Field notes August 22-23, 2009
This is our last observation scheduled on the protocol for Renee’s graduate research! My highlight was watching the courtship interactions between Lucifer (M530B) and F63Y. When he stopped mounting her, she mounted him!
When I first located Lucifer, he was off the road between the Addax shed and Turtle Pond. He was grazing on a patch of green grass across from where the juniper has been cleared. He then walked toward the Safari Camp and I picked him up again on the Juniper Loop.
F63Y found Lucifer and approached him. He courted her intensively, including foreleg lift, horn taps, following and mounting. When his interest waned, she reciprocated with foreleg lift, horn(less) taps, following and mounting. The video is in sequential 6-min focals, about 24-30 minutes total.
The pair moved toward a group of 10 female waterbuck on the main meadow near the clinic. Although the other females moved on, Lucifer and F63Y remained grazing.
The next morning, I found the females and Lucifer in the same location before daylight. The other females moved to the Juniper Loop at daybreak. Lucifer followed them, as they entered the woods south of Safari Camp. I did not locate him for the rest of the day.