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A cloudy Suikerbosrand |
A couple of other herbivores also visited the cameras over Christmas at Suikerbosrand. One of them was a familiar face, or was it...?
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Blesbok (Blesbok - Damaliscus dorcas phillipsi) walking past the camera trap |
These are Blesbok, close relatives of the Bontebok found in the south-west of the country and frequently photographed at Tygerberg (and regulars on this blog). For those of you wondering how to distinguish between Blesbok and Bontebok check out a previous post I did over here.
Another relative of the Blesbok, although not as close, is the Red Hartbeest. They have a similar build as the Blesbok, but have less striking colours.
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Red Hartbeest (Rooihartbees - Alcelaphus buselaphus) a little to close to the camera |
Strangely enough my best photographs of these guys were at night. Fortunately the Cuddeback Capture's photographs are particularly good at night (for a out-of-the-box commercial camera).
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Not the best photograth ever, but at least you can see its face |
The reserve is also home to some Plains Zebra. These guys have the normal colouration and not the Quagga-like pattern often seen in the south-western parts of South Africa.
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Plains Zebra (Bontsebra - Equus quagga burchelli) at night at Suikerbosrand |
One of the camera traps was placed on a well used zebra trail and got many images of them streaming past the Bushnell Trophy Cam trail camera.
There is more to come from Suikerbosrand soon.
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This filly was looking dreamily at the striped stallion heading her way |
I have some cameras in the field again, so I'm hoping for some good results in about 3 week's time. The camera traps are in some thicket/wooded areas in the Eastern Cape, which present it's own set of challenges, but I'm hoping for the best :)
You've got great subject matter down there. If any cyclists read this post they may go for zebra pattern lycras.
ReplyDeleteGood to see a new post from you. Coincidentally, I just did a post about Suikerbosrand on my own blog yesterday.
ReplyDeleteHi Henry. If you don't already know, the Mammal Atlas project at UCT has just been given a new fresh push and a new, very enthusiastic and competent project leader. Your excellent work and camera trapping is exactly the type of data that the project is trying to collect and I think your input would be invaluable to the success of the initiative.
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in finding out more check out http://mammals.adu.org.za/ or email Tali Hoffman directly (Tali.Hoffman@uct.ac.za)