Chobe National Park and The Okavango Delta,
Botswana
The small and beautiful--the Lilic Breasted Roller, the most photographed bird in Africa. There is a story about this beauty--it doesn't fly away when you approach. The question is why? The colors of this bird are so beautiful and colorful that the flying insects think it is a flower. So all it has to do it sit still and dinner is delivered!
Above to the right is the Carmine Bee-eater, which feeds while sailing up to 330 feet in the air.
Paradise Whydah male has a large "bump" near the base on its tail which makes him distinctive in flight. He seaches for seeds on the ground by scratching with both legs and then hopping back to see what has been uncovered. Jacobin Cuckoo feeds on caterpillars, foraging by hopping from branch to branch snatching insects from the foliage.
The Little Bee-eater is often seen in pairs perched in tall grass or twiggy bushes. The Kori Bustard, on the right, is one of the world's heaviest flying birds but in fact it rarely flies. It feeds chiefly on grasshoppers, dung beetles, small reptiles, rodents, seeds, roots and wild melons.
The big and ugly--the White-backed Vulture will gorge itself on more than two pounds of food. At some carcasses up to 200 of these vultures may gather. The African Fish-Eagle hunts from perches over water. It feeds on large fish that swim near the surface. The Fish-Eagle will also take young flamingos, ducks, nesting waders, crocodile hatchlings, monitor lizards, and turtles. It is a pirate, and will snatch fish from herons, pelicans, storks, and even kingfishers.
We can't forget the Red-billed Oxpeckers, always looking for a free ride, taking the ticks and flies from the bodies of short-or sparse-haired mammals!
Doesn't matter how tall, big or ugly, the host animals seem pleased with the oxpeckers' work, holding still except when they get too rough in their nostrils and ears.
The 4x4 takes us through the bush, down the trails and around a corner where we run right into this lioness! We watch her with curiosity as she watches us watching her. The next thing we see is the male lion also looking at the lioness but not with curiosity! We were really, really lucky to see both the male and female together.
And our luck continued as we came upon the Painted Dogs--they aren't seen by many. Not only did we see the Painted Dogs-- we witnessed their kill.
Not pretty at all... But it is nature.
(Copyright 2014)
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