The LionHeart Experience

12/11/2024

🇧🇷🇧🇷 Brasil!!! 🇧🇷🇧🇷
When a dream comes true
🔥🔥🔥

I don’t know how to put into words the experience that we have just had but, with the help of my photos, I will do my very best.

Since I was a kid, already totally obsessed with wildlife as far back as I can remember, it was always my biggest dream to get to Brazil, and to the Amazon. Fast forward 40 years, with a beautiful wife by my side, and my dream finally came true. After months of planning and setting up this trip, with an insane list of target species, we headed off with high hopes and expectations, and the fear of how on earth we were going to cope with the abundance of biodiversity around us, and the stupid need to sleep, which steals away time from searching for… basically EVERYTHING. When you are wild about nature, and all biodiversity, you have major problems. Because there is no time of day where you cant find special things. Some species need early morning and evenings, some need the heat of midday, and the most inconsiderate species prefer to come out way after dark and you only find them at 1:30am on your final night in Brazil, when you are then needing to wake up at 5am to see all the birds that come to feed on the moths from the moth screen, and then you have an overnight flight back home the next day, and you basically live three full days on a total of 3 hours sleep. You very quickly learn what narcolepsy is!

There is SO much to say, and I can never get through it all in this post. There are so many amazing creatures and photos I would love to include. I will have to do many posts in future to try do justice to it all!

My personal 3 main dream targets were:

1 – Jaguar
2 – Harpy Eagle
3 – Anaconda

But then after this, there was a ridiculous wishlist between Mrs LionHeart and I, which included ocelots, Toucans, _Bothrops_ (Lancehead vipers), hyacinth macaws, otters, giant bird-eating tarantulas, maned wolf, puma, tapir, hummingbirds, blue morpho butterfly, anteaters, tanagers, armadillos, pink river dolphins, sloths and a BILLION other things!

Our trip was predominantly focused on the Pantanal, in search of Jaguars. After a week there, we then had a short night in Manaus (hoping to find Harpy Eagle), 3 nights in the Amazon, and then 2 nights in the South Atlantic Rainforest.

I am going to do separate posts to go into detail on each section of the trip. There is no way I could put all that magic into this post. And because of how incredible our sightings were, I am also going to have to do separate posts on jaguars, birds, mammals, reptiles, and ‘all other cool stuff’ like orchids, tracks, butterflies, etc.

There was also a sad element to this trip that requires mention. We experienced the same in Zambia, (which, like Brazil, used to be a true wilderness on earth). The impact of mankind on this planet is so evident, and it was devastating to see the slash and burn of the forests of the country. We drove through over 200km of smoke, where forests are cut and burned and turned into land for cattle farms. If you dream of going to Brazil, do it soon.

Back to the good stuff….

One moment that will live with me forever, was our first day in the Pantanal. After an overnight in Sao Paulo and a morning arranging the vehicle etc, we were finally on our way to the first lodge. As we entered the transpantal road, we started seeing natural habitat and birds.

It was a nightmare trying to balance getting to the lodge in good time, and not stopping for every bird we saw, but as we turned off into the access road to the lodge, the pull to stop for birds was just too much, and we stopped the car and got out in the 43 degree heat. All of a sudden, like stepping into another universe, the world around us was alive, with a flock of parrots in the tree above us, deep echoing caws from unknown large birds in the forests around, caracaras floating around, vultures circling almost everywhere we looked, and each foreign bird sound making us more and more excited by the second, until we were totally overwhelmed. We didn’t know where to look. Each foreign sound and sight of a bird more exciting. Each observer panicking to ID what they were seeing, and panicking when the other shouted ‘what's that?!?’ Running quickly because of major FOMO, (one individual in our group has this more than most on the planet, but I won’t say who!) and it was just utter mayhem. Pandemonium. As if things couldn’t get worse, when I spotted the first toco toucan flying down into a pan, all hell broke loose. We were just running in all directions. It was a dogshow. After looking like ants under a lifted log for some time, we finally regained some composure and got back into the car to get to the lodge in time.
This was our post on our whatsapp update group:

