h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This was another outing hosted by Birdlife Polokwane. Not very many people went … there were two simultaneous other excursions, one to count Cape Parrots, and a longer outing also to the Blouberg but lasting some days. Ours was just a day visit. The Blouberg (‘Blue Mountain’) is a large mountain – actually sort of a small mountain range, reaching a height of 2 050m/6 800 ft. It is an outlier of the Soutpansberg Mountain range, but separated from it by about 20 km of lower land. The mountain rises from hot, dry savannah. The northern slopes are covered in low, dry woodland, while there are cool, moist forests on the southern slopes. There is grassland and shrubland as well. There are also a number of plants adapted to growing on steep rocky cliffs. It is the botanically most diverse region in the Limpopo province.

Unfortunately this outing was brief and we only saw a small part of the reserve. We didn’t go up into the mountains and the hills. We were also not walking around much, driving most of the time. The environment was well-developed woodland on sandy soil, with a few marshy spots and seepages, with water supporting tall riverine woodland in places, such as the so-called ‘fig forest’, which was not much of a forest and did not have as many fig trees as I expected, but it was still a nice spot. We also spotted in this spot some wonderful spotted birds – Crested Guineafowl! These pheasant-like birds are chicken-sized with black bodies, spotted in bluish white. They have curly black crests on top of their heads. The crested guineafowl is much rarer than the helmeted guineafowl, being only found in forest and dense bush in the north and northeast of South Africa. I’ve only seen them in the wild on a few previous occasions. Here we saw one perched in a tree, unusual since they are usually running about on the ground. We also heard their tinny guttural clucking calls.

Another productive but not particularly pleasant spot was the vulture restaurant. The Blouberg has tall cliffs, and on the southern face there is a breeding colony of Cape Vultures. This is the largest vulture species in South Africa, and one of the rarest, having suffered from farmers putting out poisoned carcases. It also is unusual among the vultures for nesting on cliffs, the others mostly nesting in trees. The ‘restaurant’ is a place where they throw poison-free carcases for the vultures to eat. This time there was a horse carcass as well as a deceased wildebeest, and the aroma was a bit strong. But it attracted some cape vultures, as well as some whitebacked vultures. In my photo you can see both:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/VultureRestaurant1_zps668d8544.jpg

It’s not the clearest of photos, having been taken through the glass of the hide, but in the centre of the photo you can see two cape vultures, and another one is in flight. The cape vulture is light greyish-brown in colour, while the smaller whitebacked vulture is a darker brown colour. I didn’t see squabbling between these two species. At the same site I was lucky to see a great big, black dung-beetle also flying and landing on the ground, and then scurrying about.

We could see vultures soaring around the mountain for most of the day. Unfortunately the lower northern hills blocked the view so I could not get a photo of the high parts of the main range.

We didn’t see many birds today actually. There were some special sightings, for me especially the white helmet-shrikes. These are social black and white birds with weird crests on the front of their heads and strange yellow wattles around their eyes. We also saw grey louries, terrestrial and black-eyed bulbuls, pied and crested barbets, blue waxbills, melba finches, redheaded weavers, redbilled queleas, tawnyflanked prinias, doves, oxpeckers and more.

We saw a few mammals: a Waterbuck cow, Zebras, Impalas, and bush squirrels! On the way to the reserve I also saw Blesbok, and on the way back I saw Kudus.

And just when we left the reserve we saw a hefty Tree Agama! It was out of its brilliant breeding colours, being just greyish brown, and on the ground but when it saw us it clambered into a tree. Here is what they look like in their breeding best:

http://www.h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/brunel/A87825090

I was especially interested in the plant life. As I said, we saw only a minuscule sample of that. But the woodland was impressive. There were good-sized baobabs such as this one:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Baobab1_zpsa1e5b812.jpg

This baobab had another tree growing on it! This is a small mountain fig, which usually grows on rocky hills, but here was lodged in a small fold on the lower part of the baobab’s trunk:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/FicusglumosaonBaobab_zps5f11c897.jpg

The veld also boasted lots of Nyala Trees, Xanthocercis zambesiaca. This tree can grow huge with an enormous spreading crown and a very thick trunk. Its presence here indicates there is probably a lot of subterranean water. Its fruit is beloved of many birds and wildlife. This is a young-ish specimen:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/NyalaTree1_zpse343e1f4.jpg

Here is the trunk of a much bigger one. This trunk is about two meters/yards in width:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/NyalaTree2_zps8b1057a1.jpg

Another tree that was abundant and represented by many fine specimens was the Marula:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Veld1_zpsec89bd33.jpg

And also there were some fine Tambotie trees. These have poisonous wood, and it is dangerous roasting food on a tambotie log fire:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Tambotie_zpse1099fc6.jpg

Other fine trees included Sycomore Figs, Apple Leaf, Weeping Boer-Bean, Sjambok Pod and Knob Thorn.

There were also many shrubs, with several species of Grewia present, and smaller herbs, some with pretty flowers like this Blepharis:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Blepharis1b_zps7bf66670.jpg

The flowers in turn attracted a great variety of butterflies. My camera not being very good, I couldn’t get photos apart from this lovely African Monarch:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Danauschrysippusaegyptius_zpscdc6f9ad.jpg

The people I rode with wanted to take a detour back home, going through Wylie’s Poort, the pass over the Soutpansberg mountain range. Here is the gorge photographed from the main road, with cliffs and lots of plants growing on them such as Carrot Trees, Rock Figs, and Paperbark Commiphoras:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Poort1_zps9e1a7b6b.jpg

We also saw a Black Eagle flying above the Soutpansberg.

I had a pleasant time and I think the other folks who went, also did. But to really do the region justice, I think a trip of at least two or three days is needed, getting up into the mountains and taking in both the northern and southern aspects. I do hope I get an opportunity to return!

Oh, and we also saw ostriches and giraffes.

Wow - you can see so much on a day trip. It's really amazing.

it sounds so funny, oh we also saw ostriches and giraffes

What an amazing day, on two counts all those wonderful things you saw and the company you kept. What a great start to my day too, to read all about it and look at the pics. Thank you

This time you didn't get into the mountains, but at least you know they are within your reach. You have come a long way and are going a long way.

Hi Dmitri and Peanut, glad you liked the report! I wish I saw more, actually. But I'm looking forward to many upcoming outings!

I'm glad that it is working out for you, don't forget to subscribe to your lovely entries. Vultures are very although not particularly cuddly, but they are a definite necessity in fauna rich eco-systems. It is sad that they need restaurants to avoid being poisoned though. Don't those dumb farmers realize that they aren't a threat to their LIVEstock?

Hi Elektra! The farmers don't poison the carcasses to get rid of vultures, but to get rid of jackals and other predators. The vultures are just a casualty of that.