Mana Pools, on the Zimbabwe side of the lower Zambezi river, is hot in October. One needs to get up early before the furnace is lit. When waking up at 4h45, you find the bird life is already very busy. One of the early morning sounds one hears is the booming pre-dawn chorus of distant Southern Ground Hornbills. It is a wonderful time of the day. It is as cool as it gets, and the bush is in flux as the night shift is home bound and the day shift is stirring.  After the prerequisite cup of coffee and a rusk, we were out of camp by 5h30. We were wide-awake and brimming with expectation about what the day would bring.

“First light offers long shadows, warmer colours and soft contrast. The new morning light is cleansing and infuses energy into everything. The fresh start instills the expectation that mother nature will surprise and enchant you again and again.“

~Mike Haworth

Early deliverance was seen lying close to the left hand side of the road, a large male lion – unmoved by our presence.

We watched him for quite a while as the sun rose. He was relaxed, but just before getting up he began licking his paw, probably trying to remove paper thorns with that rough tongue of his.

Eventually he got up and walked over to his comrade in arms, possibly his brother.

They rubbed heads as a greeting. This is quite a moment as here we have two primal 250 kilogram male lions.  If they were to compete there would be an almighty battle and one, or perhaps both, would be mortally wounded. Yet they cooperate and work together to form a powerful team. Africa, you could learn a lesson from these two!

It was early morning, still cool when the kings decided to move off.

The look back was poignant – I know you are there!

“It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.”
~Aristotle

Our experienced guide, Kevin, had a good idea where the male lions were likely to go. We drove a few hundred metres, and there, walking parallel to the road, we found the kings in an open area on their way towards a thickly wooded area, probably looking for somewhere quiet and cool to rest away from the glare of humanity and possibly what could have been a busy night. We got off the vehicle to walk  parallel to them, closer but a respectful distance so as not to disturb them.

“The early morning has gold in its mouth.”
~Benjamin Franklin

Just looking at them, they exuded power and the confidence knowing there were few challengers. The long shadows show that it was still early in the morning and the light was clear and soft.

Confident and powerful, but ever alert.

When you are on the ground way away from your vehicle, the scales are tipped. In the presence of a coalition of male lions, there is an aura of  respect and reverence. The bush seems to go still as if holding its breath until they pass.

“A powerful coalition, with a cooperative bond. They have won the right to dominate, and they do. Gladiators rather than fathers, they are unmoved by irrelevance.  Their massive size and strength instills primal fear into all around them. As they pass, the bush becomes still, a reverence punctuated by alarmed snorts and barks .”

~Mike Haworth

Once the kings had moved out of sight into the forest to rest, there are no words. We just stood still, quiet just taking in what we had just experienced.

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life…and the world.”

~Sarah Ban Breathnach

After a while, still prickling with the excitement we went back to the vehicle, then wandered back towards the river. The huge open vistas were soothing and reminded us that this was a vast complex environment.

Mana river flows gently into the mighty Zambezi on its way to Mozambique and the Indian ocean.

Further inland, the floodplain was drying out. A herd of waterbuck were taking advantage of the remaining moist vegetation.

The further away from the river we went, the drier it became. A herd of buffalo on the move, with their rumbling hooves spewing dust.

Having driven back into the forest, we watched this large bull making his way toward the river.

He stopped in the shade under an Ana tree to pick the seed pods off the lower branches.

The next scene gives you a sense of the the enormity and diversity of the scenes in this amazing nature wonderland.

Back down by the Zambezi river, it was lush with blues and greens and much fewer oranges and yellows.

“Leave nothing but footprints, Take nothing but pictures, Kill nothing but time.”

~Unknown

Driving back towards the Trichilia area looking through a grove of Ana trees across the Zambezi river into Zambia.

When you look into this enchanted forest, the light dances and stirs your imagination.

“If your heart were sincere and upright, every creature would be unto you a looking-glass of life and a book of holy doctrine.”

~Thomas à Kempis

In the mornings, depending on the direction of the sun, there is a blue haze in the Mana forest. This is one of the unique, much sort after features of Mana Pools, especially for photographers.

It was early spring so the ground was dry. The only greenery was to be found in the trees and along the banks off the river and pools. What you don’t expect is the blue haze in the forest. A female eland and an impala ram were grazing on what could only be crisp shoots of grass.

Down on the floodplain next to the Zambezi river, a sand island stands defiant in the slow moving river.  On the other side of the island is the Zambian side of the river and escarpment beyond that.

