A Month with Barn Owls

From ugly ducklings to beautiful swans, it’s been a month of caring for our little wise owls and they’re still going strong!  Our Barn Owl chicks have almost lost all their down (fluff) and are now covered with interesting brown, white and grey feathers with small black spotted detail.  It’s a wonderful sight as we’ve watched them grow over the last few weeks. We have been used to small fluffy birds that looked like cotton balls and now we have big strong birds of prey with striking feathers.  They have been catching mice with the help of traps set by the Ubizane team in an effort to teach them to deal with their prey as it would present itself in the wild.  It is always hard, as a human with no clue of what is going on in the mind of an animal, to rehabilitate and try teaching them how to become wild and follow their instincts. However we have seen these birds find their natural grounds as they show more and more of their natural instincts every day.  We are starting to recognise facial structures in the birds that make each one unique which makes the connection we feel towards these small, incredible creatures stronger and stronger every day.  It is an amazing transformation that has just reminded us of how wonderful wildlife really is and why it is so important to conserve it. 

The heart-shaped faces of our Barn Owls.

We had to place the owls on a cardboard service because their claws slide on the slippery table when we feed them.  

Barn Owls are different to normal owls not only with their heart-shaped face appearances but also because of the sounds they make.  Other owls make “hooting” sounds whereas Barn Owls only make a hissing or screeching noise.  During the time we have spent with them we have experienced these sounds first hand and realised that they have a peculiar way of intimidating their enemies.  They hiss at enemies while standing up straight and puffing their feathers to make their bodies appear bigger.  They then make circular movements with their heads.  It has been very interesting viewing these owls and we are looking forward to keep witnessing these magnificent birds of prey.

Water Biodiversity

The 22^nd of May is International Biodiversity Day and the theme this year is water biodiversity, following on last year’s marine biodiversity theme.  Water is an important aspect in every living organism’s life and without it there would, of course, be no life at all.  Water resources have been lowering throughout the world as Global Warming takes its toll on our planet.  It’s imperative for everyone to make an effort to save water in order to not only save ourselves but also the wildlife and aquatic bio mes that exist.  At Ubizane we treasure our water resources and have been recycling our water for the past few years.

We also have a majority of showers on the property which is known to save more water than baths.  The showers are each fitted with an eco-friendly shower head which makes use of less water.  We also encourage all staff members to use water sparingly and have a system in place where we switch off water pumps daily during certain hours.  This saves water as well as electricity getting us one step closer to becoming completely GREEN.

Our challenge to all our readers is to try and do at least one thing to save your water today.  Whether it is taking a shower rather than taking a bath or using your dish washing/bath water for your garden, every bit counts!

Silk of Gold

If you visit Ubizane you will realise that there are many interesting different creatures crawling and flying around in the lush bush.  One of our treasured critters is the beautiful Golden Orb Spiders.  Across the reserve you will notice big golden spider webs in the bush with big colourful spiders hanging from them.  Even the arachnophobias could not ignore the interesting features of this spider. 

The beautiful big golden webs are usually spun across a large area to entrap insects such as moths, butterflies, wasps and bees.  The silk created by the Golden Orb spider is so strong and unique that scientists are currently trying to synthesize the material.  Scientists have discovered that the silk is suitable for nerve re-growth.  This is not the only uses we humans have for the silk! Some fishermen use the silk, folded in a ball, to catch fish.  The silk has also been used on several occasions as a fashion garment material. 

These Golden Orb spiders, or Nephile, females can reach body sizes of 5.1cm and males only 2.1cm.  At Ubizane we certainly have a few big ones hiding in trees and in some old store rooms! 

                                A golden orb spider that was found at the top of a roof at Tree Lodge

 They usually have red and yellow stripes and patches on their abdominal side, whilst the top can be a yellow and white mix.  The colours make them easy recognizable but their claim to fame is definitively the sparkling golden orb that they weave. 

The spiders are not harmful to humans so don’t worry about these peaceful critters hanging around! On your next trip to Ubizane, look out for these beautiful big Golden Orb spiders! 

Barn Owl Update

Our Barn Owls are growing up very fast with feathers taking the place of their fluffy coats. It is an amazing transformation that people rarely get the chance to see.  We have been watching how these chicks become more and more self-efficient and shape into big Barn Owl adults. We are used to these owls species here at Ubizane as they regularly fly by during the night in between the Fever Trees.  They love making nests in these tall enchanting Fever Trees as well as in the thatch roofs of Tree Lodge.  Barn Owls have been the night companions of Tree Lodge staff members for a very long time and so it seems fitting that we rescued these little ones to bring them back to strength.  This morning we took some photo’s during our feeding session. 

