From Governors Camp, Masai Mara:

The month of November brought warmer days (averaging 18ºC in the morning and 28 ºC at mid day). Rainstorms arrived in the second half of the month and on the evening of the 30th a large storm swept in with strong winds, heavy rain and hail. Sadly the storm brought a number of African Green heart trees crashing down. The savannah grasses and in particular the red oat grass are thriving after the rains and have a flush of new green growth and some spectacular wild flowers, like the orange Lion's Ear (Leonotis nepetifolia), the delicate Crossandra Subacaulis, the beautiful Stathmostelma Rhacodes and the magnificent Fireball Lily (Scadoxus). November also saw the arrival of many migrant bird species from Europe, and we had wonderful sightings, of common red shank, common green shanks and black winged stilts.



The resident herds of Topi and Coke's Hartebeest continued to calve throughout November. Many mothers with very young calves (some only a few hours old) were seen out in the grasslands and there are still many females yet to calve down. Lots of other plains game have young at the moment. There are warthogs with little piglets that are a month old (sows
lose piglets quite easily due to temperature changes and predation and there is a mortality rate of up to 45% before they are six month old). The resident breeding herd of Cape buffalo has many young calves and is spending a lot of time in the Bila Shaka grassland areas where the red oat and hyparrhenia grasses (heavy stem) grow and make up their ideal grazing fodder. Defassa waterbuck in breeding herds with 3-6 month old calves have been frequenting the marsh grasslands. On the ridges female Spotted Hyena have very young cubs in their dens some of which are weeks old and are still black in colour and towards Paradise plain a family of silver-backed jackals with seven pups has been exploring the plains.



The elephant families have been out in the grasslands feeding, and many bulls have been congregating with some of the larger males coming into Musth (readiness for mating with high levels of testosterone). The African Green heart trees (Diospyros) are continuing to fruit, drawing Olive Baboons in large troops to the forest fringes. Large handsome Blue monkeys, which are more arboreal than the Baboon, were seen and heard in the woodlands around camp. Within the woodlands and on the adjacent grasslands there are many Masai Giraffe in large herds with the younger males sparring by 'necking' for mating rights. A few common Zebra and wildebeest (with 6-7 month old calves) remain on Paradise and Topi Plains, the large herds having travelled to the Serengeti. Those that remain have been filing back to the east towards the open plains near the Loita Hills.



On the edges of the marsh, Serval cats and in particular a rather tenacious male have been hunting.



The Bila Shaka/Marsh lion pride of three males, seven breeding females and their nine cubs of varying ages have been staying close to our airstrip (much to the delight of arriving and departing guests) and the Musiara Marsh area where they have been hunting regularly.



The female cheetah Shakira is doing well, we are delighted to report that her three remaining cubs (four months old) are all healthy, and Shakira is successfully hunting Thomson Gazelles and their fawns on a regular basis and sharing them with her cubs.



The coalition of three nomadic male cheetah is also thriving. They have been hunting successfully and were seen last week with a young wildebeest calf which they had killed and were eating without interference from other predators like the spotted hyena who regularly take their kills from them.



For months now we have ben reporting on two female cheetah both of whom were pregnant, and each has now given birth to four cubs. For ease of identification the females have been named Malaika ("Angel" in Kiswahili) and Alama ("Spot"). Tragedy struck towards the end of the month when Malaika lost two of her cubs. We believe they may have been trampled by elephant. Malaika has proved she is an effective hunter, feeding on Thomson Gazelles and their fawns. Sadly we have noticed that Alama has sustained an injury to her lower jaw. She has been struggling to hold and suffocate larger prey species after the hunt, and has been unable to kill and eat for a number of days. We will continue to monitor her progress and report on how she is faring. We work closely with and support the Masai Mara Game Reserve Rangers specifically with regards to cheetah conservation and offer logistical support and cheetah monitoring within our area.



Kijana the young male leopard has been frequenting the forests on the fringes of the Marsh and another young female has been making her presence felt closer to the River.



Back in camp the flowering bushes on the banks of the Mara River have attracted many colourful butterflies such as the Grass Yellow, the Scarlett Tip and the magnificent Green-Patch Swallowtail.