An adult and young male waterbuck walking on the lower sand terrace next to the river.

“A society is defined not only by what it creates but by what it refuses to destroy.”

~John Sawhill

On the floodplain in front of Vine camp you look out across the Zambezi river onto the Zambian escarpment.(double click on the panorama to see an enlarged image).

A two elephants were browsing on the vegetation in front of one of the covered tents in Vine camp.

A couple of hundred metres in front of Vine camp, we watched the family herd of elephant quietly browsing in the beautiful late afternoon light. One of the elephant cows was known to be particularly aggressive, so we kept our distance to show respect and not to threaten her or her family in any way.

Mana Pools is known for its eclectic and colour-filled scenes. The wildlife is abundant. With beautiful landscapes and abundant wildlife what more could a wildlife photographer want?

“When you do things from your soul, the river itself moves through you. Freshness and a deep joy are signs of the current.”

~Rumi

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

Have fun,

Mike

I wish you a Merry Christmas filled with fun, laughter, joy and goodwill.

If you do not celebrate Christmas,  I wish you fun, laughter, joy and goodwill.

We live in an exceptional world filled with colour, movement and wonder; cherish it look after it. It is there with us, not for us. If we take care of it now, our grandchildren will learn to appreciate it too!

May your Christmas bring you much joy and laughter with friends and family. May it bring you a sense of abundance which you cherish all your life.

Christmas is a magical time as people are gentler, kinder and more generous. There is sense greater harmony and goodwill at this time of the year. It is a magical time for children where fantasies are cherished, gifts wrapped and given with huge smiles.  It is a time of gathering, and a time to celebrate family bonds and friendship ties. 

While Christmas is a time of joy, celebrating humanity, it is also a time to treasure the abundance, diversity and beauty our natural world around us. There are vast libraries of  natural knowledge, experience and laws, much of which we have yet to fathom. 

“When we remember a special Christmas, it is not the presents that made it special, but the laughter, the feeling of love, and the togetherness of friends and family that made that Christmas special.”

~Catherine Pulsifer

“December days . . . as Christmas time draws near; brings family warmth, and friendship’s joyful cheer, from memory’s store so many days to bless and cherish so in quiet thankfulness.”

~John McLeod  

For me, Christmas is also a time to stop and think back on those sublime moments in the wild when the world stopped, everything in the bush seemed to hold its breath, spellbound by the scene ahead.

“What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.”

~Agnes M. Pharo

Wishing you peace and goodwill, and I hope your 2018 is filled with friendship, special moments, serendipity and insights.

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

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

~Charles Dickens

Merry Christmas,

Mike

October in Mana Pools in the Zambezi valley below the escarpment is called suicide month, for a good reason. In the  five days we were there, the temperature of three of them averaged 43 degrees centigrade in the shade and 53 in the direct sun in the early afternoon. Part of the reason for visiting Mana at this time is that it is late in the dry season and most the animals are forced down to the river for water.

“The Zambian escarpment across the river. The spring heat in the Zambezi valley. The massive Ana and Mahogany trees. It is all so familiar. It feels like a home-coming. It looks the same but much has changed. Spend some time and the changes will reveal themselves. You will sense the rhythm and the pulse of raw nature, all keyed in exquisite beauty and serenity. Welcome to Mana Pools.”

~Mike Haworth

Wild Eye, under their experienced guide Johan van Zyl, guided the photographic safari. We stayed at Mwinilunga safari camp, run by friends Dave and Tess. The tented camp is right on the edge of the Zambezi river nestled under the large evergreen Natal Mahogany trees in the Trichilia area on the Mana floodplain.

“There is a sense of remoteness and extreme isolation, a feeling that this is one of the last true wildernesses, unknown and unexplored.”

~ Dick Pitman

The river itself is life-giving and its banks are covered with lush vegetation. The Zambezi river is amply populated with hippos. It is the perfect environment for them. There is plenty of space, the water is not too deep and there is plenty of lush vegetation along the river bank to feed on. The Zambezi river at the Trichilia area must be at least half a kilometre wide and flows at about five kilometres per hour.

Mana Pools is so-called because of the four pools which have long since been cut off from the main Zambezi river channel and now form part of an old ox-bow lake. The section of Mana we travelled around was down on the floodplain. There was plenty of sand but there are also clay basins which hold water through the winter. These remaining pools of water were evaporating quickly in spring as the temperatures soared. Two of the four main pools still had water, Chisasiko and Long Pool. Other smaller pools existed but were drying fast. We found a large flock of Marabou Storks feeding on the last of the catfish (barbel as we call them) in a fairly large but diminishing pool of water.

