A Whole Lotta Minuses

That’s what I see in the future here – a bunch of minus temperatures.  The weather network is trying to fool us by saying that in 5 days, we will get a + temperature, but I’m not buying that.  It is winter.  Right now it is -8C with a wind chill that feels like -15C and scattered flurries are expected all day starting very soon.

Enough of the weather here.  I’m more interested in the weather in South Africa.    At Hoedspruit right now (just outside Sabi Sands) it is 89F or 31.7C.

On Africam so far today (both Nkorho and Elephant Plains are in Sabi Sands), we have seen Elephant, Giraffe, Warthog, Wildebeest, Bee Eater, Impala, Kudu, Blacksmith Lapwing, Waterbuck, Oxpecker, Sandpiper, 3 banded Plover, Baboon, Egyptian Goose, Woolly-necked Stork, Zebra, Saddle-billed Stork, Reedbuck, White-tailed Mongoose, Spotted Eagle Owl, and Leopard.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

I did manage to get some pictures on my own again, but never seem to catch the Giraffes when they are there. You’ll have to take a look at Africam to see all the Giraffes that came by today. 

Impalas at NK November 18

Wildebeest at NK November 18

Warthogs at NK November 18

Chester and I will be heading out for our walk along the Red River soon.  We won’t have to wait long to have the ice starting to build up there.  It has also turned very cold at Churchill, which is good news for the polar bears who need the ice to get out onto the bay to hunt.  I didn’t see any bears yesterday when I had the cam open and nothing yet today either, but its pretty early right now.  I’ve often thought I would like to head up north to see the bears – but I’m not really a fan of cold weather.

Stuff

I love days like this.  It is very pleasant walking in the morning with a temperature of 16C (which also lets the house cool down overnight) and then it is going up to 25C by the afternoon (not too hot like last week).  We may get some rain today, but they are just talking about a possibility of isolated showers.  Everything is so dry that we really do need a good soaking rain – overnight would be perfect. 

I saw a few ducks when Chester and I took our walk along the Red River this morning, but none of them really gave me anything to take a picture of.  Again, the beavers were nowhere to be seen.    The rowers on the river were on this side today, so they may have gone into hiding from them.  I’m hoping they haven’t moved on since its been a few days since I’ve seen them.  Chester found lots of bunnies that he would have loved to chase though.

This weekend, I plan on going to the Assiniboine Park Zoo.  Apparently they have now opened up a butterfly garden as well as having a bird free flight show (predatory birds).  I had planned on going last weekend, but Chester’s seizure put me back a couple of days and I ran out of weekend.  I really hope both exhibits are up and running completely.  The last opening was Toucan Ridge and it was only about 1/2 completed (but open) a couple of weeks after the grand opening.  Hopefully that is now finished, so I can see that when I go this weekend.

I only remember see one Toucan on that trip and I took a picture, but it didn’t come out great.  I’ll show it to you now anyway and then when I get better ones this weekend, I can show you the new and improved Toucan pictures along with butterflies and maybe some hawks and eagles in flight.

Toucan

On Africam today, we have seen rhinos, vervet monkeys, zebras, impalas, waterbuck, wildebeest, plus lots of birds and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Back to Normal (whatever that is)

I did not even check the temperature when Chester and I took our walk along the Red River this morning.  Now (around noon) it is 21C with 94% humidity and drizzling.  It was drizzling when we walked too.   It is supposed to get up to 25C by this afternoon.

We couldn’t find any beavers today, but did find one small Wood Duck family.  It was just the mom and 2 almost grown babies.

Wood Ducks

No relaxing for mom as she stands guard.

When heading out for breakfast after my workout at the Y, a large truck in front of me suddenly slammed on the brakes and came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road.  I couldn’t see in front of it, so I slammed on my brakes too.  Just then we could see a Mallard Duck and her tiny babies crossing the road and heading for the river.  That truck would have killed the whole family if the driver hadn’t done that.  The family had to get across the other direction too, but the first car coming towards them also braked quickly and I saw them all scramble up the curb on the river side of the street. 

