This week I have added two new categories to the bird gallery – Francolin and Flamingos

Francolin ( now some are called Spurfowl)

Spurfowl include Red-billed, Swainson, Red-necked, Cape, Natal and Hartlaub’s species and are bigger than Francolin such as the Crested and Cocqui species. Spurfowl and Francolin are ground birds but are good flyers when they need to. Francolin, Spurfowl and Guinea-fowl have distinct calls in the bush. when you hear their calls, they are very distinctive, you known you are back in the bush.

Natal Spurfowl on a sand road in Kruger Park. The sand road provided a perfect background. I think the colouring of this bird is beautiful.

Spurfowl often have two spurs on one leg but Francolin  have only one and females usually have a spur on only one leg if at all. The tarsal spurs in the case of males are used for fighting, usually over territory.

Interestingly Hartlaub’s Spurfowl and Cocqui Francolin have minor or rudimentary spurs.

Crested Francolin

Although the spurs are quite evident in the male Crested Francolin above, they are even more pronounced and sharper in Spurfowls.

Spurfowls usually roost at night in trees or bushes to avoid nocturnal predators. Crested Francolin huddle together in groups in the canopy of trees at night for protection. I find it interesting that each species has very different behaviour and habits and in many cases different geographies.

Flamingos

Southern Africa has two types of Flamingo – the Greater and Lesser.

These strange-looking birds have some wonderfully interesting features. They look as peculiar on land as in the air.

Juvenile Greater Flamingo taking off. It has to canter in the shallows to pick up enough air speed under its wings.

Flamingos have long necks and long legs enabling them to feed in both shallow and reasonably deep water. The bill looks like a bend version of a hornbill’s peak but its feeding method is unique. The feeding takes place with the head facing down. The bill is structured for the bird to filter-feed. In Trevor Carnaby’s fascinating book  ‘Beat about the Bush – Birds’ he indicates that the Flamingo’s bill design enables it to filter feed just below the water surface without submerging its head.

Juvenile Greater Flamingos which must have been blown off course. It is unusual to see Flamingos along the Chobe river. Every now and then you are lucky enough to see Pelicans too.

I have still to get decent shots of Lesser Flamingos. Once I do I will add them to the Flamingo category. The Lesser Flamingo feeds on finer algae than the Greater one. The pink colour associated with adult Flamingos comes from minerals taken in during feeding which are metabolised to form carotenoid pigments in the feathers. The Lesser Flamingos tend to be pinker than Greater Flamingos.

I am off to Mashatu for five days so hopefully will come back with further additions to the galleries both bird, mammal, insect and scenes. Botswana’s authorities seem to be one of the few groups that take conservation seriously and they get my full support for that.

Looking forward to big sky, open spaces and blissful peace in the bush, sprinkled with unexpected and amazing wildlife sightings.

Have fun

Mike

I have decided to buck my recent trend of introducing a one bird and one mammal category each week. This week I am introducing two antelope categories into the gallery.

Eland and Gemsbok are both found in the drier regions of Southern Africa.

Eland

The Eland is the largest antelope in Southern Africa. A big male Eland can stand 1.7 metres tall at the shoulder and weight up to 840 kilograms. Despite their size, Eland can jump over three metres high.

One gal decides the other is too close. Those horns are sharp so a quick dodge is a good idea.

Eland are part of the Spiral horned antelope family, which includes the Kudu, Bushbuck, and Nyala. These antelope are “Track-on-Track” walkers, where they put one foot down and then the next foot on the same spot to minimize the amount of noise they make in the bush.

They can survive in most climates from desert to Bushveld, to Lowveld, and mountains. They move in small herds and I have seen them in Botswana, Kruger Park and  Giants Castle in the Drakensberg. Both male and female have a flap of skin on their chest known as a Dewlap, The males have a particularly large Dewlap, which helps them to thermoregulate in hot dry habitats.

This Eland bull was pushing his horns into the moist sand around a waterhole in Etosha. I have never seen this behaviour before but it could be to relieve dry itchy skin at the base of his horns.

I have not seen Eland canter but they are superb trotters with that Dewlap swinging wildly under their necks as they trot.