 “Looks often create judgement. Gathered to feast on the trapped remaining fish. Not equipped for predation but scavenging. Marabous are  part of nature’s disposal team. These are not your normal storks; voiceless, they stand hunched shouldered like “Dr Death” waiting for the opportunity to peck at the dead. They are masters of patience, ever alert and wonderful aviators. Nature is always more complex and intriguing than its looks.”

The Marabous were picking off the young, still alive barbel and leaving the floating dead ones. This was the largest congregation of Marabou storks I have ever seen and they had been feasting for a couple of days before we arrived.

Marabou Storks are carrion eaters but do not have the ability to tear flesh off bones and carcasses so have to wait around the periphery of a kill for scraps. The small barbel made a perfect meal for them as they could swallow them whole and alive.

“Sometimes it is the quiet observer who sees the most.”
~ Kathryn L. Nelson

There was no fighting although the odd individual did exert its dominance.

The shallow pool was seething with the remaining trapped fish. It was a strangely quiet scene with just the sound of Yellow-billed Kites, Stilts and lapwings. The Marabous were voiceless but for the odd bill-clapping and croaking from their pink gular sac. 

There was a lot of bird life around the pool. Yellow- billed kites were flying in and out of the Marabous, Pied Kingfishers and a Fish Eagle were around, looking and waiting for a little space for their flight path.

“The excitable observer will pass judgement first and then make knowledge conform to judgement; the prudent observer will first learn to know and then judge according to knowledge.”
~ Thomas Cleary

The interaction with the Marabous was fascinating but the dank smell of rotting barbel eventually chased us away to look for fresher scenes. We wandered further along the river to BBC camp.  Under the trees were three lionesses resting in the shade.

As the sun started to sink in the western sky the bush seemed to come alive. Two family groups of elephants wandered past us.

They wandered through the thick textured Vetavaria grass on their way down to the water’s edge which was cool and lush.

Hot, but without a sound the family made its way down to the water’s edge.

“I like Julie Gold’s song “From a Distance”. Her song reminds me of the world as seen through an observer’s eye. Seen from a distance, we are people in the same band playing music for everyone. We are artists who play the most beautiful instruments in the world – life.”
~ Ilchi Lee

The Zambezi river giveth life and taketh away life. This time the river showed her bounty.

The elephants lingered a long while sating their thirst and relishing the cool of the verdant river bank.

A big bull elephant walked right past our vehicle straight up to a large Ana tree in front of us. After searching for a short while for seed pods, he decided to shake things up a bit. It is quite astounding to watch this massive elephant place the tree trunk between his tusks and push the entire tree with his head and trunk. He shook the tree vigorously a couple of times and a shower of seed pods fell from the branches. He then proceeded to pick up each and every seed pod, obviously a seasonal delicacy.

Not thirty metres from where the bull elephant had been shaking the Ana tree, the three lionesses had moved closer to the water and were out in the open.

What we thought were three lionesses turned out to be four. They were so well camouflaged that we did not see the fourth female. The impala down near the river had caught all their attention. In the image below the fourth female was already making her way closer to the impala.

The lionesses were very gaunt and not in good condition. They had obviously not eaten for a quite few days. The dry season is usually  prime time for predators, but Mana is no easy environment.

After watching the passing parade for an hour or so we had to make our way back to camp. On the way we drove past Chisasiko pool, one of the four Mana pools. At the west end of the pool was an elephant cow in the hyacinth quieting feeding without a care in the world.

It was so good to be back. It was very hot, but a dry heat. There are so many things to see that for the most part you are so distracted that you do not think about the heat. I have found that if you do not consciously think about it you do not get neurotic about is and all is well.

“Photographing in Mana is not about sitting on a vehicle as an insulated observer. You get off the vehicle and walk with the animals.  With an experienced guide you blend in so as not to disturb the game. It is a wilderness pilgrimage. Spending time in this wild place will restore your perspective, heighten your awareness of the beauty all around you and a deep sense of gratefulness will well up inside you. Mana will unlock memories and open up new, uncharted pathways into your consciousness.”

