The first couple of weeks of August were fairly hot, dry and dusty. We were lucky enough to receive 78mm of rain mid month quenching the brown, dry grasslands. The plains were transformed in a matter of days, the shorter grass that had already been grazed turning to an emerald green. This brought about a change in the zebra and wildebeest behaviour, with the herds of the wildebeest migration coming together and moving north towards Rhino Ridge, Musiara Marsh and on to our walking area in Koiyaki. We have been treated to the most amazing sight having these dense herds of animals covering the plains from Governors’ Camp for as far as the eye can see! We even had to clear the airstrip for aeroplanes to land. The grass is still plentiful even with the enormous numbers of animals on it, this bodes well for September. We have the good rains we received at the first half of the year to thank for that.
The Wildebeest Migration:
At the beginning of the month the herds of wildebeest and zebra were in fairly large groups with trails moving to and fro from area to area without obvious direction. Some wildebeest were still to be seen in the Northern part of the Serengeti and in the southern part of the Masai Mara around the Sand River and in the Trans-Mara areas. With the Masai Mara having some decent rain and reportedly the Serengeti remaining mostly dry, the Wildebeest Migration ventured north to our area of the Masai Mara where greener pastures and brought them together in huge numbers. We have seen many Mara River crossings this month some with a few animals crossing and some with thousands of wildebeest crossing. And we have not even had to leave camp to catch the action with wildebeest crossing the Mara River in front of Governors’ Camp on two different occasions last week! The wildebeest have mostly done well, crossing the river with minor casualties even though the river has come up a meter or so. There have been a few devastating crossings where hundreds have drowned as they had chosen a steep exit, littering the river with carcasses and providing a feast for the already gorged crocodiles, catfish and vultures.
The Quinine trees (Rauvofia caffra) after losing their leaves, regenerated new ones together with their flowers and fruit. The Black and White Hornbills after a short absence are back and spending much of their time up in the Quinine trees, as are the Turacos, Double-toothed barbets and Olive pigeons feeding on the fruit. The African Green heart tree, the most prominent large tree in the area known for its medicinal cures for stomach aches and malaria as well as the Masai toothbrush has continued to fruit. The elephant have stood under these trees eating its peppery fruit for some time now, they more than likely receive some kind of medicinal properties from this too. They do get a little feisty from the spiciness and could account for the amount of damage done to the trees and poles in the camps.
We have enjoyed some lovely sightings of the water birds in the marsh now that it has receded and the elephant and waterbuck have eaten the sedge down including Saddle-billed Storks, Yellow-billed Storks, a variety of Plovers and Lapwings, Sacred Ibis and the first of the Spoon-billed storks.
A Martial eagle was sighted with a banded mongoose kill up in a tree. Four Fish eagles and a Bateleur eagle were seen feeding on a young gazelle, we are unsure if one of the fish eagles actually killed it or it had died of natural causes.
There are three ostrich nesting sites out on the plains, one unfortunately was ransacked by hyena and all the eggs eaten and destroyed.
The large herd of buffalo numbering around 400 individuals continue to frequent the marsh to drink and eat the thicker course grass that grows beside it. They have calved recently and have many young varying slightly in age and colour. They are born jet black, changing to a rusty brown as their coat grows out and returning to black again, all in a couple of months. The breeding males stay with the herd and the young to help protect them from predators which they are fierce at. The older pride male of the marsh pride was chased up into the top of a small bush at the end of August by some very unhappy buffalo! The bachelor males, the young and old mostly, still remain in their small groups along the rivers edge, not moving far at all during the day.
The impala, waterbuck, hartebest and topi maintain their territories along the marsh and riverine forest undisturbed as the wildebeest migration moves through and encompasses them. The warthogs are mostly breathing a sigh of relief as they have been given a reprieve by the lions as the wildebeest take their place as the staple food group.
Photos courtesy of Tom Shorricks and Lin Rankin
Giraffe come and go in smaller herds, sometimes not seeing any for days. They seem to go across into the Acacia woodlands for a slightly different diet and then back to us for the Teclia and wild cocoa bushes.
