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~ An occasional blog, mainly photos

Musiewild's blog

Tag Archives: waterbuck

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 17

14 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by Musiewild in Cats, Countryside views, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

African fish-eagle, Botswana, buffalo, Cattle egret, Chacma baboon, Chobe National Park, Common waterbuck, Egyptian goose, elephant, giraffe, Goliath heron, hippo, Kasikili, leopard, Namibia, Nile crocodile, pied kingfisher, Puku, Reed cormorant, Sedudu, vervet monkey, warthog, water monitor, Water thick-knee, waterbuck, white-crowned lapwing

Wednesday afternoon, 6th March. Vervet monkeys hung around the lodge. Indeed we were advised not to leave our sliding doors open. I did go onto my balcony a couple of times to look, but I didn’t see any. These were in a common area.

After a rest it was out on the boat again, in the same direction. Some familiar wildlife and some new. One very special.

Reed cormorant
Chacma baboon
Water thick-knee
Young Nile crocodile. Looks almost benevolent.
White-crowned lapwing. This time the reason for its name can be seen.
Water monitor
The first and last time we saw this animal, a Puku
Pied kingfisher
Yes, we saw lots of elephants, but I didn’t take lots of photos
I was intrigued and, I confess, slightly amused to see this flag. I had noticed it in the morning, but this time I asked Neil for confirmation that it was indeed the Botswanan flag. ‘Why is it there?’ ‘To show that the [uninhabited] island belongs to Botswana.’ And I recalled from my previous reading that, while the boundary between Botswana (then the Bechuanaland Protectorate) and Namibia (then German South West Africa) had been settled between respectively the UK and Germany (I find myself indignant on behalf of the Africans) in 1890 as, at this point, the ‘main channel’ of the Chobe River, no determination had been made of which channel either side of this island was the main one. The two, by now independent, countries took the matter to the International Court of Justice in 1999. The ICJ studied the geography, including depth and speed of water flow, and determined that the main channel was to the north of the island, so it belonged to Botswana. At the same time it recalled to both countries that seven years previously, they had reached an accord whereby each would have unimpeded rights of way on the river on both sides of the island, known as Sedudu in Botswana and Kasikili in Namibia. Interestingly, leader Neil, Namibian, referred to it as Sedudu.
A very scarred back
African fish-eagle
Egyptian goose
Common waterbuck

Goliath heron
Buffalo and cattle egret
‘A long time’ since we’d seen a giraffe
Vervet monkey family

These last two pictures had been taken while the boat was moving fast, with, unusually, no stopping, and at a time when I would have thought we would be turning round. Yet the boat sped on, further and further from the lodge.

After a short while all became clear. A leopard! Those local boat steerers/guides keep in touch with each other!

I hadn’t given my hope of seeing a leopard – which would complete my big cat ‘list’ – a thought for days. But given this opportunity, I, like everyone else, took zillions of photos, of which here are a very few. It (I don’t know whether it was male or female) was a long way off, but once you knew where it was, there was a clear view.

At least she (no, sorry, I have to give the feline a gender) was alert, and not stretched out fast asleep
We dreaded that there might be/hoped that there would be some leopard/warthog action…
… but neither seemed very interested in the other in the event.

I moved to the upper deck of the boat, and by the time I was there, she also had moved.

Short of seeing her catch prey and dragging it up a tree (the chances of seeing that from a boat were slim to non-existent, I would imagine) this was the best possible view we could have had. From these pictures, I extract the following enlarged portraits.

It was now indeed a race to get back to the lodge before the (Chobe) national park shut. I don’t think we made it in time (there were no physical barriers) but I didn’t hear of the boatmen being fined either.

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Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 14

08 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by Musiewild in Cats, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Bradfield's hornbill, buffalo, Caprivi Strip, Cattle egret, Darter, Egyptian goose, Grey go-away-bird, hippo, Kwandu river, Levaillant's cuckoo, Long-tailed starling, Meves's starling, Namibia, Nile crocodile, Openbill, oxpecker, reedbuck, Water thick-knee, waterbuck, weavers, White-browed robin chat, Zambezi Lodge, Zambia, zebra

Monday 4th March. Breakfast was to be at 8 a.m., we were told, preceded by a pre-breakfast walk round the grounds at 7 a.m.

Woodland kingfisher
Fascinating to see that what we have in our museum locally in the UK, as a remnant of rural transport hundreds of years ago, is still commonplace in rural Namibia. And so ecological.
I was very ‘interested’ to meet this little chap. At the time we saw him, his sound was quite normal and reasonable and pretty. At 6 a.m. … well, you didn’t need to set an alarm, and it wasn’t pretty!
Here he is again, a White-browed robin chat. My book says , ‘Considered by some as the best songster in Africa’. Hmm. His song perhaps, but definitely not his early-morning call!
Bradfield’s Hornbill
And another. They appeared to be talking to each other.

