Tag Archive for 'marabou-stork'

Hyaenas ruffle vultures feathers: Video

Published

on February 11, 2007

. 0 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, birding, birding-african-birds, blogumentary, buffalo, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, experience, flickr, giraffe, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hyaenas, kill, malilangwe, marabou-stork, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, ornithology, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, teach, video, vultures, wildcasting, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

Long night with the lions.

I spent last night with the lions only getting back to them soon after midnight. They were still chewing on the carcass in relays.

Somewhere in the night the hyaenas had moved in and tried to make a stand trying to intimidate the lions with their giggles and whoops. But there just weren’t enough of them and they had to spend the rest of the night lying in the wings waiting.
At dawn the lions were into a renewed feeding frenzy, all trying to get their last bite of what really was nothing.
The young male was the last to hang on stuffing himself.

As he moved away the vultures flung themselves at the carcass in numbers and seemingly in desperation. But their feast was short lived.
Descending on the carcass as they did was the cue for the hyaenas that all was safe and they could move in.

They moved in cautiously but soon had command of the carcass and tucked in to what the lions just couldn’t chew. But with their tremendous jaws the hyaenas were soon working the carcass all the time on the look out for the possible return of the lions. They never did come back.
About 8 hyaenas feasted and having all but cleaned up the carcass they left the scraps to the vultures.

I headed back to camp for a few hours nap before moving out again for the afternoon.
The Marabou’s were still on Banyini along with giraffe, impala, zebra and of course thousands and thousands of quelea.

Marabou Waltz: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on February 10, 2007

in videopost

. 2 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, african-birds, animal-kingdom, birding, birding-african-birds, blogumentary, buffalo-stampede, bush-knowledge, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, kill, lions, malilangwe, marabou-stork, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, ornithology, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, teach, video, wildcasting, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

The Marabous Storks were still on Banyini this morning, giving me the chance to recapture the footage that was ruined yesterday when my camera overheated.

They kept me busy for several hours and I only left them once they had cooled off in the pan and temperatures were soaring.

I went on to find the Nduna pride on a buffalo kill right down in the south east of the reserve. The kill was probably made last night and all were well fed. But when I got there, only one lioness was lying in the shade near the carcass, which was out there in the sun.

The others had moved off into deeper shade.
This lioness wasn’t budging. The skies were full of vultures and others were already landing in nearby trees. Had the lioness given them the slightest chance they would have descended en masse and polished off the carcass.

She spent her day guarding the carcass.
Only at sunset did the others venture from their shade and continue to feed. And as overloaded as they were I always wonder how they manage to stuff more meat down their throats.
I’ll be spending the rest of the night with the lions to be with them at dawn when they probably move off and the hyaenas move in. That’s if the hyaenas don’t challenge the lions tonight and take over.

Elephant calf survives challenges: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on January 25, 2007

in videopost

. 5 Comments Tags:africa, african-birds, animal-kingdom, birding, birding-african-birds, blogumentary, buffalo, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, flickr, giraffe, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, lions, malilangwe, marabou-stork, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, ornithology, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, teach, video, vultures, waterhole, white-rhino, wildcasting, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

Where did those lions get to?

Hopefully for them they’re sitting on a buffalo kill. And sorry for me if they really are, but I wasn’t able to pick up any trace of them.

The elephants were in the Albizia woodlands again but at midday headed southeast. All along the way they were dropping in at mud wallows to cool off.

So when they got to Bandama all they really wanted was lots of refreshment and then it was back on the move again.

There aren’t many bulls accompanying the herd at the moment. This could be that they are spending their time more to the south where the grazing is better and the cows are relying on the productive Albizia woodlands to sustain them.

I had a great jog today running along the shores of the Malilangwe dam. I came across about 20 vultures and some Marabou storks milling on the ground but closer investigation didn’t reveal anything. Really don’t know what they were up to. Further on I disturbed 2 buffalo bulls wallowing in the dam and they ran away. I also encountered some impala, zebra and a waterbuck with a small calf. The waterfowl that are usually in abundance around the dam are not there at the moment probably having moved on now that the veld is full of other surface water.

Lions botch the hunt: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on January 21, 2007

in videopost

. 20 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, blogumentary, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, experience, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, lions, malilangwe, marabou-stork, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, teach, video, wildcasting, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

Thank goodness lions find it difficult to coordinate their hunts. Otherwise they would have wiped out every prey species that dared venture into their territory. But thankfully they so often just don’t get it right.

