Remote Camera Trap - South Africa

More Herbivores At Suikerbosrand

2012-02-06T20:33:00.000+02:00

A cloudy Suikerbosrand

A couple of other herbivores also visited the cameras over Christmas at Suikerbosrand. One of them was a familiar face, or was it...?

Blesbok (Blesbok - Damaliscus dorcas phillipsi) walking past the camera trap

These are Blesbok, close relatives of the Bontebok found in the south-west of the country and frequently photographed at Tygerberg (and regulars on this blog). For those of you wondering how to distinguish between Blesbok and Bontebok check out a previous post I did over here.

Another relative of the Blesbok, although not as close, is the Red Hartbeest. They have a similar build as the Blesbok, but have less striking colours.

Red Hartbeest (Rooihartbees - Alcelaphus buselaphus) a little to close to the camera

Strangely enough my best photographs of these guys were at night. Fortunately the Cuddeback Capture's photographs are particularly good at night (for a out-of-the-box commercial camera).

Not the best photograth ever, but at least you can see its face

The reserve is also home to some Plains Zebra. These guys have the normal colouration and not the Quagga-like pattern often seen in the south-western parts of South Africa.

Plains Zebra (Bontsebra - Equus quagga burchelli) at night at Suikerbosrand

One of the camera traps was placed on a well used zebra trail and got many images of them streaming past the Bushnell Trophy Cam trail camera.

If they were cyclist they would insist that traveling in single file reduces drag and is more energy efficient, they would also shave their legs and wear arguably the ugliest sports gear on earth, but lucky for us they are normal Zebra's and can't ride a bicycle

There is more to come from Suikerbosrand soon.

This filly was looking dreamily at the striped stallion heading her way

I have some cameras in the field again, so I'm hoping for some good results in about 3 week's time. The camera traps are in some thicket/wooded areas in the Eastern Cape, which present it's own set of challenges, but I'm hoping for the best :)

No Monkey Business

2012-01-14T19:42:00.000+02:00

There was one animal at Suikerbosrand that haunted my dreams. I kept getting the random thought "will my cameras be safe". This animal has huge canine teeth! An inquisitive nature! Omnivorous appetite! Heck, they even have opposable thumbs! How would they react to my poor defenceless cameras (unless you count a powerful flash, or dim red glow, as an offencive advantage)!

Enter, the Chacma Baboon...

Chacma baboon (Kaapse Bobbejaan - Papio ursinus) at Suikerbosrand

Baboons live in groups of 15-100 animals and I feared that if the camera caught the eye of only one of them the whole group might take an interest... Although they can surely do serious damage biting on or beating the camera, my biggest fear was that they might carry it around. Moving the camera by only a short distance can make it almost impossible to find again. But in the end everything went smoothly and they barely payed the cameras any notice.

Sitting down for a family meal

In fact, the only camera trouble I had was with an Eland that pushed a camera over. The Baboons were content to focus on finding food on going by their daily activities.

One of my cameras was positioned up a tree, pointing down, and got a unique view of a Baboon trying to eat some Sunflower seeds I threw on the ground.

Slurping up some seeds? Why use your fingers if you can use your face?

This Baboon was photographed in a heavily wooded area. I'm used to seeing them in more open areas and didn't think they frequented areas like this often enough to show up on this short camera trapping trip. However, thinking back, we have encountered Baboons in some pretty thick forests in the past.

Typical landscape at Suikerbosrand in the Gauteng province of South Africa

There will most likely be many more encounters with Baboons in my camera trapping future and I hope all of them will be this, well, uneventful. And on that note the Baboons exited, stage left...

The rear end of the tale

The Big Guys

2012-01-01T13:09:00.001+02:00

We are back from spending Christmas in Gauteng with the family and I managed to fit in 5 nights of camera trapping at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve.

First up, the biggest antelope in the world: the Eland.

An Eland (Eland - Tragelaphus oryx) smiling for the camera

Eland are usually found in herds of 20-60 animals, but they sometimes form temporary herds of more than 500 individuals. They have a fairly loose social system with animals freely joining herds. I'm not sure how many animals this nature reserve have, but we did see a herd of at least 150 animals.

A herd of Eland at Suikerbosrand of about 20 animals

These antelope are big. They weigh 450-700kg (up to 900kg) and stand 1.7m tall at the shoulders. A large bull walked past one of the camera traps. Unfortunately it was too close to photograph the entire animal.

A large bull walking past the camera in the rain

I've always found it difficult to see Eland up close. They seem to prefer keeping a safe distance from any possible threat. This is a wise move since they are high on the menu for most top predators and have been extensively hunted by humans for thousands of years.

The Khoisan people revered them greatly. The Eland is a common animal depicted on their rock paintings and formed part of many rituals and believes.

These guys are excellent jumpers

An Eland can easily clear a 2m fence, despite their huge size. They are prone to wander over large areas in search of better feeding grounds. They are primarily browsers (eating leaves, etc.), but they also eat grass, roots and bulbs. Access to water is not required, but they will drink if water is available.