Yesterday, I was playing with the settings on my camera and found a sketch mode.  Of course I had to try that out and took a couple of pictures of Chester in the yard.

Chester July 8 sketch

Chester July 8 sketch

On Africam today, we have seen Giraffe, Wildebeest, Duiker, Baboons, Zebra, Elephants and much more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Geese and Stuff

Chester and I had our walk much later than usual today because I had an early start to work – only not actually AT work.  I had a training session at the Workplace Safety and Health office, which started 2 hours before I normally start work – and it was about the same distance from home as my normal workplace.  I had originally decided I would walk there because parking downtown is very expensive and the bus that would take me closest just wasn’t timed right for me  – but it was pouring rain in the morning.    I thought about it and finally decided that I probably wouldn’t melt in the rain and I walked there anyway.

The session was called “Investigating Workplace Incidents” .  I found out that injuries at work are called incidents instead of accidents, because incidents are preventable whereas accidents are not and almost all injuries in workplaces are preventable.   It was a very interesting course and I now have to make a report to the rest of the Workplace Safety and Health committee at our next meeting.

So, I walked all the way there in the rain and then walked all the way home after the rain finally ended and then took Chester for a walk along the Red River.  Again, I found 2 different birds with several of one and only one of the other, but different birds from yesterday.

We have a couple of Canada Goose families lounging on the river bank and they weren’t concerned about us at all, which really surprised me.  They knew we were there, but chose to ignore us.  I don’t know if the babies are still called goslings when they get this big or not.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

Our sparrow for the day is the Song Sparrow – again, the name is made possible by my bird book that has been recently discovered. 

Song Sparrow

Then he very conveniently gave me a slightly different view to help in identification. 

Song Sparrow

On Africam today, we have seen Elephants, Nyala, Wildebeest, Zebra, Duiker, Rhinos and a great selection of different birds.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Dog Committee

I didn’t even know we had a Dog Committee – gee, I learn something every day!  It was 5C when Chester and I had our walk this morning and the sun was shining. 

As we were walking down a street a few blocks from home, a young boy (about 10 years of age) came running out of his house wearing just socks on his feet and a t-shirt and shorts.  He asked me what my dog’s name was and then told me that he was head of the Dog Committee.  It seems the Dog Committee walks dogs and he was going to get his business card for me.  I told him that I enjoy the walks myself and probably wouldn’t be using his business, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find his business card in my mailbox sometime soon.

The snow from the weekend is pretty much gone now – just a few little spots that don’t get sun still have some snow.

We didn’t see any wildlife along the Red River this morning at all, except for one Mallard duck that quickly flew by.  So, for pictures I have the traditional big tree across the river and my tulips that seem to have recovered from the snow.

Big Tree May 3

Tulips May 3

On Africam today, we have seen Nyalas, Woolly-Necked Storks, Impalas, Elephants, Baboons, Hornbills, Vervet Monkeys, Saddle-Billed Stork, Zebras, Wildebeest, Cape Buffalo and Egyptian Geese – but the day isn’t over yet.  You can see today’s pictures here.

Mystery Critter at Tembe

Yesterday, shortly before I left for work, we witnessed an animal die on Tembe on the Africam camera.  This happened very close to the waterhole, but in a very difficult spot to see what was actually happening.  We could see the animals legs flailing and his mouth opening and then he suddenly stopped moving.  As soon as he stopped moving, the nearby impalas stopped their alarms, which had started before anyone noticed him go down.

Looking at Africam’s facebook page, the guesses range greatly as to what kind of animal this was, but  nyala, wildebeest or wild dog seem to be the most common thoughts.

My thought is the nyala as the colouring and size seem to match a male nyala – the wild dog is much smaller than this animal and the wildebeest does not have white on him.  The nyala does have a tail much like a wild dog.

We also do not know what happened to him – again guesses have ranged between a snake bite or a python wrapped around his neck to injuries sustained from an attack.  To me, the position of the nyala has his head pointing to the right but we were seeing his bottom chin and his horns are under his head on the ground.  This would protrude his neck out and make it look like something was wrapped around his neck, and that would rule out the python.   He was lying in the middle of a dark shadow, which was between two bright sunlight areas.