The smallest one of the three still has a lot of feathers to grow but he’s getting there slowly.

The middle sized one looks odd with only a few fluffy patches on his head.

 Meet our oldest Barn Owl.  He is changing into an adult very fast with beautiful feathers almost covering his whole body now.

Keep checking our blog for the latest updates on the transformation of our beautiful Barn Owl chicks!

Latest on our Barn Owls

Our four Barn Owls found last Thursday, have been growing stronger and stronger every day.  We are excited to see that they are starting to transform into adults with feathers forming over parts of their wings and necks.  Watch them transform into beautiful graceful Barn Owl adults!

How they looked on Tuesday

Feeding time!

Starting to become bigger and stronger by the day

Beautiful feathers starting to come out

Barn Owl chicks rehabilitating at Ubizane

On Thursday morning the Ubizane team found four Barn Owl chicks in one of the Tree Lodge rooms.  Our first instinct was to search the area for signs of entry to ensure their mother hadn’t been entering and giving them food.  Unfortunately we realised that these chicks were placed there by their mother by entering in a gap that was closed a few days ago.  Sadly this meant that these poor chicks have been without food for almost three days!  Three of the chicks are about five weeks old with the smallest only about two weeks old.  We suspect there were two batches of eggs that hatched because of two empty eggs found in the nest and the varying sizes of the chicks.  The Ubizane team have decided to bring these chicks back to health until they are ready to survive in the wild.  We feed them raw meat every day to ensure they become stronger.

One of the older chicks and the baby chick being held by a staff member

 

Feeding raw mince to the smallest of the lot

Ubizane staff feeding the little ones

It is hard to believe that these fluffy little fragile creatures grow into the beautiful Barn Owl, one of the most gracious birds of prey.  We are excited to keep you posted on the progress!

Ubizane’s new Social Media Administrator!

Meet Ettioné Ferreira, the 23 year old photojournalist ready to spice things up with Ubizane’s online presence!  We sat down with her to get a deeper insight into her world.

Where are you originally from?

I come from Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape originally but moved to Pietermaritzburg in January with family.  So I’m still a newbie in Kwazulu-Natal.

What inspired you to join the Ubizane family?

I have always loved the wildlife and growing up in a town surrounded by game lodges such as Kariega Game Reserve, Shamwari, Pumba, etc. it was hard not to fall in love with nature.  When I saw the job opening and saw how beautiful it was at Ubizane, I couldn’t resist taking it up.  Best decision of my life!

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I get to take photos of this beautiful reserve and people enjoying nature.  It’s also really interesting and most of it is creative work which is awesome!  I also love working with New Media and its challenges after studying it for so long.

Do you enjoy living in the bush?

It’s a very new territory for me, especially the snakes and strange insects that make appearances but I’m enjoying it much more than I expected. Don’t know how I will ever learn to cope with living in a city again!

On those busy days with a thousand things to get done…what gets you through the day?

My iPod, coffee (and I mean the good stuff like Filter coffee or Nescafe), my Ubizane family and taking 5 minutes to snap some photos

Which animals have you enjoyed most so far?

The babies…baby giraffe, baby Zebra, baby monkeys, baby Nyala…they’re just too cute for words!

Tell us a bit more about yourself?

I studied journalism & media studies at Rhodes University graduating with a four year B.Journ degree and a year doing a Post Graduate Diploma in Media Management and yet the five years of studying  still couldn’t prepare me for living in the bush haha.  I do archery…but refuse to do bowhunting or any other hunting. I love animals and cry when they’re hurt – which is a little embarrassing. 
If you’d like to get to know me better just follow our Facebook page and keep reading the blog!

April is Prevention of cruelty to animals month!

April is Prevention of Animal Cruelty month and Ubizane likes to support the cause! We would like to inform the public on how it is not only domestic animals suffering from cruelty.  The wildlife has been put in the line of fire and some species risking extinction if humans carry on destroying at this rate.  We have compiled a few facts to spread awareness of how much damage wildlife conservation is suffering. 

   Speeding Kills.  

Normally this would be an AA ad to prevent human loss but what most of us forget is that speed also kills a lot of our wildlife every year. 

