The late floodwaters brought large numbers of animals into the area, including elephants, lechwe, giraffes, impalas, tsessebe and many more species.
The Dinare Private Reserve is named after the majestic brooding buffalo (nare in Setswana), and they moved through in their hundreds this month. Old bulls, young mothers and tottering calves left a beautiful dust haze that made for fantastic sunset photography in the late afternoon. (This is because red light waves — within the visible range of light — are scattered the least by dust and atmospheric gas molecules, creating epic sunsets).
The lions of Dinare Private Reserve
Where buffalos wandered, lions followed. One pride, led by the mighty male Sankindi, settled for much of the month to the Southeast of Mma Dinare camp and saw them regularly. Sankindi was heard throughout the night, bellowing into the darkness. Our other principal pride (T’s pride) hunted in the area where we usually conduct mokoro rides. The five males and four females that make up T’s pride have youth and strength on their side and granted guests many fabulous lion sightings!
The African wild dog pups at the den reached three months old, and all the pups are still with us. The pack left the shelter and was seen roaming throughout the reserve.
Three cheetah brothers also made a bunch of appearances. Cheetah coalitions, often made up of two to three brothers, may stay together for much of their lives and are fierce hunters when they have such strength in numbers. Their position in the predator hierarchy (quite far down) means that they often give our camps a wide berth due to the mighty lion prides we have the privilege of hosting.
Seeing spots
The leopards put on a show this month, preening and stretching wherever a tree allowed them to pose for the camera. However, this was a month of spotted hyenas who crossed our path on game drives almost daily. The clan focused on the road to the airstrip, and one female frequently had two young cubs with her. They are developing their characteristic spots marking them a month or so in age. With a female hyena typically having only two teats, hyena cubs are born ready to fight. A third sibling may commonly be forced away by the others and left to starve. Survival of the fittest can be harsh in the bush, but it does ensure that the strongest go on to support the clan.
Migrant birds arrived in steady numbers with the bee-eaters, Yellow-billed kites, and Lesser-spotted eagles amongst the new residents in the neighbourhood after their journey from Central Africa and, in some cases, as far as Northern Europe.
We watched in awe as a Hamerkop constructed a nest not far from camp. This is the avian equivalent of building a castle, and guests can be forgiven for asking if there are pterodactyls in the area. Hamerkop nests can reach over 1.5 metres wide and support the weight of a grown human. Thousands of sticks, leaves and mud go into this major construction project, and it can take over two months to build. Hamerkops often build in pairs and seem to enjoy it, often building two or three nests to create a healthy property portfolio. This often proves necessary because the brown birds are frequently forced out by owls, genets, snakes, and other species, sometimes even Leopards!
(Please note: For the safety of the animals, we do not disclose the location of either rhino or pangolin sightings. Accompanying pictures are from our Kwando Photo Library which consists of all your great photo submissions over the years, it may not be the most up to date, but we felt it was worthy of a feature alongside this month’s Sightings Report!)