The things that are keeping the uncertainty going is that no one from Tembe has gone to take a look or to let anyone know what happened and the camera at Tembe went down during the night and Africam has not been able to get it back up again.  It is now nearing night in Africa and we may not know anything until tomorrow (if then).

While watching this happen live, I can tell you that my emotions ranged from fear to sadness, amazement, shock, disbelief and pretty much everything in between.

To add to the confusion, apparently one of the wild dogs was killed by a lion yesterday.  This was a separate incident though.

If you are interested in watching a video – remember that it is not very clear and also that this animal dies – you can see Gerda’s video here.

It was 7C when Chester and I walked this morning – but it was drizzling rain.  The only picture I took was of our big tree and it didn’t focus well because of the rain, so I won’t even show it here.  Instead I’ll give you a Black Backed Jackal that I just saw at Nkorho. 

Black Backed Jackal

Wild Dogs at Nkorho

Early this morning a pack of Wild Dogs raced around Nkorho with our zoomie and the landies full of guests in hot pursuit.   These dogs are rare and a sighting is always big news.  According to the rangers at Nkorho, there were 20 dogs and while there they caught 3 Impalas for their meals.

I was not able to get many pictures since they did not slow down enough for photo opportunities, but here are a couple of pics.

Wild Dog at NKorho

This one actually stood still long enough for a photo 

Wild Dogs and Wildebeest at NKorho

This Wildebeest ran right into the middle of the pack just before this.  That is what caught everyone’s attention as the dogs were just specks on the camera at that time.  They were not interested in him though – just the Impalas.

We often call the early morning, ‘the morning parade’ as there are often many critters arriving for a drink or just to wander by – but this was one of the more exciting morning parades and a great way to end my day. 

When I got up this morning, I saw fresh snow on my sunroom window – which means it got warmer, since it had been too cold to snow lately.  It is currently -15C with a wind chill of -23C for Chester and I to have our walk along the Red River.  By the looks of things that is about what we will be getting for the rest of the week.  I sure hope that -30C to -40C stuff is gone now.

Texas in Manitoba

What a drive.   Here in Texas (in my dreams), it is a pleasant 23C under a sunny sky.    Back in Winnipeg it is -23C with a windchill of -34C.  The weather people can tell me all they like, that there is heavy snowfall between Winnipeg and Texas and that Texas has snow and ice – but they are not in my dreams and can’t tell me what to dream about. 

I probably drove a few of my co-workers a little crazy at work yesterday as I announced every once in a while where I would be if I had left – crossing the border now, passing by Fargo, into South Dakota, here we are in Nebraska – and so on.  Speaking of work – the Y had its annual general meeting on Monday.  Among other things, this is when they had out  presents to employees and volunteers who have reached 5 or a multiple of 5 years service.  I received my 10 year service present.  It is a very nice pen and pencil set.  I did not go to the meeting since I had worked all day and don’t like to leave Chester and Jewel alone any longer than my work shift unless I have to.  The news brought back by some who attended is that we will be building a new Y in Winnipeg – not sure exactly where yet – but with the way membership has been booming, we really need this.  I hope to hear more details soon.  I am assuming that I will be asked to be the branch manager and I have already started lining up my staff  

I worked for the provincial government here for many years.  No acknowledgment was made for any annual milestone until you reached 25 years.  At that time they gave me a plaque (well, actually – they gave me two plaques, because they put the wrong years on the first one).  They also gave me $30. to put on a luncheon for myself.

As I have been sitting here typing this, I am (of course) watching Africam.  I haven’t seen much on Nkorho or Elephant Plains this morning, but Tembe has been busy.  I have watched an elephant, some wildebeests, a waterbuck,  a zebra, and a warthog.

Elephant and Wildebeest

Wildebeests with a Waterbuck behind them

Zebra

Warthog

Whether I’m in Manitoba or Texas – Chester needs his walk – so off we go 

January 6th

Exciting things are happening at Africam with the Tembe Elephant Park camera. The camera has been up for some time in a test mode and we could see the potential there with many critters around the waterhole at many times. The problems there were that the pictures was often not very clear, there was no sound and there was seldom anyone doing any zooming.