The Marsh Pride of lions, have been very prominent around the marsh this month, at a stretch moving up to the Mbila Shaka river line a kilometre away. They have had no need to move as the wildebeest migration has come to them. On a couple of occasions wildebeest have sunk in the mud and trapped themselves, leaving the lions very little to. The pride has been hunting wildebeest on a daily basis, there are so many wildebeest in their territory that one day they killed five wildebeest and only ate two leaving the rest to the hyenas. The older pride male is still in bad shape, he has come in closer to the rest of the pride but remains apart. He has a serious limp and cannot run as he used to, hence his predicament with the buffalo mentioned earlier. One of the younger lionesses has become more marginalized too, we are unsure why but there is always the possibility she may be expectant. The rest of the pride is fat and happy! The three youngest cubs have come into the fold of the pride and are far more adventurous and playful, the older cubs making sure they grow up tough. The first litter of cubs are mostly with one of the lionesses, away from the core pride and new litter.
With the wildebeest migration on their doorstep The Ridge Pride have maintained their abundant hunting grounds up on Rhino Ridge, not moving very far at all but less accessible in their rocky terrain.
Photos courtesy of Anthony Park and Tom Shorricks
The Paradise Pride having positioned themselves around and near the main crossing sites on the Mara River are not short of food either. This area naturally channels the wildebeest and zebra into a couple of small valleys into the open areas of the river where they mostly cross over. The pride males continue to move back and forth across the river, moonlighting between their two prides of lionesses.
We have seen many different cheetah this month, most of all the three boys. They have been moving between Governors and the Talek river. They have developed a very clever hunting tactic of divide and conquer – the lead male will concentrate his attention on a young wildebeest calf whilst the other two distract and push the mother and the rest of the herd away.
The mother cheetah and the cub with the bad eye have not been seen much at all this month, spending her time out of the reserve in the Koiyaki area. The other female with her grown cub was up near double crossing and also moving into the Koiyaki area. The female with her three almost grown cubs has been seen intermittently up on Topi plains. She had killed a young wildebeest, which is a tall task for a single mother as she risks confrontation from the mother wildebeest. She does have three other mouths to feed, so needs must. The single female has been seen up on Rhino ridge, no confirmed reports on whether she is pregnant yet. She is the same one that was mating with the three boys months ago.
Photo courtesy of Anthony Park
Shadow / Zawadi the leopard, whom we have not seen for an age made an appearance near the windmill at the marsh mid month. The female Il Moran leopard has been seen but less so this month. We think she has retreated more into the forest as the lions presence in the marsh has been so constant. She was however spotted catching cat fish out of a small pool at the marsh. The very large male leopard has been at the rocky, croton area near the River.
Olive and her two cubs maintain their celebrity status on the Olare Orok river, she is seen most days seemingly not minding the being photographed. Olive’s previous male cub who is now an adult seems to share part of her territory along the river. He has been seen less regularly, this is normal as males tend to be more secretive. The other female leopard and her two younger cubs on the Ntiakitiak river are also flourishing. Although she managed to kill a young wildebeest, she unfortunately lost it to lions whilst feeding on it on the ground.
Photos courtesy of Lin Rankin and Anthony Park
With so much game around the hyenas have had their fill, leaving half eaten carcasses and hunting more for sport. There is still a den sight close to our airstrip where the cubs are growing up fast and will soon move on.
There are also two jackal den sites further up on the plains, the pups are still very small and remain mostly in hiding.
Now that the grass has been mowed down in many areas we have had some great sightings of Serval cats and Bat-eared foxes. They are less camouflaged in the shorter, now greener grass.
It has been a spectacular month for hot air ballooning in the Masai Mara, we have enjoyed incredible views over the wildebeest migration, the big five in one flight, regular rhino and lion sightings and this morning a hyena took down a wildebeest right in front of the balloon.
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