Seen and read

Curious and humorous observations.

Growing up

In November 2014 I shared with you the finding of a “River Plate zebra” youngster.[1]

Although I walked almost daily -when in Carmelo, Uruguay- through that area, I did not see it again so I had almost forgotten it. That is why I was pleasantly surprised when this week, almost two years later, I saw a similar animal, now almost an adult and still “approachable”.

At first sight I was convinced that it was the same horse. However, comparing today’s pictures with those above (from 2014) I had some doubts as the coloration had somehow changed. Although I would be surprised that another animal such as this could exist in my town, I consulted some “experts” with who I share beach afternoons and I was assured that changes in colour do take place when the animal grows.

I did not dare to get close and ask her if she was the same I saw in 2014. I was fearing “horse bite” and -much more importantly- possible rude comments from some readers, particularly those from “down under”. So, I only managed to take new pictures of her from a prudent distance and speculate on its real identity.

Growing up has somehow changed her but it is still an eye-catching animal!

 

[1] https://bushsnobinafrica.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/almost-a-zebra/

Mutant moth – Advance

Eight months ago I published a post where I showed a picture of a moth that had the wings of different colour and I speculated that it was a kind of “alien” creature[1].

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Then I mentioned that I would follow-up the issue with the “experts” but I am afraid I did not!

However, luckily, searching for information on Southern African moths and butterflies I stumbled upon a site that deals with the kind of anomaly I came across, though in a more colourful butterfly[2]. This gave me the first indication that I was probably dealing with gyandromorphism.

In entomology, a gynandromorph is an insect that contains both male and female features that in butterflies -moths in our case- can be seen physically (in their wings) because of their sexual dimorphism.[3]

This is as far as I has been able to go for the moment but the search continues.

 

[1] https://bushsnobinafrica.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/mutant-moth/

[2] http://insectdesignsnews.blogspot.com/2010/11/charaxes-cynthia-gyandromorph.html

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynandromorphism

Cool birds

October is usually Harare’s hottest month with a maximum and minimum temperature averages of 29oC and 15oC respectively[1]. Surface water is very scarce so the garden birdbaths surprise you with their visitors.

Among the guests there are a few small birds of prey that are not “regulars” but that come sometimes: the Lizard Buzzard (Kaupifalco monogrammicus) and the Gabar goshawk (Miconisus gabar).

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The Lizard Buzzard standing in the water.

While at the water I noted that they both behaved in a similar fashion. Apart from drinking (the Gabar Goshawk also bathed), both species spent a long time (over thirty minutes two or three times a day on the days observed) standing on the water baths during the hot hours of the day, around midday.

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The Gabar Goshawk standing in the bird bath, having had a bath.

Was it a coincidence or did they find relief by the freshness of the water in their legs?

I subsequently learnt that birds lower their temperatures through a variety of different mechanisms[2]. The bare skin on their legs and feet helps them to dissipate heat. Water birds stand in the water, presumably to enhance the cooling[3]. Some birds such as vultures and storks also use urohidrosis, the habit of urinating/defecating on their bare legs to cool down by evaporative cooling.

It seems likely that both birds were using the water of the bird baths to cool down their legs and feet and in this way, as the water birds, increasing the cooling effect of their bare skin.

Interestingly, since I wrote these observations[4], two more birds of prey had come and both species had stood with their feet in the water: an African cuckoo hawk, (Aviceda cuculoides) and what I believe to be an African Marsh Owl (Asio capensis)[5].

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The more recent observation of the African Cuckoo Hawk (landing on the water) and the African March Owl below. These  4 pictures were taken with a Camera trap.

[1] World Weather Online 2016. Harare Monthly Climate Average, Zimbabwe. Accessed on 10/10/2016. http://www.worldweatheronline.com/harare-weatheraverages/mashonaland-east/zw.aspx

[2] Mayntz, M 2016. How Do Wild Birds Keep Cool in Summer? Accessed on 10/10/2016. http://birding.about.com/od/birdingbasics/a/howbirdskeepcool.htm

[3] Shriner, J 2012. 15 Unusual Ways Some Birds Beat the Heat. Accessed on 10/10/2016. http://www.birdinginformation.com/15-unusualways-some-birds-beat-the-heat/

[4] de Castro J. (2016). Feet bathing as a cooling down mechanism in two species of birds of prey. Biodiversity Observations 7.77: 1–2. URL: http://bo.adu.org.za/content.php?id=270. Published online: 22 October 2016

[5] Identification to be confirmed as the pictures of the owl have been taken with a camera trap late at night.

