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| Two-Striped Shovel Snout (Prosymna bivittata). Northern slopes of the Soutpansberg. |
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| Variegated Wolf Snake (Lycophidion variegatum) a snake with poorly understood distribution patterns. |
The last quarter of 2018 has been very exciting and
productive. We have returned to Medike where we used to live until September
2017. Being back at Medike has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. The warm weather and
abundance of wildlife (especially herpetofauna) have been a welcome change. Also watching the property developing into a
proactive and important conservation area in the western Soutpansberg has been a special experience for us, we are happy that we could be a small part of that. Now managed by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, Medike will officially be protected for the foreseeable future.
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| Richard's Burrowing Skink (Acontias richardi) from the far eastern Soutpansberg.The highlight of this season's sampling. |
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| Zambezi Beaked Blind Snake (Afrotyphlops mucruso) an unusual and rarely encountered fossorial species. |
This period has been very busy in terms of widening our
sampling effort and expanding our horizons. We have visited many additional
sites and sampled at some unique places including: Alldays in the hot open sandy Bushveld; Blouberg Nature Reserve reminiscent of the northern parts of the western
Soutpansberg; the hot deep sands on the Northern Slopes of the
Eastern Soutpansberg; Mapungubwe; Musina; and of course, various sites in the western Soutpansberg, including high and low
altitude regions, some of these sites we have visited for the first time. Most of our time was spent in the Sand River Valley at Medike.
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| Cape Buffalo, a member of the big five. An exciting yet dangerous encounter on foot. Alldays. |
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| Fig Forest at Blouberg Nature Reserve. |
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| Blouberg Flat Lizard (Platysuarus parvus) from the foothills of Blouberg. |
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| Stevenson's Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus stevensoni) Mapungubwe National Park. |
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| Zimbabwe Flat Lizard (Platysaurus rhodesianus) Mapungubwe National Park. |
New Species and
Special Finds
African Bull Frog (Pyxicephalus edulis)
The first specimen from Medike, we encountered an adult one
night during a termite alate emergence. The frog was in the process of
swallowing a centipede (Scolopendra morsitans).
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| African Bull Frog (Pyxicephalus edulis) consuming a Centipede (Scolopendra morsitans). Medike Nature Reserve. |
Northern Pygmy Toad (Poyntonophrynus fenoulheti)
One night while doing one of our transects we encountered a
Northern Pygmy Toad, this is a first for Medike and the first for our Western
Soutpansberg records. Previously we have only found these frogs in the far
eastern Soutpansberg.
Broad Banded Grass Frog (Ptychadena mossambica)
During the rains in early December part of the nocturnal
amphibian chorus was made up of Broad Banded Grass frogs, we failed to detect
this species in previous years and is also a new species for our Medike lists.
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| Northern Pygmy Toad (Poyntonophrynus fenoulheti) Sand River. Photo copyright of Gary Kyle Nicolau. |
Schlegel’s Beaked Blind Snake (Afrotyphlops schlegelii)
We were lucky enough to log two specimes of Afrotyphlops
shlegelii on a night survey just west of Alldays. This is a new species for our
greater Soutpansberg list.
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| Schlegel’s Beaked Blind Snake (Afrotyphlops schlegelii) |
Delande's Beaked Blind Snake (Rhinotyphlops lalandei)
We encountered our first Rhinotyphlops lalalandei last year
and unfortunately the specimen was dead, this is the first time we have
encountered this species alive in the Soutpansberg Region.
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| Delande's Beaked Blind Snake (Rhinotyphlops lalandei) |
Slender Quill-Snouted Snake (Xenocalamus bicolor lineatus)
Until this season we had only encountered Quill-Snouts at
Blouberg Nature Reserve and Mapungubwe. We encountered five
specimens during our night work this
season: three in the Soutpansberg region and two near Venetia. We also witnessed some unknown defensive behaviour.
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| Slender Quill-Snouted Snake (Xenocalamus bicolor lineatus), Limpopo Valley. |
Savannah Legless Skink (Acontias occidentalis)
Two Acontias occidentalis were found by us during field
work, one on the far western reach of our survey area (Alldays) and the other
was found near Nwanedi Nature Reserve. A nice addition to our lists.
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| Juvenile Savannah Legless Skink (Acontias occidentalis) |
Richards Legless Skink (Acontias richardi)
We finally got around to going to look for this species in
the hot sands north of the eastern Soutpansberg. This is another new one for
our lists. Thanks to Gary Kyle Nicolau and Emily Jackson for the motivation to do this trip.
