Secretary Birds

'Secretary Bird' watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm - Maree©

The Secretary Bird has traditionally been admired in Africa for its striking appearance and ability to deal with pests and snakes. As such it has often not been molested, although this is changing as traditional observances have declined.

The Secretary Bird is the national emblem of Sudan as well as a prominent feature on the Coat of arms of South Africa.

The Secretary Bird is largely terrestrial, hunting its prey on foot, and other than the caracara (such as Polyborus plancus), is the only bird of prey to do so habitually. Adults hunt in pairs and sometimes as loose familial flocks, stalking through the habitat with long strides. Prey consists of insects, small mammals, lizards, snakes, young birds, bird eggs, and sometimes dead animals killed in brush fires. Larger herbivores are not hunted, although there are some reports of Secretary Birds killing young gazelles.

The Terror of Poachers

Silver-backed Jackal pup

I was lucky enough to rescue one of these little animals caught in a trap set on the bottom strand of a barbed wire fence. I was driving along a country road in our area and saw a peculiar movement in the grass and stopped. To my dismay, I saw a little Fox trying to free itself from a string and piece of wire around it's neck, strangling himself as he kept struggling.

As I approached carefully, he stopped struggling and took on a threatening stance, baring his teeth and growling at me trying to look very fierce through his fear, but I could see he was still only a puppy. I tried to cover him with my jacket, but he fled the length of the string to the other side of the fence.

Slowly I pulled him back through the fence and quickly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hastily covered him with my jacket. I managed to break the string by scuffing it on the barbed wire and undid the wire around his neck, which left a deep cut where it had been biting into his skin.

I drove home with him clamped between my legs, wrapped in the jacket and he actually lay surprisingly still. I was worried that he had died of shock or something, but once I got home and released him in one of our kennels, I saw that he was very much alive indeed. Before removing the jacket covering him, I cleaned and treated his wound, put down fresh water and closed the gate, leaving him alone for a while to recover. A while later I took him some porridge and milk, which he devoured ravenously once I had left, watching him from a distance.

Later that afternoon I fetched him from the kennel, took him inside and sat with him on the couch. His curiosity soon overcame his fear and before long he was sniffing me and everything else he saw.

This little fellow spent a couple of weeks with us, entertaining us with his antics of attacking my sheepskin slippers, pouncing on them and trying to tear them apart. Then one morning, as I went out to feed him, he was gone. He'd climbed over the 6' diamond mesh fence and although I searched our smallholding for a while, it was obvious that he was gone.

I knew I'd miss him, but wished him well and just hoped he would manage to evade the traps set by poachers and live a long, healthy life. These little animals are hunted for their beautiful pelts, as well as various body parts, which the locals use as 'muti' (medicine).


Silver-backed Jackal

The jackal, a medium-sized carnivore with doglike features and a bushy tail, is widely distributed in Africa. The three species of jackal in Africa are the golden or common jackal, the side striped jackal and the black-backed or silver-backed jackal.

The golden jackal is somewhat shorter and stockier, and the black-backed is the most slender and upstanding, with noticeably larger ears. Mainly, they differ in color and choice of habitat.


The silver-backed or black-backed jackal is usually the most frequently seen as it is more diurnal than the other two. When they live close to settled areas, however, black-backed jackals often confine most of their activities to night-time.

Diet: Opportunistic omnivores, Jackals cooperatively hunt small or young antelopes such as dikdiks or Thomson's gazelles or even domestic sheep. They also eat snakes and other reptiles, insects, ground-dwelling birds, fruits, berries and grass.

Socialisation: Live singly or in pairs, and are sometimes in small packs. They are among the few mammalian species in which the male and female mate for life. Mated pairs are territorial. They mark and defend the boundaries of their territory.


Silver-backed (black-backed) Jackal


Silver-backed Jackal pups

Bedtime

WHERE DO HEDGEHOGS SLEEP?

During the summer, hedgehogs spend he day sleeping in a light, flimsy nest constructed from grass and leaves. They will have a number such nests, and often sleep in the same one for some time before returning to a nest they have used previously.


Hedgehogs are sometimes found asleep outside their nest or even active in daylight, particularly during the autumn or spring when there is less food available at night.

A nest may be slept in at different times by several hedgehogs; they don't seem to mind who originally built it. In the way, the various occupants pick up fleas and other parasites left behind by previous visitors. But it is very unusual to find two fully grown wild hedgehogs sharing the same nest.

When the weather is warm, a hedgehog may not bother to build a nest at all, but will simply lie up under a pile of leaves or a grassy tussock.

Hedgehogs Down Under

A NEW WORLD

Long sea journeys have taken the hedgehog right to the other side of the world, to New Zealand.

