February 2019

FEBRUAURY 2019

With a final total of 244mm of rain for January and then a further 122mm for February, the Estate is looking lush and green. The place is full of life, with me having sightings of some special birds this last month, including Ground Woodpecker, Orange Ground Thrush, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler,Starred Robin and Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, amongst others. Game viewing has also been very productive due to the fresh, green growth after the fire. A ten kilometer hike in the mountains is almost definitely going to net you Eland, Mountain Reedbuck, Vaal Rhebok, Klipspringer, Common Duiker and Baboons. Below is a gallery of some of the wildlife I have encountered over the last month:

Two years back I found this tiny, strange looking flower in a spongy seepline above Little Joker Mine in the southern section of the Estate. I did not manage to identify it and placed it in my unsolved file on my laptop. A year or so later the laptop crashed and I lost a bit of information, including my Unsolved file, and then, by pure luck, I stumbled onto the identity of the flower while reading over some notes on ecology in the grasslands. I was excited but now I needed new photographs of the plant for my files. I returned to the area last February and did not find the plant, I think because it was too dry. This February I returned to the area on a hike with the Harwoods from Bulldozer Creek and, Hallelujah, there were plenty of them! It's a Corkscrew Plant, Genlisea hispidula, from the Lentibulariaceae, the Bladderwort Family. It is a carnivorous plant that lives in the water in marshes. It has two distinctive types of leaves, normal club-shaped leaves at the base of the plant that photosynthesize, and then special modified leaves below the surface that fulfill the function roots would normally. These specially modified leaves also have hollow, cylindrical spiral segments with backward facing hairs that trap microorganisms, like protozoans, and extract nutrients from them! 

In mid summer, the ubiquitous Brown-veined White butterfly, Belenois aurota, needs little introduction. This is because they are everywhere, all generally moving in a north easterly direction. The migration is not well understood but it starts in the south east of the country and moves north east right over the southern African landmass, picking up more and more individuals as they go, laying their eggs on their chosen host plants and feasting on high energy nectar while pollinating millions and millions of flowers en route. They then fly off shore into the Indian ocean and perish there...…

More common in the lowveld bushveld than the mountain grasslands, the Yellow Pansy, Precis hierta, is still a common site in mid summer on the Estate. The males of the species establish rather vague territories in open grassland, hoping to attract as many females as possible.

This is the closely related Blue Pansy, Precis oenone, which is also commonly seen on the Estate in Mid summer. The males also establish territories, but well-defined ones, that they vigorously defend against other males. These territories are situated on the tippy tops of hills.

This is the African Leopard butterfly, Phalanta phalantha aethiopica, not as commonly seen as the above species but very noticeable.

I was very excited to find this Amethyst Fruit Chafer beetle, Leucocelis amethystine, enjoying the nectar on a beautiful pink Asterid flower that I had not yet seen on the Estate. Mmmnnm! Where had I seen this flower before? Then it struck me! A Pompom Weed, Campuloclinium macrocephalum, an ornamental originating in North America! I immediately removed the plant with its woody rootstock, which was not very large. The Agricultural Research Coucil is quoted as stating that this plant "is rapidly becoming the most serious threat to the conservation of grasslands in South Africa!". This has become a serious pest in the Witwatersrand and I will stay on guard and make sure it doesn't happen here.

The spectacular but short-lived, aromatic flower of the Cape Gardenia, Rothmannia capensis, photographed from the small stunted individual that grows on the cliff by K15. The cliffs between Kingfisher Lodge and K15 and the between K15 and K22 are full of these small, shapely trees from the Coffee family but this is the only one reachable. The hard-skinned, edible fruits are round and larger than a ping pong ball but smaller than a tennis ball and not very nice tasting. Baboons and monkeys love them, though, and usually pick them from the tree before they ripen properly. If they do manage to ripen and fall to the floor, they are quickly gobbled up by Bushpig, Bushbuck and Common Duiker.

Often when hiking through the grasslands, one may encounter small blobs of frothy spittle clinging to the smaller branches of bushes or grass stalks. If you feel around inside this froth, you will expose a small insect which is the nymph of a Spittle Bug or Frog Hopper, from the Cercopidae family of bugs. This little nymph attaches itself to the stem with its proboscis and proceeds to suck the plant juices so copiously that, after filtering out the nutrients, it mixes the waste water with air and a waxy glandular secretion to make it froth and cover it's whole body. This spittle protects the nymph from the elements and potential predators. The adult looks like a tiny frog and has the ability to jump huge distances, hence the common name, Froghopper.

This beautiful specimen of a Silver Vlei Spider, Leucauge sp. (Metidae), waits patiently for an unsuspecting flying insect to get snared in it's web after an early afternoon shower.

During mid to late summer, the grasslands become spotted with the bright pink flowers of the Watsonia pulchra. 

A close relative of the Watsonia above is the much smaller, and therefore less noticeable Gladiolus elliotii. This year it is flowering like crazy ujp in the high altitude grasslands. Perhaps stimulated by the recent grass fires?

The endemic Transvaal Dwarf Chameleon, Bradypodion transvaalensis, is the only species of chameleon found in this area. Males and females both establish overlapping territories which the male defends more vigorously than the female. When defending his territory, the males rarely fight because a very colourful display involving postures is usually enough to drive away rivals. The males also achieves these bright colours (not shown) when courting a female.

Mid summer is also a great time to adventure in the African temperate forests on the Estate. All the rarely seen birds I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, except the Ground Woodpecker, are found in this biome. Keep reading to see some other treasures of the forests...

The Earthstar Fungus, Geastrum saccatum, is a puffball mushroom with a difference. The thread-like mycelium of the fungus body spread through the leaf litter on the forest floor and begin the process of decomposition. The fruiting body (mushroom) then begins to develop just below the surface of the leaf litter. Unlike other puffballs, this one has two dermal layers and when the body is developed, the formation of Calcium oxalate crystals on the inner side of the outer dermis stretches the surface, forcing it to split and invert. This motion clears the leaves lying on top of the fruiting body, exposing it. At this stage, if you squish the puffball, a puff of spores, like dust, is ejected from the valve on top. 

Another fungus to look out for in the forest is the Jelly Brain Fungus, Tremella mesenterica. This very well named fruiting body is slimy and almost transparent when it has expanded after the rains. Before it is moist enough, the fruiting body is shrunken, dark and woody. In the jelly state, it is said to be quite tasty in stews!

The fruiting body of the Golden Bracket, Phellines gilvus, also swells with moisture to form brackets with beautiful colours. These fungus, however, can dessicate and survive over winter till the next rainy season when it will swell again after sufficient rainfall.

Look carefully enough on the forest floor and you may find a small colony of Granny-bonnet Orchids, Disperis fanninae. Like a bunch of clansmen hiding in the shadows...

The beautiful Streptocarpus cyaneus adorns the floors and walls of the forest gorges from Christmas till the end of February.

The much rarer and endemic Streptocarpus wilmsii found as epiphytes on forest tree branches, or as lithophytes growing on the rocks on the forest floor. This plant is only found in this area so many botanists come in search of it for their lifer lists!

Whilst on a forest walk with Joel from Morrin Pools, we encountered many of the above goodies and also this cutest

  little gastropod! Fully stretched, the little blighter didn't even reach 15mm. His/er little shell was not even 5mm in diameter. I am in the process of attempting to identify it. When this happens, I'll let you know... 

Well that's it for February. A short but exciting month. It seems like there is still lots of rain to come. Maybe lots of rain at the end of summer and during autumn like last year. At least this season we had decent rainfall in springtime and during the growing season. We hope to see you soon!