Africa Wild

Efjay got a camera from us because of his love for photography and he was very eager to have us packed and leaving for the Berg. I told him it was a good camera – but he would look at mine and then his and just shake his head in unbelief. I smiled inwardly and knew the proof would be in the pics – yet it took some practice.

My wishlist was –
A leopard – of course
A good pic of a violet-eared waxbill
And of a Diderick cuckoo.
For lifers I only wished for a
Piet my vrou
And Jacobin’s cuckoo.
....I thought this was easy and manageable.

Our first sighting were these Marabou storks. We loved watching them and took quite a lot of pictures.



It was only when we moved on that we saw the party was actually on the other side of the Berg….



This large and powerful bird eats mainly carrion, scraps and faeces but will opportunistically eat almost any animal matter it can swallow. It occasionally eats other birds including quelea nestlings, pigeons, doves, pelican and cormorant chicks, and even flamingos. During the breeding season, adults scale back on carrion and take mostly small, live prey since nestlings need this kind of food to survive. Common prey at this time may consist of fish, frogs, insects, eggs, small mammals and reptiles such as crocodile hatchlings and eggs


Along the way we found this African Grey Hornbill hiding..

And then a violet eared waxbill female… yippee. She was playing hide and seek.



Near Mankwe dam we saw this Raptor… more pics later.



We had breakfast and then decided to detour the Tau loop to go to Manyane.

We came across a guy who was playing a cd of a male lion roaring….and that made the female lion stand up and take note. Think there are more ways than we know of to draw a cats attention.

While setting up camp, I took my first pics of a ‘Blou kop koggelmander’.
As I am not sure about the difference between a Tree Agama and a Blue head Agama, I will stick to my mother tongue.





What strange actions this dove was up to kept us laughing.
If there was a puddle of water, it would have made sense, but the ground was hot. It was lifting it’s wing and lying on this very hot ground, getting back up, and then falling back on the ground again.







Afternoon drive to follow…

Afternoon Drive

Our aim for this holiday was to use time – too wait more than we drive …

We went to the little dam on our afternoon drive. I immediately I noticed these Kingfishers.

For the purpose of my story we will have them be a male and a female.

With the nest burrow and territory now established the pair are well into the breeding phase. The female is now staying in close proximity to the burrow most of the time, while the male is returning to the female at 10 to 15 minute minute intervals, bringing fish to feed to her. This behavior seems well adapted to ensuring that all of the females energy can go into egg production. While the female makes occasional visits to the burrow, sometimes spending several minutes in the burrow, the bulk of her time is spent roosting in bank side trees waiting for the male. When the male returns to the burrow he can be heard calling from some way off, this prompts the female to call and the male then quickly homes in on the female and presents her with a fish. On two occasions during the 3 hour session that I observed them, this behaviour was followed by an attempted mating, where the male hovers and perches on top of the female.

The male dived in and returned with a froggie. The killing process started with it banging it from side to side, testing it, smiling, and then banging it again.
I am certain I can prepare a super bolognaise in less time it took the KF to soften up and kill this froggie.

Sorry for the overkill in pics – I used only a small amount of what I took.

All that was left was for the female to enjoy and the male to clean his beak.











Hoping all his efforts were not in vain






If this was a chick, then it better enjoy, ‘cos his days are counted for being fed.

Each chick can eat 12-18 fish a day, and they are fed in rotation once a chick is fed, it moves to the back of the nest to digest its meal, causing the others to move forward.
The chicks are normally ready to leave the nest when they are 24-25 days old, but if the fish supply is poor, they can take up to 37 days. Once out of the nest, the young are fed for only four days before the adults drive them out of the territory and start the next brood.

Thank you all for being on board...and your compliments, I appreciate it.


so....

A dark movement drew my attention and I maneouvred the car so I could see what it was.

Well, this was great .

The very real pink feathered/pink cheeked starling….

These colours on the Violet backed Starling are a first for me. I have looked through my books and the internet – maybe I am looking for an explanation like a breeding male ..?





Oxpeckers also flew in for a drink.



How wonderful to see each waterhole with water in it. These Dabchicks certainly enjoyed their dam.



We decided to do short trip before returning to camp, and saw this beautiful Drongo on the way.





We heard a very loud singing bird, and stopped many a time to look for it. It was definitely not the Rufous Naped Lark – yet we wanted to find this birdie.




The downfall of good rains means the animals don’t need to walk to Mankwe for water any more, they have ample food and drinks all around them. Our large mammal sightings were scarce.



At the turn-off to the Hippo Loop we found our Raptor again……aai, – still unknown specie. - more pics later.
(I am thinking it could be a buzzard)





Back to camp and a sit down dinner of Sole, Veggies and a beer to enjoy the bushveld night.



….. Day 2 to follow.

Nice birdies I have a violet-backed starling with that strange color somewhere

Might be only the light though

Something wrong with that starling?

Nice to see oxpeckers there! That may have something to do with this: viewtopic.php?f=243&t=2747&start=140