Endings

We sold Xombana Game Ranch and handed over to the new owners Elize & Carl Morin on 28 April 2015. We wish them success with this new endeavour.

Our new Blog posts can be found here : http://sambanelodge.blogspot.com

The name Sambane is the Zulu word for Aardvark. Xombana is the Xhosa word for Aardvark.

Our new online home : http://www.sambanelodge.co.za/wmenu.php

Please read the reason for the new tree logo on our daily blog : http://www.sambanelodge.co.za/wnewsdisp.php?id=19868

Clean the mess and wipe the dirt

"like the ostrich feather
clean the mess and wipe the dirt
as the ostrich feather can be a good feather duster "


~Champs Ulysses Cabinatan 

 

 

We had an Ostrich pair roaming our area with their seven chicks and as we enjoyed watching them and monitoring their behaviour and interaction it was also sad to see how they lost chicks. After each last sighting we sat in anticipation when sighted wondering how many chicks were still alive. Eventually there was only two chicks left and we have not seen them for approximately two weeks.

Our Nature Guide Chantell compiled interesting Ostrich feather facts, thank  you Chantell!

Feather care

Feathers are a unique characteristic shared between all bird species. Feathers are an important characteristic as feathers enable birds to fly.

Feather types

1.       Contour feathers are found on the curves of the body and give the bird its streamline shape which enables them to move through the air.

2.       Filoplumes are long, filamentous sensory feathers and are found in between the contour feathers. The filoplumes are able to detect changes in air currents which allow the bird to compensate for those changes.

3.       Rectices (or tail feathers) are used for steering and stabilising the bird while in flight.

4.       Remiges (primaries and secondaries) are the flight feathers of the wings. These feathers are also strengthened with melanin.

5.       Down feathers are found underneath all the other feathers and help to keep the bird warm.

There are various ways that birds keep their feathers in a good flying condition. The feathers also need to be kept in a good condition for insulation.

1.       Preening

The remiges and contours keep their aerodynamic shape using barbs and barbules that hold the vanes together. In flight and bad weather, the barbs of the vanes to detach from one another. This will create a disruption in the aerodynamics of the wings and body. For this reason birds must be able to re-latch the vanes by drawing them through their beaks.

While re-latching the vanes, birds will coat the feathers with preen oil. The oil is secreted from a gland that is situated just above the tail. Preen oil has various functions which include that it keeps the feathers supple; protect the feathers and skin from infestation (fungal or bacterial) and it will remove all excess fats from the feathers, helping with the waterproofing of the feathers.

Herons and Egrets which feed in murky water combine preening with the application of a powder produced by the worn out edges of the down feathers. The powder will absorb any dirt and grim that accumulated on the feathers while feeding. The combination of oil, powder and dirt will be removes by combing the feathers with the beak. After which the feathers will be coated in a preen oil.

Some areas like the head and neck are for a bird to reach. They often rely on another bird to help with the preening process. This is called allopreening. Allopreening is often seen in birds that are monogamous (a breeding pair consisting of one female and one male). This mutual preening process not only cleans the feathers in hard to reach places, but will also re-inforce the bond between the breeding individuals.

2.       Bathing

Birds like to water bathe to clean their feathers. There is however a careful balance between getting the feathers too wet that might impair flight making it difficult to get away from approaching predators. Aerial feeding birds bathe in a unique manner. Instead of sitting on the water’s edge or even in the water, they will dive down and dip into the water covering their feathers with water. Water birds flush water over their backs or dipping their head and shoulders under the water. After a good wash, they will shake their feathers dry and apply preen oil to the feathers.

3.       Shaking

Shaking is a common form of feather hygiene in which the feathers are raised from the skin surface and shaken forcefully. Shaking helps the bird get rid of any moisture remaining on the feathers after bathing or after rain. It also helps removing dust and parasites from the feathers.

