Wildcast

I had a lion day. Not just spending all day with the lions but chilling out as they do all day.
Well except for Manyari and her new lover. The brother has taken over mating and the ex is rather bleak.

Yesterday Manyari and another lioness were on their own but well fed. I think they had killed and fed and left the males to finish off the carcass while they came to Banyini to drink.
Then when the males got back to them, the brother probably got there first and claimed his bride. It seems the guy with the girl basically rules and the brothers will very seldom engage in full combat over a lioness.

And amazingly Manyari carries on with her romping. When will they stop? It’s not as if the boys are taking advantage of her. She can easily stop them but seems reluctant to give up the good times.

The lions were on Banyini this morning and I found them finishing off a young zebra kill. Both males and both females were there. All that remained of the carcass was a little fur, a chewed hoof and blood-stained grass. The vultures were up early hoping to pick up something but didn’t even land.

The mating couple and the ex spent the day on Banyini. Rather exhausted myself I spent most of the day in the shade of an Acacia tortilis next to the pan.

Zebra, wildebeest and impala all came to drink.
In my tree a Fork-tailed Drongo had his perch from which he would dive catching insects and feeding on them back at his perch. And when not hunting he was whistling away, often mimicking the calls of other birds.
There was lots of activity in the sky. Hooded vultures, White-headed vulture, White-backed vultures, Booted eagle, African-hawk eagles, Bateleurs all flying over the pan. Some in combat others just seeming to enjoy the power of flight. It just looks so cool and soon I hope to be doing likewise in my microlight, which I collect next week.

And so at sunset I left the lovers and her ex doing what lions do so well. And actually I shouldn’t be chirping as I did the same all day today.