Having a closer look at the camera

Despite their natural tendency to keep a safe distance from danger, they seem to be easily tamed. There has been attempts to domesticate the Eland by farmers in Southern Africa, USA and Russia (of all places) for milk and meat. However, the animals' jumping ability, wondering nature and social structure have proven problematic when trying to farm them in the same way as other domestic livestock.

On the last day of camera trapping this Eland decided to adjust the camera angle

Another interesting things about the Eland is that they make a clicking sound while walking. If you want to find out more I would highly recommend reading about Lynda's Eland encounters on her excellent blog called Mainly Mongoose over here.

Back In July

2011-12-17T17:16:00.000+02:00

Grey Rhebok (Vaalribbok - Pelea capreolus) walking up the slope at Tygerberg with Cape Town in the background

I've finally gotten around to capturing all of my Tygerberg camera trapping photographs into WildLog. As I was processing the last set of images this Grey Rhebok caught my eye.

This is the resident male, easily identified thanks to his broken horn. Short on his tale was one of the females, stopping briefly to have a bite.

Munch munch munch...

Another fun visitor was the Leopard Tortoise. These guys are big enough and warm enough to easily trigger the camera when they are on the move.

Leopard Tortoise (Bergskilpad - Stigmochelys pardalis) cruizin' by

And to wrap things up a Helmeted Guineafowl in full stride.

A sprinting Helmeted Guineafowl (Tarentaal - Numida meleagris)

We're going to be in Gauteng over Christmas and I'm taking some camera traps along. Its been a while since I did any real camera trapping. I only have about 5 days to photograph anything, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed :)

Backyard Wildlife

2011-12-06T08:27:00.002+02:00

I still haven't had much time recently to do any serious camera trapping. I'm looking forward to doing a short stint over Christmas when we visit the family.

In the meantime I thought I'll treat you to some interesting critter from my garden here in Cape Town. It is incredible what amazing creatures live right next to us. This is just a small selection I threw together.

I just couldn't resist including a picture of Mushu, our Dachshund-cross

There is an amazing variety of bees (and other insects) that pollinate the flowers in our garden. I haven't managed to photograph even half them all. Below are two bees I recently snapped a picture off.

This is most likely Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa caffra), or similar

There are many smaller bees, such as the one above, to be found in our garden

Below is a very interesting pollinator, a fly. These flies parasitize on spiders in their larval form. The adults have short lives. Some species sip nectar with their long tongues.

At first glance the Psilodera fasciata (or similar) looks very much like another white bee, but they are in fact flies

Naturally there are also butterflies and skippers around to be found.

A little skipper taking a rest

When we first moved down to Cape Town we lived in the southern suburbs. The yard contained a small pond that was home to some frogs. I tried to photograph all of them to determine how many there were. I could identify at least 8.

I recorded each frog's unique markings and only identified it if I could confirm it on more than one photograph/occasion

Up close and personal with Cape River Frog (Kaapse Rivierpadda - Amietia fuscigula)

A year later we moved to the northern suburbs and I introduced some tadpoles to our new pond, but the walls are to high and when the small frogs emerged they jumped out of the pond and couldn't get back in.

However our neighbours told us that the little frogs found their way to their pond and seem to be doing pretty well over there.

These guys had the most delightful call

I might have a healthy fear of spiders, but this little fellow was so intriguing that I just had to take a picture. It reminds me of the spider (Shelob) from The Lord of the Rings films.

No idea what species this is, but it seems to have plenty of character to share

Last, but by far not the least, is the inspiration behind this post. This weekend my wife spotted a Cape Dwarf Chameleon living in our garden! These guys are just to cool and pretty for words.

Cape Dwarf Chameleon (Kaapse Dwerg-verkleurmannetjie - Bradypodion pumilum) on my wife's hand

"Ah man ... how did they see me?"

I managed to take a short video clip for everybody's enjoyment. (It's not very good since I don't like to disturb the animals to much for the sake of a great photograph. I'm happy with mostly "for the record" stuff.)

Video of the little guy making his desperate escape

And if you were wondering whether he managed to climb up the trunk to safety? He did.

Fed up with the landlord harassing him, he took the straightest path he could find back into the tree for some peace and quiet

The moral of the story: always keep your eyes open, you never know what you can find, even in your own back yard.

(Hopefully I'll have some camera trap images for you after Christmas.)

For The Birds

2011-11-05T15:12:00.000+02:00

This post wraps things up from the Magaliesberg trip. A couple of common bird species visited the cameras during the short period we were there.

Laughing Dove (Rooiborsduifie - Streptopelia senegalensis) in flight

One can find the doves living throughout the whole of South Africa.

On the hunt...

Another common species that you are bound to run into throughout most of South Africa is the Cape Robin-Chat.

The Cape Robin-Chat (Gewone Janfrederik - Cossypha caffra) is always friendly and inquisitive towards humans

A proud little fellow

The resident Natal Francolin also made the best of the feast. For the untrained eye these guys might look like the Cape Francolin (I commonly photograph at Tygerberg), but there are subtle differences and their ranges don't overlap.

Natal Francolin (Natalse Fisant - Pternistes natalensis) sizing up a piece of bread

The Kurrichane Thrush also has a close relative (I've photographed) living in the Western Cape, the Olive Thrush.