‘Arriving at the first lodge, around 3pm, was utterly overwhelming. The bird calls echoing through the forests, the insane amount of raptors all the way in for the last hour, and the abundance of life (and lifers) was a sensory overload that actually reached the point of being stressful as there were too many exciting things to see and the stress of needing to see it all was too much !! 🥴😂😂.
Just before arriving at the lodge, we saw a bird I've wanted since I was a very little boy, a Toco Toucan. We then checked in to the lodge booked night drive, and had 1.5hrs to kill in the lodge grounds. It was nowhere enough time and the sensory overload and stress continued, with a common potoo, the chestnut eared aracari (what an incredible bird!😍🔥) 3 species of parrot, hummingbirds, screamers, seriemas and more. It's too much. We jumped onto a nightdrive hoping that day 1 on our adventure would be epic... it was beyond epic. We had been in the Pantanal for a total of about 3 hours.... when BOOOOMM!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Jaguar!’

The next week was just being totally flooded with jaguars, an incredible ocelot sighting, tapirs, giant-anteaters, breath-taking bird after breath-taking bird and more.

We were obviously focussed on jaguars, and we got a bigger dose than we could have dreamed of! We learned about their amazing hunting techniques, their individual personalities, totally unusual behaviours (compared to leopard), how aquatic they actually are, and just how ridiculously massive they are.

We then shot off to Manaus and were privileged to connect with the director of Projeto Harpy / Harpy Eagle Project, and a professor from Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, and we were given the incredible opportunity to visit a harpy nest to change camera traps from above and below the nest. More on that in a future post.

It was then off to the Amazon. It is potentially the worst drought in recorded human history there, so what a crazy time to visit. It was incredible to finally see the Amazon river, and equally concerning to see it more than 10m lower than what it should be! We were worried about how this may affect our experience of it, but we were so wrong to be concerned! The abundance of birdlife is like nothing I have ever experienced! I will post a video of this that captures just a lit bit of this extravagant beauty.

Our floating lodge, surrounded by large, scary black caimans that launched out the water after fish, sometimes even knocking the edge of our room in the darkness of night (no kidding!) and the stunningly loud shotgun-like snapping sound of the worlds largest scaled fish, the Arapaima, as it breathes air, echoing around day and night constantly, was an experience like nothing I have ever had before.

Our birding, butterflies, frogs, tarantulas, toucans, skimmers, screamers, howler monkeys, and all the abundance had us totally captivated from morning til night. The heat in Brazil is no joke, and clothes had to be changed often throughout the day as you were literally dripping with sweat after a walk in the forest.
On to our last stop, the South Atlantic Rainforest. This is without doubt, the most beautiful forest in Brazil. Lush, trees literally dripping with orchids, bromeliads, and moss. And some of the most colourful birds on the planet. Our last 2 days saw me shoot 2700 photographs, as we spent hours and hours with parrots, parakeets, toucans, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, tanagers, moths, opossums, pacas, and snakes.

I have battled to adjust back to normal life, and we have to get back there. We are already planning a tour for a small group of clients in 2025. This is a place that all wildlife lovers MUST visit.

We are so grateful to have had this opportunity and we have laughed so much about how we literally just ran riot in Brazil for almost 3 weeks.

We will be back.

Much love for this precious planet and all its inhabitants. ❤️

28/10/2024

*️⃣❌BEAST❌*️⃣

Coming soon!....

The LionHeart Experience has just returned from Brazil, the land of these spotted beasts and we have some insane stories to share with you!

Stay tuned!!!

16/09/2024

The Flying Leopard!!

We are so pleased to have finally had success with the Zimbali Estate 2023 juvenile! This bird has been tough!

This success is due to a collaborative effort between The LionHeart Experience, Zimbali Estate, Crowned Eagle Research, Ben H Hoffman at Rescue Rehabilitation Centre, Brent Coverdale and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.

After three unsuccessful attempts, as a team we worked on a strategy, and after almost 10 hours of crouching in discomfort, we finally got lucky, but JUST in the nick of time! (Read below)

As part of our work in urban conservation, we focus on how we can assist in the conservation of African crowned eagles, and we do our best to assist the amazing team from Crowned Eagle Research on this vulnerable species. Zimbali Estate has really invested so much into the protection of these birds, and it is such a privilege to work with an estate that has such a commitment to their conservation. Brendan Smith and Gwala from the environmental team put in a lot of hard work to assist in making this final capture possible too. Also a big thanks to the Zimbali Crowned Eagle Working Group (and Linda Druce for some of those awesome photos at the end!).

