This is my second last post for 2016.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and time treasured with family and friends, fine fare and peace and goodwill.

It has been a varied and colourful photographic year. In this post I wanted to focus on some of the bird images I have not included in my posts during 2016. I have chosen a selection of our avian friends I was fortunate enough to photograph. There are two aspects about birds which immediately add another dimension to your safari experience. The first is that birds are far more active than mammals so you are likely to see more behavioural action and secondly the colours and variety are far greater adding much more diversity.

“The world is my canvas and I create my reality.”

~Unknown

Temminck’s Courser in Mashatu in summer.

African Hoopoe in Mashatu in summer.

“In nature, light creates the colour. In the picture, colour creates the light.”

~Hans Hofmann

Wood Sandpiper below the drift on the Matabole river in Mashatu.

Kori Bustard making great strides in Mashatu.

Levaillant’s Cuckoo quenching its summer afternoon thirst in Mashatu.

Southern Ground Hornbill with a mouth full in Mashatu’

  

Striped morph of a Tawny Eagle in the Serengeti.

Pale morph Tawny Eagle in the Grumeti area of the Serengeti.

Pale morph Tawny Eagle looking for a landing site  among some “hoods” in the Grumeti area of the Serengeti.

Nubian Woodpecker searching for  morsels in the dead tree trunk in the Grumeti area of the Serengeti.

“I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.”

~Henry David Thoreau

A Silverbird, in full breeding plumage, stretching in the early morning light in the Serengeti .

Yellow Wagtail with breakfast next to a dam in the Grumeti area of the Serengeti.

Female Egyptian Goose with her goslings close to the Yellow Wagtail at the same dam in the Serengeti.

This male Yellow-throated Sandgrouse had just flown in, as part of a flock, for his morning drink.

“The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life. . . . The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds — how many human aspirations are realised in their free, holiday-lives — and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!”

~ John Burroughs

White Stork, a long distance traveller which had flown down from Europe to the Serengeti for the summer.

Double-banded Courser in the grasslands of the Serengeti walking in amongst the herds of zebra and wildebeest.

One unhappy Lilac-breasted Roller giving a Black-chested Snake-Eagle a “rev”.

Male Pygmy Goose, this painted gentleman in all his unusual finery is also a speed merchant and is nicknamed ” the pocket rocket”.

The Black Egret with his wings extended to form an umbrella which it uses to trick fish as part of his fishing strategy.

“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.”

~Georgia O’Keeffe

White-fronted Bee-eater in semi shade along the banks of the Chobe river.

White-breasted Cormorant about to take off to find quieter waters along the Chobe river.

Woodland Kingfisher perched on a fallen tree trunk in the Chobe river with an edible insect tantalisingly close.

A Darter, also called the Snake bird, in full flight along the Chobe river.

A Fish Eagle crossing the Chobe river in the late afternoon light.

An African Jacana flying between rafts of water-lily pads on the Chobe river.

An African Jacana scouring the water-lily pads on the Chobe river for insects and snails, with some success.

A Squacco heron striding with purpose to a more promising feeding spot along the Chobe river.

“Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there’s shadow – no, not just shadow, but fullness. You’ve got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that’s real.”

~Amy Grant

A Reed Cormorant about to take off out of the water of the Chobe river. My daughter reckons it looks like a water dragon.

 

A protective Lilac-breasted Roller noisily defending its nest from a nearby Fish Eagle  along the Chobe river.

A Green-backed Heron having just taken off from its hunting perch along the Chobe river,  near Serondela.

Also in the Serondela area, this Fish Eagle looked huge and majestic in take off.

Days old and precocial, this minute African Jacana chick is already fending for itself along the dangerous waters of the Chobe river..

A pair of Red-throated Wrynecks foraging for insects in the heavily textured bark of a fallen tree in Marievale Bird Sanctuary.

 

Hitchhiker, this Cattle Egret in breeding colours is catching a ride on the back of an elephant in Amboseli in Kenya.

Skies streaked with pink as a large flock of Lesser Flamingoes take to the sky scared by a marauding Fish Eagle in Amboseli.

“You can’t colour your world with someone’s paint.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

Female Painted Snipe, the girls are the beautiful ones in this bird family, seen foraging in a pan in Amboseli.

A Grey Heron tidying up in the early morning in preparation for the day along the Majale river in Mashatu.

One of a pair of Crimson-breasted Shrikes hopping around in the thorn veld area of Mashatu.