4.       Sunbathing

Sunbathing is also used to dry the feathers after bathing or rain. During sunbathing the old preen oils spread over the feathers are softened which will allow parasites to start moving around. When the bird feels the movement of the parasites, they will begin to preen themselves, removing all the unwanted parasites. The UV light from the sun will also help in killing bacteria and restore the shape of the feathers.

 

Hereunder a selection of photos taken during April and May. It was such a privilege to see and capture how these parents were teaching the little one's the trade of being an adult ostrich. Dad did most of the dust bathing demonstrations.

 

 

1.       Dust bathing

This method of feather hygiene is often seen in ground birds like Helmeted Guineafowl and Francolins. They will wriggle their bodies in patches of dirt, flicking fine dust over their bodies with their wings. The dust helps with the removal of parasites and powder down excess preen oil.

2.       Anting

Anting is a poorly understood method of feather hygiene. The anting process uses ants from the Formicinae family to maintain the feathers. Birds rely on two types of anting methods: Active anting and Passive anting.

Active anting involves the bird picking the ants up and rubbing them on the feathers. In self-defence the ants will secrete formic acid onto the feathers. Passive anting will involve that the ant walk over the bird freely, secreting formic acid as they go along. The formic acid secretions will dissolve excess preen oil, and other debris on the skin and feathers. The formic acid may also acts as a pesticide that kills parasites and sooth an itchy skin during moulting.

3.       Moulting

Flying may cause damage to the feathers that cannot be repaired by the process of preening. This damage is repaired by replacing the old, worn feathers with new ones—the process of replacing the worn feathers is called moulting. Moulting may occur only once or even a few times per year depending on the species. Most birds moult at such a time that it does not interrupt flight, sometimes coinciding with the end of the breeding season when males lose their vibrant breeding plumage. Female hornbills on the other hand will moult while she is sealed in a tree cavity with her chicks. She will use her old feathers will line the nest. While she is sealed in the nesting cavity, she relies on her mate to feed her and the chicks. By the time that the chicks are ready to leave the nest, the female will have grown all her tail and flight feathers have grown back.

Sources

Emmet, M. & Pattrick, S. 2013. Game Ranger in your Backpack. All-in-one interpretive guide to the Lowveld

 

Ring Barking - Porcupine

During the Winter of 2014 we have noticed a significant increase in the porcupine activity at Xombana and Sambane and also on the neighbouring properties.

Porcuppette photographed in the den at Sambane.

The Porcupine in our area specifically target Seringa trees but we have also seen Silver Cluster Leaf trees being eaten. The bark is peeled off in order to get to the nutritious cambium layer, the reddish inner bark.

Porcupines are strict herbivores and virtually all species of trees found within a porcupine's range are eaten. During warm months, porcupines eat leaves, buds, nuts, fruit, twigs and green plants. During the winter, they chew through the outer tree bark to eat the tissue-like inner bark. They strip the trunk with their two front teeth which can sometimes kill the tree. The two large front teeth will continue to grow throughout their entire life.
Source : http://www.mspca.org/programs/wildlife-resources/species-information/about-porcupines.html

We have already noticed increased Porcupine activity at Sambane and excessive digging around the Seringa trees since 13 April 2015.

 

Interesting Facts About Porcupines

The name or word "Porcupine" comes from the French word "porc- ѐpique" (thorny pig).

Latin name of porcupine is Hystrix africaeaustralis.

The name Porcupine means ‘one who rises up in anger’.

Porcupines can belong to any of the 27 rodent species of the families Hystricidae or Erethizontidae, and all of them have the sharp spines for defending themselves.

They are prickly creatures with more than 30,000 needle-like quills on their back, sides and tail.

A male porcupine is called Boar while the female is called a Sow.

A group of porcupines are known as, wait for it……… a “prickle”!!

Porcupines do not hibernate. They prefer to live in shady places such as forests, hillsides, grasslands and deserts.

They prefer to choose a cave, tree or sand banks that are safe from predators.

Their homes are called dens.

 While searching for food they make grunting sounds and are most active during the night.