The reason for capturing this juvenile is to fit this bird with a tracking unit. This will provide much needed data on the dispersal of juvenile crowned eagles, as well as assist in being able to monitor the progress of this bird that suffers much in the way of persecution from people for various reasons. This human-wildlife conflict is increasing in so many areas in SA, with so many different species. If you haven't read our previous and devastating story on the 2019 offspring from Zimbali, read here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/R4BzG8gyXXBR4nJB/?mibextid=oFDknk

The crowned eagle pair in Zimbali Estate have had a very rough run, and we do not have any confirmed offspring surviving to adulthood in over 12 years of their breeding now. For their story, check out:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/mMWhEJadr8ryogXR/?mibextid=oFDknk

Back to the story:

We set up at 6:30am, and the plan was that after I had captured the bird safely, Ben, who was on standby would come and assist as he is training me how to fit the tracking unit. Ben had until 2pm, and then was unable, and capturing the bird after that would be no good. The bird came, showed interest, but was so incredibly wary, even though we were so still, so well hidden, this bird is as sharp as a leopard, and seemed to sense something was going on. Of all the Zimbali Estate juveniles we have known, this one is by far the most unhabituated, which is a good sign. At one point, the bird landed on the ground but even the slightest movement put him off, and he disappeared. He returned to the area, at around 11:30, but was wary. He edged closer and closer but time was running fast, and as we neared 2pm, I was losing hope. I messaged Ben to ask if there was ANY way we could squeeze out another 30 minutes, and that the bird was close.... but he unfortunately was committed so 2pm was the cut off.

As you can see in my whatsapp to Mrs LionHeart (our radios died after about 6 hours of constant use), at 13:57, I was giving up hope. Candy had been watching from a long distance and keeping me posted. My hiding spot had me blind as to what the bird was doing. She said he looked VERY interested...
At 13:58 I was almost about to call it over, and decided to risk the bird seeing me so I could see how interested he really was in heading to our set up. His head bobbing and rapid movements immediately had me so excited, and I sent a voice note to Candy to say he looked very amped! She said the same. The whatsapp screenshot in the images, show, that at EXACTLY 2pm, we both sent a message to each other saying 'Down'!!! (I sent a VN as I was watching and whispering into the phone).

That timing was just ridiculous!! And I had one chance... and fortunately, we got him!!!

I phoned Ben immediately, who must have thought I was phoning to say we lost the battle, but he heard a very excitable voice 'we got him!! Come!! Come!!'

Ben arrived and we then went through the process. He has such experience and it was great to learn how to fit the tracker. At one point, the eagle decided to show some violence on the blanket, and I was shaken to the core. I have done many presentations on crowned eagles, where I discuss their power. I have even had the amazing privilege of seeing them take out bushbuck and nyala, and have handled a few, but I have never felt one do what this bird did, and it blew my mind. I shudder to think of what that would do if your arm got in the way. It is not stitches.... it is more like the potential of permanent damage to tendons, muscles and bone. This flying leopard of the sky is worthy of absolute respect, and it now has mine more than ever

We were able to release the bird safely back into the wild, with me having fitted my first GPS tracker, which has now been successfully logging in data and the bird is doing fine! (I am very grateful).

He showed me what he felt before he took off, giving a very impressive display of rage, and then flew back into his beautiful forest habitat.

We wish this bird all the best and may he successfully survive to adulthood, and bring many more beautiful crowned eagles into this world!!

Thanks to all involved. Teamwork that makes the dream work!

16/07/2024

International Snake Day!

Certainly among the most mistreated and unfairly hated creatures on earth, snakes are incredibly vital to the ecosystem and they really have had it rough!

They really just want to be left alone, and do not deserve the bad rap that they get. We have been so fortunate to work with these beautiful creatures, have been around them for most of our lives, even venomous ones, and have had no issues, only appreciation.

Take a look at these gorgeous animals here. As we learn more about something, we fear it less.

Mrs LionHeart was utterly terrified of snakes when we got married. Over time, she has now overcome that fear and really loves snakes, and even handles them herself! I remember her holding a baby python and getting all emo, 'it's so cuuuuuuuuuute'!

