Of a day - Bernice in the Bush

BlogPosts

Our camera trap stays up for a week at a time wherever we decide to place it. We have had it opposite the entrance to the aardvark burrow, just down from our gate. So this Saturday when we collected the card, one of the animals it had captured, was a civet. Each clip is 10 seconds, and in this 10 seconds, it appeared as though the civet was scent marking.

Well, I immediately donned my hat, sunblock (the weather went from being pleasant one day to sweltering the next day – ie this particular day!), my sunglasses, grabbed my tracking ruler and my phone and headed off to see what I could see. I was convinced I was going to document the most fantastic evidence of a civet pasting and markings etc. But when I arrived at the scene of the great evidence documentation, there was absolutely nothing to be found. Not a thing. Definitely no sign of any pasting. I thought maybe I was looking in the wrong place so I went back to the house to relook at the footage. But I was not off the mark. There was honestly nothing there.

I was rather disappointed to say the least.

However.

I did come across a number of other interesting finds. That’s the exciting thing about the bush. You absolutely never know what you might find, see, hear or discover. To use a rather nasty analogy – it’s like opening a lucky packet every day!

For example, I did find this little dung ball in the middle of the path. This one is covered in little bits of cut grass, which I found a bit unusual. It looks like a very mini round elephant dung. In my experience dungballs are normally just covered in a layer of fine sand, which makes them very smooth. It is also strange that the ball was not buried, so I assume something must have happened which prevented the beetle couple from burying the ball. I also have not yet seen any dung beetles around, coming out of winter, so this little ball, is a bit of a mystery. But a cool one, nonetheless.

And right next to the dung ball, I noticed another type of dung. Or dropping – the more appropriate terminology when it comes to birds. This was a pudgy little dropping, covered in coarse grains of sand, and with the (mostly) typical white cap which bird droppings have. My thought was that this was a dropping from the crested francolins which we have running around, however after consulting with my friend (and mentor) who is a master tracker and font of all knowledge, Lee Gutteridge, this would rather appear to be a natal spurfowl dropping, a bird which I’ve not noticed here, so now I have to be on the lookout for these. I’m quite sure they’re usually not elusive, but one never knows!

Besides the ruler measurement, I thought it would be fun to compare it to part of a wildebeest dropping.

About 30cm away from the droppings, while briefly casting my eye around, I noticed a single beetle elytra lying in the dust. The elytra are the hard wing casings of the beetle – they protect the soft wings underneath, which are used for flight. This particular one belongs to a giant jewel beetle.

A little further along in the other direction (while still trying really hard to find the non-existent civet pasting), I found another bird dropping. This one being a much thinner cylindrical pale brownish dropping with a white tip. And close by was feather evidence to solidly identify the culprit.

I also came across the tracks of the aforementioned guineafowl. The thing about tracks, is that what is nice and clearly drawn and defined in your tracking book, is definitely not what you find when you’re out there, unless it’s something really obvious like a giraffe or elephant. The track(s) can be old, they can be smudged, something else can have walked over them, the wind can have blown, or even the substrate may not be good for documenting that perfect track for you to excitedly conclude what was at one stage, right there where you’re standing.

Before calling it a day until later, when it would cool down a bit (having by now turned a radish shade of pink from the heat) I did quickly take time to have a look at where the porcupine had been lying down – also caught on the camera trap.

His (or her?) quill marks were really quite nicely displayed in the sand. It’s always good to learn from the tracks and signs of what you know was in a specific spot, so that you can recognise them with confidence and ease at another time. The porcupine droppings were also just down the track.

In the late afternoon, when it had (only slightly) cooled down just a tad, and just prior to heading out on our evening walk with the dogs, I noticed this really pretty ball of fluff, gently resting between these two beautiful little pieces of wood, with the afternoon sunlight catching each fragile wisp emanating from the centre, each one shimmering like a strand of silver or gold. The whole purpose of this beautiful ball of fluff, is to get blown around by the wind, transporting the little orange seed to wherever it will land, and ultimately put down its roots.

Leadwoods (combretum imberbe) are on my top 10 list of favourite trees. Many times when you find these beauties, they are already long dead. But in this state they have style. They have beauty. They have character. Each one unique. Each one outstanding. I keep referring to art, but the bush is absolutely full of artworks. And leadwoods are the perfect sculptures attesting to the art of nature.

And what better way to end off the day than coming back from the walk, to be met by a giraffe enjoying his sundowner snack, right outside your fenceline, with the glorious copper sun setting behind him.

Author

Follow my Blog

Author

Related posts

Along the way

Subtle Spring

Aloe Aloe

Down by the River

SGOTY

It started with a Giraffe

Follow my Blog