Album 13th April 2021
For captions or info click on i on the top right-hand side. A good way to go - the slideshow is found at the top of the page on the rt hand side by clicking on the 3 dots. Featured this month - Camferskloof East/West Ridge, A runaround at Lelievlei, Melville Peak, Witsand Overnighter with Ismail and Adrian, Going west, Romanskraal Hack, Tonnelbos, Disa arida and Eseljacht.
For names and captions of the photos used on this version of the Diaries - see the Album.
For earlier versions of the Outramps CREW Diaries
https://us17.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=be2accf3de565e1297257f79e&id=8113ba68c6
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Camferskloof East/West Ridge
Over the years, this east/west ridge has delivered up some exciting botanical suprises. We were hoping to find Spatalla barbigera (Near Threatened) on the southern side of the ridge, but had no luck this time. We found the usual suspects and Nicky was thrilled with a new discovery of the minute Drimia uniflora. Psoralea diturnerae (Endangered) was alive and well on the jeep track and Lotononis filiformis (Endangered) was stunning in deep-blue. We have sent in innumerable reports of Lobelia dichroma (Data Deficient) and that status probably needs to be changed to Rare. It has quite a wide distribution, although the populations are always small - rarely more than 10 plants at one site.
Conditions in the Northern Outeniquas are very dry. The Langkloof dams are all empty and they've had no significant rain for years. Camferskloof was beautiful, but dry. Just think what it would look like if there were good rains.
tanniedi
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Marienne de Villiers of CapeNature reports
(HAT Evie came across CapeNature on the Tonnelbos track and was curious to know what they were doing. Marienne de Villers sent me this report - ed)
The Endangered long-tailed forest shrew, Myosorex longicaudatus, is one of South Africa’s most poorly known mammals. These little creatures have been found at only six locations and were last recorded in the 1990s. Finding them requires a dedicated effort because of their small size, the habitats they prefer (mostly pristine indigenous evergreen forests) and their lifestyles (tree-living and nocturnal).
In February, EWT (Endangered Wildlife Trust) and CapeNature teamed up to search for this species at Tonnelbos on Witfontein Nature Reserve. Despite a week-long search, the long-tailed forest shrew remained as elusive as ever. But three other types of shrews and two species of mice were located. Photographs were also taken of butterflies, spiders and plants, and all of these records will contribute to the biodiversity inventory for this protected area.
Marienne
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Lockdown Lockin
A runaround at Lelievlei
We last monitored Faurea macnaughtonii (Rare) during the 90’s for the Protea Atlas Project. It was more than time that we had another look at it. With everything organised, we drove the attractive road to Gouna near Knysna, which has its interesting moments. A rather startling S-bend and the fact that oncoming cars tend to ignore the “Keep left” rule of the road makes for exciting driving.
We drove down the road towards Lelievlei and noticed that it didn’t look much used. About 2km down, we came across a SANParks truck parked squarely in the middle and a whole lot of workers clearing windfalls. There was no way we were going to get any further. After some discussion with rangers, Joseph and Wessel, they decided to escort us to another section of forest. It was a long way round and it had been a good decision to come in 4x4’s.
We ended up at an area that has never been worked and is classified as “virgin”. We had an enthralling morning with Mike once again talking forest ecology and filling in the history of Gouna and this particular piece of afro-temperate forest. He was thrilled when he found Psychotria capensis subsp. capensis (Tshidiri - Not evaluated). It has a very disjunct distribution at Knysna and then Kwazulu Natal. There was a good scattering of Ocotea bullata (Black Stinkwood – Endangered)) and Ludwig was delighted to find a Knysna Velvet Worm (Peripatopsis clavigera - Vulnerable). But what of our target species?
Young plants of Faurea macnaughtonii (Terblans – Rare) very cleverly masquerade as young Afrocarpus falcatus (Kalander). So your eye has to be “in” to start seeing them and see them we did. We counted over 50 in a 2km stretch. We were delighted. And with “mission accomplished” we set off on the long drive home. But the adventure wasn’t over. When we reached the gate of the forestry station, it was very firmly locked. Frantic phone-calls finally reached Klaas Havenga the manager of Gouna. In no time at all, he roared up on his scrambler to set us free. He was delighted to see Mike who had been one of his lecturers at Saasveld and insisted on a photo being taken of both of them. A happy ending to a happy day.
tanniedi
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Melville Peak from the North
Being able to climb Melville Peak from the south last year for the first time in August was a huge highlight for HAT Evie. Now during the summer days another exciting opportunity arose. The South Cape section of the MCSA arranged a 3-day backpacking expedition. This time it was to conquer Melville Peak from the north.