  

“Let me, O let me bathe my soul in colours; let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow.”
~ Kahlil Gibran

A male White-bellied Sunbird radiating his beauty in the morning light at Aloe Farm near the Hartebeestpoort dam outside Johannesburg.

A male Ameythst Sunbird feeding on nectar from an aloe flower in Aloe Farm.

I hope you liked this small selection of the wonderful colours and variety which nature provides for us in abundance each day, including Christmas day.

Merry Christmas 
“Christmas waves a magic wand over the world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”

~Norman Vincent Peale

“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”

~Charles Dickens

Explore, seek to understand marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

It was our last day and we were not going to waste any of our remaining time in this wonderland. We were up and out before sunrise,  hoping to see the end of the night shift. The Trichilia area in Mana seems to be a magnet for game. It was around 5h30 and we had driven about 100 metres out of camp, when we found this pride of lions.

“Life is a journey; Time is a river. The door is ajar…”

~Jim Butcher

After a few minutes of watching them, the two lionesses in the pride walked away from the river. The youngsters remained for a few more minutes, lying on the edge of one of the alluvial terraces. They had a wonderful view across the Zambezi lying in luxuriant vegetation next to the river.

“Advice from the river. Go with the flow Immerse yourself in nature. Slow down and meander. Go around the obstacles. be thoughtful of those downstream. Stay current. The beauty is the journey”.

~ Ilan Shamir

One thing that strikes you immediately about the Mana lions is that they look ragged. It is clear that living in Mana is not easy, even for lions. This lioness looked as if she had lived rough for a long time. She was also looked fairly old.

“This process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of one’s potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life“.
~Carl Rogers

This older female was leading her pride away from the river to rest in the forest somewhere. She really took her time to stretch and and sharpen her claws and appeared to really enjoy it.

“The one excellent thing that can be learned from a lion is that whatever a man intends doing should be done by him with a whole-hearted and strenuous effort.” 

~ Chanakya

The sun had just started to rise in the east and light was clear with soft contrast and it caught her eye perfectly. You can see that there was no fat on this female, she was lean and built for hunting.

Eventually, the other younger lions followed the older lioness away from the river. They walked through the Natal Mahogany grove. It is not often you get lions walking past you and looking directly into the rising sun with the light catching their eye perfectly.

One tough lady – bright eyed, lean and muscular.

“I will persist until I suceed, I was not delivered into this world into defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I  am not a sheep to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion, and I refuse to talk, walk and to sleep with the sheep. I will persist until I suceed”.

~Og Mandino

A second lioness with one of the cubs were following the lead lioness. They walked across the road right in front of us. They were too close to get off the vehicle and get a eye level shot.  I thought this image showed just how tough this lioness looked but the life in her eyes burned brightly.

Give her an hour or so and those eyes will not be so wide open and alert. She has probably been out and about the whole night.

“It is better to conquer yourself than win a thousand battles”.

~ Buddha

The two lionesses were walking away from the river into the forest. We got off the vehicle and followed them on foot, giving them enough space not to push them. The lions walked into a lush croton grove and that was the last we saw of them.

On their way, the lions drew the attention of many onlookers. They walked past plenty of game but did not attempt to hunt. Needless,to say, the eland, baboons and Impala all watched them very carefully.

After spending some time with the lions, some of our group had to get back to camp as they were catching a flight out to Hwange later that morning. Dave, Jocelin and myself stayed behind. Dave and I were leaving that afternoon and Jocelyn was going to stay another three days (lucky lady). Having bid our farewells, we decided to walk down river to see the Carmine Bee-eaters with Tanya leading the way, of course. This was the view looking north-west back up the river towards camp.

“I would love to live life as a river flows, carried by its own unfolding”.

~John O’Donohue

Little Bee-eaters and White-fronted Bee-eaters are endemic in this area but the carmines migrate back in spring when the insect life is at its highest.

It is interesting to see how  dead trees which fall into the river provide a base from which much other vegetation grows. It also acts as hub for many insects and plenty of birdlife.

“Abundance is not something we acquire,. It is something we tune into”.

~Wayne Dyer

About a kilometre down river along the Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi, we found a small colony of Carmines, probably 1000 or so. The carmines’ colours appeared richer than we find in South Africa and it was amazing to see almost every bee-eater in flight had an insect in its beak.

As we saw at Kalizo, in the Caprivi Strip, the carmine colony is frequented by Yellow-billed Kites. These kites are quick enough to catch a carmine on the wing but their success rate is low. They are mostly hunting for the weak or injured birds and of course the real raiding will start once the chicks hatch and start to try to fly.

