Pooky back in Satara *

[pooky]

Thursday 18th Sept. 2014

Our friends had never been to Olifants or Letaba, so we decided to take a ride up there to see the elephant museum.


First up a ground hornbill looking for some breakfast.


Then a young impala



The olifants river looks so bare with all the vegetation gone. I really do miss those beautiful big sycamore trees from
the banks of the river.



It didn't look as if there was too much food for this monkey.



A green woodhoopoe scratching in the bark of a tree.



In Letaba one of the many bushbuck was looking a bit scruffy with its winter coat on still



We had some breakfast while we watched the goings on in the river bed. There were plenty of birds around including
this yellow fronted canary



and a blackheaded oriole







also a kurrichane thrush



to be continued

[pooky]

You left the lion after she had made a kill Well 40 degrees and I bet it got busy rather quickly

I need to take my rats back up to the museum

Even without any activity from the lioness the bridge was chaotic. The best views were from the bridge itself
and when a big truck tried to squeeze through without due care we decided to gap it

(it was here where the ladies spotted the "rhino poachers" and subsequently reported them which led to their arrest. The ladies and families were
parked across from us so we got early first hand information)

[pooky]

For a regular Kruger goer it must be hard to see the Olifants like that. I've only been in that camp once and have long
forgotten what it exactly looked like (although I definitely remember as being stunning) and therefore I do like that
picture a lot. I reckon, it must have to do with the fact that I the mostly bare KTP so much (at least when I get the
chance to see it ).

Great episode again!

The river banks had huge trees with vulture and other birds nests, also lots of reeds which attracted many birds.
It will take years for that to recover.

Thanks for popping in again.

[pooky]

continued --------

After breakfast we made our way to the museum only to be told that there was a power failure and the display
hall was in semi darkness. We looked around as best we could, took a few photos with the flash to show our friends
what was on display. Very disappointing

We made our way down to the bridge along the river road.

Some spoonbill were marching along in a line.




and a couple of young hippo were having a game.







This big fellow was resting up in a bit of shade. The temperature was pushing up into the high 30s again. I don't know if
he is one of the named ellies





On to Olifants with a panorama of the bend in the river



Some ellies were cooling off in the river. There was a steady stream of ellies coming down to the water.



A spectacled weaver in the vines



and some redwinged starlings had found a discarded avo in the day visitors area. I always thought avo was bad for birds. Maybe these guys hadn't read that manual



On the way back to Satara a zebra was standing very close to the road.



Then another highlight for us. A honey badger in the open. He was in full view where the grass had burnt.



He was on the move looking for food



Ah whats here, lets have a dig around



Then the digging got serious. He rests his head on the rim of the hole so that both his front feet are free to dig.



Success and what ever it was, was very quickly dispatched. Then off he went.Great sighting and a first for us in KNP



That evening the resident african wild cat was visiting all the campsites. Not sure what she had here, this was next door to us.



Time was running out for us. Only one full day left

[Dewi]

Marvelous pics and sightings again Pooky.

Very lucky with the Honey Badger.

The tusker looks like it's Hlahleni with the notch in his right tusk and the notch in his right ear.

Love the river views.

[pooky]

Stunning, pooky!

Very difficult to get a badger shot..well done! where was it exactly?

Also miss the trees along the Olifants...

Thank you Richprins

The HB was about 10ks from Satara towards Olifants, in the burnt area

[pooky]

Friday 19th Sept 2014

We woke up to an overcast day with a blustering wind blowing. It turned Satara into a bit of a dust bowl
There was a spit and a spot of rain, not enough to clear the smoke away or settle the dust

The sun was a pale pink ball in the grey sky.

Our friends wanted to return to Sweni hide as they had enjoyed the activity there. We went down the S100,
had breakfast at Nwanezi then on to Sweni





A juvenile bateleur blended in well with the tree trunk




This family herd of ellies had a tiny baby with them. He wasn't much taller than the grass and his little periscope
trunk was testing the air.



