When small Streams turn into Rivers

[Pumbaa]

Nice, Pumbaa!

Interesting the various colorations of the chats!

And some nice ellie pics in the sun!

Yes, it still kept dry that day and everything looked so different We so far had enough rain but believe me there was more on the way

[Pumbaa]

some nice pictures... all sort

the Ant-eating Chat, seems to be a Mocking Cliff Chat, male and female ... or I'm completely wrong (but I saw quite a lot of Ant-eating Chat in the Kgalagadi ) ... a very nice bird

You are right it was a mocking cliff chat sometimes I am a bit fast with the writing

[Pumbaa]

Soon we stood again on the bridge across the Matjulu and here we first noticed that the water level again dropped drastically and secondly two pied kingfishers in a tree



who had obviously a dispute.



Again a great number of white egrets could be seen as well as a white breasted cormorant and a pied wagtail a bit farer away.



Finally we turned into the last stretch of the road leading to Berg en Dal and stopped for a booted eagle a bit hidden in a tree



and approximately two kilometers prior to camp close to the road a couple of well filled puddles came across who were occupied by lots of buffaloes who enjoyed a day spa in the sun although some were crossing the road with their little ones already



and masses of flies were bustling around the buffaloes and each buffalo had its own cloud of flies.



This female with her calf had an extreme nice set of horns





whilst the rest of the buffaloes had occupied the smaller waterholes / puddles



some had their own one whilst others shared theirs and for sure there was also an extensive splashing around.

[Pumbaa]

After a while a buffalo after the other emerged from their waterhole



or mudhole and they made their way to join the other buffaloes who already had crossed the road



for sure followed by the obligatory cloud of flies.



Lots of red billed oxpeckers were present as well



some even needed an exhaustive dust bath and some landed on the head of the buffaloes whilst others were very well hidden.



Most of the buffaloes finally disappeared on the other side of the road, went through the rapids were normally no water was flowing and obviously found somewhere a place in the shade.



After now most of the buffaloes were out of side we continued and arrived a bit too early in camp so we decided to enjoy an ice cream from the shop on one of the benches at the dam and whilst I was in the shop Timon had been visited by a handsome rock monitor still at the parking area.



Same was so relaxed and posed extreme nicely for the camera





and on top it was quite a big one – We already photographed last year in Biyamiti as well as Shingwedzi rock monitors and those in camp are indeed extreme nice to watch as long as you are not coming too close



nevertheless this sighting was fantastic and far too soon the monitor moved on.



to be continued………………..

[Richprins]

Some really spectacular shots, Pumbaa!

The buffalo studies are great, plus the monitor closeups!

I don't go in summer anymore, miss migrant birds like the booted eagle?

[Pumbaa]

Some really spectacular shots, Pumbaa!

The buffalo studies are great, plus the monitor closeups!

I don't go in summer anymore, miss migrant birds like the booted eagle?

We always go for the migrant birds - Lovely is that lots of species can be seen in summer here as well - That is so fascinating

[Pumbaa]

Unfortunately I missed this sighting as I was meanwhile in the shop but we finally sat on one of the benches overlooking the dam also such a nice and peaceful place especially with an ice cream in one hand and the binoculars in the other so we discovered a green back heron,



a hippo we already noticed two days ago at its favourite spot with a juvenile green back heron photobombing the picture.



We also detected black smith plovers and buffalo weavers



as well Egyptian goose



and close to where we sat a seven-legged golden orb web spider was supervising her web.



People close to where we sat had already keys in hand as well as a camp layout plan and so I took the opportunity to also enter the reception and luckily was serviced by the same guy who already booked us in 3 days ago and he even remembered us and was as friendly as he was already during our first visit. We got bungalow No. 20 which was not at the fence as all these were already booked but that bungalow would be our second choice in case no perimeter bungalows might be available and it still was 30 minutes prior to official book in.

No. 20 had in fact a nice bush view and was one of the most cleanest bungalow we ever experienced in Kruger. Do not get me wrong the bungalows in Kruger are always clean but here someone made a great deal of efforts the more I was a bit sad that we lost sand as well as mud from our shoes on the floor whilst moving in.

Anyway already whilst unpacking the car we noticed that the location of the bungalow on top attracted a great number of birds so Timon soon grabbed the camera and captured woodhoopoes,



crested barbets either on a log or on the ground



and finally even closer and as often in camp these birds were not that shy as outside the camp.





Soon we nearly throw everything into the bungalow and went first on bird hunt as they voluntarily appeared on the scene and to our delight we spotted a Bennet’s woodpecker, another first for us



although same then disappeared far too soon out of sight and instead we could capture again the crested barbet.

[Pumbaa]

As their call is unmistakable we already heard them before we finally saw them as one of them sat even close by



and same was calling one of its buddies.



We saw red-billed hornbills and forktailed drongos



and also the Bennett’s woodpecker luckily returned so that we were able to take a couple of shots



before same landed on top of one of those bat habitations and started to knock with its bill on top of the box and as the bats inside the box started to squeak this procedure continued a couple of times and was funny to watch.



We were in our element and you cannot believe how happy we were with all those different birdies as they were so easily to be photographed. Another fork tailed drongo was detected



and then another jackpot and another lifer, a Retz’s helmeted shrike



unfortunately same did not stay that long but we were able to take a couple of shots.



One of the many forktailed drongos caught a moth



and to our delight even a juvenile diederik cuckoo showed up as well



and Timon as always took as much shots as possible.



to be continued………………..

[nan]

super serie of nice birds... my preferred... THE Ret'z

[Lisbeth]

Great sigting of the buffalos. When the herds are that big, there is always something to observe

A "handsome" monitor? A monitor can be a lot of things, but "handsome" is not an adjective that I'd use

What a lot of lovely birds Bennet's woodpecker and the Retz' strike

The crested barbet is one of my preferred birds

I don't know why, but I always find that the Parrots are out of place in Kruger