In the last few weeks the camera has been replaced with a high quality cam that has wonderful clarity, a microphone has been added and zoomies are now on duty during the day.  It still does not have night lighting (its coming though) and the microphone is too far away from the waterhole (also coming soon).

As a matter of fact, we were able to watch workers digging a trench in the rain for the microphone and lighting yesterday .  Watching them dig this trench without the use of any power equipment shows how difficult it is to have these sort of things done in the wilderness.

Click here to see the pictures of the workers digging the trench, along with the rest of yesterday’s pictures at Africam, including the ones taken at Tembe with elephants, rhinos, zebras, wildebeest and more.

Click here to see the work continue with the cable being put down today. You will also get to see the pictures of a leopard visit from today at Elephant Plains.

Today’s picture of the day has to be from Tembe, so here is one I took of rhinos, nyala and zebra.

Rhino, Nyala, Zebra

December 17th

Just call me the voiceless wonder!  Here I am – the 2nd time in a year, without a voice.  I could feel it trying to leave on Wednesday while I was at work and tried to stay in an out of the way spot to save it – but no success.  By Thursday morning I had absolutely no voice.  The last time, which was in Jan or Feb sometime – I went for 4 days before I could talk fairly normally.  This is day 2 and I’m hoping I can find my voice today.

Yesterday I stayed home all day – had my daughter phone in sick for me , since its really hard to phone in sick without a voice – and hung out on Africam (where else) as well as facebook.   Today is my weekend and the day I run all my errands – so I had errands to run.  I took a notebook and pen with me so I wouldn’t be straining my voice to talk to people and it worked good.  Now I am back home again drinking more tea and honey and hanging out on Africam 

The weather has been great the last few days.  After a couple of -29C type days with wind, it has settled down in the -10 to -15 C weather which is quite pleasant.  Right now it is -8C and that will probably be the high for the day.  Of course, it is cloudy and snowing off and on – but I’ll take that instead of the -29 and colder stuff.

One of my daughter’s cats – Cyrus – has decided that the top of Jewel’s cage is a great place to have a nap or survey the room.  Jewel is not happy with this and neither am I.  The first time I caught him up there, I nicely removed him – but the 2nd time I caught him there today, I wasn’t quite as nice about it.  I wouldn’t be mean or hurt him in any way of course, but I let him know that was not a place for him.  Jewel was hissing at him the 2nd time too, so I am hoping he got the hint.

W have had some lion activity at Nkorho on Africam the last 2 nights  with 3 lionesses in sight.  The first night they took an adult and baby wildebeest and I haven’t heard anything about any kills the 2nd night.   Apparently these girls are from the Styx pride of lions and the two females from the 2 + 1 pride have also been seen in the area.  This is when life is a bit easier for the lions as there are so many new babies around due to all the fresh green grass and leaves available.

I snapped a couple of pictures as they were leaving Nkorho earlier today.

Styx Pride Lionesses

Styx Pride Lionesses

Unfortunately, there is no remote zooming possible at Nkorho and the sound is also not working right.  The night that the lions stampeded the herd of cape buffalo, one of the microphones was trampled and destroyed and then a lighting strike put the camera out of commision for awhile.  When it came back, the remote zooming capabilities were no longer available.  Since no one from the lodge was up yet to zoom in on the lions -  this is the best look we got at them.

It is hard to imagine the difficulty in getting equipment such as this repaired or replaced when they are many miles from any technician and/or replacement equipment.  As well as having to fix or replace the equipment at Nkorho, they are also working on getting a third camera up to par and operating full time.   Tembe Elephant Park has been on test mode for some time now and we are getting glimpses of it with a new camera and what we have seen looks great.  There are some big tusked elephants at Tembe and I am really looking forward to having this cam on view full time now too.  I have re-arranged my desktop window to allow room for a third cam 

You can see more of today’s pictures here