It just takes being willing to overcome something that holds us back.

I'm sure the snake experts will know most of these species, but there are a few really unusual ones in here. Have a look and feel free to try name the species.

05/04/2024

Heavenly

The splendid Narina Trogon is like something out of a fairytale! Sought after by most birders, its bright colours are a feast for the eyes, yet, it has the sneaky habit of being able to avoid being seen for many years.... It also has the sneaky habit of turning its back so that the green helps to blend it into its forest habitat.

This post is dedicated to a very special lady, whose life was celebrated today, and this bird was one she so desperately wanted to see. May the birds in heaven be more beautiful than you could ever have imagined.

31/03/2024

The Son has Risen
The Lion is on the Move

29/03/2024

"When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, death itself would start working backward."
- C.S.Lewis

19/03/2024

Really proud of my darling, and so grateful to have a kind-hearted, beautiful and pretty much JUST-AS-CRAZY-ABOUT-WILDLIFE-AS-ME wife!

A qualified nature guide and avid conservationist, Candice McKibbin is one of those people who is utterly obsessed with the work she does. Although she grew up in Durban, Candice has moved around a lot. She always knew she wanted to return to KZN though, and when she married her husband Richard, the...

24/02/2024

The Magnificent Ravenscourt and Basile

In the western Sabi Sands, this incredible male rose up about 7 years ago as the dominant male, taking on stalwarts like Dewane (Day One) and Nyeleti, and set himself as the local machine in the area! He is not the biggest leopard, in fact not a big male at all, but he is an absolute force to be reckoned with! I love it when male leopards are massive and ugly, but this boy is actually a really good looking male. He is compact, elegant, and must be seriously aggressive to his opposition to have held territory for so long.

He has an amazing story. His mother gave her life to protect him. You may have seen the video where a large male came to attack him when he was a cub in a tree, and his mother then ascended the tall tree like a flash of lightening, where she and the large male then came tumbling out of the tree, crashing to the ground from many metres up. She died, but young Ravenscourt was saved. An incredible story. He then did her proud, for many years, and still is!

We have privileged to watch him over many years, and have seen him mating with Basile, here pictured, many times over the years. She is a small, very lightly coloured female, with a sister who dropped a piece of dead bushbuck on my mother once 😂

Here is a typical sabi sands scene, the lush grass of summer, the light/tan colour of the sand of a riverbed, and the spotted, eye-catching beauty of the black, gold and white spots of two perfect leopards in courting.

What a world we have to appreciate!

09/01/2024

Vital Vultures!

A dramatic opening picture, an empty nest....
We cannot let this be the future for our vultures!

This is what these amazing organisations are fighting against. A few weeks ago, we assisted Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Wildlife ACT - Focused Conservation Zululand vulture project and Project Vulture on the vulture surveys in Zululand.

The target species was the mighty Lappet-faced Vulture. The task was not easy!
The goal was to visit the four known nests to measure, weigh, then ring and fit a tracking unit onto the chick. The tricky bit is that these vultures are clever, and in order to reduce any predation on their chicks, they build their nests on the heavily thorned Acacias of the African Savannah, and specifically choose trees that have a flat, umbrella-like crown. They have virtually no access from underneath...

Therefore, a rickety ladder set up is required 😂, and this ladder needed to be carried on a 9km roundtrip to the first nest in near 40 degree heat. Good fun!! These are the lengths that passionate conservationists will go to for one bird. Inspiring.

The climb itself was.... let's just say... don't look down.
The adrenaline was definitely pumping through the veins.

Of four nests visited, 3 were successful this season, and the operation went as smoothly as possible! Even the elephant bull in musth that seemed to be sneaking around after us, ended well and just added that extra element of African goodness to the experience. One nest, sadly, was unsuccessful and we found the carcass of the chick underneath the nest. It was very sad to find, and we all felt the weight of it, especially knowing the plight of these birds, the threats they face, and how worryingly uncertain their future is.

Handling these birds was an absolute privilege. The last raptor I had in my hands a few weeks before was an adult crowned eagle, which in its own right is an impressive bird, but the sheer size, weight, and bill of these vultures is utterly mind-blowing. Like something prehistoric, these massive, unique and almost underworldly looking creatures have the most awesome beak, that is required to open the flesh of carcasses, sometimes being so critical for other vulture species' survival as the lappet-faced sometimes is the only one that can get through the hardened, weathered skin of a carcass. We were all very mindful of this, and made sure fingers were as far as possible!

