gwenz blog

gwenz wildlife weblog

2009-05-08T20:06:00.009+02:00

gwenz wildlife weblog moved to demersus.net

Bird Photography Weekly #36

2009-05-04T15:41:00.002+02:00

Soft landings

Today we drove to the bird hide at the Breebaart Polder. I also wanted to get some pix of the yellow rapeseed fields against a blue sky. Yesterday's pix didn't turn out very nice: yellow against grey. We saw lots of Barnacle geese at the bird hide. They usually leave the Netherlands around this time of year, although some do breed here now too.

From Wikipedia: 'Barnacle Geese breed mainly on the Arctic islands of the North Atlantic.

They frequently build their nests high on mountain cliffs; away from predators (primarily Arctic Foxes and Polar Bears) but also away from food. Like all geese, the goslings are not fed by the adults. Instead of bringing food to the newly hatched goslings, the goslings are brought to the ground. Unable to fly, the three day old goslings jump off the cliff and fall; their small size, feathery down, and very light weight helps to protect some of them from serious injury when they hit the rocks below, but many die from the impact'.

Maybe this is why more and more Barnacle geese stay in the Netherlands to breed ;-)

Check

for cool bird pix

Firsts

2009-05-03T19:08:00.008+02:00

I saw my first Spoonbill of the year last Saturday. It was all alone, spooning away in the waters of the Bantpolder in Friesland.

Every year the Spoonbills migrate to Schiermonnikoog to breed. They fly to the Lauwersmeer to feed.

There's a satellite tracking program so you can follow them on Google earth.

Today we drove to the 'Kiekkaste' bird hide in Nieuwe Statenzijl in Groningen, but it was grey and it started to rain, so I didn't get very good pix. Going to try again tomorrow.

November, 2008

Bird Photography Weekly #35

2009-04-29T07:29:00.004+02:00

White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
We saw this little dude on Saturday at the bird hide Sylkajút at the Lauwersmeer.

Check

for cool bird pix.

Running Wild

2009-04-29T06:20:00.002+02:00

We went for a drive on Saturday, planning on doing some birding and taking a few photos. When we arrived at the bird hide 'Sylkajut', we saw quite a large herd of Konik horses. We had never seen them up close before, the area they roam is quite large.

The Konik horse is a direct descendant of the now extinct European horse, the Tarpan. 250 Konik horses and an even larger herd of Highland cattle roam the National Park Lauwersmeer to keep the grass short and give plants, birds and insects the chance to settle. These animals are pretty wild and best watched from a respectful distance. Feeding and petting can interfere with their natural instincts.

iDentify Digitale Veldgidsen

2008-12-06T11:37:00.014+01:00

I met Fiona Barclay of BirdGuides on Twitter a little while ago. I’d seen the lovely software they sell for iPhone and iPods and I wondered if BirdGuides had any plans to publish in other languages. So I sent Fiona a Tweet asking about the iDentify Field Guide and a few weeks later I was pleasantly surprised, when she asked me to test the beta release of iDentify Europese Vogels; the Dutch version of iDentify European Birds.

Having a digital field guide is a great help to a newbie bird watcher like myself. Spotting birds in the Netherlands is a lot trickier than spotting and correctly ID-ing birds like ostrich, emu and Southern Cassowary. (Okay, the Southern Cassowary was only half wild, I ticked it in a reserve in Queensland – from a safe distance)

iDentify’s digital field guide isn’t just a great tool for newbies, the more experienced twitcher will also like the software. And not only because bird watching with your iPhone or iPod Touch makes you look ubercool. The field guide is a complete library with illustrations and bird songs.

The guide covers 515 of the species occuring in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. All the files (1493) are labelled which makes it easy to quickly look up a bird. You can select all the songs and calls individually, which really helps if you just need to hear that particular call. As you play a track, the name of the bird is mentioned. It also shows on the screen with an illustration of the bird. Most birds have more than one illustration.

The ‘Europese Vogelgids’ fits on a 256 MB MP3 player, preferably one with a colour screen that displays album art, so you can see the illustrations. (iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPhone). The Dutch version is available at www.birdguides.com/iDentify

Tiniest Tail

2008-09-02T15:09:00.002+02:00

Tiniest Tail, originally uploaded by gwendolen.

I think this must be the youngest hyena I've ever seen, too cute for words. The mother was still recovering from child birth.

The gestation period is 4 months in Crocuta crocuta. Females usually bear twins although 1 to 4 young are possible. The females give birth through their penis-like clitoris. During birth, the clitoris ruptures to allow the young to pass through. The resulting wound takes several weeks to heal. Cubs are not weaned until they are between 14 and 18 months of age. Females are capable of producing a litter every 11 to 21 months. (from Animal Diversity Web)

Great Comorant

2008-09-02T15:07:00.001+02:00

, originally uploaded by gwendolen.