Thousands of reptiles get killed on roads in South Africa every year because it’s hard to see a small creature walking over the road when you are driving speedily to your destination.  When in areas with long grasses on the side of the road, try be extra vigilant about what’s going on, on the road.  There might just be a snake sneaking over the road or a tortoise slowly making his way across.
The larger animals are a lot harder to miss when crossing the road but if you speed, there’s a big chance you can kill the animal as well as endanger yourself.  Larger antelope and animals, such as Kudu are known to jump in front of cars during early morning hours and late at night.  They jump high enough to jump fences easily so if you’re in an area with a lot of wildlife during those hours, make sure you drive slower to ensure you have time to stop for the animals crossing the road.

    Report animal abuse

If you witness someone harming any wildlife, report it.  It’s the only way you can prevent it from happening again.  You can get in contact with the local SPCA and if they cannot help you, you can ask them the contact details of the nearest Wildlife Conservationist. 

    Rubbish!

The worst habit some of us have is to simply throw a paper wrapper, empty can or bottle or an empty plastic bag out the window or in the water when nearby a river, dam or the ocean.   This is the easiest way of damaging not only the environment but also endanger animals who do not know what the foreign objects are.  Animals can eat the plastic and choke on it and fish can get entangled in bags.  So the golden rule is to never throw rubbish on the ground and rather keep it until you can find a rubbish bin.
 

   Don’t feed animals

It is sometimes hard not to feed a helpless little creature but in actual fact you are disturbing the natural ways of living for the creature.  If there’s a monkey in your area, don’t feed him and make him used to eating at your house, off foods that he might not normally get.  One day you will stop feeding and when that happens the animal won’t know how to find its own food.  This goes for birds as well.  If you have a bird feeder in your garden, you either keep feeding the birds or don’t feed them at all.  When you forget to feed them, they will not know where to find other resources of foods and might suffer because of this.  The best thing to do for any animal rather than feeding them, if you want to help, is to build a pond with a water source for them.  Water is always something that all animals need.  If you can make a pond in your area, make sure it has a constant source of water and doesn’t dry up in summer or freeze in winter. 

     Minimize amount of herbicides and pesticides

Poison might be good to keep the pests away but not all animals are pests.  Remember that animals – any animal – can eat the poison that you spread outside and it is just as dangerous to them as the pest that you’re trying to keep out.  Try to minimize your use of these poisons and spread it responsibly where other animals will be safe from it.

If you have any other tips for April’s Prevention of cruelty to animals month, feel free to comment on this blog to inform readers on more handy tips!

Rutting Brawl

Lately we have seen an increase in Impala locking horns over dominance.  It is an interesting sight as the rams fight over territory with the sound of horns knocking against each other.

Here the Impala rams are preparing to lock horns.  They carefully align themselves so they do not cause harm to each other while in the brawl.

The male Impala round up any females that enter their territory and include them in their herd.  When another ram enters their territory they surround the females to show that the females are now a part of their harem.  The rut (breading season) usually starts at the end of May in most areas in Africa.  In our part of South Africa the rutting starts in April already, explaining why Ubizane has been seeing our Impala locking horns since beginning April.

 

The main reason apart from dominance, for the Impala to lock horns and fight until one succumbs to the other, is that the rams in the herd want to keep the females with them.  They do not want their females to leave the harem and therefore chase away all weaned or bachelor rams. 

 

The noises they make is a type of roaring-blowing sound as if they were a mix between a lion and a horse.  So if you visit Ubizane during this month, be sure to look out for these sights and listen to the sounds of nature.  You might think it’s a lion but don’t worry it’s only the Impala!

Safari Bring & Braai night

Last night, 30 March 2013, in the spirit of Easter SafariBoma hosted a “Meet you Neighbor” Bring and Braai for all Safari guests. This was the first time this year that we have done a Bring & Braai and it proved to be a very interesting night.  After sending out flyers to all Safari rooms to inform them of the Braai we prepared for a great evening. 

We made two delicious salads for safari guests  to enjoy as part of their meal; one potato salad and one Greek salad.   The salad was enjoyed by all and some went back for seconds and even thirds!

 Three braai’s were set up with grills, ready for guests to use and a bonfire in the middle of the boma was lit up to create a campfire atmosphere.  Walking through the Boma it was a sight of parents chatting away and children gathering over a fire roasting their marshmallows. Wayne, our Lodge Manager, even had to help a few to master the art of roasting!

 The Braai was a success with memories of campfire stories and the smell of burning charcoal and wood still lingering in our thoughts.  The event fit in perfectly in the Bush and will definitively be a favourite for staff and guests this year.

 The Braai is a way for guests to mingle and get to know each other in a truly South African way.

 So if you are at Zululand Safari Lodge during one of these organized Braai’s be sure to head down to the Boma for an unforgettable evening!