Tag Archive for 'birding-african-birds'

Lion Cubs on the Hunt: Video

Published

on December 27, 2009

. 14 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, birding, birding-african-birds, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, endangered-species, experience, film, filmmaker, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hippo, hunting, IUCN-Red-List, kill, lions, malilangwe, Marahou Stork, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, Osprey, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, Secretary bird, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

Christmas Day has come and gone, I spent the day with family in Mutare and enjoyed the sunset in the hills.

In case you’re wondering, there was no Chanel No. 5 to celebrate our anniversary, but a little form was shown with a sunset cruise on Malilangwe Dam where we spotted an Osprey having an argument with a Marabou Stork, the Marabou ended up with the fish, but the Osprey looked pretty determined to teach the Marabou some table manners.

Banyini Pan has been drying up with the intense heat, but half a kilometer to the south is natural pan teaming with life. This is where I found a secretary bird for the first time in our stay at Malilangwe - graceful birds, always a great sighting.

I also managed to catch up with the lions on Banyini one evening. Magwaza’s three cubs are out and about, they are joining the hunt now and outdoing the adults at times - when they can stop playing about and focus on the task at hand of course. One of the cubs pulled down an Impala calf, interestingly enough, the lionesses left the cubs to fight over the small impala on their own without interfering. There are so many young impala around it’s difficult not to run into them around every corner.

Holiday season will soon fade away, but for the baboons every day is a swing in the trees.

Happy New Year, rich blessings, stay safe!

Mudcrawlers: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on November 25, 2009

in videopost

. 5 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, birding-african-birds, birds, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, Cubs, den, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, experience, film, filmmaker, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, hyaena, hyena, insects, IUCN-Red-List, kori bustard, malilangwe, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, predators, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

We’ve been cooped up taking shelter from the rain with no communications or internet for the last few days. It was quite pleasant waking up to the sound of rain pouring down and not having to be anywhere or do anything, but I was eventually itching to get out. So I eventually got to do a little photo commentary to pull us through - enjoy.

After a little wet weather the bugs are starting to make their appearance along with the flying ants. I shudder at the thought of the mosquitoes coming out in full force!

Animals know when the rain is coming; the hyenas prudently took shelter in the hills in expectation of the wet weather, but they still come down to the communal den during the evenings to socialize.

The elephant bulls are out and about looking for the high protein browse in the south of the reserve.

Just before the rains came I paid a visit to Nduna Dam and ran into a Kori Bustard walking the edge of the dam. They are huge birds and this one was not in a hurry to fly away as I was shadowing it.

Another great thing about summer is the summer visitor birds taking up residence on the reserve including the woodlands kingfisher with its expressive call.

Elephant Descent: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on June 28, 2009

in videopost

. 1 Comment Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, birding-african-birds, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, experience, film, flickr, giraffe, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hyaena, Hyena cubs, IUCN-Red-List, lions, malilangwe, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, Parrot, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, zimbabwe

There are still times when you get more done in a day than you expect to, but those days are getting fewer and fewer as life goes on. Having said that, I did manage one of these extraordinary feats during the week and captured and edited some elephant and a few extras.

Today’s video was when a small breeding herd of elephant descended down the hills around Malilangwe Dam to drink. I was lucky enough to spot them on their way and headed straight for a large flat rock that I know is a good spot to sit and wait for animals to come down, while staying well hidden and inaccessible. It was a magic time watching them drinking and spraying mud.

Today I did another riverside drive ending at Chikwete Cliffs where I had that herd of buffalo earlier in the week. It was rather unsuccessful, but besides the freezing cold morning, was pleasant to get out. I ended up shooting some arbitrary stills to keep busy. The lions that were seen at Banyini yesterday were not the same pride as the one with the snared cub, I was thinking about that poor little guy and I heard they were spotted in the area and the little guy is still alive, now we just need the right time and place to get that snare off.

I headed straight for the hyena cubs this afternoon and again went wild with the stills, getting a little of the cubs playing and the mother hyena looking very suspicious of us. I needed to get home early, because we have a dinner date at the stables for a change – yes, we can still have a good time out in the bush.

Wild Mist: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on May 22, 2009

in videopost

. 0 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, birding, birding-african-birds, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, endangered-species, experience, film, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, green wood-hoopoe, Hornbill, hunting, IUCN-Red-List, lions, magpie shrike, malilangwe, mashable, mist, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, pan, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, predators, red hartebeest, sunset, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, Wildebeest, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, zimbabwe

I crept my way in through the Mopani woodlands east of Banyini Pan to park amongst the wild dogs. They had missioned all the way from Nduna during the course of yesterday morning and I was so glad they were closer to home that I had to go see them. Kim had already come and gone, so I just enjoyed the mild sporting and lazing around until the sun went down.