Taken in Lauwersoog, the Netherlands.

Scorpion under UV light

2008-08-14T12:19:00.003+02:00

Arnoud Quanjer of the Netherlands sent this photo titled Scorpion under UV light to SANParks to be hosted on the Public Gallery of the SANParks website.

This scorpion picture made it into the finals of the BBC Wildlife Awards 2008. It was taken using a handheld UV torch and a 100mm macro lens while lying flat on the ground.

You can view more of Mr Quanjer's scorpions on his website.

African Penguins checking the surf

2008-07-06T20:19:00.001+02:00

African Penguins checking the surf, originally uploaded by giles.breton.

Penguins checking the surf at Boulders

SANParks Forums - Katy & Francolin back again - KNP 2008

2008-07-05T21:07:00.007+02:00

"Francolin was not fond of Lamb Chops that night (my choice) and so we remembered a trick (I think quite usual for South Africans , but not for us Europeans) we learned while watching Andries preparing dinner at Urikaruus.
We placed a pot on top of some coals on the ground and I stored the chops in there while Francolin prepared her steak."

SANParks Forums - Die Ietermagogs gaan Kgalagadi toe

2008-07-03T20:57:00.003+02:00

Oh well, we had a birthday to celebrate

Kevs very special birthday cake!!
Now if you’ve ever tasted Mich’s potato salad, you will know what a big treat it is. And to get potato salad specially made for you in KTP, far away from home… Well – you go figure!!
The rest of our evening was very jovial and we all got to share Kev’s salad as well as his “cake”.

There can be no better place to celebrate your birthday than the Kalahari!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEV!!

Riders in the sky..

2008-06-30T07:44:00.002+02:00

Riders in the sky.., originally uploaded by Mozambique - Moments (Away).

From the SANParks group on flickr.

Milestone

2008-06-26T10:32:00.004+02:00

Yesterday the SANParks forum reached a new milestone, when forumite Jock posted the 500.000th message on the forum.

"Spotted Bush Snake?" was not only the right answer in the Revolving Reptile Quiz, but also a memorable event for the forum community.

Euromeet 2008

2008-06-22T16:11:00.002+02:00

Dinner at Bobotie's in Cologne. Beautiful food, smooth red wine & a wonderful group of people, who all share a passion for South Africa's National Parks.

SANParks Photography Competition

2008-06-11T16:59:00.008+02:00

The winners of the SANParks annual forum amateur photography competition have been announced.

The winners in the five categories in both the Digital Compact cameras and the competition for Digital Single Lens Reflex are:

Portraits: All animals and insects-including reptiles and birds
Francoisd - Compact camera
Wild Dog Fan - DSLR

Landscapes
Muhammad - Compact camera
Katydownunder - DSLR

Animals and insects: All animals and insects
Ngwenya - Compact camera
Bucky - DSLR

Human activity
Mozambique Moments - Compact camera
Madach, Prings and Bucky - DSLR

Plants: flowers and trees
Francoisd - Compact camera
Impisi08 - DSLR

Black & white: all subjects

Wild Dog Fan - DSLR

The winning photos of the compact cameras are here. The winning photos of the DSLR don't have their own thread yet, but the winners and runners up can been seen here: Human activity, Black & white, Plants, Landscapes and Portraits

Those wondering who won the B&W CC category; it remains a well kept secret, although for the right price ...

Kgalagadi Travel Tales

2008-06-06T09:55:00.008+02:00

Two members of the SANParks Forum just came back from Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. The first thing Charlie (C. O'Dee) did, was send a series of photographs of two Pale Chanting Goshawks in mortal combat. A macaber, but very unusual sighting.

Charlie & Michele just started their trip report: Die Ietermagogs gaan Kgalagadi toe.

We were up bright and sparky the next morning and ready to tackle the last 200kms to KTP. This time the Doffmagogs travelled behind Monty. I think the Nels were worried that they may loose us on this very straight road to KTP!! Very soon we hit the last 60km stretch of road, that in the past had given us some nightmares. This time not though, the first 30km was brilliant, travelling on the newly tarred road!! Both Monty & the Desert Rose stopped briefly to allow their drivers to let down their tackies after the 30kms of new road.

Mind you, it has been quite busy in KTP these past two months. These are the most recent Travel Tales.

Dreamer & SO's, The Kgalagadi has called.. again

We heard from the couple in the car in front us that they had been on the top road for a while watching the lioness stalk a Red Hartebeest. Just before they saw the Hartebeest, they watched her tuck 2 cubs safely away in the bushes. The dust we saw was the scuffle that took place when the lioness caught the Hartebeest by its tail but the Hartebeest managed to get away. It was then that we saw her right next to us. She was out of breath and I was hyperventilating. That was the closest we have ever been to witness an attempted kill. We felt relief for the Hartbeest but really sorry for her when we discovered she had cubs also needing nourishment.

