New house on the block!

THERE'S A NEW HOUSE ON THE BLOCK!

The next time you arrive at Finsbury, as you pass "Elsmere" (unit 11), and are about to descend towards the Central area, you will notice a beautiful new house on the banks of the Kliprots River just North of it's confluence with the Hatchery stream. This new house on the block has been built as my new accommodation and, yes, I am absolutely over the moon!

It's a spacious three bedroomed, two bathroomed cottage with a massive stoep for me to sit on and read my kindle on Sundays.

Firstly a huge thank you to Dawn and Neville Organ who got the ball rolling. Then a special thanks to the board, particularly Hannes Potgieter, for building it, and Mike Beaumont for organizing everything. And lastly, a deep heartfelt thank you to you, the members, for all you have done (and Grant Lotter, was it you that designed it?).

The view from the office

The view from the road as you pass Elsmere

 Do pop in for tea...

Finsbury Leopards

FINSBURY LEOPARDS

A new little girl that is establishing a territory beside Mom's in the Steenkamp Valley

We have been having quite a few leopard sightings on the estate in the last few months. This can be attributed to the fact that there are three sets of cubs on the estate. We had the Steenkamps female with three cubs sighted quite regularly by staff in the last year in that valley. One of those cubs may have been drowned during the Dineo weather front because only two cubs were seen after that flood. I think these are the cubs, who are now independent of their mother, who were sighted by Don and Anne in their second month here in Nooitgedacht farm.

Another female leopard with two large cubs was sighted in February by The Van Heerdens and others above K15. I had a good look at the mother and was pretty sure it was not the Steenkamps female, she looked a lot older.

Then Don found an eland carcass on the access road to Rod's Rest (unit #7). According to the wounds on the carcass, it appears the eland was dispatched by another eland during a fight. Don erected a temporary camera trap at the scene and got some special shots of a mother leopard with only one 3-5 month old cub. This cub is younger than the rest and should still be with its mother for another six months or more.

The youngest of the known cubs, a single child

Mom with her single cub at a Eland carcass near Rod's Rest

I have been sending photos of Finsbury leopards with coordinates to the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks' Predator Specialist, Gerrie Comacho, who is mapping the Mpumalanga leopards. He uses the unique spot patterns of leopards to identify individuals from the data he receives.

Now, on Friday I got to see a large young male leopard at K33. He hung around there the entire day and was spotted by the Ririe's of Kingfisher Lodge (Unit #6) later that afternoon. This is now a new boy on the block and I suspect he won't be around for too long because he will drift away from his father's territory in good time. I have managed to confirm a photograph of him (using spot pattern)when he was about 6 months old up at the cycle path. His mother is the old Granny Leopard that has always been sighted here and his father is, I believe, the massive Big Boy leopard that has dominated this area for a long time. In fact, according to Comacho, Big Boy was caught on a cctv camera in the town of Sabie in 2012! I think he is the father because last month I got a photo of the Big Boy male on the cycle path camera and a minute later this youngster was photographed following him. A young male would not follow a big male that was not directly related unless he was suicidal!

This young male, who I will call "TIGER" because he has a mane like a tiger, is very relaxed with vehicles and will be spotted more often while he is in the area. Behavioral traits are also hereditary and relaxed leopards are usually shot out in areas where they are not protected, leaving only very skittish genes in the population. But in areas where they are more protected, like Finsbury now, the relaxed genes can show themselves again and even proliferate. 

Tiger when he was less than 6 months old sniffing around the camera up at the base of the cycle track on Loop road: 05 July 2015

Tiger caught on James Mackenzie's camera mounted on the chain pole at the bottom of the Razorback road: 03 May 2017, making him around two and a half years old.

Tiger spotted by me on the game path leading from Loop road down to K33 on Friday.

There has always been leopards in these valleys but there were times when they were more heavily persecuted than now. With the understanding and protection of our leopards now, the populations will not only increase but relaxed individuals will become more prominent.