The porcupine is the prickliest of rodents, though its Latin name means "quill pig."

Porcupine species all boast a coat of needle-like quills to give predators a sharp reminder that this animal is no easy meal. Some quills, like those of Africa's crested porcupine, are nearly a foot (30 centimeters) long.

Porcupines have been known to eat insects and small lizards.

It is the largest rodent in Africa. Large for a rodent but the porcupine animal is still small compared to some African animals, weighing less than 30kg.

They live in pairs with their 1-4 offspring and keep to the same burrow. The quills of baby porcupines are soft and flexible at birth.

Porcupines are herbivores; that means that they eat plants.  In fact, porcupines eat a variety trees, shrubs and other plants.  In the winter they will eat the inner bark of trees. 

It neck and shoulders are covered with the crest of stiff hair, which are 15 -30 cm long.

One of the few known facts about porcupines is that they turn on their back and make a 'reverse-charge', in order to drive their needle-like quills into their enemy's flesh.
The porcupine shakes its tail quills to create a rattling sound as a threatening distraction to predators.

They are also capable of erecting all their quills outwards to make themselves' look larger and more intimidating.

When the porcupine sees predators such as lion, leopard or hyena it will often "freeze", in the hope that it will not be noticed.
Porcupine quills are hollow and have spines on the end that make them hard to pull out.

The legs of porcupine are short and sturdy, and each foot has five toes, all equipped with powerful claws.

The average porcupine has about 30,000 quills or specialized hairs, which it uses as a defensive weapon.
They are found mostly all over sub-Saharan Africa, even in some domestic areas.

Quills are just modified hairs made out of keratin, the same substance found in our own hair and fingernails.

The quills do not cover the underside of the porcupine. Porcupines have muscles at the base of each quill that allow them to stand up when the animal is excited or alarmed.

Like all hairs, quills do shed, and when the porcupines shake, loose quills can fly off but without deadly force!


By: Neha Shah

Source : http://www.yensa.com/facts/facts-About-porcupines.htm

The Flying Ant March 2015 Blog

One December morning we were busy with our daily tasks setting up the Kokoriba stoep for guests when we noticed a flying ant. A big flying ant, more or less the size of a wasp or a cricket.

The flying ant landed and started a very strange ritual.

 

It was walking in circles around and around and around...

and then shed its wings.

The round about continued for a couple more minutes.

 

It then started to dig a hole in the ground.

 

Moving from one digging site to another

We found the following explanations for this behaviour on the internet :

The nuptial flight is the mating flight of some insects, most notably social bees and ants. Winged sexuals are produced within the colony. When environmental conditions (such as temperature and humidity) are correct the winged sexuals from all of the colonies in a specific area emerge and start their nuptial flight.
During the flight females might mate with several males. Following mating the females land and, in the case of ants, chew off their own wings. The newly mated female then attempts to start a new colony by finding (or creating) a safe place to lay eggs. These eggs become the first workers in the colony.
Males don't live long after the nuptial flight.
The mass emergence of winged ants at the same time from different colonies has led to the colloquial name of Flying ant day.
Source : http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/nuptial-flight

The nuptial flight is seen as the first stage of the ant life cycle. The reproductive, flying alate ants i.e. princesses and drones, take to the skies to mate.

Something in the air, thought to be humidity and temperature, synchronises nation-wide flights. This allows individuals from different nests to mate.

The alates will fly away from their nest to ensure outbreeding.

Once the princesses are ready to mate, they release pheromones to attract drones. They often try to out fly the drones so that only the strongest can mate with them. Mating takes place during the flight.

Princesses usually mate with more than one drone. The sperm is stored in a ‘sperm pocket’ that should last her throughout her lifetime fertilising tens of millions of eggs.

Soon after the flight the drones die and the princess lands in preparation to find a new home.

Source : http://antark.net/ant-life/ant-life-cycle/nuptial-flight/

Little noisy hatchling

We often drive past this Wild Seringa tree and have often wondered which birdie have or will nest there. Then on Friday we saw that the nest was active..

