Got back on site today. There were some snake sightings whilst I was in SA, my back to back (a Portuguese nurse who hasn’t spent much time in the bush and is rather wary of wildlife) took some pics of some of them he saw for me. One afternoon the machines turned up a pair of
Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus, apparently, according to several witnesses they were quite large and well over a metre in length. Neither were injured and one of the foremen moved them off into the bush. The pics unfortunately were not close ups
On the main road there was this
Python natalensis that was rather obviously dead.
Also seen were a couple of
Naja mossambica, what sounds from the nurse to be very much like a
Dendroaspis polylepis (he doesn’t know enough about snakes to make up stories, and his very clear description sounds like this was a beaut!), a few more medium sized
Bitis arietans, and another small (3ft)
P natalensis. All were apparently unharmed and moved off into the bush themselves, other than the python that had to be picked up and shifted onto a nearby koppie.
This morning I went over the border into Malawi (quite unknowingly, just followed the railway reserve) and on the way back this Gabar Goshawk swooped down onto the dirt in front of me. I wasn’t able to see clearly what it was attacking, but through the lens I could see something writhing in its talons. I managed to crawl the pickup slowly forward and just before it took off, I managed to get a few shots. On looking at them a bit enlarged I could see that it was eating a massive centipede. I hope you can see it in the pics. These aren’t the largest raptors around, but they aren’t that small either, this was truly a HUGE centipede.
Also very prevalent at the moment are the Lilac-breasted rollers. Always worth trying to get a decent pic of in my opinion.
The place has had a few sporadic rains whilst I was away, and although there are spots of greenery, it’s really dry and dusty. At the moment there is a lot of deep excavation going on, and not much brush clearing, so I don’t think I will find too much of interest in the way of reptiles, but let’s see how it goes…