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Gentle Giants, so graceful and quiet! Emotions of the Elephants are very important...
Elephants cry just like humans do; they are very emotional at times, including the birth of new babies and death of other elephants. Also, like humans, great attention is showered on a new-born baby. If the mother Elephant is hurt or dies, the other females step in to ensure the baby's care.
The Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
("Zazu" in the movie, "The Lion King") is also known as "The Flying Banana" because of its very large downwardly curved yellow bill. It lives in the scrub and acacia woodlands, along side its close relative, the Red-Billed Hornbill, known as the "The Flying Red Chili Pepper".
These hornbills seem to be curious about us looking at them as they look back at us! Hornbills are sociable with a very distinctive clucking call--if you hear one bird start calling, the whole group or family will join in, creating a riot of sound!
Leopard in Kruger National Park, South Africa
This big cat just walked out of the bush onto the pavement, making our driver slam on the brakes. Then, without really looking at the safari vehicle, it just took its time ambling across the road in front of us. Cameras were clicking like crazy.
The Leopard is the smallest of the big cat family because it can roar. The Cheetah is smaller but is not considered part of the big cat family because it does not roar.
The Leopard has an exceptionally beautiful black-spotted coat, but is also notable for its supreme silence, stealth and its remarkable ability to adapt.
These exceptionally long, sensitive whiskers allow the Leopard to "feel" its way as it hunts at night.
An African Leopard is capable of seeing seven times better in the dark than a human, because of specially adapted retinas. Also, its hearing and sense of smell are highly developed.
The name Waterbuck would indicate that this large antelope inhabits areas close to water in the savanna grasslands, but the name is quite misleading: the Waterbuck is not truly aquatic like other antelopes, but it does take refuge in the water to escape predators.
The Waterbuck is one of the heaviest of the antelopes. Only the male has horns, which can be as long as 40 inches. The horns are sometimes used with lethal results when the males fight one another over territories. The Waterbuck is generally a quiet, lethargic animal but the males do compete for and hold territories. They do not migrate so territories are usually held year round.
The handsome Sable is the third largest antelope in Africa. This is our welcoming committee to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, just watching as the cameras click. Because of its mask-like face and beauty, it is one of the most sought after antelopes for photographers!
They appear to be very docile and calm but these Sables are very aggressive when threatened.
They will lie down and defend themselves with their horns as a last resort against lions, hyenas and wild dogs.
Elephant
Zebra
This Giraffe is licking and picking if you look closely at the pic....beautiful tall creature!
The Swallow-tailed Bee-eater is so richly colored--
just spectacular!
just spectacular!
These Giraffes were marvelous to watch--what perfect positioning at the right time for the safari vehicle! First there are two Giraffes.
And very quickly there are four--the tall boys just hanging out together.
The Giraffes just keep moving--one leaves and the remaining trio look like a ferris wheel!
Click, Click, Click quickly because they are still moving and aren't going to be in this configuration for long!
The Secretary Bird had to be photographed--a large bird of prey, it can stand a little over four feet tall! It is unlike other raptors because it has long legs, wings and a tail. Not the usual request to see from a traveler--many miles traveled to find a bird!
One glimpse in the distance and this birder is hooked--going home with a bad picture means another trip back to Africa! The Secretary Bird gets its name from its crest of long black feathers that look like the quill pens that 19th century office workers tucked behind their ears.
The trip leader knows he has to try to come through--the safari vehicle is parked by a watering hole and there are big herds of elephants coming.
But all of a sudden the vehicle starts up because there is a Secretary Bird just beyond the watering hole, running around catching its prey in the middle of the grasslands. What a terrific find--with the excitement of the elephants the Secretary Bird could have been missed but it wasn't!
The trip leader was a hero--thank you!
The Secretary Bird has extremely long legs and looks like it is walking on high heels! It is amazing to watch this bird hunt--it will stamp and stomp on the grass tussocks with its feet to scare up lizards, grasshoppers and small mammals and birds. Beautiful birds....
The African Skimmer, an interesting beauty that lives in wide tropical rivers with sandbanks.
The Skimmers fly in lines over calm water and dip their lower beaks in the water to feed.
Parent and baby.
African Jacana (also called the Jesus bird)
The African Jacana is a wader identifiable by its long toes and long claws that enables it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow freshwater wetlands
This gives them the appearance of walking on water).
The African Jacana is a noisy bird: it utters a sharp, ringing "kerrie" and a shorter, rapid, loud and raspy "kreep-kreep-kreep" and a kind of a barking "kyowrr".
It has a beautiful blue face!
The Pied Kingfisher
The Pied Kingfisher is mainly a fish-eater but it will take crustaceans and large aquatic insects. It hovers over the water to hunt and dives directly down bill-first to catch the fish.
The Fish-Eagle
Chobe National Park, Botswana
Yellow-billed Oxpecker.
The beautiful sable and the little hitchhiking birds!
The Yellow-billed Ox-peckers are found feeding on large mammals' backs, freeing them of potential harmful parasites. But the Ox-peckers can prolong the healing time of wounds.
The Yellow-bill Ox-peckers
feed almost exclusively on what they get from the skin of large African mammals. Of course only a birder would make sure these cute birds get mentioned!
New research explores how Giraffes defy gravity when they drink.
Getting the water up that long neck to reach its stomach has been a mystery!
It works like a plunger pump--the Giraffe sinks its puckered lips into the water and sucks, then pulls back its jaw so that the captured water is pushed into the esophagus. It is still a mystery to the layman.
When a Giraffe stops for a drink it must spread its front legs and lower its head to the water, which makes it very vulnerable to predators.
Also, the Giraffe can't stay down more than 10 seconds because of the blood rushing to the head. It therefore raises its head frequently, with water spraying from side to side!
Brown Snake Eagle
Giant Kingfisher
It perches on a branch overhanging the water scanning for prey. It is so quick, it is back with a fish before you realize it left the branch!
The Carmine Bee-eater
White Fronted Bee-eater
The Helmeted Spur Fowl
(Guinea hen)
Spoon-bill and Yellow-billed Egret
Hammerkop
The Chobe River, under the blue sky of Botswana, is a very busy and popular place, especially in the scorching hot sun before the rain comes. Most of the waterholes have dried up by then, and it results a continuing flow of creatures to the river, day after day, hour after hour.
Elephants are controlled and cooperative--one family moves in as another is moving out.
The Elephants come to drink, bathe and play--it is said that swimming helps ease joint pains.
the average weight of a calf at birth is about 260 pounds.
Baby Elephants aren't able to figure out their trunk-drinking method until about one year old.
A kill on the river.
The female Lions have made a kill--
two are in the bush resting but this one was left to guard the kill from the many vultures which are waiting to clean the carcass.
The close of an adventure and End of the Road,
at least for now.
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