Wildlife Report. For the month of May, Two Thousand and Thirteen

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1 Singita Pamushana Lodge Malilangwe Zimbabwe Wildlife Report For the month of May, Two Thousand and Thirteen Temperature Rainfall Recorded Average minimum: 12,8 C (55,0 F) For the period: 1.4 mm Average maximum: 27,9 C (82,2 F) For the year to date: mm Minimum recorded: 10,9 C (51,6 F) Maximum recorded: 33,5 C (92,3 F) That magical fortnight has slipped by when nature's alchemist turns our trees to gold. While the surreptitious conversion took place we watched the graphic detail of an armoured cricket being smashed to smithereens by a lilac-breasted roller, we admired mauve flowers, we met a wet and wobbly newborn giraffe and watched a just-hatched sandgrouse tumble by - but most of the time I just sat in the traffic...

2 Roadblocks and traffic jams No matter where I went this month I got stuck in some sort of snarl-up - it seemed there was an obstruction around every bend. No warnings, no detours, no signs and no explanations - just gridlock. There were even random zebra crossings that appeared out of nowhere. There was nothing I could do about it, other than just sit and wait for it to pass. On a far more serious note - if time is on your side it is always a good idea to try every lens in your camera bag for a new perspective and a different technique. The herd of elephants in the road gave me a great opportunity for some creative photography. The last photograph in this series is a close-up of the big bull elephant's feet. He was blocking the road and making sure he stayed between his herd and us. I had enough time to use my 400mm lens with a 1.4 teleconverter, make sure it was stabilised on a beanbag, take the speed down to 1/80th of a second, hold the focus on his forefoot and wait for him to take a step closer, so as to capture some movement in his stride. I'm very pleased with the moody result of a swirl of shadows, a dragging trunk, gnarled toenails and the intimidating movement in his massive foot.

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5 The alchemy of nature Perhaps it has something to do with growing older, but I find myself liking Autumn more and more. I would now put it on a par with my old favourite, Spring. You have to keep a close eye on it because it sneaks up on you, and before you know it you're encircled in gold. You can see the baobabs, kirkias and others

6 getting their autumn colours. You can see the trees in the midst of a wardrobe change in this series of photographs. Snapping out of my romantic reverie, it is probably best that I'm reminded of the science behind this process... Leaves are nature's food factories. Trees take water via their roots and carbon dioxide via their leaves. They use sunlight to turn the water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose - the process we know as photosynthesis. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The chemical chlorophyll is what gives plants their green colour and helps make photosynthesis happen. As summer ends and autumn arrives, daylight hours get shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. Light regulates chlorophyll production, so as autumn days grow shorter, less chlorophyll is produced. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colours. Small amounts of these colours have been in the leaves all along but the large amount of chlorophyll in an active leaf masks its other pigments. Carotenoids are a class of mainly yellow and orange pigments found in some leaves. Carotenoid production is not dependent on light, so levels aren't diminished by shortened days. As the green chlorophyll drains away the yellow carotenoids are revealed, and we enjoy the autumn splendour that we see.

7 Armageddon A knight it may not be, but it certainly possesses shining armour. This is an armoured ground cricket (Acanthoplus armiventris), and you can see how these crickets get their common name because of the spiked shieldlike exoskeleton on the thorax. There are many of them about - more than I've seen in recent years. They lay their eggs in May in packages of 3 to 11, and the eggs hatch the following March. The eggs can lie dormant for a year if the summer rains fail, resulting in big swings in population size in different years. Other interesting facts that the book, Field Guide To Insects by Picker, Griffiths and Weaving tells me is that these crickets eat acacia leaves, stoneplants, citrus fruits and quelea chicks - and they can turn cannibalistic! It also says that only a few animals and large birds such as kori bustards eat them.

8 So, imagine my surprise when I slowed down for one to cross the road (traffic problems again) and a lilacbreasted roller (Coracias caudatus) swooped down in front of the bull bar, scooped up the cricket and flew off with it. Rollers aren't big birds - about the same size as a pigeon - and I knew that this crunchy cricket with its body of over two centimetres, spikes and long serrated legs would be an ambitious meal.