Duck tenderness

The distance between Carmelo in Uruguay and Salta in Argentina is about 1800 km by road so we usually divided the trip in three legs of roughly 600km each as to avoid driving too much in a day. The first stop is usually Curuzú Cuatiá in the province of Corrientes that we reach after crossing the border and a rather monotonous drive.

The second day takes us through a nice area known as the Iberá wetlands where bird life makes the trip very entertaining and interesting. Our second stop is found about 200 km towards the north-west, after crossing the mighty Paraná River in Presidencia Roque Sanz Peña, the second largest city of the Chaco Province. The main attraction of the city are its thermal waters but it also has a rather hidden treasure: a zoo of native animals. As the latter are difficult to see in the wild, the zoo helps preparing the observer for real life!

During one of the stop-overs we needed to kill time for a hotel room to be ready so we decided to defy the intense heat and spend some time at the zoo! We only learnt on arrival that mosquitoes were also on display and in large numbers! Luckily we had a strong repellent[1] otherwise the tour would have been abandoned!

Towards the end of the visit we walked passed a pond that was home to several duck species including domestic ducks. While watching the pond, we saw a few wild ducks known as sirirí cariblanco or white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata), one of the handful of species that occurs both in South America and Africa, just like us! While making a comment about its world distribution we noticed one that had a “relationship” with a domestic duck.

As this was unusual, we watched as the whistling duck approached the much larger “friend” and placed its beak and part of its head behind the neck of the larger duck!

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The careful approach.

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Getting in place.

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Smugly in place.

At first we thought that it was looking for something there but it just kept its head there without moving for the whole time we were there and it was still in that position when we left them! The domestic duck, clearly used to this “treatment” did not move and accepted the wild duck indifferently!

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Closing the eyes!

 

 

[1] Repellents in South America can make the difference between misery and enjoyment and you need strong stuff to survive the various biting insects that wait for you there!

Horn-borer moths

One of the advantages of being a “safari veteran” apart from a bushsnob is that I am now able to enjoy what I found, even the small things that were overlooked while seeking large game. The years of long game drives and walks, some of them starting very early and with freezing temperatures, are a thing of the past. Apart from seeing a pangolin in the wild, I have few wishes left about finding new beasts.

At Ngweshla Picnic site, Hwange National Park, you are allowed to camp and have the site for yourself from 18:00 to 06:00. During the day you share it with picnic site users but there is still plenty of room for everybody. Although rather unique, this is a good arrangement as most of the day you are game-watching away from the site and the camp attendants keep the camp tidy and the toilets sparkling at all times!

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The site has seen better days and, as a consequence, it has a rather “porous” fence that would, if the animals wished, allow them to mingle with the campers, a rare occurrence though. The site entrance has been “decorated” with many animal bones. Although it is debatable whether these are suitable for the purpose, I find the skulls, useful to explain various issues regarding wild animals to our visitors.

The more recent antelope and buffalo skulls on display still had their horns and, as it is common if Africa, most showed little brown tubes protruding from them. I had seen this phenomenon many times before but I never followed its origin in detail. A short search educated me that the Horn-borer moths (Ceratophaga vastella) were responsible.

The larva of this moth, related to the one that upsets us by eating our woolies, are able to digest keratin and, although there are reports of them entering the horns of live animals, it is generally accepted that they only penetrate the horns post-mortem.

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A nice and “mothless” Greater kudu bull.

The protuberances on the horns are the cases of the larvae that the latter built using their own faeces. The cases protect the soft insects from predators and the climate until they pupate and emerge as adults to fly away and colonize new horns.

Ceratophaga vastella, known as a detritivore[1], is widespread in the Afro-tropic ecozone[2]. Thus far there are 16 described species in the genus, with 12 found in Africa. The larvae are cream-coloured and bulky, with a brown head and tip of abdomen. The adult moth is a typical tineid[3], having a conspicuous tuft of yellow hair on the head.

Whenever an animal dies or is killed it will eventually be consumed by the killers and/or depredators including various mammals such as hyenas and jackals, birds such as vultures and others, fly maggots and ants until only bones, horns and hooves are left. The horn-borer moths are one of the last participants turning the carcasses to dust.