~ Mike Haworth

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

Have fun,

Mike

This is the last post from my Serengeti trip in September with CNP Safaris travelling around the western corridor in their wonderful specialised photographic vehicle. The Grumeti Tented Camp was absolutely superb and the staff were friendly and very attentive. Rather than give you too many words, I thought I would rather show you some of the rhythm, scenes and beauty we were immersed in for nine days in spring in the Serengeti.

“We go far to fill our senses with the unknown. The Serengeti strikes a primal chord with its rhythm and drama. Up before first light, excited about what the day will bring. Oh, and it is never the same. The story reveals itself through the colour, light and movement. You get immersed in a far bigger story being played out and you are privileged to witness a few scenes.”

~Mike Haworth

A king watching out for his hidden queen.

Early morning, cool, overcast and quiet, watching a herd of elephants unhurriedly making their way across the Nyasiriro plain towards the Grumeti river.

“Your vision, rather than just your seeing, displays a thousand or more possible paintings in the simplest things.”

~Andrew Baker

A Cheetah family below Masira hill. The mother and son resting, while the daughter kept vigil. 

Mother and daughter moving in the late afternoon. The male cub walked in the same direction but some distance away.

“Vision is not enough – it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.”

~Vaclav Havel

A dramatic sunrise penetrates the hazy early morning atmosphere.

High morning sun in an overcast and hazy sky.

A female Southern Ground Hornbill, not a raptor but a voracious avian hunter gliding over the plains.

Late afternoon and this troop of Olive Baboons was making its way back to the river where it was going to sleep in the trees for the night.

A pride of lions, “flat cats”, close to water and waiting for night when they can enact their deadly play. (double click on the panorama to enlarge it).

“The eye is the notebook of the poet.”

~James Russell Lowell

We got back to camp early one evening. This was the scene from the front of my tent. The evening chorus had begun with crickets chirping, nightjars trilling, Fish Eagles calling and lions roaring. There was also the occasional screech from a young baboon being disciplined as they settled down for the night.

Another pride of “flat cats”, sleeping in the afternoon shade after a hearty meal of zebra.

Open plains with plenty of room for a young giraffe to cavort.

A “gathering ” of giraffe assembled to intimidate two young cheetah – and it worked.

One lucky Black-backed Jackal which had managed to catch a scrub hare and was taking it back to his family.

While waiting for “flat cats” to get active, this was the scene from the back of the vehicle looking out towards Chamulio mountain.

Rested and now alert in the fading afternoon light. This lioness was scanning the landscape for her next meal.

“Painted skies colour our imagination. New beginnings and a new day. A new story to tell and to treasure.”

~Mike Haworth

Early morning, out on the plains watching the new day dawn.

The Grumeti river in spate. This was September so not the rainy season but a good shower flushed the system.

Late afternoon with plenty of cloud around. The sky was illuminated as the last rays of light burst through cloud bank before the day gave way to night.

“Big skies to stretch your vision. The space to breathe deeply. Room for your senses to swim and your imagination to play.”

~Mike Haworth

Oh, that sense of space.

Unusual to see a pride on the move out in the open in mid-morning. Something must have disturbed them.

A panorama looking up the rise towards a herd of wildebeest and Thomson’s gazelle gazing peacefully (double click to see an enlarged view of any of the panoramas).

The dawn of a new day – pregnant with expectation and filled with promise.

An overcast and somewhat foreboding view of the Grumeti river around mid-morning. 

Later in the day, the Grumeti river in spate, a test for anyone or anything wanting to cross it.

A few of our distant relatives enjoying the spring blossoms in the verdant trees on the banks of the Grumeti river.

“Muddied in the attack. Feline warrior, armed with canines and claws. Independent, resourceful and fearless. Rest for there are more battles to come.”

~ Mike Haworth

A lone and muddy lioness resting after having captured and killed a warthog next to the water.

On the west side of the Grumeti river closer to the Kilawira range of hills.

“A huge other worldly ball rises above the horizon and pushes down the veil of darkness. This ball of blazing of colour will change everything, heralding a massive transformation at the start of each day.  This transformation which takes place in the cool and quiet is called dawn.”

~ Mike Haworth

A humbling view of the sun peering above the horizon and through the Balanites at dawn.

A minute or two after the sun has peered above the horizon. It was cool and quiet creating a sublime sense of being of alive.

A herd of elephants moving away from the Grumeti river. The herd was clustered together possibly because they smelt lions in that area.

Twisted, gnarled but still standing tall, waiting for dawn.

A family group of giraffe in an open space where they could relax and had a good visual of any encroaching threats. 