A sudden storm hit us at midday as the heavens opened and for 20 minutes it poured. Just as soon as it arrived, it was gone.

The cool weather after the rain had the lions hunting in the early afternoon.
One lioness was really keen and seeing a small herd of zebra on Banyini open area, homed in on them. The rest of the pride hung back a little and Nduna, the pride male, bided his time waiting for the girls to bring home dinner.
And then somewhere along the line, the 3 year old male lost himself in all the goings on.

Just when the female was closing in on the zebra, this male came strolling across the open area calling and looking for the pride.

Well that sent the alarm calls flying all across Banyini and every animal across the open area was fully aware of the lions and their intentions. Their cover was blown and the hunt abandoned.

The lions regrouped and spent the rest of the day lying up at Banyini pan, back into their lethargic state.

Black Rhino spook elephant herd: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on December 14, 2006

in photopost

. 6 Comments Tags:africa, african-birds, animal-kingdom, birding, birding-african-birds, black-rhino, blogumentary, cites, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, flickr, giraffe, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, IUCN-Red-List, malilangwe, marabou-stork, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, ornithology, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, polls, quickmaps, teach, video, wildcasting, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

A normal day in Africa, for me anyway.

Temperatures stayed moderate and there was nothing too exciting going on.

A little abnormal though, was finding the black rhino cow and calf in the early afternoon out in the open browsing. Such great animals with their very own charisma! At least they kept it to themselves today and left us out of it. But always great to even get a glimpse of them.

We had a great time with the elephant this morning with Lindy and Penny. They just loved Chipfongwe and I think he was the icebreaker in getting Lindy to overcome her fear of elephants. Up until today she was petrified of them and I always given her the right to tell me what to do if we saw elephants. Invariably she’d say “Go, drive away!”

Her fear for elephant came about several years ago when a cow charged and as I drove away Lindy was right at the back of the vehicle, closest to it.

The herd today were so chilled out and at times totally surrounded the vehicle. We would park ahead of them and they, of their own accord, would carry on feeding as if we didn’t exist moving on both sides of us.
I’ve never been able to do this with breeding herds of elephant elsewhere.
These elephants really are special!

Nuptial Feast: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on November 30, 2006

in photopost

. 2 Comments Tags:africa, african-birds, animal-kingdom, birding, birding-african-birds, blogumentary, cites, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, flickr, giraffe, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, IUCN-Red-List, kill, malilangwe, marabou-stork, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, ornithology, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, polls, predators, rain, teach, video, waterhole, wild dogs, wildcasting, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

A clear day was forecast, which it did eventually turn out to be.
I was with Chipfongwe and the herd at dawn right in the south east of the reserve near Makeche. This is that dreaded clay country but it’s dried up sufficiently to make for easy driving in the area.

And then it started to rain, a soft drizzle. The skies had closed in totally and it looked like it had come to join us for the day. Well it must have got bored with the company and left us about an hour later having really just been a nuisance and wet everything.
The herds were still in the mopanie when I left then in the late morning.
On my way past Banyini the nuptial feast was in full swing and more birds were arriving. These flying ants are so rich in protein and obviously so yummy that they attract the crowds. Not intentionally of course. But they come out in such numbers that many of them do still make it, thanks to all those that sacrificed their lives for them.

I didn’t return to the elephants today, as with them in that mopanie it just doesn’t provide me with much filming opportunities. But it’s at times like this that I feel I might just be missing some interesting behaviour. And yet I might also just not get anything.
I took the lucky dip and headed out after the wild dogs again. They were still right in the east lying up at Nyamsaan pan. And just as they got on the move the light came out in all its glory. Lots of pretty pretty stuff.

They headed south at quite a pace moving parallel to the fence line. They had purpose, and surprising a herd of impala close to the fence they chased a female straight into it and again success for them at dusk. They sure have mastered this tactic.

This use of fences for killing up against has been observed by wild dogs in other reserves too and has also been observed with cheetah.

I hope to catch up with the dogs early tomorrow again when they set out to hunt. That’s if they don’t hunt again this evening with the moon now being about half full (or empty).

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Tag Archive for 'marabou-stork'

Hyaenas ruffle vultures feathers: Video

Marabou Waltz: Video

Elephant calf survives challenges: Video

Lions botch the hunt: Video

Black Rhino spook elephant herd: Video

Nuptial Feast: Video

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