GAME SIGHTINGS
Lion (Panthera Leo)
The lion sightings have been good in the south and in the north. Both the prides has got the cuds like we hoped for there are two cubs in the south and to in the west. The lions have been successful with hunting focusing on zebra, wildebeest and warthog. Dinokeng has got a new scar on his face but we are not sure if he got it from hunting or a fight with Tembe.
Leopard (Panthera Leo)
We have been lucky with leopard sightings around the east and even in the south on top of Jan Stammetjie. The leopards are a bit shy so the sightings are only a few minutes but they are the best of the day. There is a mother with two cubs on Jackal road but we do not see that much of her.
Buffalo (Syncerus Caffer)
The buffalo still like hanging around site 20 where they get feed every week. They have become more relaxed around the vehicles and we can sometimes get nice and close to the big herds. The lone dagga boys hanging around weaver city has move to lily dam and to burnout in the south.
Cheetah (Ancinonyx jubatus)
The cheetahs like always give us nice sightings and the two mothers has split up, the mother with sub adults has moved up to the north to caracal plains. The mother in the south has been very successful with her hunting trips by getting two springbok in one hour and on another day she got a blesbok in the afternoon and the next morning she got another springbok. Not only hunting with her speed (110km/h) but with strategy as well.
Elephant (Loxodonta Africana)
The elephants has been hanging around the Clifftop area and one male hanging around the lodge area making for good sightings at lunch. After that they went to jackal for a while and after that they moved to the top at where they have been hanging around sterkstroom pan area and around matriek straat where one of the old females has died and the lions and jackal have been feeding on her carcass.
Birds
We have been seeing a lot of bird species since the start of spring. Birds like the Secretary Bird and Blue Crane has stated to show themselves in the south and more colourful birds like the European Bee-eater, Half-collared Kingfisher, Violet-backed Starling and the African Paradise Flycatcher occur around the Sterkstroom Valley.
Around the lodge:
The elephants keep on coming nice and close to the lodge giving the guests great sightings at lunch. The weaver birds have started to build their nests again at the lodge and give us a good wakeup call in the morning.
Other interesting sightings this month
- Aardvark
- Honey badger
- African civet
- Large spotted Genet
- Spotted hyena
- Brown hyena
- Klipspringer
- Bushbuck
- Spotted eagle-owl
- Bushpig
- Rock hyrax
- Banded mongoose
- Black eagle
- Fish eagle
Till next month
Jaundre & Greg
The Clifftop Field Guides