...only after we heard that a noise came from the nest.

picture below show the secretion at the nests opening.

Some birdie inside was hungry and needed to let someone know.

 

A tiny little hatchling was looking back at us.

..still not sure what it was.... we waited

We did not have to wait for too long...

 

We noticed two adult Woodlands Kingfishers one in a tree adjacent to the Wild Seringa and another on the Eskom wire on the other side of us... each with an insect in its beak.

The little birdie was calling again, sitting, peeping and waiting

One of the adults dived down to feed their chick.

Satisfied for a minute gulping the insect

We had to leave the sighting but  were fortunate to get some pictures and hope to get back to watch that little Kingfisher leave the nest.

Halcyon senegalensis (Woodland kingfisher) 

Bosveldvisvanger [Afrikaans]; iNkotha (also applied to Little bee-eater), uNongozolo [Zulu]; Muningi (generic term for kingfisher) [Kwangali]; Tshololwana (generic term for kingfisher) [Tsonga];

 

The Woodland kingfisher is common across sub-Saharan Africa, occupying a wide variety of woodland and savanna habitats. It is quite an adaptable hunter, feeding mainly insects but also small vertebrates, such as fish, snakes and even other birds! It is an intra-African migrant, arriving in southern Africa around September-December, breeding then leaving for Central Africa around March-April.

 

It usually nests in tree cavities, either natural or excavated by barbets or woodpeckers, laying 2-4 eggs incubated by both sexes. The chicks grow rapidly, cared for by both parents, leaving the nest at about 18-24 days old. They remain dependent on their parents for about 5 more weeks after fledging, after which they usually disperse. (Source : biodiversity explorer)

Egg laying

Tok Tokkie Beetles

Tok Tokkie is the common name for all the beetles which produce a “tokking” sound when tapping their rear end on the ground. They perform this serenade in order to attract a mate. But that’s not the only special thing about Tok Tokkies.

Tok Tokkies belong to the Tenebrionid family, the darkling beetles.

Most of them do a headstand in order to obtain moisture. “Tok-tokkie” refers not to a particular genus or tribe of tenebrionids, but rather a number of flightless species that have developed a unique “tapping” method of communication between males and females.  The name “tok-tokkie” is onomatopoeic, referring to the sound these beetles make when they tap their abdomen on the ground.  In the same way that fireflies have species-specific patterns of flashes, different species of tok-tokkies tap with differing frequencies.  The beetle makes the noise by raising its abdomen and then bringing it down on the surface of the ground several times in quick succession.  Males initiate the tapping and await a response from a receptive female.  Signals are exchanged back and forth until, eventually, the two locate each other and mate.  Females lay eggs in shallow excavations in the dry, sandy soil, and the larvae that hatch feed within the soil on the roots of small plants. (Source : beetlesinthebush.wordpress) We photographed this Tok Tokkie @ Xombana laying eggs early one morning in the main boma at the restaurant The White Legged Tok-Tokkie, Dichtha incantatoris has also been sighted at Xombana and Sambane.

Wasps Master Builders

Potter wasps and mason wasps are two members of the order Hymenoptera of about 198 000 species in the world. Some wasps and bees, and all ants, are social.

Wasps habitat is diverse and varies from forest, bushveld and gardens and is strongly associated with buildings.

Females nest in :

Existing cavities such as  keyholes, open ends of piping and bamboo,

Holes in tree trunks, wood and walls

Empty cells in disused mud nests of other wasps.

 

All these wasps will defend their nests aggressively.

Tricarinodynerus guerinii is a medium sized wasp with a black head and thorax and a red abdomen with brown markings. Pale brown wings and brown legs.

Females suspend an egg from the roof of each nest cell before introducing paralyzed caterpillars.
The cells are separated by mud partitions and the entrance provided wait a characteristic curved mud turret.

Source : a Field Guide to Insects