It has been another productive week here at Sabi Sabi and we have quite a lot to share with you as a result. There is the slightest of chill in the morning air at the moment delaying morning animal activities, most noticeably in the bird species. This is great from a photography point of view because it means that these animals will most likely remain perched for a longer period in which to soak up heat from the early morning sun, but this will also trigger the response in many migratory birds to head back to the places from which they came. Many birds like this European Roller may soon depart from our region to head back to the coming warmth of the northern hemisphere, but we will continue to enjoy them while we can.

General game sightings have been plentiful and most noticeably around the various dams that we have scattered across the reserve. The summer months usually bring with it huge volumes of rain, but we have yet to see any serious rainfall this season, which is somewhat concerning, but perhaps this year it will just arrive late and all will be well. Regardless, the sightings have been great and the diversity of animal species has been outstanding.

After last week’s hunting success, Nottins capitalized as we had hoped and managed to kill a second young kudu only a few days after. It was quite incredible to see the transformation in her condition after a couple of really good meals. The cub is looking incredible and is one of the most relaxed young leopards I have had the pleasure of spending time with. He is growing up really fast though, and it won’t be long before he reaches that critical age where he will be forced to emigrate from his mom’s territory.

The Fourways male lions made an appearance this week in the far eastern reaches of the reserve. There was quite a lot of activity in the days building up to their appearance in terms of vocalizations from that area, but upon seeing them, they were far from active. They spent the entire day lazing in the shade of some Marula trees, clearly exhausted from patrols the previous evening. They roused themselves slowly and continued to move into the darkness when we left them. They are looking great at the moment and seem to be pushing for place to set up territory in the area, but it won’t come easy.

Maxabeni has been fairly active on the reserve as well this week spending most of his time patrolling his territorial boundaries, but treated our guests to a bit of a show when he attempted to take down a large kudu cow that failed to spot him. Unfortunately he missed, but it was still a great spectacle to watch.

The Charleston Pride was also in attendance on the reserve again this week after having successfully killed a wildebeest in our northeastern section. They were found lazing about at one of our dams with full bellies and looking absolutely contented with life. It has been interesting to see the behavior the female has been exhibiting, having mated with the Fourways males and the Sand River males of late, but it seems clear that she is happy to be with her boys for the time being.

We were happy to have the Toulon Pack of wild dogs back with us for a short while this week and some of our guests were treated to a successful hunt on an unsuspecting impala. An amazing experience, but it can be very difficult to watch for the uninitiated. The pack seems to have established some stability in recent months with no further fatalities of the youngsters.

We have also been lucky enough to snap some images of some nocturnal birds this week, in particular a Fiery-necked Nightjar and a Spotted Eagle Owl. We do see these birds fairly regularly, but it is not always easy to get any photos of them, as they tend to be pretty shy. Nevertheless it was great to spend some time with them and sharing knowledge of their habits with our guests.

It has been another fantastic week in the bush and the predator activity seems to be on the rise so stay tuned and watch this space. There may be some great stuff on the way in next week’s blog. Until next time...