It sure had an expedition feel about it. About 13 daring backpackers set off from George on what was to be one of the hottest days of the summer in the Outeniquas. Uphill all the way and with sweat pouring we eventually made it to the amazing set of pools on the upper reaches of the Kaaimans River. Under an overhang we set up base camp for 2 nights.
Thus, we were able to spend almost a full day undertaking the daunting Melville Peak. An early start was made at dawn. At first we followed or tried to follow the old section of the “Outeniqua Hiking Trail”. Soon it was a case of feeling strong. Stepping off the path, we undertook the steep, slippery and very rocky uphill section, often on all 4’s. We gained a wonderful rocky ridgeline, filled with all sorts of interesting plants, growing under little overhangs, with each plant finding its own niche. Shortly below the Peak a long grassy saddle was reached where there is good Fynbos recovery following the Oct 2018 fires. Eventually success was declared -10 daring souls made the Peak!! As always, the downhill bits were very tricky. To find the best line of descent seemed almost impossible at times.
An interesting aspect of the outing was noticing that a well-designed old path still exists on the eastern side of the Kaaimans River. This is the old path connecting Tierkop to Kleinplaat. It formed part of the original “Outeniqua Hiking Trail” . Sadly, this section is no longer in use. It allows access to the very remote and amazingly scenic Outeniqua valleys and mountains. The path structure is good. It is rapidly deteriorating because of post-fire vegetation regrowth and through disuse. Surely with some effort on the part of the custodians (CapeNature) this part of our Garden Route heritage could be reopened as a superb hiking trail. Loads of Proteacae seedlings are growing rapidly on the old path and soon these trees will make it impossible to follow the track. In the lower sections of the valley there is the continued alien infestation, with the new pine, wattle and hakea also regrowing.
Plants seen on route:
On the high grassy saddle:-
Mimetes pauciflorus (VU) in big numbers
In the rocky ridgeline niches:-
Lobelia ardisiandroides (VU); Lobelia dichroma (DDT); Gladiolus sempervirens (R ) ; Geissorhiza inconspicua
In the lower valley and foothills:-
Indigofera sp.19b (outeniquensis) displaying many extended cushions of growth; Indigofera flabellata displaying huge sweeps of colour.
Evie
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Witsand Bioblitz
Adrian Fortuin, an old friend of Di's from Grootvadersbos, asked the Outramps CREW group to carry out a Bioblitz at the Witsand Nature Reserve this March and again in August. As Hessequa municipality funded our petrol and some accommodation there was pressure on us to perform. Luckily we had an A team of volunteers in Mike, Ann, Nicky, Sandra, Di and Ismail.
We were joined by 2 young rangers from GVB, Dominique and Nico. Petunia from Hessequa Municipality came to show us the extent of the reserve. It is only 1.3km long and 150m wide and closely bordered by houses.
We split up into 3 groups and managed to cover the reserve in a few hours. The idea was to post what we saw and produce a species list for Adrian. As it was very hot and dry we left a piece of land for the next day. Sadly the veld was bone-dry and there was very little flowering.
Then it was off for a swim in the river for the brave. Glorious shark-free water. (Not really Jen. Any local fisherman will tell you that the Breede River Estuary is teeming with sharks - ed)
Day 2 was cloudy with rain threatening. This time Adrian joined us and we set off to finish surveying the reserve in the limestone area. We were excited to find Leucadendron muirii and the rare Oedera steyniae (VU). We finished in the nick of time before the rain came down.
Ismail arranged for us to visit a farm on the Vermaaklikheid to Puntjie Road. It was a long and dusty road with very little to see until we reached Puntjie. This is a closed community with no access so we turned round and soon found plants to interest us. Everyone bailed out of the cars and flew into the fynbos as the clouds were gathering again. I was excited to find some Euchaetis plants before it started bucketing down. The rain had no effect on Nicky, Ismail, Sandra and Fred but the softer amongst us ran for the car. We were wet and bedraggled, but there was no stopping them. One spot of colour in the far distance and the car screeched to a halt for Nicky to go and have a look. There can be no accusation of lack of dedication.
Eventually we gave up and went home where the rain was even heavier. A wonderful downpour for a dry area. We had excellent accommodation and the trip was most enjoyable and productive. In the fullness of time we will get all the photos posted.
Jenny
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