Hotazel, 15 Jun 2006
Since the middle of May I have been working on a new project, a drilling programme to evaluate the potential for a new manganese mine in the Hotazel area of the Northern Cape. The work takes place on a farm, Umtu, due west of the small town of Hotazel, whose name really is a pun on “hot as hell”. If am still here in the summer months I may be able to confirm this, but for now it is quite pleasant.
Umtu is a game farm, and has a trailer camp used by hunters when the game on the farm must be culled. Since game hunting and exploration personnel wandering around the farm don’t mix too well all hunting activities have thankfully been suspended for the duration of my work. I have full use of the trailer camp – all to myself.
The farm lies in that part of the country known as the Green Kalahari, sandwiched between South Africa’s biggest river, the Orange, to the south and the Kalahari Desert proper in Botswana and the far north-west of South Africa in the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park to the north. The vegetation on Umtu is dominated by the Camelthorn tree (Vachellia erioloba), Kameeldoring in Afrikaans, interspersed with the more shrub-like Blackthorn (Senegalia mellifera), Swarthaak in Afrikaans, and an abundant ground covering of sweet grasses that in summer put the green in Green Kalahari. There are also occasional small patches of red or yellow sand dunes. These become more and more apparent the further north one goes to the true Kalahari.
Workwise the start of a project is always pretty hectic so not much time for birding except at weekends when the drill crews take a break. Over a couple of weekends though I have already added some birds that I’d expect in this environment, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Red-faced Mousebird, Fork-tailed Drongo, Common Scimitarbill, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Marico Flycatcher, Violet-eared Waxbill, Black-faced Waxbill, Scaly-feathered Weaver, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Chestnut-vented Warbler, Southern Pied Babbler, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Kalahari Scrub Robin, Cape Starling and Black-chested Prinia, the latter in winter plumage so no black chest band. At night I’ve been hearing the call of an African Scops-Owl so I really must bring my big spotlight from home on my next trip and try to locate it.
Right outside my trailer every day I see Cape Ground Squirrel. Of course the farm also has black-backed jackal, red hartebeest, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, steenbok, springbok, zebra and giraffe, so for a while I am in my own little paradise.