 

[1]An organism that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, returning essential nutrients to the ecosystem.

[2] One of Earth’s eight ecozones. It includes Africa south of the Sahara, the southern and eastern fringes of the Arabian Peninsula, Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean.

[3] Moths of the Tineidae family, also known as fungus moths includes more than 3,000 species, unusual among Lepidoptera as most feed on fungi, lichens, and detritus. Apart from the clothes moths, which have adapted to feeding on stored fabrics, others feed on carpets and the feathers in bird nests. 

 

A second sun?

“What on earth is that?” I asked while driving towards Upington on our way to the Augrabies Falls last September. My wife and copilot to who the question was directed could not understand what we were seeing either!

Somewhere in the horizon, well above the city’s buildings, there was a very bright source of white light. From a very long distance, it looked like the reflection of the sun on one of the new glass-covered sky scrappers that are found in places such as Dubai or Singapore. But in Upington? It could not be.

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The first sighting of the light.

Getting closer it became clear that the light was coming from a rather tall structure as it really dominated the landscape as a second (white) sun! As we drove past Upington towards the falls, the light remained to our starboard for about 40 km until we no longer saw it.

While we drove we discussed the “phenomenon”. The first theory involved visitors from another galaxy. We have watched District 9[1] and we knew that this had taken place in South Africa but in another city. Additionally, UFOs are not normally stationary for long and they tend to move at amazing speed doing weird things in the sky. So, unless it was an extraterrestrial contraption that had unlikely just crash-landed, the object should be terrestrial.

At some point we drove closer and we were able to see more details. It was a humongous tower that, from its top, emitted a very strong white light like a gigantic white LED. We realized that it was something to do with electricity generation from sunlight and a quick WhatsApp (with pictures) consultation with our offspring in Europe confirmed that theory.

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A view of the tower and surrounding structures.

The tower came back to life during our return to Upington, after enjoying the visit to the Augrabies falls. Now ready to find more information, we paid attention to all roads going in its direction and eventually found one with a large signpost that said “Solar One”. We confirmed our suspicions that this was a large energy project.

A close up of the top of the tower. The sun rays are focused on the “windows” where they heat up the steam.

That night, while in Upington, I was able to Google it and, what I read was rather remarkable.

The full name of the contraption is Khi Solar One (KSO) and it is a solar thermal power plant capable of producing 50 megawatts of electricity. It is the first solar tower plant in Africa and the first to achieve 24 hours of operation with solar energy only. Not that there are many in the world anyway! In fact, there are about twelve towers (1 in South Africa, 1 in Turkey 3 in USA, 3 in Spain, 1 in India, 1 in Germany and 2 in China).[2]

The KSO solar field is made of more than four thousand heliostats[3], totaling up to 576,800 m2 of mirror surface placed on an area of 140 hectares. In this case, the mirrors focus the sun rays on a boiler located on top of the cement tower. The latter is over 200m high! The KSO uses a superheated steam cycle that is able to reach a maximum operating temperature of 530°C and the energy can be concentrated as much as 1,500 times that of the energy coming in from the sun!

The steam generated is then converted into mechanical energy in a turbine, which powers a generator to produce electricity. The plant is able to accumulate steam to provide up to two hours of thermal storage at the plant. Apparently, power towers must be large to be economical. This clearly explains its size!

The project was developed by Abengoa from Spain and financed by the Industrial Development Corporation and community group, Khi Community Trust. According to Abengoa, the 50 MW, steam-driven solar thermal plant which recently began commercial operation in early February 2016, supplies enough clean energy to power around 45,000 South African households.[4]

Of note is that Abengoa has been going through tough financial times recently and KSO is one of its assets that it may need to sell if a planned company restructure does not work.

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_9

[2] From Wikipedia (no date). List of solar thermal power stations. Accessed on 19 October 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_thermal_power_stations

[3] A mirror that follows the sun in order to reflect sunlight toward a target.

[4] Energyblog (2016). Khi Solar One near Upington achieves a technological milestone. Written by Abengoa on 19 October 2016 and accessed on the same date. http://energy.org.za/news/khi-solar-one-near-upington-achieves-a-technological-milestone

 

Baobab myth?

I am sure that we all agree that baobabs (Adansonia digitata) are special trees. To see these true behemoths of the vegetal world in the African bush is always visually attractive and these trees have an important contribution to human as well as animal food security.