Kurrichane Thrush (Rooibeklyster - Turdus libonyanus) arriving on the scene

Where did all the food go?

Yet another species I've also photographed it the Magaliesberg, as well as at Tygerberg, is the Southern Masked-Weaver. They are also very common throughout the whole of South Africa.

A male Southern Masked-Weaver (Swartkeelgeelvink - Ploceus velatus) coming to see what all the fuss is about

The female munching on some crumbs

I've camera trapped the Southern Boubou on two occasions in the Magaliesberg. Its range extends into the Western Cape, including Tygerberg, but surprisingly I've never photographed any at Tygerberg.

Southern Boubou (Suidelike Waterfiskaal - Laniarius ferrugineus) getting his share of the bounty

The Dark-Capped Bulbul looks a lot like the Cape Bulbul found in the Western Cape, the biggest difference being the area around their eyes.

Dark-Capped Bulbul (Swartoogtiptol - Pycnonotus tricolor) checking out the camera

Although the Crested Barbet is fairly common in the North and East of the country, they aren't found in the Western Cape, making this fellow a welcome addition to my camera trapping records.

Crested Barbet (Kuifkophoutkapper - Trachyphonus vaillantii) in the mood for some fruit

And lastly, we have the Arrow-Marked Babbler and what a fitting name "Babbler". These guys are a noisy bunch, but I tend to like them because they seem to be full of character, although a somewhat questionable one at that...

In Afrikaans their known as (roughly translated) "Arrow-Marked Cat-Laugher", makes one think of laughing cats... None of the Babler species are found down South, making this another new camera trap record for me.

The Arrow-Marked Babbler (Pylvlekkatlagter - Turdoides jardineii) clearly has a few screws loose...

These guys move around in small groups, laughing as they go.

The troop descends

And to wrap things up here are two photographs I took of some huge ants.

These are possibly some species of Polyrhachis

Sharing lunch

Squirrel Time

2011-10-01T11:51:00.001+02:00

Tree Squirrel (Boomeekhoring - Paraxerus cepapi) in the Magaliesberg

The other mammal I photographed in the Magaliesberg is the Tree Squirrel. The above picture was taken with my handheld camera, but the camera traps saw plenty of action as well.

Planning on making a sandwich?

As mentioned in the previous post the bread seemed to be the most popular item on the menu but the squirrels also enjoyed the sunflower seeds and fruit. On a normal day these guys eat a wide variety of plant material and insects.

Enjoying some ever popular Sunflower seeds

They didn't seem to mind the cameras much. They are also quite tame around the house and I managed to get some good photographs by just sitting about 4 steps away from them.

Some Bananas were much appreciated as well

Although these are Tree Squirrels, they still spend a lot of time on the ground looking for food and moving between trees. They prefer woodlands but are absent from true forests.

There must be some more seed around here somewhere...

These little squirrels are much smaller than the alien Eastern Gray Squirrel found in the south around Cape Town. You can see some previous posts about them over here.

The classic squirrel pose

Next time I'll wrap things up at the Magaliesberg with a couple of images showing the birds that payed the cameras a visit.

Late afternoon at the Magaliesberg mountains

Magaliesberg Mongeese

2011-09-18T12:49:00.000+02:00

Slender Mongoose (Swartkwasmuishond - Galerella sanguinea) in the Magaliesberg

The Slender Mongoose has always been, in my opinion, a rather handsome animal. Their colour varies from gray to reddish-brown, but the ones in the Magaliesberg seem to have an interesting mix of both.

Youngster checking things out

I'm pretty sure that I photographed two individuals, but it could be more. My guess would be mother and child. I've managed to photograph two individuals together on a previous occasion as well.

Although these mongooses are mostly solitary hunters they exhibit a surprising amount of sociality. Males sometimes form a type of "coalition" to defend their territory. The youngsters can stay in the females' territories for up to two years before dispersing.

Checking out the camera

Another interesting feature of these mongooses are that they like to lift the black tip of their tall of the ground.

Wearing that tail with pride

The weather was great but veld was still waiting for the first rain to arrive. Almost like the calm before the storm. Every plant and animal just waiting to switch gears into spring then summer.

Some Magaliesberg scenery

After my unsuccessful camera trapping the night before I decided to lay out a banquet in the hopes of attracting the local diurnal mammals. With the end of the winter and dry season at hand it didn't take to long for the first animals to show up.

Helping itself to some breakfast that doesn't try to run away

Interestingly enough the bread proved the most popular with almost all species (mammals and birds) taking a bite. But the mongooses also enjoyed the meat scraps. The sunflower seeds and fruit were enjoyed by the other visitors, but more about them later.

It's best to carry a mouthful of to a safe location and enjoy it in peace

The Slender Mongoose hunts mostly insects and small animals (reptiles, mammals, etc.), but they don't seem to turn up their noses at bread or an empty fish cans.

Mmm, I smell something fishy...

Most of these image where taken right next to the house. The animals didn't seem to be too alarmed by our presence as long as we remained out of sight.

