. Lesser Grey Shrike
36. Lesser Stripped Swallows
37. Lilac Breasted Roller
38. Long Tailed Paradise Whydah
39. Long Tailed Shrike
40. Long Tailed Starling
41. Marabou Stork
42. Martial Eagle
43. Masked Weaver
44. Natal Franklin
45. Nightjar
46. Pied Kingfisher
47. Red Backed Shrike
48. Red Billed Hornbill
49. Red Eyed Bulbul
50. Red Eyed Dove
51. Red Oxpecker
52. Swainsons Franklin
53. Three Banded Plover
54. Yellow Billed Hornbill
55. Yellow Billed Kite
56. Wahlberg Eagle
57. Water Dikkop
58. White Backed Vulture
59. White Crowned Lapwing
60. White Faced Duck
61. White Fronted Bee Eater
62. White Winged Widow
63. Wire Tailed Sallow
64. Woodlands Kingfisher
65. Woodpecker
66. Wood Sandpiper

1. Baboon
2. Black Backed Jackal
3. Buffalo
4. Bushbuck
5. Chameleon
6. Common Reebok
7. Crocodile
8. Dung Beetle
9. Dwarf Mongoose
10. Elephant
11. Elephant Shrew
12. Giraffe
13. Green Snake
14. Ground Squirrel
15. Hippo
16. Impala
17. Lion
18. Lizards
19. Kudu
20. Millipede
21. Mountain Rheebok
22. Slender Mongoose
23. Spotted Hyena
24. Steenbok
25. Terrapin
26. Tortoise
27. Tree Squirrel
28. Vervet Monkey
29. Waterbuck
30. Warthog
31. White Rhino
32. Wild Dog
33. Wildebeest
34. Zebra