A large number of “famous” baobabs are scattered throughout Africa and Walker (2013)[1] has done a great job documenting forty special baobabs in Southern Africa while writing about his life devoted to conservation.

I have always regarded them as primeval trees that would take hundreds if not thousands of years to reach their monumental sizes. That is why what I saw after crossing the border from Botswana into South Africa shook the foundations of my baobab world…

This year we decided to do our annual trip to South Africa through Botswana for two main reasons: to avoid the normally chaotic border post at Beitbridge and to see more of Botswana. After spending the night in Palapye we crossed the border at Martin’s Drift and, after the event, we congratulated ourselves for the choice as, dealing with the border, only took a few minutes!

Still enjoying the “high” that an easy border crossing gives you we came across a farmstead with an access road lined by trees! Well, you would be thinking that the border crossing really affected my mind as most farms have such an entrance! Not so. The trees were fully grown baobabs! In addition, the land surrounding the farmhouse was also littered with the giants!

 

The trees I saw were not baby baobabs, not even teenagers! They belonged to my “adult baobab” category that includes trees that are hundreds or even thousands years old. Did early settlers plant the trees? Considering that the first Europeans arrived in the Limpopo Province (then the Transvaal) in 1836 via the Great Trek this could be possible. However, I believe that the trekkers had other more pressing activities than planting baobabs! This is confirmed by the finding of the first gold fields in the Transvaal fifty years later.

It was also unlikely that the trees, like the famous Morondava’s Avenue of the Baobabs in Madagascar were the remnants of a far greater baobab forest which existed in the past and not planted on purpose to grow as an avenue.

So, the mystery of the Limpopo baobab avenue remained in my mind throughout the journey through South Africa. It was only when back in Harare that I found time to Google the name of the farm and learnt that it is a hunting company[2]. Keen on finding out the origin of the trees I sent them an e-mail but I did not get a reply. I continued searching.

While looking up the issue, I remembered that a good Italian friend had bought really ancient olive trees that were moved from Southern Italy to his farm near Rome where they were planted! Apparently a trench is dug around the tree to uproot it, one side every year, then it gets pruned and, in about 4 years, it is ready to be “transplanted”. Could something like that be done with baobabs? The answer is yes!

There are 380 transplanted baobabs at the Lost City forest at Sun City, the heaviest weighed 75 tons at the time of the move! De Beers Venetia mine has relocated 110 baobabs to avoid them being damaged by its mining activities and, more recently, a large baobab in Musina, South Africa was moved from the new Musina Mall parking area and placed in a roundabout a few hundred metres away[3].

So, in the absence of a response from Choronga Safaris we can only say that there is a farm in the Limpopo Province of South Africa with an amazing baobab-lined entrance that, regardless of their origin is amazing but that we suspect that the trees were placed there rather recently.

I nearly fainted when, after this baobab revelation, I went out to have a look at the one I planted two years ago in a strategic place of the garden. There it was, about 60cm tall and starting to sprout. Although healthy, its growth is almost imperceptible and it still looks like a bonsai!

Seeing my pathetic project, I was tempted by a transplantation and a few baobab candidates I know came to mind! However, I abandoned the idea as it felt like cheating! I have planted the baobab for future members of the family to enjoy it and I will stick to this idea.

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My “bonsai” baobab in Harare. The ruler is 30 cm long.

Well, to tell you the truth, the possible cost of a transplant really persuaded me not to do it so I will increase the amount of water it gets although I do not think that this will accelerate its growth. The only certainty is that I will not be able to drink tea under its shade.

 

[1] Walker, C. (2013). Baobab Trails. An Artist’s Journey of Wilderness and Wanderings. Ultra Litho (Pty) Ltd., Johannesburg. 287p.

[2] Choronga Safaris. Accessed on 7 October 2016. http://www.chorongasafaris.com/

[3] De Beers (2016). Moving story of a giant baobab tree. Accessed on 21 October 2016. https://www.debeersgroup.com/en/building-forever/our-stories/moving-story-of-a-giant-baobab-tree.html

Environment panacea?

While in Kruger National Park we stopped at the Nkhulu picnic site in the Southern part of the park to have a break and stretch our legs. The place is adjacent to a small river that was still having some water. This fact made the place attractive for birds and mammals alike.