It is a great honour to have these majestic cats in our presence but visitors need to be aware of them. They are not dangerous to humans and will avoid us at all costs. They are dangerous, however, to dogs and very small children if they are on their own. So please be aware! Do not let your dogs sleep outside or let them run about out side on their own. Also keep an eye on young children and have a bigger child or adult accompany them if they are playing away from the unit.

As for your freedom on the estate? Do not let the presence of leopards restrict you. Enjoy the cycling, walking or hiking that you normally do. I have spent more than 25 years living in areas where large predators exist and have had many experiences with wild leopards. The best way to react to a leopard if you accidently encounter one in the bush is to pretend that you did NOT see it. Unlike a lion where it is best to stare it down and challenge it, a leopard will not attack if it believes it has not been seen or that you are not going to react after seeing it. Look the other way and keep on walking (Johnny Walker style!). VIVA LE LEOPARD!

The last April long weekend

The last of the long weekends in this long string of holidays has come and gone. In fact, it was busier than the Easter weekend and the rivers still produced trout from all the popular weirs. The weather was poor, though, with wind and rain for a lot of the time, giving us 21mm over the period.

A rainbow over the flood plains of the Spekboom river.

 Here's a little gallery of some of the things that were seen on the Estate over this jolly time:

Well, not so jolly for all! Anna accumulating some community hours for school by killing young wattles that have invaded the previously cleared areas in the Upper Majubane.

Lamprophis guttatis, a Spotted House Snake, spotted (Har Har) by me beside K14. He was limp and flattened out on a clearing enjoying the brief sunshine. This is a new species for my Finsbury Reptile List.

The weather finally lifted enough for the Nicholson clan to hike the 12km route from K33 to Central via Goudkoppies and Troutkloof Waterfall.

It seems that even in the grassveld without trees, autmn colours can still be found. These rosettes are the leaves of a little colony of Mole's Spectacles, Craterostigma wilmsii, found on the plateau of Goudkoppies.

Talk about beautiful autumn colours in the grasslands? How's the mist condensing on the fading leaves of Psammotropha breviscapa, a high altitude, mat-forming plant.

The specially beautiful, fading leaves of the succulent, Crassula setulosa, growing on a damp rock in amongst another lithophyte which I am still to identify. The plants in all three of the above pictures have very attractive flowers. It seems that their leaves can be just as attractive.

The hike took us past some newly flowering Cliff Aloes, Aloe arborescens. The plain they are hiking on is the last step before descending into the steep valley leading to the high altitude waterfall high above Troutkloof.

The cold weather made this Large-scaled Grass Lizard, Chamaesaura macrolepis, easy to handle. Initially, it appears rather like a snake but if you look closely, it has eyelids (which snakes do not); Scales covering it's ears (snakes have no external ears); and minute vestiges of what remain of it's hindlegs visible. The loss of its limbs together with a few other adaptions, like scales sharpened on the trailing edge for grip on grass stems, make it an efficient grassland reptile.

The small daisy flowers of the Bush Tea, Athrixia phylicoides, the stems of which are exceptionally sought after for the hand brooms so synonymous with rural African scenes. The dried leaves also produce a very healthy green tea whose health benefits are said to rival those of cultivated green teas.

Well, as you can see, a lot of fun was had again  at Finsbury Estate during the April holidays. But winter is on its way and since we've had lots of late rain the dew is thick on the grass in the mornings. Soon, very soon, it's going to be thick, icy frost and these mountains become a true South African winter wonderland. See you then, looking forward...

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend has been and gone. It was a success with us having 14 houses occupied. According to the fisherman, the fishing was good and many were caught, BUT, when we went to retrieve the fishing forms from the gate, we only found one! Please, folks, fill in the forms and return them to the gate when you leave. It is very important for our records and the management of the hatchery.