The second antelope category I have introduced into the gallery is the Gemsbok or Oryx.

Gemsbok

Now this antelope can gallop when a lion is after it. The markings on the Gemsbok are striking. with their dark brown almost black colouring at the top of their legs and a black strip around the side of the belly and up the back. The Gemsbok’s face is boldly marked in black and white, while the body is mostly a light fawn colour.

These two Gemsbok were sparing close to a waterhole in Etosha.

I have seen Gemsbok in the Nauklift National Park and Etosha in Namibia and Kalagadigadi Transfrontier Park  incorporating the corners of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

These are also amazing antelope. Similar to other animals found in desert regions, the Gemsbok has an efficient water management system. They can survive without surface water by obtaining enough moisture through the vegetation they eat. In another thermo-regulation adaption, they are able to increase their body temperature, to some say as high at 45 degrees centigrade, in order to delay evaporative cooling through perspiration. At night when the temperature drops then their  body temperature normalises.

In addition, Gemsbok have an intricate network of blood vessels in their nose which cools  blood supplied to the brain, preventing deadly overheating. They also reduce heat absorption by keeping their bodies angled away from the sun

The sparing can look quite dramatic at times. Neither animal got badly hurt. Waterholes in Etosha always yield interesting wildlife interactions.

Gemsbok spend much of their day inactive in the shade (where possible), which saves energy and water and reduces overheating They also graze for long periods at night when the moisture content of the vegetation is higher.

These are just a few of the amazing adaptions our wildlife have to their surroundings.

I hope you enjoy the added categories. I have also added a few new shots to other categories. My aim to to constantly upgrade the photographic quality of the shots in each category as and when I get better results.

Don’t stop dreaming about your next trip into the bush  – a wonderland of surprises and fascination!!

Have fun

Mike

Lake Panic is a hide located a couple of kilometres west of Skukuza in the southern region of the Kruger Park. This is a well known birding and photographic hide.

One afternoon we decided to visit the hide because the light direction is better facing due east in the afternoons. Kingfishers, thickkness and herons abound but there area always surprises!!?!!.

This particular afternoon one of the bird watchers who was leaving showed us where a green snake had entered the water. At first we thought it was a Green Water Snake, but it soon became apparent that it was too big .

We had seen the Burchell’s Coucal earlier, which had been calling its mate for a while some distance away in the reeds. Roberts refers to its call as a ‘cascade of  bubbling notes’ which can turn to loud, explosive and repetitive clucks when aggression is aroused. When alarmed it hisses.

We heard the loud clucking as the Coucal spotted the Boomslang which by now had climbed into the branches of a low hanging bush above the water. The Coucal flew over to investigate.

It quickly assessed the situation and decided to tackle the Bloomslang (Afrikaans for Tree Snake). I was amazed as the snake was big and is highly venomous.

As is often the case, predators attack the hind regions of its prey, particularly if the front end is lethal. That is exactly what this Coucal did.

In true Bloomslang style, it puffed up its neck to strike a threatening pose. The snake then lunged at the Coucal more to escape than fight.

The Bloomslang could not get away  as the Coucal has its feet firmly clamped to the rump of the snake.

Over and over the Bloomslang lunged at  the Coucal trying to get away.

At one point the Bloomslang managed to get onto a dead thorn tree trunk. The Coucal followed undaunted.

Eventually, the Bloomslang lunged aggressively enough at the Coucal  causing the bird to fall in the water. The snake made a hasty exit. The bird got itself out of the water to fight another day.

The Coucal is a much more voracious predator than I had given it credit for. This kind of sighting is as intense and exciting as any lion hunt.

Snakes do not always have it their own way. I have seen picture of a Grey Headed Shrike killing a large Bloomslang.

The wonder of the bush is that you never know what you are going to see or when you are going to see it. Usually you come away with a new sense of respect for prey and predator.

I know the shots are nothing more than a record and that the quality is just that, but it was a most unusual sighting which I wanted to share.

It is not always the big stuff that provides the most drama in the bush.

I hope you found the sequence interesting.

I have added another bird category – Vultures.

Have fun

Mike