The lions were calling into the night and I wondered if I would pick them up in the morning. I began the day where I left off last night and headed straight to where the dogs were. The mist was lying heavy over the valley and the sun had made its appearance, beaming its rays through the cloud. I had to stop off and capture the sunrise. The wildebeest were sporting around and I’m not sure if they were chasing a young male out of the herd or if they were just playing games; either way, they can portray some interesting behaviour. Another great thing about these Autumn mornings is the therapeutic sound of the Magpie Shrike calling amongst their social groups.

I didn’t get any signal on the dogs; they must have bolted early this morning. I radioed Kim to get a position, but got no answer. I then heard the lions calling again to the east, where the dogs had been last night. They might have had a run in with the lions and high tailed it out of there. Turns out, they headed for the hills then made their way down into the Malilangwe Dam valley. I didn’t find any of the lions, but they were definitely in the area. I headed down past Chekwa Pan, which has dried up, then across to Hwata Pan to have a cup of coffee.

Out of the blue Sjambok showed his face, he was looking a little like he’d seen a ghost. I headed over, but he was so jittery that he made his way into some dense shrubbery. He continued south, disrupting a black-backed jackal in the grass and past a heard of lichtenstein’s hartebeest. They are clumsy looking antelope, then I thought they were stupid as well when I saw them trotting straight towards Sjambok - they were trying to chase him off, it was an interesting little incident to watch… and it worked! Sjambok continued on his parade and I let him be to continue with some bird watching.

Moonwalk on the Water: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on May 7, 2009

in videopost

. 2 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, birding-african-birds, birds, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, documentary, duck, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, experience, film, flickr, GLTP, Goliath Heron, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, IUCN-Red-List, malilangwe, narrowcasting, Nduna dam, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, predators, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, zimbabwe

I was on a mission plotting markers on my GPS today and as Shakespeare says, “This is the short and the long of it.” It took most of the day to work through a series of positions where five different Black Rhino were last seen. I also had to do a bit of bush clearing to make things easier for myself when I find one of these guys. I found plenty of evidence of Rhino movement, but wasn’t lucky enough to find any of them. I feel confident that I’m edging my way forward with these Black Rhino, but I hope to get on a trail soon.

I ended up on Banyini with two elephant bulls watering at the pan. They seemed to come from different directions and meet up there. They were quite relaxed and seemed quite happy to share the space.

In the afternoon, I did a practice run of the route between my various marker points, and invariable a little bush clearing on the side. Although it was more of a technical day, at least I feel a little more effective than just driving until I find something.

I ended up all the way at Nduna Dam and decided to pick up a little footage of a Goliath Heron wading in the water. As the sun went down I headed for a cave where one of the Rhino has been sleeping during the day, the bats were flying in and out like in a scary movie. I think I even saw a few dry old bones on the cave floor! Again, I found evidence of activity in the area, but no Rhino.

Elephant Splitting Trees: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on May 3, 2009

in videopost

. 2 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, Bateleur Eagle, birding-african-birds, birds, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, documentary, dove, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, experience, film, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, IUCN-Red-List, malilangwe, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, predators, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, zimbabwe

I was hoping to find “the earless one” last night, but ended up joining the Hippos for another snorting session at Nduna Dam. And no, not that kind of snorting. Kylie came out with me so we headed towards Bandama Pan to catch the sunset. We spotted two Woolly-necked Storks at the pan, which is quite rare. I really need to fix a few odds and ends on “Dozer”, little problems can catch up with you eventually and then it takes the entire day to sort out the vehicle - this is something I don’t look forward to.

This morning I headed towards Khayeni Pan. On the way we ran into our old Elephant friend with floppy trunk syndrome. He has caused plenty of soiled underwear in the last while, but good thing I didn’t realize it was him at first and edged my way up close. He was absolutely fine without showing even a hint of aggression. I think he knows my vehicle by now though. Anyway, there was another bull elephant with him and they were having a go at destroying what ever was in their path.

Kylie was just saying to me yesterday that we never see any Bateleur Eagles any more, and what do you know, we spotted four of them cleaning out a nest in a Baobab tree. In fact, we had one busy eagle day, with what looked like a Wahlberg’s Eagle at Khayeni as we arrived. Out of all the bird life, eagles can be so difficult to identify. We also had a Brown Snake Eagle perched nearby Khayeni Pan.

There were many other birds of prey and eagles flying around today. Kim followed the Dogs up and down the Chiredzi River until they eventually crossed over this morning. The signal bounces around the banks of the river until one is left quite confused sometimes. He got his microlight ready for a flight this afternoon to pinpoint their position. Tomorrow he drives his girls back to SA, so I will take over on following the dogs, if he can locate them.

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Tag Archive for 'birding-african-birds'

Lion Cubs on the Hunt: Video

Mudcrawlers: Video

Elephant Descent: Video

Wild Mist: Video

Moonwalk on the Water: Video

Elephant Splitting Trees: Video

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