9 The roller landed in a nearby tree, and we were able to see the whole gruesome kill. The bird repeatedly smashed the cricket against the branch, with lightning speed. We heard its armour crack, ducked as bits of

10 its innards flew through the air and grimaced as its yellow haemolymph blood and entrails dripped off the branch. After about eight minutes the roller had pulverised its meal into more than a mushy mouthful, and gulped it down in a couple of swallows. What a scene to witness - especially the finer details of how the roller closes its eyes at the point of impact to protect them from flying shrapnel, as well as the how it's able to twist and flick its head with such speed while remaining otherwise still. In full bloom Taking all the time you wish to soak up a sighting is how we conduct our game drives, and it is always fascinating to take in the finer details. The rhinos are purposefully out of focus in the first shot, to concentrate on the wild foxglove (Ceratotheca triloba). Its delicate light mauve flowers are covered in very fine hairs. These foxgloves favour disturbed ground, so it s not unusual to find them in open areas where high densities of animals hooves turn the soil. The cheetah was soaking up the last light in a meadow dotted with bright purple Vernonia flowers. Vernonia is a genus of about species, and they're known for having intense purple flowers. The genus is named after English botanist, William Vernon.

11 All kinds of antelope Singita Pamushana boasts a diversity of antelope that rivals any other reserve in southern Africa. It's here that you can see eland, sable, roan antelope and hartebeest - among others. Our recent wildlife census put the population estimate for impala (Aepyceros melampus) at well over animals. You see them dotted about wherever you go. The rut has just taken place - a time when the rams vie for mating opportunities with the ewes. The rival rams fight one another and go to great lengths to protect their ewes. The first photograph shows a herd of impala ewes and a yearling ram that have been herded together in a tight group. The ewes are alert and looking about in all directions at the goings-on, rather than grazing peacefully in loose groups. The second photograph is of a bushbuck (Tragelsphus scriptus). These prefer dense cover and, although you see them regularly, they tend to dash off into the underbrush before you can photograph them. This female (only the males have horns) was at the water's edge when we drifted up on her thanks to a watercruise safari, and I managed to snap a photo of her and her chestnut rump with delicate white spot markings. Bushbuck give a very distinctive alarm call - it sounds like a very loud dog bark. If you hear this sound it's possible that you may find one of its predators in the area - such as a leopard or python. Eland (Taurotragus oryx) are enormous antelope - males can weigh up to 940 kilograms, yet they are very skittish and timid. This female (the males have a patch of dark hair on their forehead) was in a small herd out in the open, early on a chilly morning. You can see that even the oxpeckers on her back are fluffed up and huddled close by to keep warm. They are not as dependent as bushbuck on water, and tend to feed more at night when vegetation contains more water. Rather than sweating to stay cool, they allow their body temperature to rise during the day, and then unload excess heat at night.

12 Adult eland are too big for anything except lions and spotted hyenas to prey upon, but leopards, wild dogs and hyenas take their calves. A newborn giraffe Resident wildlife documentary filmmaker, Kim Wolhuter, saw this newborn giraffe calf stagger to its stilts for the first time. It was still wet, stained with afterbirth and its coat was still crinkly. You can see its little horns are there as small bumps of cartilage, unattached to the skull, and covered with skin and tufts of hair. The horns will be fully developed at age four to four-and-a-half in males and age seven in females. The cartilaginous bumps grow and begin to ossify (become bony) starting at the tip, and eventually merge with the skull. This baby would have been born after a gestation of about 457 days. Giraffes are the only ruminants to have a gestation period longer than a year. It will weigh about 100 kilograms and suckle for the first two weeks of its life. After that it will supplement its milk intake by browsing and be weaned by six to eight months. A bond exists between a mother and calf past weaning, until the birth of the next offspring. Shortly after Kim's sighting we saw a young giraffe with the most quizzical expression on its face. Its mother was browsing nearby, and this little one spent ages checking us out. Its little horns sprouted extravagant plumes of black hair adding to its adorable appeal of a long skinny body, furry muzzle, sweeping eyelashes and what we were sure was a smile! Giraffes are sexually mature after four to six years, and can live up to 20 years.

