& what a day it turned out to be! I had only gone a few kilometers along the main road to
Sooty Falcon is a very rare bird here, with only a handful of records. This is my first record of this species in
Kruger National Park.
I saw over
120 species of birds during the day, but nothing could beat the finale! At the exit just inside
Paul Kruger Gate were these
eight Wild Dogs giving superb views.
I left home at dawn on the 8th February. I was going to the far north of the park (six
nights), then two nights just outside the park at Pafuri Tented Camp. I had always wanted to visit, but somehow had
never gotten around to it. No time like the present though!
It was a blistering hot day (up
to 43 degrees Celcius) but the birding was quite good, if not spectacular. Game
viewing was average as well. However, 125+ species of birds were seen during
the day! Not bad from inside of a car!
Black-shouldered Kite.
Put the tent up at
Satara Campsite, then went on a drive
along the
S100 to
N’wanetsi Picnic Site & the
Sweni Bird Hide. Back to camp along the
H6. Highlight was a
Peregrine at N’wanetsi &
Buffy Pipit along the H6.
Along the H 6.
A very young Little Bee-eater.
Swainson's Francolin calling.
A large male Elephant.
Camping was
hot, but uneventful, with none of the thunderstorms of late. I did however, have
a short visit to my camp by a superb
African
Wildcat!
African Wildcat.
Heading north, towards Letaba.
I was up in the dark on
9th, packing the tent away.
Two
Spotted Hyenas were nearby. I
then drove north & along the
S90,
then back again, until I hit the main road & continued to
Letaba Restcamp.
The wonderfully atmospheric, Letaba River.
Eastern Paradise Whydah.
Chestnut-backed Sparrow-lark.
Burchell's Coucal.
Male Amur Falcon.
Birding was yet again uneventful,
highlights being hoards of
Wattled
Starlings & quite a few
Chestnut-backed
Sparrowlarks.
Stoffel in Letaba Campsite.
A most important piece of equipment -
the fridge-freezer!
Why one may ask did I erect my ground tent,
when I have a perfectly good roof-top tent?
Well, gentlemen of a certain age, have to wake up
in the middle of the night!
Me!
The end of another day!
Arriving at
Letaba is always a pleasure. It is an oasis of shade & greenery
amid fairly arid surroundings & that view from the river!
Crested Barbet.
Woodland Kingfisher.
Chinspot Batis.
Black-faced Vervet, playing.
A walk around camp produced
nothing special, apart from an elusive Eurasian Cuckoo. I was entertained by
the local troupe of Black-faced Vervet
Monkeys who came out to play just before dusk.
Another hot & sweaty night in
the tent listening to the calls of Barred Owlet, Pearl Spotted & African
Scops Owls.
Disaster!
Up in the dark again
(10th)
& disaster struck as I was dismantling the tent: I broke one of the poles!
Drat!
Burchell's Zebra.
Levaillant's Cuckoo.
Pioneer Dam, Mopane Restcamp.
Drove north along the main road
& took the
Tsendze Loop &
then across to
Nshawu 1, 2 & 3. Then
across to
Mopane Restcamp via
Mooiplaas Waterhole. Again nothing
special noted. By now the temperature was climbing rapidly, so spent several
hours in the relative shade of the restcamp.
Afternoon drive north along the
main road, then down the
S144 &
the
Tropic of Capricorn Loop Road. Back
to
Tsendze Rustic Camp via the
S50.
Crowned Lapwing.
Amur Falcon.
Lesser Kestrel - check out the colour
of those claws!
Red-capped Lark.
Caspian Plover.
Highlights included a fine male Montague’s Harrier, lots of Chestnut backed Sparrowlarks & Red-capped Larks & just
before dark, several Caspian Plovers.
The campsite was in a brilliant
setting, very secluded & wild! As I was unloading the vehicle & setting
up camp.
Roger, the camp manager
came over & introduced himself. He proved to be a very pleasant chap &
a mine of useful information.
Barred Owlet no 1!
Barred Owlet no 2!