The Bushnell hard at work

The Slender Mongoose is a very common species found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with apparently up to 50 subspecies. To wrap things up here is one of these fellows munching on some bread, in style.

Keep it steady with your paw and then dig in

One Night Stand

2011-09-17T09:29:00.001+02:00

This past weekend my wife and I flew up to Johannesburg for a friend's wedding. The wedding was in the Magaliesberg and we took the opportunity to sleep over at the small nature resort called Utopia. We haven't been there in more than 3 years and were looking forward to it.

I think this is a Wild Pear (Drolpeer - Dombeya rotundifolia) flowering

It was here in the Magaliesberg that I did my first true camera trapping. You can find my old post over here.

This time around we only spent one night at Utopia, but I still made a last minute decision to take some camera traps with me. I ended up taking a Bushnell (2010 model), a homebrew Yeticam Sony s600 and a ScoutGuard (flash model).

A stream in the Magaliesberg

I had only one night to trap for the nocturnal mammals and I set out looking for a good location shortly after we arrived. I set the Bushnell next to a stream (in the picture above). I saw signs of Cape Clawless Otter (Groototter) and Water Mongoose (Kommetjiegatmuishond) and thought it might be worth the risk. The verdict: nothing passed during the night except for some humans. I'm assuming they were from one of the other houses.

Scrub Hare (Kolhaas - Lepus saxatilis) at dusk

Luckily there is plenty to see even without the help of camera traps. This Scrub Hare showed up just as the light was fading. I was hoping for some camera trap images of these guys (there were two), but they managed to evade the cameras.

The light was very bad and this is the best the camera could do

We also saw a Bushbaby (Nagapie), Baboons (Bobejaan) and plenty of tracks such as Porcupine (Ystervark), etc.

When I tried to setup the homebrew Sony I ran into another problem. The Sony's lensgears are problematic. I managed to fix it at home, but it started to give problems again. I think it might have been the vibrations during the flight. Luckily in the end I got it working.

I found a very promising spot for the Sony, but nothing walked past the camera during the night. If I had a week or two I'm sure I would have gotten some great images at the location.

Some kind of Coral Tree (Koraalboom) growing next to one of the houses

So, by now my last hope was on the ScoutGuard... I have one word to describe this camera: disappointment. If you are thinking of buying one, then don't. If you already bought one, then I feel your pain. On top of all it's shortcomings the camera chose this weekend to stop flashing. I had a great location and had some good bait set out. I even had nocturnal visits, but nothing to show except some completely black photographs. The camera still triggered, but the flash never fired.

So in the end the night was lost. I didn't get any images of the nocturnal animals, but I still had half a day to go and I pulled out all the tricks I could think off to skew the odds in my favour. I ended up capturing two mammal species and a couple of birds. Nothing new, but both species aren't found down here and make for a welcome change.

Backyard Gold

2011-09-03T19:15:00.000+02:00

I haven't written a post in a very long time, so I though I'll do a post about something interesting that happened today. Not strictly camera trapping, but I'm hoping nobody will mind :)

Cape Golden Mole (Kaapse Gouemol - Chrysochloris asiatica) found in our backyard

My wife, myself and the dogs were enjoying some sunshine in the backyard when my wife noticed Ralf (Doberman) carrying something in his mouth. I don't want them eating random dead animals, so I rushed over to inspect what it was. It was a Golden Mole! I've always wanted to see one up close and, even though this one appeared dead, it was a great opportunity to examine the little critter up close.

Full body shot next to my wedding ring for scale

It was still in perfect condition, except for some dog slobber on it's soft fur. The little body was cold, so I presume it must have died earlier. Ralf handled it very gently and it had no apparent physical damage.

The front feet

I've been aware of the presence of Golden Moles in our yard since we moved in to the house a couple of years back. I regularly notice their little tunnels in the front and the back yard.

The hind feet

I'm pretty sure that this is a Cape Golden Moles (Chrysochloris asiatica), but it might also be a Fynbos Golden Mole (Amblysomus corriae) based on the distribution maps in my field guides. Not much research has been done on these amazing creatures and identifying species can be tricky.

Now, while doing this post I read up on Golden Moles and apparently they enter daily torpor (basically very short hibernation). During this time their body temperature drops to within 2 degrees Celsius of the soil temperature.

This got me thinking that the cold bodied animal that I photographed might still be alive! To make things wore I remember the body still being very soft and flexible.

I rushed to where I put the little body (out of reach of the dogs) to investigate. I looked at the body and the colour of the skin was now much paler, and the body was now stiff.

This makes me wonder... I'm pretty sure Ralf didn't kill the little guy, because his body showed no signs of damage and he was carrying it very gently. Possibly the dog found it while in a state of torpor, but surely being handled by a dog and human would wake it up?

Maybe it was old and weak and Ralf just happen to be at the right place at the right time (from the dog's perspective)?

I guess we'll never know, but I'll be watching the garden to see if we have another resident Golden Moles to keep those invertebrates in check.

