Sightings WOW, photos not so... (Oct 2018)

[GavinW]

What amazing sightings
You were very lucky. We have seen very little at KK in the past. Wild Cat, Brownies and caracal
Enjoying your travel tale, Thank you for sharing

[Mel]

Thank you all for your kind words, praise and encouragement Please forgive me for not replying to each post individually… I'm struggling with my arm again but would like to finish this travel tale because I have always hated unfinished business. However, I try to keep the rest of my computer activity to a minimum to allow my arm to get better

Ex - yes, that that was the 10th and they were both still around the next day, just not as long

[Mel]

Our last full day started with another bang... a daylight brownie at Kieliekrankie. It had actually walked past our deck - must have been the closest I have ever been to a brownie! - but I was too stunned for photos Anyway… the scenery with a brownie isn't bad either

We were in no hurry to leave the camps since we had time to kill until 2 pm before being allowed to check in at Mata Mata. So we only got on our way at around 8 am.

First sighting on the way was a meerkat family with younger ones. Unfortunately, our patience didn't really pay of and the cute little ones weren't in the mood for posing So I had to try to do my best capturing them when pausing shortly from any action.

[Lisbeth]

Lovely photo of the hyena

and of course, the little meerkat is so sweet

[Mel]

Further north an inquisitive tawny posed for us.

And just 300 metres south from where we had left them the night before, Hanri and her cub were still hanging out.
While we were sitting there people came and went and a few of them telling us that we were missing a much better
sighting just north of Urikaruus with three cheetahs right next to the road. Curiosity got the better of us, so we got
on our way. Arriving there we found Corinne and cubs underneath a bush on the left when you go up to the look out
just after Urikaruus - and with then at least 10 cars, some already blocking the road again. In contrast to yesterday
Corinne had chosen a tight spot this time Since we couldn't be bothered to get entangled in the commotion,
having had such a fantastic sighting of them the day before, we decided to rather show Hanri our appreciation for showing
herself two days in a row and returned to their place - gathering a lot of "Are they completely nuts leaving this sighting?!"
looks.

For most of the time Hanri and her cub were doing much. But at some point some springbok moved into the vicinity
which got Hanri interested.

But she had been spotted by the antelopes and therefore lied down again. While sitting with the cats, I noticed this
Acacia pied barbet in the tree nearby

After 1.5 hours sitting with them and with no further action to speak of, we thanked Hanri for being with us
and moved on.

Getting back to Corinne we were grateful to see that most of the cars had left. The reason quite obvious -
she had moved herself and the cubs further into the dunes, still visible but no good photo opportunities.

Just like we had expressed our gratitude to Hanri, we did the same with Corinne. Call me crazy, but I am a firm
believer in manners, even with wild animals

[Mel]

Then the day started to get weird… At 13th Borehole we found a male lion in the shade right next to the road
and not a single car in sight Unheard of in any park I guess But even weirder was the fact that
no one had ever mentioned him… There had been talk about the cheetahs, about a male lion at Craig Lockhardt
and a leopard, but nobody had ever said anything about this one

At Craig Lockhardt the day got even stranger… There were five cars parked: One facing the waterhole, three
looking at these two:

And one regarding him:

Two out of the three birders eventually parked next to the car that had been standing at the waterhole,
camera lenses going up into the tree I got excited because I knew that a pearl spotted owlet had been seen
here regularly but I had never manged to find it. So I got the binocs out and checked the holes in the tree. And
although that what I got to see was also spotted, it certainly was no bird... LEOPARD!!!

At first she was well hidden with me being able only to see her tail, while Spots couldn't see anything from his
position in the car. But it didn't take even five minutes for her to jump onto a different branch offering nice views
of her.

[Mel]

She was VERY relaxed and totally oblivious to either the cars underneath her, nor her dangerous next door
neighbour for the day Meet Ikhaya - a new young female leopard who has been a great delight for many
a visitor over the last few months

It was getting hot and after having spent an hour with her we change our position to the first row and taking
a few more photos, vowing not to come back to the sundowner frenzy that was certain to happen here later
that day

[Pumbaa]

What brilliant leopard shots, Mel

plus brownie, lions, cheetahs and birdies out of which the acacia pied barbet is making me extreme

[Dindingwe]

Great pictures of the Leopard

So finally, what is the verdict on the white headed raptor ? Is it a Borwn Snake-Eagle ?

[Lisbeth]

Ikhaya is a very pretty leopard

The acacia pied barbet is a nice find

All in all not a bad day