Wednesday, November 7, 2012

1206

Short break in the action.  Hell of a thunderstorm last night.  Little rain but an amazing light and sound show.  For an hour or more of continuous thunder.  Constant rumbling background punctuated by cracks and booms of nearby lightening strikes.  Seemed to keep the honey badgers away from my tent, though they did visit Albie’s and left muddy footprints everywhere.

This morning we were out the gate at about 0445.  Observed the jackal pups for a short time, waiting for the light to come, but the adults seemed to put the pups away in the den and they all took off somewhere else.  We decided to drive on and came across a large bull white rhino sleeping a short distance off the road.  Watched for a while as the light got better and better.  Finally the rhino got up, rubbed its horn on some stumps and then ambled off away from the road.  We then drove south on one of the unpaved roads.  Eventually had a nice sighting of some dwarf mongooses in nice light.  Later we found a large male leopard asleep in a tree and also found out about some lions farther down the road that were in the process of killing a buffalo.  We headed toward the lions but by the time we got there, they were deep into the brush and mostly seemed to be sleeping, under the observation of half a dozen or so vehicles.  We decided to head back to the leopard.  Popped a few frames, but determined to head back in the evening when the light would be better.  Maybe also check on the lions again.  With a large, fresh kill at hand, the lions will probably stay in the area for some time so right now we’re thinking we’ll try and get to them early tomorrow morning.

Now back.  No sign that the Little Bastards have been in either tent though they did deposit some poop on Albie’s porch, just to make a point.  Had a great brunch, tried to take a nap without success.  Took a shower and now I’m just copying cards and writing a few words.  Back on the road in a couple of hours.

It’s so beautiful here right now.  The storms brought in a high overcast.  Nice breeze and nice temperature.  The sounds of so many birds here as I write.  It’s a gentle and lovely scene.

Hopefully we’ll get some spotted cat action this evening but whatever comes along will be fine.  I don’t think I’m setting the world on fire with my shooting so far but, really, it doesn’t matter. 

Looking forward to the arrival of the girls.  Just three more days for them before they depart.

And later –

Beautiful male leopard

We did return to our male leopard up in the tree.  We watched for quite a while and then he came down to rest in the grass.  But his rest was fairly short-lived because a very large herd of buffalo began to move into the area on a collision course with the leopard.  He sat there looking annoyed until they got too close and then up the tree he went.  When the buffalo got a clear scent of him, they became agitated and surrounded the tree, rubbing on it and looking up.  Buffalo hate cats and I’m sure they would have been enraged if they had caught him somewhere down on the ground.  As it was, he could do nothing but sit up in a tree and wait for them to move on….

Buffalos run leopard up a tree