A photograph of Mushu (left) and Ralf (right) taken today at a small park we frequently use to walk the dogs

The Doberman is Ralf and he is now almost 13 years old and doing OK for his age, but his starting to get old quick. Mushu was adopted so we don't know his age or what breed(s) he is, but his still young and some kind of Daxie cross. Both live in the house with us and provide endless joy (and the odd pain as well).

I haven't gotten around to camera trapping much recently, but once I've wrapped up some other projects I'm busy with I'm hoping to be back in full force. Meanwhile I'm thinking of doing a couple posts like this one that are not camera trapping related in the mean time...

By the way for those of you not following the Codger's blog he had some great subterranean posts recently over in America. Check them out over here.

Badger Busyness

2011-07-02T12:32:00.000+02:00

Two Honey Badgers visited my Bushnell camera trap at Tygerberg in June.

Honey Badger (Ratel - Mellivora capensis) at Tygerberg checking out the camera

This is the same camera as the one that photographed the Caracal with the Mole Rat in its mouth. The day before the Honey Badgers made their appearance the camera was still pointing in more or less the original position I set it to.

Cape Francolin (Kaapse Fisant - Pternistes capensis) walking past

The branch in the center of the frame appeared halfway through the camera trapping session. It might have been the handy work of the Bontebok or a strong wind.

The badgers immediately showed interest in the tuna can that I places in an exposed rodent tunnel.

What is that smell?

Sniff... Sniff...

They investigated the source of the stench. When I placed the Bushnell at this location there was already very little actual tuna left in the can. Most of it was gone already, most likely consumed by fly larva and other insects.

However, the badgers still gave the can a decent investigation. I have no doubt that if they wanted to they could dig out the can and chew it open, but I guess they were more interested in the smell, than a potential meal.

Interesting...

Weird...

But since they were in a rodent neighbourhood, the badgers just could not resist to look down a couple of borrows. One never knows, you might just be lucky.

What's down this hole?

After investigating the tuna can, then the other burrows, they decided to turn their attention on the "strange glowing red thing"...

And what's this thing doing here? Time to settle the score, buddy...

The camera lost the battle and the next morning the it woke up facing in a new direction...

Yes, somewhere in this photograph is a Karoo Prinia (Karoolangstertjie - Prinia maculosa)

The camera was down for 6 days. Not taking photographs of much more than warm vegetation and the occasional bird hopping past.

Then on the sixth day something appeared...

ALERT!! Human detected!!

All camera trappers will know the feeling of seeing these images. When this image first popped up I couldn't help but fear for the safety of my camera. Fortunately, common sense returned and I remembered that the camera was safe. So what was this person doing? I couple of images followed showing this friendly soul picking up the badgered camera and placing it upright once again.

Thanks to this person's help the camera had the chance to get a photograph of a porcupine passing by.

Porcupine (Ystervark - Hystrix africaeaustrlis) coming in for a sniff

About two days later I did my rounds and checked the camera. This camera set had a slow start, but in the end it really payed off.

Leopard Link

2011-06-20T20:54:00.000+02:00

I've been wanting to post a link to the Cape Leopard Trust for a while now. Today I got a email that some new information was uploaded on their website. So, I thought it's the perfect time to share the link:
http://www.capeleopard.org.za/updates/spotted_cats_of_the_southern_boland.html

Some of you might have noticed the link to their site on the side bar of this blog. The two girls from the Cape Leopard Trust are probably the biggest camera trappers in our neck of the woods and although they focus on Leopards, they also have a deep appreciation and interest in all forms of live.

Cat News

2011-06-19T10:16:00.000+02:00

I was very happy last week when I checked my Bushnell. I got a couple of interesting photographs of the mammals at Tygerberg. Below are two noteworthy contributions from the cats.

Caracal (Rooikat - Caracal caracal) youngster practising the stalk

This little guy appears to be still more kitten than cat to my eyes, but the attitude is coming along fine.

I was very happy to finally get my first "kill" photograph. I've been camera trapping at Tygerberg for over a year now, but I didn't have any photograph of a predator with it's prey, until now.

My guess would be it's holding a Mole Rat in its mouth

The Backlog

2011-06-15T21:38:00.000+02:00

Here are some images I've been wanting to post, but didn't get around to. I'm going to be a bit lazy and just include the images without writing up a story as well...

A Sorrel (Suring - Oxalis sp.) being visited by a small fly

A patch full of pink Sorrel (Suring - Oxalis sp.)

Porcupine (Ystervark - Hystrix africaeaustrlis) near the pond at Tygerberg

Another one near a tiny stream

We came across the old dominant male Bontebok (Bontebok - Damaliscus dorcas dorcas) the other day while it was very misty. He lost one of his horns in a fight with his son...

My wife standing next to a huge mushroom

High Time For Some News

2011-06-12T16:31:00.000+02:00

A random species of Sorrel (Suring - Oxalis sp.) at Tygerburg

It's been a while since my last post... I haven't had many cameras in the field, but luckily my trusty Bushnell Trophy Cam (2009 non-viewer) captured some interesting things.

A Spotted Thick-Knee (Dikkop - Burhinus capensis) possibly fascinated by the strange glowing lights?

A Thick-Knee seemed, once again, to be fascinated with the camera or maybe they seem to like the company of the "strange thing with the glowing red eyes".