African Dream's, Returning to KTP

Today was the day for us to do some exercise in geocaching. We were very excited to find out what was there. Carefully we left the car, looking in all directions to make sure there are no wild animals nearby. As we did not see any, we walked to the location our GPS was directing us to. After a little bit of searching around, we did find what we have been looking for. And for those who read the story about Nadine – yes, she was still there!

Wanderw's, Shaken .. and Stirred!

Just returned from an interesting trip to KTP - very different from our last September trip when there was a drought. This time the grass was long, the dunes were green, the animals were enjoying the time of plenty, and the roads......... wet and wild!

Lirritma's, Father and son trip to "Green" Kalahari

After about a kilometre, we get the lion tracks again. Everyone is back on their posts to follow it slowly as it moves from side to side of the road. At stages it becomes very faint as it moves over harder parts of the road and the, after we have followed it for about ten kilometres from when we picked it up the first time, we get the king on top of a dune not to far away from the road just short of Sitszas. We stop and look at it for a while. It gets up and walks towards a bush on top of the dune and lie down behind it. He is a bit thin around the middle and must be hunting.

Nats's, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Words cannot accurately describe the striking beauty of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park….
It was not really what I expected, in fact, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I suppose it was huge rolling red dunes of sand, vast emptiness & incredible heat. What we got was just so much more.. Harsh, yes. Heat, yes. Sand, you bet. But emptiness… absolutely not.

Salva's, Salva in KTP

The dune road was beautiful as always and gave us korhaan, jackal and steenbok. And than we saw the Auob valley again. We hurried a bit to Urikaruus in order to unpack as soon as possible and to have a relaxed evening drive. We were of course also simply anxious to see this much praised camp. Well, we were impressed.

Suej's, KTP Wheat Fields

This time we took the Mata Mata road, seeing many Springbok, Meerkat (Yeah - a first for me!) Vereaux Eagle Owl (2), PCG, Kori Bustard, Black Korhaan, Swallow-tailed Bee Eaters, Drongo, White-browed Sparrow Weaver, Shaft-tailed Wydah, and a Cheetah high on the dunes near to Houmoed waterhole ! Not really good enough for good pics although we did manage a few, but the Cheetah was obviously wearing a collar.

Icurrie's, Kalahari Dreamin'

We walked back, using our UV torch in the hope of finding a scorpion or two …. no luck but the hunting was fun!!! The sky and moon was very interesting with the moon creating a large halo in the surrounding sky – unfortunately it was too dark to take a picture of this interesting phenomenon. The skies in the Kgalagadi really are amazing.

As you can see by some of the titles, the Kgalagadi is not red, but green at the moment.

Nature photographer Kirsten Frost

2008-06-04T09:47:00.004+02:00

Kirsten Frost Photography: The website of nature photographer Kirsten Frost

I met Kirsten a few years ago on the SANParks forum. He is known there as Leopardspotter, but I always called him Leopards Potter.

His photos are something to see!

What's the weather like?

2008-05-30T17:20:00.002+02:00

Travellers to the parks like Kruger and Kgalagadi often ask for weather updates. People like to know if it has rained a lot or not; sometimes roads and bridges are closed down due to heavy rainfall. At the moment communicating this information from the park to the public is either very slow or non-existant, so people sometimes strand at a closed bridge or road and have to turn back.

A few months ago, I discovered Twitter and thought it was just the tool SANParks needed. Travellers will be able to receive up-to-date info on their cell phones and others can read the info on the web. The SANParks website is hosting a survey to get an indication if people are interested. Scientific Services in Skukuza has already shown an interest in using Twitter, to send and archive data from the parks to Skukuza. Here's hoping we can get all the parks twittering about the weather.

More movie

2008-05-27T11:36:00.005+02:00

I added a SANParks' channel on Vimeo today. I am very impressed with the video quality on Vimeo. This video in HD quality is really amazing. All we need now is more breathtaking footage from the parks. Come on Kim, add one just for us. ;-)

Tubed

2008-05-23T08:10:00.001+02:00

Right, SANParks on YouTube

Murphed

2008-05-22T21:41:00.011+02:00

I'd been planning to set up a YouTube channel for SANParks for some time, however someone else had registered the sanparks alias and we were waiting for a reply from YouTube regarding claiming it.

Weeks went by without a reply, so yesterday I went ahead and set up a channel called sanparksofficials. It is moments like this that Murphy's Law just loves to pop up and LOL in your face.

Today I got word that SANParks had succesfully claimed the sanparks alias. So eh ... to those I already sent a message .. sorry. A new one with the YouTube-channel-to-stay is on its way. :-)