At Rob Verseput's suggestion, we offered a Brewery Hike. This old Finsbury tradition starts off at Lone Tree Cottage on the Kliprots and traverses the mountain grasslands until the Hops Hollow Brewery on the Long Tom Pass road from Lydenburg to Sabie. With a duration of over five hours and a distance of fifteen kilometers, we were surprised that eighteen people arrived at the meeting point on Saturday morning to embark on the hike, and EVEN MORE SURPRISED that the youngest in the group was seven years old and the oldest was seventy six years old

We got to see Grey Duiker, Mountain Reedbuck, Grey Rhebok, a Berg Adder, many flowers, beautiful scenery and, at the end, some fat, healthy COWS!

Hiking straight up from Lone Tree Cottage, the hardest part.

Resting after the first hurdle. Check the beautiful clouds in the backround...

Mmmm. Those clouds kept getting less beautiful and a lot closer...

We were gaining good altitude by this time.

Don, the new manager, admiring one of the massive Escarpment Tree Ferns, Cyathea dregei, at our first water stop at Tree Fern Crossing.

Eighteen people is a lot of people. Stretched out for long.

We had to concentrate not to lose anyone as the clouds just got thicker!

Some really healthy looking cows just before the brewery.

A welcome sight, our destination, Hops Hollow!

 As you can see, the weather was not all blue skies and sun! In fact we had a total of 31mm over the weekend and, as you can expect, it was rather chilly at times. But it sure seems that fun was had by all! Below is a gallery of some other interesting things...

The extremely abundant fruits of the Quilted Blue Bush. You must try them, they taste great!

Even though it was rather cold, we still encountered this Berg Adder on our hike.

A late blooming Ecklon's Gladiolus.

A sloughing Transvaal Dwarf Chameleon found at the brewery.

The tasty fruit of the Climbing Num Num, found in the afro-temperate forests.

A Mason Wasp resting on the flowers of a Wild Raspberry, Rubus rigidula.

I managed to get within a foot of this huge male Porcupine!

A colourful caterpillar resembling a Mopane Worm found right beside the office.

There is still one more long weekend left this month, at the end of the month, and we hope to have another entertaining weekend. Hope to see you here!!!

Long weekend of 18 - 22 March

The first long weekend of a bunch in March and April this year has come and gone. David and the team of labourers deserve a big pat on the back for managing to repair most of the water damage in time for this one.
Besides Saturday and Sunday, where we had 4mm rain and gusting winds, the weather was fair and fine. We were quite busy with a dozen houses occupied and keen fishermen dotting the river banks, and yes, the fishing was great according to all the anglers I spoke to.

Here's a little gallery of some of the pictures I took between Friday and now...

Finsbury Estate viewed from the base of Mount Prospect

K18 on the Kliprots. Among the weirs where Ralph Ririe caught seven trout in his first 90 minutes on the Estate

Marsh Tibouchinas proudly on display between the staff village and Whisky Cottage.

Introducing the new Managing couple, Don and Anne MacCrimmon (1st and 7th, seated, from the left respectively) during a sundowner at site 26 in South Valley.

A spider waits patiently in it's jewel laden web in the early morning.

How's the situation of these Marsh Pokers!

The rivers are flowing beautifully again after the good rains.

Fly fishing at the "shark tank", W3.

A Gladiolus varius showing off in the mountain grasslands!

This Scarlet River Lily, Hesperantha coccinea, is blooming rather late on the banks of the Steenkamps Stream.

A colourful caterpillar in the grasslands.

A weekend wouldn't be the same without a sighting of the majestic Eland!

The fishing was great this weekend.

Jissis! That is a spectacular bloom! Only the second time I am seeing the mind-numbingly beautiful Gladiolus elliottii.

The serine view of M2 with it's picturesque White Stinkwood, Celtis Africana.

This was only the first of three long weekends in the next six weeks so get yourselves here for Easter time. We look forward to you visiting and remember, I will be offering mountain walks everyday for those adventurous souls...