We called in at Gudzani dam. Nice to see it so full still There were impala, zebra and wildebeest on the far side.
Some impala were drinking. All of a sudden there was a splash and everything took off. We just saw an impala
disappearing under the water. Breakfast for one croc

At one of the river crossings this greenbacked heron was hiding in the branches



and a big dark giraffe posing very nicely



A beautiful sheen on the wing of this purple roller



At Nwanezi there was a mocking cliff-chat hopping around



After breakfast we made our way to Sweni where there was a great selection of birds. First up a great egret followed



by a pair of spur-winged geese, probably mum and baby.



Then an open-billed stork



This green-backed heron was quite different to the first one, which I think was ajuvenile.



A pied kingfisher sat on the ground for a few minutes before flying off again



and an african jacana was high stepping through the shallow water.



This master fisherman, goliath heron, waited patiently to make a catch



which he duly did.







A grey heron wasn't so successful with fishing.



Lastly in this section is a black-crowned night heron with, what looks like, at first glance, a woodlands kingfisher.
But it can't be, too early and wrong colour beak, so it must be a brown-hooded kingfisher - a very white one.

Please correct me if I am wrong with any of the ID's

More to follow later

[pooky]

What an assortment of birdies!! I'd say it's a Brown-hooded kingfisher.

Sweni had lots birdies for us to watch

Brown-hooded it must be

[pooky]

continued -----

Just a few more birds from Sweni and a few other pics to finish off the day.

A black crake was wading in quite deep water.



The ever present egyptian goose



and a croc trying to get a bit of warmth from the cloudy day.



These zebra were very weary -rightly so with all the crocs around



as were the nyala family - stretching for a drink



In the afternoon we went for a short drive down to Nsemani dam again where some zebra were very bravely wading
quite deep into the water.



On the dam wall a family of baboons were sauntering along with this little fellow hanging on to his life line even
while sleeping



We had to keep moving out of the way to prevent this tortoise from crawling under the car. I wonder if he was looking for shade

[pooky]

Saturday 20th Sept 2014

It was still cloudy and quite cool.We decided to drive down to Tshokwane and back then it would be time to
start packing up.

It was very quiet until we got to Kumana dam where this hyena was making his way across the burnt area. There was a
jeep jockey parked on the road to the baobab. They were looking towards a very green tree.



There had to be a leopard in that tree Lets go and check it out Sure enough, but really difficult to see. A very
sleepy leopard well hidden in the thick foliage.



Nearby a crested barbet was a bit fluffed out against the cold.



We continued on down towards Tshokwane. Some impala were feeding on the sausage tree flowers.



while a giraffe was stretching to reach the fresher flowers.



At Tshokwane it was drizzling and miserable. The kudu pies looked very inviting so we sampled one each with a nice hot
cup of coffee. The pies were delicious It was early so still fairly quiet, but the vervets were in full attendance.
They were wide awake to the slightest opportunity and if you weren't watching they would steal something off the table,or if you got up to leave they raided the table





Even the starlings were waiting for scraps.



This bushbuck ram knew his way around, going to the back of the kitchen looking for what ever was available.



We went down to Orpen dam. On the way was a very big herd of buffalo.This part of the Park hadn't burnt so there was
still a lot of grazing.






Orpen dam is in a beautiful setting. We were the only ones there and I must admit with the hide being so open we felt
very vulnerable.



A pair of juvenile saddlebilled storks.



On the way back a little bee-eater was perched,on the look out for flying insects.





and then a kill of a different kind. Poor chameleon was brunch for a ground hornbill.



A strange looking giraffe. It looked as if his 'horns' had been worn away. I wonder what caused this Any ideas?




Just before Satara, across the river were some sleepy lions. A brief stop was all that was needed as they weren't moving.



Back at camp the vervets were at it again. This time in the neighbours fruit box, and high jinx on their ground sheet





A brubru was flitting around in the trees around us. First reasonable sighting for me, but the light wasn't good



Lastly the resident scops owl was also all fluffed up in a tree near reception