With these birds you have to pick your shots. Many fly some distance away but every now and then one or two individuals will fly close to you, and those are the shots.

“Keep your rivers flowing as they will, and you will continue to know the most important of all freedoms—the boundless scope of the human mind to contemplate wonders, and to begin to understand their meaning”. 

~David Brower

The Southern Carmine Bee-eater hawking insects. It has that stunning carmine breast and belly colouring. It is distinguished from it northern cousin by its jade crown where as the Northen Carmines crown and throat is jade to blue in colour.

These carmines hawk insects from a perch and are highly skillfully flyers. Tapering, low-aspect-ratio (ratio of length to width) wings are found on birds, such as bee-eaters, which must be fast and agile in order to outmaneuver both their prey and their predators.

This was the part of the river bank where the carmines were nesting. Most of them roosted in the trees above the bank but some families were very busy excavating and preparing their nests. This is a migratory species, spending the breeding season, between August and November, in Zimbabwe, before moving south to South Africa for the summer months, and then migrating to equatorial Africa from March to August. The migration is thought to be driven by the fluctuations of insects, which drop off sharply in the southern African winters.

A view looking back up the river from the carmine colony. This is an exquisitely beautiful part of the world, wild with abundance.

“Wild rivers are earth’s renegades, defying gravity, dancing to their own tunes, resisting the authority of humans, always chipping away, and eventually always winning”. 

~ Richard Bangs & Christian Kallen

I wish I was the water flowing down the Zambezi
Swirling through the grasses, tickling the roots of trees.
I would rush over dark rocks, twirling and flirting,
Flushing the tiger fish down gurgling rapids
I’d laugh hysterically as I crashed and soared
Over and down the granite lip of Victoria Falls
Exploding 110m deep beneath in a dark and terrifying hole
I’d bubble forth and rise to the surface
As light as the air, revitalised by the most mighty massage
I’d dash through the gorges, laughing at the white water rafters
Fearful yet joyous at my strength.
I’d visit both Zimbabwe and Zambia, no need for a passport
Exempt from a Visa fee, no thought as to my nationality
I’d soar to the heavens, picked up by the sun
And dart down to earth again, to have some more fun
I’d be best friends with the frogs, I’d caress the skin of hippo’s
Brush clean the teeth of crocodiles.
I could be sucked up the trunk of an elephant child
He’d snort me back out, I’d never forget the gentle, loving giant
Down, down further I’d go
Smoothly flowing across sandbanks, marvelling at wildife
Red filtered light as I passed through fish gills
Coming up gasping, eyes on the Zambezi escarpment hills
Oh I’d be quite long on my journey
Finally crossing into the Mozambique delta
Lost amongst pampas and waterberry trees
I’d see a final sand barrier and suddenly I’d be at one with the sea.
Oh I wish I was the water in the beautiful big Zambezi.

~ Trish Berry

A big thank you to Marlon Du Toit from Wild Eye for putting together a wonderful wildlife safari. Mana Pools is a very special wildlife area and the photographic opportunities and light in the forest are unique. What made it more special was the ability to get off the vehicle and walk. Tanya, our Mana guide, was superb and very knowledgeable. Your understanding of the wildlife made us all feel reassured even when close to big game. Lastly, to Dave and Tess from Mwinilunga Safaris who hosted us in the camp. It was such fun. Tess and her team’s cuisine in the bush was outstanding and it was wonderful to reacquaint with friends last seen decades ago. I will be back same time next year – for sure.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

“When you long to see the elephants,
Or to hear the coucal’s song,
When the moonrise sets your blood on fire,
You’ve been away too long.
It’s time to cut the traces loose
And let your heart go free
Beyond that far horizon,
Where your spirit yearns to be”.

~C. Emily Dibb

Second last day. Up and out before sunrise. As we were driving toward Chisasiku pool we stopped because of a loud commotion in one of the trees just next to the right hand side of the road. A baboon youngster was getting well and truly disciplined –  by the sounds coming out of the tree. What was unusual about this was that the screaming went on for about ten minutes. Female baboons raced down the tree and across the open area in front of us. Then a few minutes later they would race back, barking up into the tree. This female baboon and her two youngsters decided that it was not the best place to be and beat a hasty retreat out of harms way. Anyone who has watched baboons being disciplined know their retribution can be harsh and there is a lot of screaming, much like a child who has become hysterical.

This young female baboon was watching the commotion from a respectable distance.  We never got to find out what was going on but there were baboons running to and from the tree and appeared to be quite distressed. This was the most agitated I have ever seen baboons.