When the nights get lonely, the Thick-Knee knows that his "friend with the red eyes" will keep him company

I used a tuna can as bait with this camera trap set, but it didn't attract as much attention as the previous one. I caught some images of this guy eating the grubs that grow in and under the tuna can.

There were other visitor as well.

The Bontebok (Bontebok - Damaliscus dorcas dorcas) herd did their rounds as well

The Bontebok came in for a sniff. In one of the images it appears as if the antelope was standing over the camera.

I guess the hind feet must be behind the camera...

I usually place my cameras close to the ground to get nice photographs of the small to medium sizes mammals at Tygerberg. Bontebok might be smaller than many of the other antelope species but at Tygerberg they are the largest mammals in the reserve.

Caracal At The Can

2011-05-22T12:03:00.000+02:00

I've been getting lots and lots of Caracal photographs on my camera traps recently.

Caracal (Rooikat - Caracal caracal) to close to focus

However, as I expected, the last week or two at the tuna can saw barely any activity. There was only one visit from a Caracal and it didn't seem to be overly fond of the horrible stench oozing from the can.

Video: Caracal sniffing the tuna can

Birds On The Road

2011-05-15T17:09:00.001+02:00

A flower (possibly Ploegtydblommetjie - Empodium plicatum) at Tygerberg Nature Reserve in Cape Town

I don't get many photographs of birds at night, so I was surprised to find a pair of Spotted Thick-Knee frequenting the one Bushnell camera trap at Tygerberg.

A Spotted Thick-Knee (Dikkop - Burhinus capensis) pair keeping the camera company

If you think of nocturnal birds you usually think of owls. However, these birds are pretty much nocturnal. They hunt insects and other small animals at night. You can see their bright eyes reflecting the flash.

Just standing there...

Apparently they hunt by rushing forwards in short bursts and stopping to grab food. This might explain why I got many empty photographs at night. The birds must be rushing past, not stopping in front of the camera. In the images I did get of them, they were standing dead still.

I also got a nice photograph of a Bokmakierie at the same locations.

Bokmakierie (Bokmakierie - Telophorus zeylonus) calling or feeling the heat?

The camera is next to a dirt road and I photographed a couple of people walking past. It is slightly concerning because there is a no access sign up the road... Thus far I've been lucky with people walking past the cameras, but who knows...

A very interesting thing happened while I was setting up this camera. It was a very pleasant day, after some rainy whether. It was nice and warm, but not hot, and there was almost no wind (which is rare for this part of the world, especially Tygerberg itself).

As it turns out the local ant colonies decided it is the perfect day to mate. And they were at it by the thousands. Everywhere I went there were swarms of them mating, luckily usually just above head height.

A mating swarm

As it turned out a rather big swarm was busy doing their thing right above the place I wanted to put my camera.

There were many of them...

They crashed into me and I into them, but it went pretty smooth (under the circumstances).
I'm not sure what species they are, but I think they are some kind of ant.

One of the ants on my finger

One of the things I really enjoy about camera trapping is that it "forces" me to get out into nature more often and enable me to have such enjoyable experiences. Tygerberg might be only 5 minutes from my home and almost surrounded by houses, but there is still plenty of nature to be found, even here.

The Tuna Can

2011-05-08T12:12:00.000+02:00

After a long drought in Small-Spotted Genet photographs I've been running into them everywhere here at Tygerberg.

Small-Spotted Genet (Kleinkolmuskeljaatkat - Genetta genetta) pawing into the scene

I'm getting desperate for new species, especially the much desired Cape Fox, so I'm thinking of using some lures/baits/scents. I got the idea from the Camera Trap Codger and also read a research paper that showed that fish is a good general attractant. I don't know how to get my hands on some of the more fancy stuff they use, but I'll make do with tuna instead.

Caracal (Rooikat - Caracal caracal) taking a sniff

Using attractants don't turn an area devoid of animals into a zoo, but it does help. If the animal passes by close enough they will often stop to investigate the source of the odour. The animals end up staying longer. Using lures often result in some good images, because the animal doesn't just pass through, but stops for a while. However, it seems as if they get used to the smell after a while and interest tend to drop off.

Sniffing the tuna

They often return to the same spot and take another sniff, and even if they lose interest they might still pass through the area without stopping for a sniff.

Smelling something fishy...

It is difficult to be sure, but from comparing the spots on the genets' neck it might indicate that more than one individuals were photographed at this location.

A Small Grey Mongoose also came for a sniff. I should have moved the can or trimmed the grass a bit more to show the animals' faces more clearly.

A Small Grey Mongoose (Kleingrysmuishond - Galerella pulverulenta) came by to smell what all the fuss is about

One side effect of using lures is that the data collected from such visits does not reflect the animal's natural movement/behaviour as well as non-baited camera sets do. I have no preference/dislike for baiting, but when those foxes haunt my dreams, I'm willing to sleep with the fishes.

Some Tortoises And Birds

2011-05-02T21:40:00.001+02:00

They call me MR. Parrot-Beaked Padloper (Gewone Padloper - Homopus areolatus) !!!

