Tag Archive for 'water-birds'

Quelea, Feeding for Survival

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tracker
on February 20, 2007
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Quelea is probably one of the most numerous birds in Southern Africa. Occurring in flocks of thousands, they wander in search of food. They are considered a pest by farmers as they do considerable damage to winter crops. Drastic measures were taken to annihilate these birds, but with no success.

Quelea Flying

During the dry season, those members of the flock that cannot find suitable food sources will starve. Nearly fifty percent of the Quelea population starve each winter. But that is not their only threat. Predators in all shapes and sizes wait for them to breed and will raid nests of eggs and nestlings. This might even decrease their numbers by a further twenty percent…

Quelea Flight
Can one actually ponder the thought when you see them in their thousands like these and ask yourself…”Are they going to be around for much longer?”

Chekwa’s Water Birds Survive The Elephant

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on February 18, 2007
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The water birds at Chekwa were not happy when the herd of elephant came by for a drink. Egyptian Geese, Black winged Stilts and many more were scattering in all directions to avoid being trampled by the towering grey bodies.

Elephant Herd at Chekwa
Around the 20th Century, Black winged Stilts were much less common residents to Southern Africa than they are today. The numbers are still on the increase especially in urban areas around man made water sources.

Elephant Bulls Drinking
Although the Egyptian Goose is no longer found along the lower Nile, it is still a common resident through the rest of Africa. These birds were regarded as sacred by the Pharaohs. Malilangwe surely got a healthy population of these birds.

Waterbirds

All were very relieved when the Elephants decided to move off.

Abdim’s Storks Descend in Thousands: Video

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Wildcaster
on February 7, 2007
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Hot hot hot!

Steel bull
And getting very dry for this time of year. Apparently we’re about 200mm below our average for this time of year and that’s quite something when we only average 560mm and the rainy season only lasts a couple more months.

Forward stretch
There is apparently a cyclone off the Mozambique coast, which is moving towards land and this will possibly bring rain in about a week. Generally these cyclones don’t hit the coast in a big way and we’re still further inland so they don’t normally cause us any damage. Although in 2000, the big one that hit us in South Africa also hit here causing substantial floods.
The lions were out of it at dawn as temperatures kept rising. And even when 2 impala blundered upon they only woke when they were already running away in fright.

Serious Stare
I got a call from the game scouts that storks were landing in their thousands in the Runde river in the far south of the property. I raced down there (being careful on the gas as there isn’t any available at present) and sure enough, where I had filmed the hippos the other day, 2000 or more Abdim’s Storks were descending and landing in the riverbed to drink and bathe and then sun themselves.

Mass fly pass
And the ever present enormous crocodiles that live there were patrolling the shore waiting for any unsuspecting bird.
Access to the river was nice and open, but that was a ways up from the Storks and I wanted to get up close. This meant climbing through thick undergrowth on the banks of the river. Then down a well eroded hippo path and into the water giving me just the slightest window on the storks.

Soaring Storks
Bad place for me to be especially when at that very moment I was filming a croc approaching the storks.
I could always kick myself for getting into these situations, but only after the fact. I think the drive to get the image is like a drug to me and I tend to brush these issues aside. Maybe I’ll eventually get wiser with age.

Stork Take Off

Elephant Calf Coordination and Discipline: Video

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Wildcaster
on November 10, 2006
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It’s been 3 days now that the elephants have stayed in this small area on the Chiredzi river.

Thundering to water

Ofcourse this doesn’t make things easier for me. The bush they’re hanging out in is really thick and I barely see our little calf all day. (This photo looks like elephant in some tropical rainforest. Actually it’s extremely dry. The tall trees behind are still without leaf)

In deep

I’ve always wanted to film/photograph the elephants sliding down the steep banks to the river. And today I sort of got it right. The elephant were already moving down towards the river and I didn’t have time to get out my video camera, so I ran down there with my digital camera. I really needed to go right to the bottom of the bank with the elephant coming straight towards me, but alas my nerve didn’t allow it. As it was, standing on the bank they came within about 10m of me. The big cow saw me and stood tall for a while……. then continued down the bank. And I did get a few photos.

Slowly now

It was cloudy although warm for most of the day, but the sunset cleared up sufficiently to produce this amazing spectacle. Each time I thought I’d got the best shot, but turning around to face the sunset, it had again changed and was more beautiful. What a way to end the day!

Sunset geese

Rains have arrived: Video

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on November 6, 2006
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Well they didn’t come with a big bang.
Our first rains of the season crept in without drama. A gentle drizzle set on us around midnight and has persisted all day putting a dampner on things.

Rained out

I was out for the morning in my open vehicle but had to have the cover up to keep all my equipment dry. When the rains continue in this way its just not worth being out there. I prefer storms as they come with a bang and are gone again.

Thorny drops

I also didn’t want to venture down to the river where I had left the elephants last night as the clays down there, when wet, get very sticky and driving around does more damage than good. So it’s been a day stuck behind the computer. A day to catch up on business.

Elephant boys go mud!: Video

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on October 28, 2006
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The morning started excitedly with reports that our wild dogs were down at Nyari pan.

By the time I had got there they had moved off into the hills. But on chatting to the rangers, it appears it was the other pack of dogs. They also have 12 pups but these guys are all the same age.

Just down the way from Nyari pan piles of vultures were scrumming it over the remains of an impala carcass. A couple of Marabou Storks stood around like soldiers guarding the carcass, but they didn’t get anything for their services.

Scrapping over scraps

I was on a mission today to find the breeding herd of elephants. Sounds easy! Well they manage to hide day in and day out. I had those bulls at Hartebeest pan and then only late in the afternoon did I pick up a small breeding herd right up the top end of Malilangwe dam. By then it was too late to follow after them AND they were in Devils Jungle, which is just that!

This herd of Lichtensteins Hartebeest were down at Chiloveka dam drinking from a seep on the limestone. The country down there is so very dry and I often wonder how any animals manage to survive on that dead dry grass and trees with not even the slightest tinge of green.

Hearty Hartebeests

I was so chuffed (happy) to see these Ground Hornbills again on Banyini. They seem to be hanging out here and are fairly relaxed. I’m sure these guys will soon be my stars for the Ground Hornbill film when I get working on that. I first need to habituate the birds that I can walk with them, which will allow me to get all those great camera angles. And the bargain with these birds is, they’re predatory and don’t fly off to kill something over there. They do it right infront of you on the ground!

Ground Hornbills

Leaving the breeding herd of elephant near the dam, I saw this flock of Open-billed Storks all take off. I thought they were leaving to roost elsewhere. But they just seemed to be catching their sundowner thermal. Then suddenly some of them would twist and dive hundreds of feet before swooping up again. They really are incredible fliers and seemed to be having a real blast. And after about 10 minutes they all folded their wings into a dramatic dive, swooping from side to side and landed on the shores of Malilangwe dam.

Squadron

Close to where the storks landed this buffalo bull was lying in the mud, probably having been there for several hours cooling off. These old bulls get their name from doing just that and always being covered in mud. Dagga Boys. (dagga means mud)
Dagga Boy