Page 6 of 79
Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:54 am
by Flutterby
Always nice to get some lifers.
Lisbeth wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:51 am
The southern Black Tit looks as if it has been caught in a kind of spider web
That's what I thought.

Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:38 pm
by nan
Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:43 pm
by Richprins
Such great pics all round!
The animals seem to quite like the elephant waterholes if they are a small group. Maybe less predators around and water "cleaner"!
Brilliant vervet shots!

Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:26 pm
by Pumbaa
Mel wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:33 am
Great variety of birdies again. My favourite would be the southern black tit. Looks kinda cute the way it is hanging in there
Wonderful shot of the giraffe drinking!
And those vervet antics are hilarious. Lifting a pile of poop... really?!
Yes really - Maybe something interesting there under
Lisbeth wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:51 am
The southern Black Tit looks as if it has been caught in a kind of spider web
Already four lifers
Wonderful variety of birdies
The vervet probably lifts the poop to look for insects

Great pics of those little bandits
Totally right never noticed that the southern black tit caught in a Spider web

Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:28 pm
by Pumbaa
Flutterby wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:54 am
Always nice to get some lifers.
Lisbeth wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:51 am
The southern Black Tit looks as if it has been caught in a kind of spider web
That's what I thought.
Same could finally escape as we saw same flying away
We in fact had more than a great time in watching the vervets

Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:29 pm
by Pumbaa
Richprins wrote: ↑Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:43 pm
Such great pics all round!
The animals seem to quite like the elephant waterholes if they are a small group. Maybe less predators around and water "cleaner"!
Brilliant vervet shots!
We often saw animals drink from those elephant made waterholes especially during the drought

Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:32 pm
by Pumbaa
Gladly the birding continued and we came across a beautiful blue waxbill
and then to our delight a massive rhino presented itself in the best light
and even with quite an amount of hitchhikers
plus a skittish kudu.
We already had been made aware of a leopard sighting earlier during our drive and whilst scanning the mentioned spot carefully we did not notice anything but whilst photographing the rhino and kudu a couple in another car asked us whether we saw the leopard which we denied. They kindly offered to show us the spot and finally we already spotted our very first leopard for that trip but unfortunately same stayed headless the time we stood there and you could only notice same when standing right in the middle of the causeway
and so we did not stay that long here as we in fact where not in the mood to always clear the causeway and let the cars pass only to check whether the leopard moved as on top and to our luck same would have moved most probably into the wrong direction and so we instead carried on but were for sure happy that we already saw a headless leopard during our first full day in the park.
Next stop was then the Biyamiti weir also one of those places in Kruger where you can spend hours. We noticed a large crocodile and something which looked like a carcass of an impala which was floating in the water right in front of the mouth of the crocodile and therefore it took quite a while until it was our turn to drive over the causeway as several cars stopped for that sighting.
We gave all the other cars the advantage to cross the weir and so we had a bit time without other traffic and so we could observe the area a bit more – We noticed the ever present black smith plover
as well as three banded plover
until we noticed a very well camouflaged green backed heron in hunting mode
until also a sandpiper appeared on the scene as well.

Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:33 pm
by Pumbaa
Due to the time of the day and due to the heat the drive on the Biyamiti loop was extreme quiet – impalas were for sure around
as well as a beautiful kudu bull who also preferred to stay in the shade of a beautiful large tree.
Also this area was extreme dry and we felt that it even looked much drier than two years ago during the drought which also might explain the quietness during the rest of our drive as we only saw a tawny flanked prinia,
a brown raptor in the distance
and more buffaloes until we reached Berg en Dal camp again to finally check in. Whilst I was busy with the formalities Timon found on a tree trunk a lot of butterflies as well as strange looking bugs which had to be captured.
We got bungalow No. 29 which was close to the fence and had a nice view
and after we had been moved in completely and due to the heat and because it was already 15.30 o’clock we decided to stay the rest of the day in camp and instead stroll a bit along the Rhino trail into the direction of the dam in front of the restaurant which we finally did after a short break.
Whilst our walk we already met four rhinos who walked into the direction of the dam
and where about to arrive there at the same time – We were again shocked about the water level as we cannot remember having seen that dam so low ever before but at least the rhinos had fun and soon laid down to take a nap
or to take an extensive mud bath.
to be continued.....
Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:25 pm
by nan
the Blue Waxbill is missing
but there is superb Leopard and Rhinos
and again nice serie of birds
indeed strange yellow Butterfly-like
thank you
Re: And then the rain set in or at dusk the bush comes alive
Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:58 am
by Ratel
Again Pumbaa I feel like I am sitting in the back seat of your car as you drive around Kruger. Fabulous!!
Lovely rhinos, an impressive diversity of birds (the heron ready to strike is my favourite), and some spots!
