October is often seen as the month of new beginnings and in nature we see this in many ways :

 

Only a couple of days old, photo taken October 2013

 

Photograph of a Red eye turtle dove nest taken 29 Sep 2013

 

On a rainy day wet wet wet chicks about two weeks old, 20 Oct 13

 

 

 Two photos of the chicks taken 26 Oct 2013, almost too big for the nest or is the nest too small for the two of them?

 

 

Before : the dull & dry bushveld in much need of rain and food for our animals

 

...and.... one week after the rains! Although a bit slower than usual the veld has changed, new growth everywhere and animals are doing the things animals do, grazing and giving birth to their young.

Saw the second new Redhartbeest calf this morning on our way to work. And on one of our game drives the past weekend saw this Tsessebe :

 

...soon, after a gestation period of seven month,s she will give birth to a little  calf.


Still need more rain to fill all the dams but we are thankful for what we received thus far.

Ellie Heroine

Yolandi Sutherland, Game Ranger at Xombana Game Ranch worked at Madikwe Game Reserve previously and in March 2012 she had an amazing experience rescuing an elephant calf read the story here :

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Rescued-elephant-thanks-rangers-20120313#

Diere in die nuus in Beeld

May 30, 2012

Drukkie van sy slurpie

Posted by alourens under Newspaper clippings | Tags: Calf, elephant, Francois Kroon, Kalf, Madikwe natuurreservaat, olifant, Paul Slyer, Yolandi Sutherland |
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Gepubliseer / Published in Beeld 13 Maart 2012
‘n Olifantkalfie, in die Madikwe natuurreservaat in Noordwes, is van verdrinking gered danksy die optrede van 3 veldwagters. Die olifantjie van ongeveer 125Kg was in takke verstrengel in die rivier en kon nie self sy weg vind nie. Hy is uit die takke bevry en wal toe gehelp waar 2 ander veldwagters gehelp het om hom uit die water te kry. (Source :http://animalsinthenews.wordpress.com/tag/yolandi-sutherland/)

Wet & Cold but blessed

18 - 20 October 2013

....More rain, followed by more rain.....
Beautiful relaxed game drive on sunday morning whilst the drizzle of rain continued and the atmosphere enjoyed by our guests, any thoughts of being wet and cold pushed aside!

For the first time this season we heard the calls of the Piet-my-vrou announcing more rain...

then on Monday eve, 21 Oktober 2013 we were blessed with another shower and the result :

 

the dam slowly turning into a dam again!

Blessing

We had some much needed rain on 7 October, 12mm, and in a few days the veld will turn from dull into bright green. The next morning the bird song sounded so much louder, sure they too felt that blessed feeling!

Wonder when we will see the first little lambs.....

Patiently waiting for the first rains hoping that we won't wait too long as much of the veldt has been over grazed and our animals need food. Herds of animals stay close to water sources. Some animals have lost a lot of weight and we pray that they will make it through these days.