A while later once all the commotion had died down, we wandered further along the road and eventually got off the vehicle and walked deeper into the forest.  Peace restored and beauty recognised again without the distraction.

“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature”.
~Socrates

The river is a powerful draw for animals and people alike. We were close to Mana mouth when we saw two elephant bulls crossing the Zambezi, returning from a sojourn in Zambia.

Elephants this size do not fuss about crocodiles. You can see they were walking along sandbanks in the river. Some of the sandbanks were not deep at all.

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.”
~John Burroughs

It was hot that morning, but these two gentlemen looked very cool and were in no hurry to get out of the river. The two bulls spotted a dead tree trunk which had been the foundation for a salad bar. The two gentlemen duly stopped and helped themselves.

We were standing in the shade under a large Natal Mahogany. It was an ideal opportunity to try a frame a shot of these two adventurers. The grass and reeds growing along the side of the fallen tree trunk looked luxuriant and the elephant bulls really tucked in.

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine”.
~Anthony J. D’Angelo

They were so engrossed in their mid morning salad that they did not notice us in the shade of  the Trichilia. The wind must have shifted and all of a sudden they were aware of us standing  10 to 15 metres above them.

Enough salad had been eaten, and they did not enjoy being stared at while eating, so these two bulls moved upstream probably to an exit point grooved by many hippo’s coming out to graze in the evenings and going back into the water before the sun got up.

Away from the river, Marlon took us to see a massive Strangler Fig tree. Jared, one of the photographers in our group stood in front of the tree to give it some perspective.

“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven”.
~Rabindranath Tagore

Eventually in our wanderings we got to Long Pool. This is one of Mana Pools four main pools. The name “Mana” means “four” in the local Shona language. This applies to the four large pools inland from the Zambezi River. These pools are the remnant ox-bow lakes that the Zambezi River carved out thousands of years ago as it changed its course northwards. ”Long Pool”, is the largest of the four pools, extending some six kilometres with its axis lying west-east. This pool has a large population of hippo and crocodiles and is a favourite for the large herds of elephant that come out of the thickly vegetated areas in the south to drink.

We saw two pods of hippos on the east side of the pool. Having watched them for a while over a cup of coffee and a rusk we all agreed that we would come back in the late afternoon at last light to hopefully get some dramatic photographs of these “river horses”.

“The good man is the friend of all living things.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

We were not disappointed. The late afternoon light was superb, casting the water surface in a very fiery, moody light.

One by one we moved down close to the water’s edge to assess how comfortable these hippos were with us about 30 metres away. We were told to pre-plan our quick escape route if one of the hippos charged us. We had the occasional wide mouth display signalling that they did not want us around but they did not take the threats beyond that.

Thankfully, Tanya and Marlon kept an eye on the hippos and on the water’s edge to see if any crocodiles were getting overly interested in photography. The hippos settled down and soon disregarded us. Suddenly, just what we had been waiting for, a tussle started in the pod.

It is difficult to know what started the displaying but it was great photography. We were lying on our bellies close to the water’s edge trying to get as low down to the water level as possible to get the full effect of the evening sun on the water.

The disagreement was short-lived but the open mouths and splashing really added drama to the images.

“We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us”.
~Albert Einstein

Eventually, one of the bulls was getting irritated with us around and let us know it with his open mouth display.

That was enough warning for us and the light was fading fast so we called it a day. Thankfully, we had no incidents with either hippos or crocodiles. It is nerve-wracking shooting close to the water’s edge on your belly to get the right perspective and reflections off the water when you know only too well there are “flat dogs ” in the water which will happily take you if given a chance.

“Like music, photography is a universal language. Anyone who sees an image of a tree will instantly recognise it as a tree….regardless of what language they speak. And just like music, through the harmonious and deliberate use of compositional elements we, as photographers, can evoke a broad spectrum of emotions in our viewers”.

~Marco Petracci

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at it inter-connectedness and let it be,

have fun,

Mike

We got going  before sunrise, as usual. Each morning we would start off with the intention of looking for the wild dogs. The hope was that we would get some time alone with them. Invariably we got waylaid. The vehicle in front of us stirred up dust which became illuminated in the early morning light. These patches of early morning dust infused light created an unusual and beautiful hue.

The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.

~Jim Rohn

At times you see the strangest things!

We found this small herd of Zebra quite close to where we saw the wild dogs on our second day.

I  like the three up and three down composition.

“Can’t you see that it’s a beautiful world. Come with me I’ll show you. Open your eyes and see the beauty around. Take my hand and I’ll lead you.”