From the 1870's onwards, colonists intending to spend the rest of their lives in New Zealand decided that hedgehogs were just what they needed to help them feel at home.


The hedgehogs took to their new country with enthusiasm, and today hedgehogs in New Zealand are probably more numerous than in Britain. But no-one seems to have taken a hedgehog with them when emigrating to Australia or America, so those countries are hedgehog-free zones.

Visit the Black Eagles at Botanical Gardens

"Black Eagle" Watercolour on Bockingford 300gsm watercolour paper - Maree©

FOUR years ago the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden in Roodepoort, South Africa, had a crisis. Their magnificent Black Eagle male disappeared and it was thought that a 40-year old breeding programme would come to an end.

But the female eagle took charge. She disappeared for several days, and reappeared with a young male, and the pair have continued breeding ever since.

The Garden, some 30 kilometres west of the city centre at Roodepoort, is one of a network of eight botanical gardens around the country. It consists of around 300 hectares of landscaped and natural veld areas, planted with only indigenous trees, 600 species of indigenous flowering plants and shrubs. Over 230 species of birds have been recorded in the Garden as well as a number of reptiles and small mammals.

The kilometre walk to the top of the waterfall is worth it to get a view of the eagle's nest.

The Garden, donated to the people of Roodepoort in 1982 by the farmer who owned the property, is crisscrossed with trails, one going to the top of one of two small mountains that overlook a waterfall and the eagles' nests. Other walks take the visitor past the wild flower garden, a fern walk, a forest walk along the spruit, or a walk down to one of three dams on wheelchair-friendly brick and wood paths, to sit in the hide to watch the water birds.

There's more - an arboretum with shady lawns, a water-wise demonstration garden, acres of green lawns, a cycad garden, a magico-medicinal garden (plants used for magical and medicinal purposes), a succulent garden, and environmental education.

The eagle pair have two nests, towards the top of the beautiful 70-metre Witpoortjie Waterfall in the Gardens, and each year they alternate between them. The pair mate for life, and every year around March they prepare the nest when new sticks are added and a nest cap of leafy twigs is made. The male performs spectacular courtship displays, and two eggs are laid around mid-May, four days apart.

Magnificent gardens filled with indigenous flora, as far as the eye can see.

After 45 days an all-white chick hatches and once the second chick is laid four days later, the "Cain and Able" struggle begins. The first chick, Cain, proceeds to kill Abel, the second chick, over the next 3-4 days.

The white plumage changes to a golden brown over the next 90 days, when the bird leaves the nest. This juvenile will spend the next three months in the gardens, being fed by its parents. During this time, it practises and perfects its hunting and flying techniques, and in mid-December or January it will leave to establish its own territory. The chick has an estimated 30% chance of survival in its first year.

At around 4-5 years the eagle develops its beautiful dark plumage, then finds a mate and establishes its own territory.

This breeding pair are one of the few in an urban environment, and are unique to the Witwatersrand area, although they are under stress because of urban encroachment on their natural environment. This pair live mainly on hares and guinea fowl, although traditionally black eagles eat mostly Dassies.

Black Eagles - Up-date June '09

JUNE 2009

Black Eagles are born white


Fortunately the Cain and Abel struggle did not ensue because only one of the two eggs hatched. So there is only a single chick that is in the nest and is doing well. Now that there is no sibling rivalry the lone chick will receive all the love, food, care and protection from the parents.

After fledging, the juvenile will then stay in the immediate vicinity of the Garden for three months where it shall learn most of its survival strategies from the adults.

When the Verreaux’s (Black) Eagles’ chicks hatch they are usually fluffy whitish, but when they grow up, their plumage change to black. It is an interesting element of these fascinating birds that only nature can explain.

The nestling remains in the nest for about 120 days, after which the parents chase it from the territory.

Why don’t you help us give the surviving chick a name?
E-mail your suggestions to info@sisulugarden.co.za

Areas where black eagles are found in Africa:


Email your suggestions to sisulugarden@sanbi.org

The Black Eagle is a fairly common resident and one of the most thoroughly researched eagles in Southern Africa. This magnificent species gets its scientific name from the 18th century naturalist Jules Verreaux, hence “Aquila verreauxii”.

Black Eagles are found at sea level from the Cape Province to the Drakensberg in Natal, to the Soutpansberg in the Northern Province and far beyond into the rock hills of southern Zimbabwe, Motobos Hills, where Cecil John Rhodes was laid to rest. The Motobos Hills is the home of the densest population of black eagles, this is the area where Val Gargett did her wondrous study of +/- 60 breeding pairs and wrote “The Black Eagle – A Study” well worth a read if you are passionate about raptors, especially black eagles.