Yes, breakfast was scheduled for 8 o’clock, but they hadn’t told us it was to be on a boat cruising along the river! What a lovely surprise!

This was the double-decker boat, and it was great to be able to go to the top deck to observe the wildlife along the way after we had finished eating.

Egyptian geese
Darter
Nile crocodile
Water thick-knee. (Strictly, it’s the ankles which are thick, not the knees.)
Hippo head
Meves’s (aka long-tailed) starlings
Bushbuck
Buffalos, with cattle egret, and, I suspect, an oxpecker

After this, it was time to pack and move on from the Mahangu Lodge eastwards along the Caprivi Strip. We travelled on a main road which bisects the Caprivi Game Park, and saw some interesting wildlife on the way.

Waterbuck
Reedbuck

We stopped for lunch at a lodge overlooking the Kwandu River.

African Openbill (stork family)
The first domestic cat I had seen since leaving home. Even I, felinophile, am not convinced they have their place in the middle of so much wildlife.

We resumed our journey.

Weaver birds’ nests. There are many kinds of weavers, and many kinds of weavers’ nests.
Yup, another grey Go-away-bird
Levaillant’s cuckoo
Meat-sellers, through a rather grimy lens

In due course (we did 340 kilometres that day, temperature 36°C max) we arrived at Zambezi Lodge, on the Zambezi River. Opposite was Zambia.

From my room
As night fell

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Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 10

02 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by Musiewild in Countryside views, People, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

African fish-eagle, Ayre's hawk eagle, Black-crowned night-heron, buffalo, Bushbuck, Darter, Egyptian goose, elephant, Great white egret, Grey go-away-bird, hippo, jacana, Little bee-eater, Little egret, Mahangu Safari Lodge, Malachite kingfisher, Namibia, Okavango River, Squacco heron, waterbuck, White-backed Night-heron, White-fronted Bee-eater

Friday 1st March, late afternoon cruise on the Okavango River, upstream from Mahangu Lodge. For the most part we hugged the opposite bank, which I think formed part of the national park.

As we move off, we look over to the lodge and its double-decker boat. We’re on the single decker one.
Waterbuck
Disappearing bushbuck
Malachite kingfisher, with prey
Great white egret
This very large elephant seemed extremely angry as he ripped up the grass. Anthropomorphism on my part, no doubt.
Little egret
Egyptian geese
African jacana
What a difference in light when I swing my camera to the opposite bank.
Squacco heron
Darter
White-fronted bee-eater
On the other bank, two go-away-birds
Ayre’s Hawk-eagle
Little bee-eater and White-fronted bee-eater
Little bee-eater
African jacana
Staring out at us, a juvenile Black-crowned night-heron
Buffalo
Bushbuck
African Fish-eagle
Malachite kingfisher
People were very excited to see this, an ‘uncommon resident’, a White-backed Night-heron.
The light was falling, and the boat hastened us back to the lodge. My camera had difficulty with the light level as I pointed it at these hippos, …
… and at my colleagues as they relaxed after a fascinating couple of hours. Time to look at photos rather than take them.

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Tanzania 8

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by Musiewild in Photography, Travel, Wildlife

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

banded mongoose, blue-cheeked bee-eaters, Dik dik, elephant, grey heron, hadada ibis, Nubian Woodpecker, Olive baboon, pearl-spotted owlet, red-backed shrike, Tanzania, Tarangire National Park, Tarangire Safari Lodge, waterbuck, White-headed buffalo weaver

I took these photos before, during and after lunch that day, all at Tarangire Safari Lodge.

P1210252001

P1210260001P1210261001

P1210273001

Red-backed shrike

P1210278001

After lunch homework. My room-mate, Sara, was a much more serious photographer than I

P1210292001

Nubian woodpecker

P1210296001

?Red-billed hornbill

P1210300001

View from dining room

P1210317001

Olive baboons at safari lodge

P1210320001

P1210329001

White-headed buffalo weaver

When we went out in the afternoon, I didn’t add much to my stock of pictures – you may be glad to know.

P1210338001P1210339001P1210342001

P1210347001

Dik dik

P1210351001

P1210383001

I was the thrilled to be the one to spot this pearl-spotted owlet deep in the foliage. It is only 20 cm tall

P1210388001

Nubian woodpecker

It was another lovely dawn the next day.

P1210430001

Waterbuck

P1210431001P1210434001P1210443001

 

 

P1210445001

?Common drongo

P1210448001

P1210455001

The grass was so long, it was difficult to see the baby elephant

P1210456001

P1210468001

?

P1210473001

Nubian woodpecker

P1210486001

Blue-cheeked bee-eaters

P1210489001

Hadada ibis

P1210499001

P1210502001

Grey heron

P1210514001

Banded Mongooses at breakfast stop

P1210518001

Common waterbuck

P1210519001

P1210520001

Olive baboons

P1210524001

(Next: … a lost passport…)

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