African Scops Owl.
Eurasian Nightjar.
All these photos were taken at ISO 5000.
Don't you just love modern digital cameras!
We went to find the Owls before dark: straight
away we saw
2 Barred Owlets at close
range, then a roosting
Eurasian Nightjar,
followed by point blank looks at an
African
Scops Owl! Not bad in ten minutes! Then it got dark!
I cooked dinner & as I was
sipping my wine, thought that this was a superb place to be. Definitely more
time here next time. I slept out directly on the ground (because my tent was
broken)! The night sounds of Spotted Hyena & Lion kept me company. I
enjoyed a good night’s sleep. It was cooler tonight & the stars overhead
were just fabulous.
Blue Wildebeest kicking up a lot of dust!
Red-winged Pratincole.
Red-capped Lark.
African Pipit.
I awoke at 4.30 am & was
ready for the off. I was going to return to the same ground as yesterday
afternoon – The Tropic of Capricorn Loop
Road, & Mooiplaas Waterhole. At
the latter site, I quickly found the Caspian
Plovers again & around 35
Red-winged Pratincoles.
Red-capped Larks &
African
Pipits were also present.
Roan Antelope - an increasingly rare sighting in
Kruger National Park.
I then moved off towards the
Tropic of Capricorn Loop & spotted
the rare sighting (here in Kruger) of
2
Roan Antelope.
Tsessebe.
A little further down the road
was a family of
Tsessebe, which gave
fabulous views.
Lesser Kestrel.
Amur Falcon.
Lesser Grey Shrike.
Black-backed Jackal.
Lesser Kestrels &
Amur
Falcons dotted the savanna.
Wahlberg's Eagle.
After this wonderful start to the
day, the rest of the morning was uneventful. Once again the heat rapidly built
up & the landscape became virtually lifeless. One good sighting was a Wahlberg’s Eagle in a rather unusual
plumage.
Wahlberg’s Eagles come in two
colour morphs: the common dark brown morph 95%+ of all birds in eastern South
Africa) & the rarer pale morph. This individual shown overwhelming
characteristics of the dark morph, with just a hint of the pale morph thrown
in! A very nice looking bird though.
Sabota Lark.
Drove to
Shingwedzi Rest Camp, which was to become my home for the nest two
nights. I hadn't been here for many years & was looking forward to seeing
it again. Everything was brand new! The summer floods of two years ago had
totally destroyed the camp, but the reconstruction had been nicely done.
It was very hot all day today! I
mean really hot over 44 degrees Celcius! Which meant precious little bird &
mammal activity? I did my afternoon game drive towards
Kannadood Dam, but apart
from a nice herd of
Elephants in the
river, very little else.
On my way back to camp I stumbled
across an adult
Southern Giant Hornbill,
with a load of presumably nesting material in its bill! It was calling for its
mate all the time & gave fabulous views.
Black Cuckooshrike - this bird has
large yellow shoulder patches.
Plum - coloured Starling.
I arrived back in camp early but
yet again little bird activity.
Black
Cuckooshrike showed nicely & an adult male
Plum-coloured Starling was singing at the top of a tree.
Bennett's Woodpecker.
Just before dusk settled, a
Bennett’s Woodpecker put in a show next
to my bungalow (no camping tonight)!
Smith's Bush Squirrel.
I spent a very pleasant evening
on my verandah drinking beer & sorting out photographs.
I had a poor night’s sleep – the
very old fashioned & noisy AC unit kept me awake! I really am better off
under the stars!
It’s the
12th.
What shall I do? OK then, I will go birding! I drove very slowly along the
northern section of the
Red Rocks Loop
Road. It was a beautiful,
coolish
morning, a refreshing change from the previous few days. I saw around 90+
species in woodland in around five hours. Not bad from the inside of a car!
Yellow- billed & Black Stork.
Natal Francolin.
A young Levaillant's Cuckoo.
Lesser Striped Swallow.
Broad-billed Roller.
White-fronted Bee-eater.
A recently fledged Woodland Kingfisher.