It was a privilege to be involved and a big thank you and salute to all of those working so hard to protect vultures.

This survey revealed that only 3 lappet faced vultures may potentially make it off the nest in 2024. From there, they then need to survive all the other threats they face, which include poisoning (currently one of their most imminent and serious threats), habitat loss, collisions with wind farms (an increasing threat), electrocutions and more.

They are not just 'cool birds' but are actually vital in the ecosystem, and greatly reduce the spread of serious diseases by disposing of carcasses effectively. Serious risk of zoonotic diseases (diseases that can spread to humans) will increase if vultures disappear. We need them!

Fighting for no more empty nests....

06/01/2024

'All the other cool stuff' of Zambia!
(Part 2)

Spiders, bugs and other cool things!

The final post of ours on Zambia. Whew, it has taken some time, and hard to believe this was only a 2 week trip!

These amazing bugs and other things were such treats to see along the way! The tiger beetle, fast paced like a little racing car, giant jewel beetles, that looked like sunbirds, and amazing spiders that deserved time and attention, were just a few of the treasures.

We found scorpions, trapdoor spiders, and the most classic sign on a taxi ever... it is my new life motto.

I will let the creatures themselves in the images do most of the talking.....

06/01/2024

'All the other cool stuff' of Zambia!
Part 1

Mammals, flowers and scenery

The last posts on Zambia, 'all the other cool stuff' will include mammals, plants, scenery, (part 1) and spiders, insects, and crazy cool bugs (part 2), and probably some 'other stuff'.

This trip taught me a lot, again opening my eyes up to the wonder of travel, re-ignited an already crazy passion for biodiversity, but also gave me a great concern for the Africa's future.

The scenery here will show you just how beautiful this country is.

On the mammal front, we didn't spend too much time in national parks and protected areas, and sadly, mammals are not doing too well. We did manage to see Gambian sun squirrel, found fresh lion tracks, heard leopard vocalising at night along the Kafue River, saw gambian giant rat, herds of sable, straw-coloured fruit bats, civets, jackals, four-toed sengi, a long-toed swamp rat (one of our favourite mammals of the trip), Ruppell's pipistrlle bat (another one of our favourites), a deceased tree pangolin (one of our most wanted, sadly), among many other mammals.

Hope you enjoy the images

05/01/2024

Dragons of Zambia!

As with the frogs on our previous post, we were utterly overwhelmed here with the diversity of dragonflies and damselflies in Zambia. The diversity, and the extremely exciting species on offer, especially being close to the Congolese rainforest, were mouthwatering.

But there was something extra special about the dragonflies on this trip for me. My dad went to school at Sakejii in north west Zambia, and the headmaster at the time had a particular interest in dragonflies. He used to send the kids out to collect them and he would send them in to universities. My dad, being the naughty little bu**er he was, bunked school one day with a friend, and they went down to the river. One of the dragonflies they collected ended up being a new species to science and was then named after the school!! It was the Ceriagrion sakejii - Cream-sided citril.

This obviously became my most wanted dragonfly! We weren't planning any specific stops for dragons, (being on predominantly a targeted birding trip with a group) but we stopped at a seepage, a grassland clearing that looked delicious! After being blown away by 5 new species of orchids (see our previous post on orchids), enjoying these but needing to go as we were under pressure from the birding crew that were keen to keep moving, we just so happened to get eyes on an exciting little dragonfly. There it was, the sakejii!

On top of this, we saw a massive variety of dragons, possibly one or two that have recently been added as new species in Zambia. I did my best to capture as many as I could on camera, and this is my best attempt. I hope you enjoy these!

If you aren't into dragons, yet.... check this out:

Being an avid Airwolf fan as a kid, I was always amazed at how choppers move. But they have nothing on dragons!! These things are truly incredible.
They have four wings that can all move independently, are able to flap 30 times per second (up to 1800 per minute), increasing their agility to beyond what Airwolf can even dream of and can reach speeds of almost 60km/h!! They can hover, glide, flap, flip and even fly backwards! They are the ultimate aerial machines!
Dragonflies see faster than we do making their world almost look like slow-motion! We see around 60 frames per second where they can see around 200 images per second. This gives them a near 100% strike rate when hunting!