Tygerberg is home to a rather pretty tortoise species, the Parrot-Beaked Padloper. The one above might not be one of the best looking individuals, but he made of for it with attitude. However, some individuals can be spectacular, with wonderfully coloured shells.

Then I guess, we shell call you MISS Parrot-Beaked Padloper ???

I always enjoy running into these tortoises. Unfortunately I've noticed that many motorists also like running into them... The name "Padloper" roughly translates to Road-Walker and they seem to have a tendency to be killed on roads. They are rather small and don't move very fast and thus easily end up as road kill.

A Blacksmith Lapwing (Bontkiewiet - Vanellus armatus) and Common Moorhen (Grootwaterhoender - Gallinula chloropus)

I had a camera at the pond hoping to get some photographs of an otter. I saw some fresh prints in the mud, but no luck. I moved the camera this weekend, because I didn't see any fresh signs of otters to persuade me otherwise.

However all was not lost, I got some images of a new heron species at the pond.

A Purple Heron (Rooireier - Ardea purpurea) not looking very purple to me, but um OK...

This is the third heron species I've photographed at this pond. the other two being the Grey Heron and Black-Headed Heron. Actually the fourth if I can count the Black-Crowned Night-Heron as well.

Photographs of new species, be it animals or birds, have been slowing down and I might be close to the theoretical limit of having photographed all the mammal species currently found in the reserve. Luckily there are still a couple of spots I haven't camera trapped very thoroughly, so there is still a small chance for a new species to pop up.

A grey-ish looking Grey Heron (Bloureier - Ardea cinerea)

Highest on my wish list is a Cape Fox. A farmer on a neighbouring farm told me that there were a pair of foxes living on his farm a couple of years ago. They would come up to his fence and drive his dogs crazy. So, atleast I know they were around...

Some other missing species are Common Duiker, Scrub Hare and maybe a Shrew/Mole/Mouse or two. One of the fun parts of camera trapping is cumming back each time hoping that this time you got a photograph of a new species.

Balls And Bucks

2011-04-28T17:11:00.002+02:00

One of the strangest things I've encountered at Tygerberg must be the golf balls...

A clutch of 15 golf balls I picked up at Tygerberg Nature Reserve

This weekend I picked up 7 balls while doing my camera trapping rounds! I'm starting to think that maybe they are some sort of disguised tortoise eggs? Maybe the tortoises have started to naturalize to the urban environment and found that mimicking golf balls some how increased the survival rate of their eggs... Now, at first that might sound ridiculous, but if you think about it... Golfers often carry many excess balls in their bag. The bag makes an excellent incubator. A golfer will usually select the best ball in the bag when they need one. Now say the egg looks enough like a ball to fool the golfer, but does not look appealing enough to justify actually using the ball? Mmmm... Maybe I should try incubating one of them and see what hatches...

I have a few slightly more extravagant theories, but maybe I should take a sharp U-turn and bring the discussion back to reality: And what better way than talking about Death.

A little snake that didn't survive the fire

I stumbled upon this casualty of the veld fire while looking for camera trap locations about a month ago. It is a little snake that could not escape because it was stuck under the stone. This is the only fire casualty I could find, except for a couple of fried eggs.

OK... before I cock to many eyebrows... The reason for this post: a Cape Grysbok.

A male Cape Grysbok (Kaapse Grysbok - Raphicerus melanotis) sneaking along

This is a pretty nice photograph I got from the Cuddeback. The first week the camera only got Bontebok and Porcupine pictures, but I decided to leave it out a little longer in the hopes of getting the resident Grysbok. I've photographed Grysbok in the same area before, but a large section of this part of the reserve was burnt.It is good to know that it is still around after the burn.

You can clearly see the white/grey speckles that gives the animal it's name, I guess it is because it looks like it is turning grey. Grysbok translates to Grey Buck. Only the males carry horns.

The Cape Grysbok is more or less endemic to the Fynbos region. There aren't really any other medium-large mammal species that are endemic to this region, making the Cape Grysbok somewhat special.

Sizing Them Up

2011-04-24T08:59:00.000+02:00

I was happy to see I got some pictures of a Pygmy Mouse at Tygerberg Nature Reserve. I've only photographed them once before and the image quality wasn't all that great.

Pygmy Mouse (Dwergmuis - Mus minutoides) on the stony slopes at Tygerberg

The homebrew Sony was pointing at a small hole on the burnt slopes and I was lucky enough to get the above photograph. These mice are pretty small. Their body length is about 6 cm and their tail about 4 cm. The whole package weighs in at 6 g.

Pygmy Mouse checking out the hole - it's good to know where the exists are in the event of an emergency

The Sony and Bushnell were setup in the same general area and both photographed a Pygmy Mouse. These mice can dig their own burrows, but will also use burrows made by other species.

Four-Striped Grass Mouse (Streepmuis - Rhabdomys pumilio) at the same entrance

I was able to get some images of two other rodent species in similar positions. This helps to illustrate the size difference. The Four-Striped Grass Mouse has an approximately 10 cm long body and 10 cm tail, weighing in at 30-85 g.