The nearby adult bird.
Yellow-billed oxpecker.
Highlights included: Little Sparrowhawk; Yellow-billed
Oxpecker; Levaillant’s Cuckoo; 3 species of Indigobird & both Jameson’s
& Red-billed Firefinches.
Best of the mammals were nice
views of
Elephant in the river bed
& a few
Nyala.
Me at the Tshinga Lookout.
Enjoyed a late breakfast stop at Tshinga Lookout Point, which brought
back many memories of my late wife Carol: she loved it there.
Drove back to camp & arrived
at 1pm; lazy afternoon catching up on notes & photos.
An old. male Cape Buffalo.
Marabou Storks bathing & drinking
in the heat of the day.
A migrant Wood Sandpiper.
Afternoon game drive north along
the main road & back via the lower section of the
Mphongolo Road. The late afternoon light was perfect & I had
great sightings
of Elephants in the
riverbed.
Yet again no cats!
The road less travelled.
Really enjoyed today, as it
wasn’t too hot! Had some great bird sightings & good photographic
opportunities. 108 species seen during the day.
Lion
The 13th dawned sunny! (Slightly ominous for so early in
the morning). I drove north along the
Mphangalo
Loop Road, the light was superb & it wasn't long before I spotted a
fine
adult male Lion, which gave
cracking views. However, he was already panting in the heat & it was only 6
am! I turned up the AC & drove on!
Cape Buffalo with Yellow-billed Oxpeckers
Buffalos were in the river bed, complete with attendant
Yellow-billed Oxpeckers.
Variable Indigobird.
A
Variable Indigobird sang from high on its perch.
Olive Tree Warbler was seen quite well
& both
Thrush Nightingale &
Common Whitethroat sang from deep in
riverside thickets.
Red-headed Weaver
Had a leisurely second breakfast
at
Babalala Picnic Spot &
photographed a superb male
Red-headed
Weaver, weaving its nest.
Bateleur.
Then continued north to Punda Maria Camp, arriving around 12.45
pm. After a bit of a rest, drove the Mahonie
Loop in the afternoon. It was incredibly hot & little stirred. A bit of
a disappointment really, although the scenery was wonderful.
Turned in amid a violent
electrical storm albeit without any rain!
Monotonous Lark.
Drove early morning on
14th from
Punda Maria Camp to
Pafuri. Saw
several
Monotonous Larks en
route.
Limpopo River
A victim of the anthrax
epidemic.
A healthy one!
A rare Cape Vulture.
Grey-headed Parrot.
Meeve's Starling.
Fantastic views of Elephants in
the Limpopo River. I noticed the largest number of Vultures I have ever seen in
this area & the reason soon became apparent; an anthrax epidemic! Several
Zebra were seen dead by the roadside. This kind of epidemic occurs every few
years in the Kruger.
African Fish Eagle.
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater - a rarity here!
White-fronted Bee-eater.
Limpopo River at Crook's Corner.
Visited
Crook's Corner area. The weather was wonderful & the scenery stunning.
My home for the night.
Arrived at Pafuri River Camp in the heat of the day & was it warm! It was
so hot & humid I had to jump in the pool. Spent the afternoon walking
around the area: best bird was Black-throated
Wattle-Eye.
A Large-spotted Genet paid me a brief visit in late evening. Had a
very hot & sweaty sleep!
15th employed the services of the local bird guide, Sam, which was largely a waste of time!
Yellow-bellied Greenbul being the
best bird (which I can see in my garden)!
Had a long drive to the
Big Tree where I saw
Mottled Spinetail. Two
Dusky Larks were quite a good record as
well in the communal lands.
Pennant-winged Nightjar
Arrived back at camp late & in the woodland saw
a female
Pennant-winged Nightjar. A
fitting end to the day.
Cardinal Woodpecker.
Red-chested Cuckoo.
Male Diederic Cuckoo courtship feeding.
Groundscraper Thrush.
White-throated Robin-Chat.
Arrow-marked Babbler.