There are many MANY other amazing things about dragons, but hopefully that gets you interested! And check their colours too!

04/01/2024

Frogs of Zambia!

When you arrive in a new country that is overloaded with an abundance of species, you have a major problem. How do you manage to see and photograph all the cool stuff?!! And when you love frogs, it is a problem, because they are usually easier to find at night, and you need to go missioning into wetlands and late into the dark, but you have to be up early for birds, and you are busy all day looking at butterflies, dragonflies, snakes and and and!

This is worth it, and we came home broken.... worth it! We were hoping for some new frogs, but we didn't expect so many! I haven't tallied up our frog list for the trip yet but it is probably around 30!! More than half of which would be new species for us.

I didn't focus much on my photography of these guys on this trip, and these are actually all edited cell phone photos. Some are terrible and just included to show the sheer diversity (and our luck!)

What an amazing trip we had. I will need to tally up all the species we saw sometime of all taxa.

For now, I hope you enjoy the frogs

Next post - Dragonflies!

02/01/2024

Butterflies of Zambia!!

(and moths, which pretty much are butterflies anyway 😜)

Slowly getting round to the these series of posts. On out trip to Zambia, butterflies were definitely high priority, and being on the Congo border, our first time ever in African rainforest, the potential species on offer were mouth-watering, and RIGHT up at the top, were the Charaxes (my favourite genus of all), the Euphaedra (another breath-taking family), the Bebearia (large and flashy and we don't get any in SA), and the blood-red glider.

Even though we weren't there at the best time of year for butterflies, and even though it was predoninatly a birding trip, with mostly birders, right from the first day in the forests, we started seeing incredible species here and there and the ADHD was on!!!

The Charaxes were phenomenal, and the one I most wanted to see, I did! But sadly it was too quick to get a photo. I will try share a link for this species in the thread. It is worth ogling over. I was overly excited to find some Euphaedras, which we did, and although they are tough to get shots of, we managed a few!

The blood-red glider, REALLY high on my wishlist, gave us a visit during an early morning bird walk, and it was sunning itself fairly high up. A red that the eyes can barely drink in!

A really emotional moment came for me, when visiting the source of the Zambezi, and after the group started heading back, I stayed a little moment longer, and whilst thinking of my late father (this trip was in honour of him) a usually very shy Bebearia came and landed on my foot. Special stuff

I haven't gotten round to labelling each of these, and some I haven't even ID'ed yet! Please feel free to post and ID if you know it!

Some of these are poor images but are just included to show the sheer beauty and abundance of the butterflies of Zambia.

Hope you enjoy the eye-candy.

31/12/2023

2023 is done!

As we wrap up the year here is a brief round up of our posts over 2023. We haven't been that active on social media, mostly because we have been so busy with life and work in conservation. I hope you enjoy these images of nature... This planet is truly beautiful and worth fighting for!

Wishing you all the best for 2024!

10/12/2023

Orchids of Zambia!

Get ready for your eyes to drink in an ABOLSUTE FEAST of colour and beauty!

(I have not been able to ID all of these yet, so please feel free to assist on any if you are able)

We are crazy about orchids, but had no idea what we were about to experience. Soon after getting into natural habitat, we started to see epiphytes in all the trees. Not a few, but a LOT. Like any patch of miombo woodland with large trees, there they were. It was amazing. We didn't think we would see many terrestrials though (we are slightly biased towards terrestrial orchids and our very best is searching for them in wetlands and grasslands). Well, little did we know that we would start spotting more and more of these the further north we went, and as we approached the Congo border, the wetlands and grasslands in these areas started to show an amazing array of orchid diversity and splendour. One small wetland, where I found a very special dragonfly that I had hoped to find (one that my dad was involved in finding as a new species to science) we found 5 species of beautiful orchid, all new for us! I still haven't tallied up how many we found in Zambia, and how many were new for us, but it must be well over 20 species! Some from genera we don't get in South Africa and didn't even know existed!

I tried to get photos of them all, and will ID them all in time....

If you are an orchid fanatic, then ZAMBIA is for you!