Ongava’s social spiders and Gabar goshawks

Although Gabar Goshawks are the commonest birds of prey (or raptor) on Ongava, finding their nests is not that easy. And each time we find one, questions get raised about their nesting habits. Like most small raptors, their nests Read more

Life & death on a roll: dung beetles and honey badgers

Updated: Nov 10, 2022

Sometimes we come upon curious things while working in the field. It happened a few weeks

ago when we noticed strange looking spherical shapes made of mud next to a hole in the middle of Read more

The only Empress moth in the bush…

All living organisms go through stages of growth and reproduction. The emperor moth does its growing and reproducing in remarkable ways. The egg hatches into a caterpillar in the summer in southern Africa, developing into a strong worm, hungry Read more

Sunday shopping done differently

The mopane worm (Gonimbrasia belina) is an unusual edible little critter found in parts of southern Africa. Its life cycle is particularly interesting. After hatching from an egg, the caterpillar feeds on mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane Read more

Mopane scale insects

Updated: Mar 7, 2022

When I came to Ongava in mid-2018 its vegetation was extremely sparse and dry. Little rain fell in the 2018/2019 summer, which led to even bleaker conditions during 2019. The summer of 2019/2020 was a Read more