13 All a twitter This month we feature two unusual stories - one about a huge and formidable-looking vulture and the second about a tiny fluffy sandgrouse... The first was when Head Guide, Bradley Fouche', was in the Gonarezhou National Park, which is our southern neighbour. Brad came across the remains of an impala that had been killed by African wild dogs. At the scene were approximately seven lappet-faced vultures (Torgos tracheliotos), twenty white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and a pair of extremely rare Cape vultures (Gyps coprotheres), one of which was tagged. Cape vultures are listed by the IUCN as "Vulnerable", the major problems they face are poisoning, disturbance at breeding colonies and powerline electrocution. It is estimated that there are only left in the world. Thrilled with this rare sighting in Zimbabwe, Brad photographed them, took the longitude, latitude and altitude readings and sent these to the Vulture Programme and the IUCN Vulture Specialist Group in South Africa. Both these groups are doing extraordinary work to protect and conserve vulture populations, and they replied supplying the information below, which will be added to their research data. This tagged vulture was ringed and tagged on 26 November 2008 at the Blouberg Nature Reserve in Limpopo, South Africa. It was an immature bird, its sex was unknown and it was kept for rehabilitation after being grounded in a storm. This latest sighting tells us that it has moved: kilometres, is in good condition and has met up with a mate. It is so uplifting to see Cape vultures coming to Zimbabwe, especially as a pair. We were driving along when a female doublebanded sandgrouse (Pterocles bicinctus) ran across the road. (Again, we stopped for the traffic.) Immediately thereafter, tumbling along were two little objects. They were so tiny and awkward that I couldn't immediately tell what they were. They ducked beneath the blades of grass at the road's edge, and once our eyes adjusted to their camouflage we saw that they were just-hatched chicks. They were no bigger than a chicken's egg, covered in a fluffy disguise and immediately froze to avoid being detected by movement. They look nothing like the adult birds (see the photo of an

14 adult female) and we marvelled at their cryptic plumage, before leaving the little ones in peace. Two or three eggs are laid at a time and both sexes take it in turn to incubate them. They hatch after about 24 days. After a month or so the chicks have grown adult-type feathers and can fly. Another very interesting observation about sandgrouse is that the adults have specially adapted feathers on their bellies for absorbing water and retaining it. This sponge effect allows them to fly away from the water source carrying water to their chicks, allowing adults, particularly males, to hydrate their young in a nest that's far from water. The amount of water that can be carried in this way is 15 to 20 millilitres (0.5 to 0.7 fluid ounces). The chicks then sip the water from the soaked downy feathers on the adults' breasts. The past, the present and the future roots or branches nearby that could damage it. We've only recently discovered this fine example of rock art depicting a rhino - a very rare example indeed. We took a GPS reading of its location to add to the rock art archive and made sure there were no I couldn't help reflecting how our ancestors, over years ago, would have sheltered in this cave and gone to the effort of making a crushed ochre paint and animal hair paintbrush, to immortalise these great animals. The painting has faded over time, and will become invisible in years to come. I wonder if there will still be rhinos in the world when this day comes, or if they too will have disappeared. At Singita Pamushana our black and white rhino population is healthy. It is effectively protected and doing very well, but this is not the case in many other areas in Africa where they are being poached, for their horns, to the brink of extinction.

15 Full moon photography The full moon on 25 May gave rise to some lovely photo opportunities. A pair of white-backed vultures roosted in their favourite tree - I'd seen them there on consecutive mornings. The living monument baobab on the Banyini was backlit with moonshine as the first rays of sunrise rose on the eastern horizon. "Best honeymoon spot! Absolutely unreal experience! Loved everything so much. People are fantastic, animals and lodge were so impressive. We will miss this place and cannot wait to return soon. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Jessica and Rupert McCormac, South Carolina, USA By Jenny Hishin Singita Pamushana Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve Zimbabwe Thirty-first of May 2013