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| Richards Legless Skink (Acontias richardi) |
Spotted Sandveld Lizard (Nucras intertexta)
These shy lizards have not been seen very often on Medike. We
recorded a juvenile in 2015 and now we got two adults during this summer, one was moving
around on a very hot day and the other was found just after sundown during a
termite alate emergence. Our singletons are becoming fewer.
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| Spotted Sandveld Lizard (Nucras intertexta), Medike, Soutpansberg. |
Muller's Velvet Gecko (Homopholis mulleri)
We
don't see this species very often, and when we do it is always exciting.
On a dark night in early December we were lucky enough to see another
one. These small Velvet Geckos are highly restricted and not much is
known about them.
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| Muller's Velvet Gecko (Homopholis mulleri) a rare inhabitant of the Limpopo Valley. |
Shovel Snouts (Prosymna)
We often see East African Shovel Snout Snakes (Prosyman stuhlmanni) while surveying but this first half of the season we were lucky to see two unusual species of Shovel-Snout; Lined Shovel Snout (Prosymna lineata) and Two-Striped Shovel Snout (Prosymna bivittata). With the Lined Shovel Snout (Prosymna lineata) we observed two different colour morphs in the region.
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| Lined Shovel Snout (Prosymna lineata) dark phase. |
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| Lined Shovel Snout (Prosymna lineata), striped phase. |
Behavioral Observations
We were lucky to experience some interesting reptile behavior and capture these on camera. Among these have been Hinged Tortoises fighting and courting, Snake-eyed Skinks mating, many species of lizards feeding during termite alate emergence and newly seen defensive behavior in a Quill-snouted Snake.
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| Spotted-neck Snake Eyed Skinks (Panaspis maculicollis) mating. Sand River. |
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| Speke's Hinged Tortoises (Kinixys spekii) courting. Soutpansberg. |
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| Flat Dragon Lizard (Smaug depressus) gorging on termites. |
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| Slender Quill Snout (Xenocalamus lineata bicolor) in defensive posture. |
Despite the drought and extreme weather this season has proven
productive. We have seen a few unusual species, made some significant findings
and also added a few new species to our lists. During December the rains
finally came and the veld was transformed back into a lush green landscape full
of life. Below are some of the beautiful, usual suspects we often see during our sampling.
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| A large Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia) in defensive display. |
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| A Rhombic Egg Eater (Dasypeltis scabra) very common in the region. |
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| A large Eastern Tiger Snake (Telescopus semiannulatus) from the Sand River. |
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| Eastern Bark Snake (Hemiragerrhis nototaenia) relatively common in hot low laying woodland areas. |
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| Common Purple Glossed Snake (Amblyodipsas polylepis) a powerful reptile eater that is not often encountered. |
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| Bibron's Stiletto Snake (Atractaspis bibronii) commonly encountered at night at lower altitudes in the region. |
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| Black File Snake (Gracililima nyassae) only encountered after good rains when they emerge to hunt and mate. |
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| Vine Snake (Thelotornis capensis) beautiful and shy snakes. |
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| Cape Gecko (Pachydactylus capensis) large chunky geckos of hotter open areas. |
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| Transvaal Gecko (Pachydactylus affinis) favours rocky and hilly areas in our area. |
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| Speckled Gecko (Pachydactylus punctatus) these small geckos are abundant in sandy or rocky open woodland. |
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| Bradfield's Dwarf Gecko (Lygodactylus bradfieldi) common in hot open savanna regions. |
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| Turner's Gecko (Chondrodactylus turneri) one of the most powerful geckos in the region. |
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| Juvenile Rock Monitor (Varanus albigularis), Medike. |
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| Jones's Girdled Lizard (Cordylus jonesii) Alldays. |
Overall the summer so far has been great. We have a few projects and collaborations lined up for 2019 and are expecting a busy and rewarding season. Let it rain!
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| Parabuthus granulatus from Waterpoort. |
Acknowledgements
Big thanks to everyone who helped make this period a success. Thanks to Oldrich van Schalkwyk from EWT for networking opportunities and hosting us on Medike. Thanks to EWT for hosting allowing us permission to live on Medike. Thanks to everyone at Alldays Wildlife and Communities Research Centre for hosting us while doing fieldwork out west. Thanks to everyone that gave some time or donations to help with surveys especially Ruan Stander, Gary Kyle Nicolau, Emily Jackson, Luke Kemp, Chanel Sierfontein, Luke and Ursula Verburgt, Thabo Hlatshwayo, Richard Pettifor, Brian Kelly, Sylvie Faillétaz, Francis Burger, Brett Lee and Katherine Monaghan. Without your help this past season would not have been so successful.
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| Medike is characterised by high cliffs and the Sand river which cuts its way through the western Soutpansberg. |
