I went down to the dam this evening and just enjoyed the peace and solitude. As I was sitting there, some of the resident hippos came into the shallows, in preperation for their nightly foraging. They came in quietly without much of their grunting and splashing.
Lilac Breasted Rollers always remind me of my father. They were definitely his favorite bird. With colors like that, you can see why.
The weather is great at the moment,warm sunny days and cool evenings. I enjoy this time of year, and my wife will tell you I say that all year! The summer seems to be winding down and everyone here is hoping for that last little bit of rain,but I am eager for it to keep drying up so that we can carry on filming the lions. There are still very wet areas but I think they will soon dry up.
Darryl Nolan-Evans
I have been logging Kim’s tapes for the past few days, and I have been seeing the footage that makes up the clips you are seeing each day. It is great to see all the stories unfolding. I am glad though to escape the office and catch up on all the Malilangwe happenings. The two wild dogs that moved on to the property seem to have settled, one of the scouts told me today that it is a male and a female, good news for the wild dog population of Malilangwe.
No matter how high you think you may be, there is always someone who will come sit on you!
In addition, I saw Manyari this evening and her family. She has been collared in preparation for a radio implant which is scheduled for the vetrinary course in a couple of weeks. We will try to follow her movements until then.
Darryl Nolan-Evans
Two amorous hornbills caught my attention as I was driving. The male was trying very hard with lots of calling and posturing. He is of course in prime condition and looking his best with the abundant food available.This is the male and the female is below.
The female led him on, not giving in but not rejecting him either. I was amazed to see these two still nearby when I passed there again a few hours later. The female has a smaller bill and is slimmer than the male as you can see in the next picture.
Continue reading ‘Impala Etiquitte’
This morning a few weeks ago the guineafowl were beside themselves with these jackals trying to chill out on the airstrip. Not surprising as only some days before the jackal had killed a guineafowl in the long grass.
They kept tormenting the jackal for at least 5 minutes. The jackal wanted to move off but were followed. Eventually the guineafowl moved on with better things to do.
My travels have taken me to New York city for the night. But for the night only and I’m out of here to my next destination. And that doesn’t mean I’ll be out galavanting all night. This city is too big and scary for a little bush boy to be wandering around after dark.
Malilangwe airstrip has become very much a daily routine for me, and now sitting here at Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and watching the giraffe against the sunset I’m already missing the place. Golly that’s where I should be. But I’ll be away a few more days before I’m back patrolling the strip.
This video clip from a few weeks ago the giraffe were on cue, on the airstrip, at sunset. All the factors except one were in place. Had the giraffe read the script for a change to make the sequence complete according to the wishes of the Director, Me?
Well that day they had. They stood when they were supposed to stand, and then they walked away from camera in their almost perfect line, but keeping a perfect bearing just to the left of the sun. Jackpot!
I’m always trying to get the elephant swimming at Nduna dam, which they might do often but it’s usually at night. Or else it’s late afternoon when the dam is already in shadow.
But when the light is right, I’m still waiting for that, it’s going to be stunning having them swimming against that backdrop of sandstone ridges. Unfortunately when I filmed this a few weeks ago the light was high in the sky.
Today the girls had their athletics sports day at school. But there was no rest for dad. We still needed footage of them doing different activities at school for the Animal Planet Series. So there I was sprinting the 100m, 400m and Relay getting shots running alongside them. Who knows what it all looks like!
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