The rugged or mountainous terrain with cliffs, rock ledges and caves is the preferred habitat of the black eagle. They occur in dry Savannah, woodland and even desert and high rainfall areas, wherever rocky outcrops, gorges or mountain ranges provide nesting sites and there is an abundance of prey.

For more information on these birds visit www.blackeagles.co.za

The Story of Hedgie

"Hedgie, the Hedgehog" - watercolour in Moleskine large sketchbook - Maree

Hedgie the African Hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis) came into my life in July 2000, at a time when I felt I couldn’t handle any more responsibilities, (I was already looking after 2 Mountain tortoises and 2 fledgling Laughing Doves, plus 2 baby Guinea fowl) and all I wanted to do was find a safe home for him as quickly as possible, but after the first hour of getting to know him, I’d lost my heart completely!

Hedgie was brought to me after being rescued from some dogs rolling him around the field, presumably quite puzzled at the prickly ball which seemed quite alive, yet yielding not one inch to any prompting or buffeting of any kind.

What attracted him to Bridgette’s garden was the garden light left on at night and under which he could snuffle around for any insects also attracted to the light. And after finding him two or three times in the morning being harassed by the dogs, Bridgette decided it was time for a change of venue for the prickly character who would not even let her catch a glimpse of anything inside the bunch of prickles.

She arrived with him one Sunday afternoon, not sure whether he was still alive or not, as he had not unrolled for quite some time. Cupping him gently in my hands, I took him to the ‘holding pen’, which was a fenced area normally housing the two baby Mountain tortoises that were currently in hibernation inside the house, snug in a box, emerging from time to time for a drink of water and a quick snack before returning to their selective corners. We left Hedgie in peace for a couple of hours and after Bridgette had left, I fetched Hedgie to make sure that he was indeed all right.

After a couple of minutes of gentle coaxing, I was rewarded with a little black nose and black hairy face (juvenile, the hairs later turn white) peering out cautiously, taking in the scene for any possible danger, flipping back into his protective covering at the slightest move. It was not long before he seemed to decide that there did not seem to be any danger and he gently uncurled into his full length, with a soft, warm tummy resting in the palm of my hand. My movements had to be gentle and slow, as he was startled very easily.

After making sure that he was in quite good health, I offered him some bread and milk (for lack of having anything else to possibly give him at such short notice, as it was in the middle of winter and insects were decidedly in short supply). He lapped at the milk quite thirstily at first and after a while ate quite a bit of the bread. He then acted quite strangely, scrambling madly in my hand and I quickly took him back to the holding pen and put him down gently. He seemed quite agitated, running around for a while and then the reason was obvious – nature had called!

Then came the task of making him a shelter in the one corner of the pond area, filled with dried grass and formed into a hollow in the one corner of the shelter. I gently put him to bed, leaving some more bread and milk and fresh water and decided to check on him later.

Hedgie's home

After dark, I went to fetch Hedgie and saw him investigating his new home, trotting the perimeters in an ever-widening circle, starting in the middle and walking the same route over and over, extending the range every couple of laps, until he had satisfied himself of where the boundaries were. Picking him up carefully (I still got pricked because he rolled into a ball, trapping my fingers inside his soft tummy!), we went into the house, where he spent some time curled up in my lap until he couldn’t resist the temptation anymore and started opening up, peering out slant-eyed, as if I wouldn’t be able to see him if his eyes were closed!

We have now established quite a cozy relationship, with him uncurling at the sound of my voice and peeping out to see the reason for this disturbance and if he’s not willing to be disturbed right at that moment, he does little hops combined with grunting and huffing noises, letting me know in no uncertain terms that this is not the right time for any play.

Hedgie weighing in at 450g, can go as high as 750g

His diet has progressed to canned dog food (his favourite), still the milk and bread occasionally, and any insects I collected from under rocks and bark, him delighting mostly in the large wood lice, which he virtually grabs out of my hand and devours in a flash. I also started breeding meal worms, which turned out to be his total favourite.

Hedgie on the couch

Come summer, and when the threat of veld fires is over, I will try and find a suitable place to release him, and I will surely miss him lying on my lap or crawling up my chest, licking any bare skin he comes across and then, to my utter horror, trying to anoint himself on my smell, prickles scraping bare skin and little claws scratching until I’m forced to return him to my lap or the floor. One thing I know for sure, it will be a great emptiness in my life once he goes.

Hedgie on the step of my Studio

PS : I never did release Hedgie, and he went on to spend 8 beautiful years with me, and sadly passed away last year, 2008, from some bowel obstruction that the vet was unable to treat. But I have been left richer for having him in my life and the memories will last forever.

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