The Vlei Rat (Vleirot - Otomys irroratus) is clearly much bigger than the Pygmy Mouse

The Vlei Rat in turn has a body length of about 15 cm and a tail length of merely 9 cm. They weigh in at 120 g.

There are many of these "tree-like-footprints" in the burnt area at Tygerberg (Were these made by Ents? Can it be...?)

Another interesting difference is that the two mouse species feed on plants, seeds and insects, but the rat in strictly vegetarian.

Sumary Site For Tygerberg

2011-04-23T16:30:00.000+02:00

Another fire flower at Tygerberg - Some type of Amaryllis I think

Since earlier this year I've been working on a site that I can use to summarise and showcase the (first year's) camera trapping data from Tygerberg Nature Reserve.

I got hold of a really cheap website hosting package and put together some pages for each mammal species photographed at Tygerberg, together with a map showing where the dirty deed happened...

Its not the prettiest little site that ever existed, and the content isn't heart moving prose, but I think it'll do for now. I've already spent way to much time on it...

The idea was to keep it simple (only html), but I ended up doing a bit more... Similarly to WildLog this is also a hobby/pet project in its own right, and I wanted to try some stuff that I can't really do/use/pull of at work...

Anybody that might be interested can check it out over here: http://www.mywild.co.za/tygerberg/index.html (while the monthly bandwidth allocation lasts, hehe).

Caracal Research

2011-04-22T14:14:00.000+02:00

I recently stumbled on some more information about the collared Caracal I photographed here in Cape Town last year.

This website provides some additional information and a map showing all the data points received from the animal.

I was impressed to see that the collar's data distribution matches my camera trap data reasonably well.

All the data points I have for Caracal at Tygerberg Nature Reserve

Rodents In The Ash

2011-04-13T19:10:00.000+02:00

I didn't have time this past weekend to check the cameras, but here are a few rodents that where photographed in the burnt section at Tygerberg Nature Reserve, in Cape Town, during the previous week.

The ground was full of interesting patterns after the burn

First up were the Porcupines. Not the best photograph, but you can see the youngster tagging along. These guys frequented the rocky outcrop where the camera was placed.

Porcupine (Ystervark - Hystrix africaeaustrlis) on the rocks

The camera was fairly deep into the burnt area. I'm not expecting much smaller animals to stick around while there is nothing to eat and no shelter close by. So why are these Porcupines here? Well, the fire has exposed the roots and (especially) bulbs of many plants and it forms a major part of their died. Thus the fire has actually, in some sense, made life easier for the Porcupines. The rocky outcrop had many small bulbs growing between the rocks and the animals are surely here to collect them.

A tasty treat for a Porcupine

I also noticed that some old animal bones where dropped close by. Porcupines are known to nibble on old bones to increase their calcium intake. (The bones weren't there the previous week when I placed the camera.)

Some bones exposed by the burn

Now, I know I've been posting a lot of mice pictures lately, but this guy was just so cute I couldn't resist.

Four-Striped Grass Mouse (Streepmuis - Rhabdomys pumilio) peeking over the edge

With the vegetation gone his hole isn't as safe as it used to be and he was always on the lookout.

Is the coast clear?

This is at the same spot at where I photographed the Caracal and Small-Spotted Genet (in an earlier post).

Flying mouse? Can it be... SuperMouse? (I'm sorry for the lame joke.)

He seems to be doing well and survived the burn, Caracal (twice) and the Genet, not to mention the birds of prey. He knows to dash for cover when danger approaches.

As usual the hole is shared. The lodging agreement seems to work well, with one species being active during the day and the other mostly during the night.

Our old friend the Vlei Rat (Vleirot - Otomys irroratus) graced us with his presence

These images where taken close to the border of the burn, and the animals can easily make a run to the unburnt vegetation for some food, and still have a home close by to return to.

I just realised that I haven't upload the picture below yet. Its a Vlei Rat I photographed a while back. Its a good shot and it adds some green to this post, which has been dominated by greys and browns up to this point...

Another Vlei Rat at Tygeberg Nature Reserve in the Western Cape

The Cuddeback (the trail camera that took this photograph) doesn't usually capture rodents, so this was a bit of a welcome surprise.

WildLog v3

2011-04-10T17:32:00.000+02:00

Some of you might know that I have developed a small application (called WildLog) for myself to help keep track of my wildlife sightings. For those interested, take a look at the PDF user guide or give the application a try.

It isn't a serious scientific tool, neither is it a easy way to organize your camera trap images. I don't really know what it is, except that it is what I wanted it to be (at least to some extent). There is a part of me that is still hopeful that maybe some school or hobbyist might find it useful in some way, but I'm not breaking a sweat over it :)

I use WildLog to keep track of my vacation and camera trap sightings of mammals and other animals. Your welcome to give it a try and use it for whatever you may like, however, use it at your own risk.

I've set this weekend aside to finish up some long awaited changes to the program. A lot have changed, thus the new version isn't compatible with the old one (unless you do some behind the scenes hacking as I've done with my own data set). If there are actually some users out there that are effected by this, drop me an email and I'll try help you out.

The downloads can be found over here for those that might be interested.