~Dan Koday

The iconic Mana Pools forest image. It was peaceful, a troop of baboons was foraging behind this lone young bull elephant. The arch of the tree trunk added to the compositional interest.

We were enjoying the serenity, when it was suddenly interrupted by the trumpeting of a pair of young elephants racing back towards the small family herd. Something must have given them quite a fright. The bigger of the two looked like it was running in baggy pyjamas. You almost expected the elephants to break into a canter but of course they never did.

Peace again as this mother and her calf wandered through the arch.

When not competing for food the wildlife happily co-exists.

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. ~ Albert Einstein

Further on we stopped to chat to Dave MacFarlane, our host at Mwinilunga camp. He had stopped because he found a male lion lying in a thicket about 100 metres from the road. We got off the vehicle and Tanya, our guide, was very specific about what we had to do and how we were going to approach this male lion. Again, I think there were too many people. The male lion gave us a growl to indicate that we were getting too close. One of the things we were told was, under no circumstances were we to run if he charged us. He was increasingly uncomfortable with us when we were about thirty metres away and gave a us a minor charge to show his displeasure. The next image shows his rigid posture seconds after the warning charge. After the second warning, Tanya told everyone to walk back the way we had come, very slowly. Everyone listened and the encounter ended without incident and the male lion lay down in the thicket again, but kept his eyes fixed on us.

A little while later we went for a walk in another part of the forest, this time looking for elephants. We did not find Boswell or Fred, the two bulls well known for standing on their hind legs to reach the lower branches of the Albidas. The bull we found was doing the next best thing and was stepping on an ant hill at the base of the tree with his front feet to get more reach into the tree. 

“Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being. ~ Rumi

Later that afternoon with a little more searching we found Boswell. He was easily identified by the radio collar around his neck. This particular image show just how big his tusks are. 

When I see the intelligent adaption by such a sentient being like this, I find it difficult to comprehend why someone would rather have a little piece of a huge elephant ‘s canine than appreciate his magnificence in the bush and respect his ability to survive in the bush for probably over fifty years.

I will never grow tired of watching a six tonne animal get onto his back legs to reach high into a tree to get at the food he needs. After watching Boswell doing his thing we wandered down to the river. The Zambezi is a big and wild river. The next image shows this giant in a resting state where the wide expanse of water is flowing around islands and through its deep channels at a speed of around five kilometres per hour. When the Kariba dam wall was being built in 1950s, the Batonga people, who lived in the Zambezi valley before the lake filled up, warned that building a dam across the river would anger the river god, Namyi Namyi. This was the mythical Zambezi Snake spirit, having the body of a snake and the head of a fish, which is believed by the indigenous Batonga people to protect and give them sustenance in difficult times. Kariba Gorge was chosen as the site for the dam wall. Until that time, nobody, other than the Batongas, had ever heard of it. The big rock jutting out into the narrow gorge which was considered sacred to the Batonga people. The project managers on the Kariba dam wall construction project took no notice of the superstitious warnings of the Batongas. Sure enough, two years in a row, 1957 and 1958, the river rose over 150 foot to break the coffer dam wall  which had been built to hold back the river’s water while construction of that section of the dam wall was under way. The Batonga people said at the time that the river god was angry about the damming up of the river. 

The river god has since settled down allowing vistors like me to take photographs of peaceful scenes such as these two bull elephants, one being Boswell, drinking from the river.

These elephant are big enough that even the huge “flat dogs” (crocodiles) in the river leave them alone. There is something about this scene which resonates with my African heart, perhaps it is the vastness, abundance and peace.

“If you are driven by fear, anger or pride nature will force you to compete. If you are guided by courage, awareness, tranquility and peace nature will serve you.”
― Amit Ray

All is well with the world looking at this scene.

We stayed down by the river for the rest of the afternoon just exploring. As the sun started to set, the scenes came alive with warm colours. As the silhouettes develop, one notices that almost all of the lower branches of the trees have been trimmed to the same level. This is due to constant trimming from browsers such as kudu and eland, and of course some help from the elephants.

It must been around twenty minutes to half an hour after sunset  when the colours of setting sun-lit sky begin to saturate and the blues and purples begin to appear. When you are standing in this balmy temperature ( probably around 32 or 35 degrees) and the colours light up, it  brings all your senses alive and at times like this you are very grateful to be alive and be  immersed in such beauty. 

“There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.”
~ Dejan Stojanovic

Now it was last light, and the last of the pinks and apricots are reflected in the river. Time to adjourn to go and have supper and tell stories around the camp fire.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

“Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.”

~James Allen

Have fun,

Mike