In and around Urikaruus - part 4

As I mentioned in my previous post this day started well and steadily improved! Firstly I had spotted the this spider

and her web in the early morning light, then as I moved around I saw this one in a bush nearby. Do you see the curious ant possibly heading into the danger zone?

This spider, I think is a member of the sociable web spider family, or community nest spider family. This one was starting a relatively new nest I think. I had seen these nests alnode the road and in the camp and had wondered if they were still inhabited as had been unable to see any spiders in them. On top of this most of the nests I saw appeared so encrusted with dust I wondered if anything could live in there!

Then I spotted these spiders peeking out of this nest. They appeared to have a number of eggsacs too. Here is a closer crop of the photo above.

Enough of spiders .... for now! The day moves on, and we are visited by some large herds of springbok, and some wildebeest. The image below captures part of the herd only!

We counted well over 200 animals in this herd. Then I spotted a crimson-breasted shrike an image of which I posted earlier, and still I was not able to get a really nice shot of this stunning bird.

But here it is again, just because I think the colours are so amazing, even though the shot is lousy! One of the friendly familiar chats popped in too,

as did the glossy starling and of course the sparrow-weaver and family.

Then a fork-tailed drongo came by.

A group of Namaqua Sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua)  were also making regular visits to the waterhole.

Flying high and calling with their characteristic whistle. We also saw a juvenile marshall eagle and a black-breasted snake eagle. Neither of which came close enough to allow me a decent shot, but I did get pictures of both at other occasions.

Of course the ground squirrels were also doing their usual foraging around, with their portable shade umbrellas working overtime in the harsh light of the mid-morning sun

And then ...... the camp attendant came to tell us that some of the other guests had just returned from a drive and had seen some lion with a kill not far from our camp. So we got a few things together and jumped into the car. But I'll save that story for my next post!

all the best

Ivan

http://www.andersen.co.za/

In and around Urikaruus ... part 2

Relaxing on the veranda of our unit looking over the waterhole in front, wondering what might come along next, I was surprised by this tiny little fuit fly (Rhacochlaena pulchella Bezzi 1920 (Tephritidae: Adramini)) and some of its friends!

I'm not sure if it was after the sweat / salt or dry skin on my leg .... yes, that's my leg it is sitting on! But it did not seem to bite or sting, and when I zoomed in I was amazed at its colours and detail. This prompted me to start looking around for some other smaller occupants of the camp.

The next resident I discovered was this kite spider, she had built her web on the side of the kitchen unit, between it and our bedroom unit.

And what an amazing web. I tried to get a shot that would illustrate the density and complexity of this web. Theses are the best I could do.

The spider you see on the image on the top of the three above, is the black blob on the end of the sausage looking object, more or less in the middle of the image on the left (vertically) and on the left side (horizontally). The image to the right of the two lower images is a landscape crop of the left side image. If you look closely and use your imagination you can see the spider. But what I'm really trying to illustrate here is the density and complexity of her web. Other than webs of sociable spiders, which I'll post later this web has to be the most complex I've seen developed by a single spider.

Another regular visitor at this unit was the Kalahari Tree Skink. There were various members of this family around. This old chap looked rather as if he/she had survived a few wars! But none-the-less was relatively relaxed around us, and would check in every now and again to see if something interesting had been dropped for it to eat.

Then just to round off this post and the day, I spotted this little web glistening in the setting sun. I never discovered the occupant as it was quite high in a tree, and out of reach from the chalet veranda. I liked the way the sunlight picked up the strands, and I think it was possibly another kite spider.

And then to finish this post, one of the other regulars where ever we went. The yellow mongoose, put in and appearance, always alert always interested.

all the best,

Ivan

http://www.andersen.co.za/

On the move again ... Urikaruus here we come!

Urikaruus is described by the offical Sanparks website as :

- Unfenced, built on stilts, tourism assist. on duty
- No children under 12 allowed
- 1 bedroom with 2 single beds - No additional persons allowed
- Equipped kitchen - Gas fridge / freezer
- Provide own drinking water and firewood
- Barbeque facilities on deck
- Solar power for lights, gas for hot water
- Wc and shower
Urikaruus Wilderness Camp - Guests have to provide their own drinking water and firewood.


This really does not do this lovely little camp justice. Once again I'm moving ahead of myself.
We left Mata Mata around 9am in the morning. There had been an impressive rain storm the previous night, so we were interested to see what had happened on the roads and in the veld as a result.
 
As we moved out into the park it almost seemed; at first; as if the rain had just been sucked into the ground. The nice thing was that the dust had settled and when you drove along there was no real dust being created. we were sure as the day went on and it got hotter again this would soon change!
 
Our first sighting on this morning was one of our regulars, the black-backed jackal. This one was right by the roadside and I managed to get a couple of decent pictures, this one being my favourite:
 

Next was another regular, the Pale Chanting Goshawk (Melierax canorus), I was still searching for a great shot of this bird, and this nwas a little better but still not where I really wanted it.
 

Then I spotted the comedian of the Kgalagadi! This gemsbok had clearly caught its horns in something and had not managed to rid itself of the foliage.
 

And then junior! This little springbok was just exercising its running legs as we arrived. I unfortunately was not in a position to catch its first pronk, and dart. I think it could not have been more than 24hrs or so old. At a close look one can see some of the afterbirth remains on its mothers rear.
 

The light by now 10am, had become extremely harsh and bright, as you can see in the background of this images, making the lighting quite challenging. So, I am relatively pleased with the outcome of these shots, although I had to do quite a bit of post-processing.
Then we spotted a Lesser Grey Shrike (Lanius minor), a Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus), a Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) all in quick sucession.
 

 
Closely followed by a striped kingfisher (Halcyon chelicuti) with a grasshopper it had just caught, another Tawny Eagle and two Southern White-faced Owls (Ptilopsis granti).

 
Then we saw the impact of the previous night rain. The road flooded and the communal nest of some Sociable Weavers (Philetairus socius) that had gotten just too heavy with the water and fallen out of the tree.
 

The some more Eagles! Wow, we had gotten so used to NOT seeing big raptors in some of the other wilderness areas we visit on a more regular basis, that we were starting to feel quite spoiled! A Juvenile Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) and a Black-breasted Snake Eagle (Circaetus pectoralis).
 

Whew, quite a morning, and I never mentioned the usual ... herds of springbok, wildebeest, gemsbok and of course ground squirrels and some smaller birds we could not identify. All of this was in two and a half hours! Shortly after that we arrived at our next camp Urikaruus. But thats for my next post ;-)
 
all the best
Ivan
http://www.andersen.co.za/