As soon as we walked in we noticed great excitement as people were congregated by the river edge watching the opposite margin. We soon discovered the reason for such a hoo-ha: a pair of leopards were having a stroll! We postponed our coffee for a while and watched the magnificent animals until they moved off into the thicket. Now, that is an arrival!

We did have our coffee among the excitement that gradually faded but that was somehow renewed every time we were raided by the baboons that were also numerous in the site and a pest throughout the park nowadays. After a while of fending off monkeys and with the image of the leopards still in our minds, it was time to resume our drive so we returned to the car park. Another surprise awaited us.

A car offering “Environmental Remediation” was parked near ours. My first thought was that the Park authorities had already sought a solution to prevent the future problems that the Park would face because of the drought. The knowledge that such an alternative existed made me also forget my concerns about the future of the world while realizing that I had been wrong all along!

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Regrettably and almost immediately my common sense brought me down to earth on that to clean up the latter we need more than that! As I have seen septic tank-emptying tankers labeled under some weird names such as “Honey sucker” I thought that it was probably another one. In any case, I soon forgot about the unusual find!

Once at home, I Googled the company and, to set the record straight, they define their activities as: “… a specialist environmental contracting service, providing assistance to consultants and industry in the monitoring, management and remediation of contaminated land and water throughout the African Continent.”[1]

So, they would not be able to solve the earth’s environmental degradation but I am sure that they provide useful services in their field.

 

[1] See: http://www.georem.co.za/index.html

 

Animals on the runway

On 16 August 2016, the El Sauce International airport in the top beach resort of Punta del Este, Uruguay stopped functioning for a few hours. The stoppage was not caused by a strike of air controllers, airline crews or baggage handlers. Although cold for going to the beach, the weather was clear and the visibility was excellent.

Taking advantage of the nice day a dairy cow had squeezed through a breach in the airport’s perimeter fence and decided to have a different grass variety for lunch. Her feeding activity near the 01-26 runway was immediately detected by the control tower that initiated the relevant emergency protocol.

This resulted in the closure of the airport. Messages for flight cancellations/delays were sent to all airports from where flights to El Sauce airport would depart. Aerolíneas Argentinas flight AR 2346 departing for Buenos Aires was also cancelled and the passengers travelled by taxi and airline bus to Montevideo for a rescheduled flight. Meanwhile, oblivious to the chaos it created, the cow continued grazing happily!

Part of the emergency protocol included the capture of the intruder and, although Army personnel were quickly mobilized, they were not immediately successful and at some stage the tension escalated when the cow disappeared from sight! Eventually the cow, belonging to the Army’s herd located at the nearby military base, was captured and returned to its lair. The all clear was given and the airport was reopened[1].

Luckily this did not take place at a busy airport and the disturbance did not cost as much as when a family of monitor lizards, jackals and raptors entered the New Delhi international airport’s secondary runway and remained there for one hour before being evicted by an animal rescue team. The incident forced the closure of the airport and approximately 100 flights were delayed at a cost of several USD million[2].

I can just imagine passenger losing connections in other airports and trying to get compensation mentioning that monitor lizards delayed their flights!

Keekorok lodge in the Maasai Mara game reserve seen from the air.
View of the Mara River before landing at Kichwa Tembo camp in the 80s.
Lines of wildebeest in the Maasai Mara game reserve.
One of our “bush flights” to Intona ranch in the Transmara.

Obviously, when flying to tourist destinations in Africa, wild animals on the runway are an expected occurrence. The pilots, almost invariably, do a first low fly over to scare intruders and only land the aircraft when they see that the landing strip is clear, at least for the time. It is common to see the animals coming back to graze on the runway a few minutes after the disturbance is over!

Bush “airports” do not close due to stray animals on the runway, the latter are part of its “personnel”!

 

[1] http://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/vaca-le-complico-dia-aeropuerto-laguna-sauce.html and http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1928651-una-vaca-paralizo-las-actividades-del-aeropuerto-de-punta-del-este

[2] http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JF21Df03.html

World Elephant Day

Yesterday (12 August)  it was World Elephant Day and I thought that what we saw last week at Ngweshla pan in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe is a suitable scene to remember these amazing animals that the more I watch, the more I get entertained and admire.

I owe my increasing interest for these animals to my daughter (the intermittent Senior Editor of this blog) who, from very young age was fascinated by these animals and gradually “educated” me to appreciate them.

I hope you will find the video fun!