A young male lion, well sated, walking back to the edge of woodlands to rest in the shade.

A Tawny opportunist in search of meal as the pride of lions moved away from their kill.

“There is something other worldly and spellbinding about watching the sun rise above the horizon. That ball of shimmering oranges and yellows rises like a phoenix out of the darkness below. The light heralds the change in shift, the cue for the nocturnes to settle down to rest and the light brigade to take up arms. Still cool and quiet, but warming and brightening.”

~Mike Haworth

An African sunrise with Balanites in the foreground.

It is difficult to explain the feeling, but the Serengeti fills your senses. There are vast open spaces with big skies giving you the feeling of being able to breath deeply.  It is a wild place where the rules of survival have existed for millennia. You are acutely aware that you are a visitor in this wild place and you need to respect its ways. The vistas will make your senses swim. The colours at dawn and dusk are spellbinding. The abundance and diversity of wildlife will refresh your soul. Visit this wild place for a few days and it will give you a window into a world of immense intelligence and structure which has a natural rhythm choreographed by the weather. So far humans have a minor role to play here but it is a critical role to preserve this wonderful spectacle and diversity for future generations to learn from.

“Nothing but breathing the air of Africa, and actually walking through it, can communicate the indescribable sensations.”

~ William Burchell

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

Have fun,

Mike

The annual migration of wildebeest and other grazing herbivores across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world.  The Serengeti is well known for its vast herds of wildebeest and zebra which migrate in a clockwise route from Ndutu in the south around February and March up along the western side of the Serengeti through the western Corridor around May and June and on up to the Masai Mara arriving there from late July through to September. The migrating herds then follow the rains back down to the short grass plains of Ndutu in time for calving season around February each year. The down leg back to Ndutu is usually along the east side of the Serengeti. Wildebeest are known to have a very good sense of smell and are thought to be able to smell rain up to 25 kilometres away. The migration encompasses around 1.5 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, 18,000 eland and 500,000 Thompson’s gazelle. Needless, to say the the resident predators take full advantage of the passing feast.

“Millions have passed following the smell of rain. Distant thunder calls the herds. Ancient paths show the way. Darkened skies sit on the  grass plains at the horizon.  That smell of wet earth conjures the sweet taste of new grasses. Thousands know this and thousands are driven by this association regardless of the known danger from canines and claws. This is storm chasing on the grandest scale.”

~Mike Haworth

There is a great diversity and abundance of herbivores in the Serengeti. These herbivores include eland, Debussa waterbuck, wildebeest, Coke’s Hartebeest, Topi, Impala, Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelles, zebra and buffalo. There are also the smaller herbivores such as reedbuck and duiker.

By mid-September, the migrating herds had passed through the Western Corridor section of the Serengeti National Park some three months earlier. It was very evident that the migration has passed through as the grass had been well and truly eaten down. There was still water from the infrequent rains in September but the grasses were only just beginning to recover. The majority of the wildebeest, zebra, topi, eland and Thompson’s gazelle migrate as part of the mega-herd, but not all. A fraction of these herbivores stay in the western corridor. They stay in sufficient numbers to enable the territorial predators such as lions, hyaena, cheetah and leopards to survive through the lean time.

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain.”

~Unknown

Many of the wildebeest left behind are bulls which stand in their demarcated territory. This particular bull was full of the joys of spring bucking and prancing around just for fun, by the look of it.

Another lone wildebeest bull moving around in his territory.

“The earth exists for all beings, not just human beings.”

~Unknown

We saw many topi in the western corridor. These antelope are a sub-species of a tsessebe. They look like hartebeest. Their coats have short hair and have a lovely sheen to them. The topi are very quick and if they see the predator in time they can usually out run them. The next image shows a topi flying with all four hooves off the ground.

Topi are incredibly quick and have been known to reach speeds in excess of 80kms per hour. They also show off their strength and prowess with stiff legged prances like a lipazzaner  and bound on all fours, like gazelles.

“To watch a Topi lope, then dash and race,  and pronk and prance, reveals a sense of power and joy well beyond the pure flight response.”

~Mike Haworth

The topi has a striking reddish-brown body colour and distinct black patches on its face and  just above its leg joints and greyish shoulders and flanks.

Topis are gregarious but when one male intrudes on another male’s territory, the two go down on their knees to fight with their horns in what becomes a pushing match to establish dominance.

Male topis have their own territories which they mark with dung and they also mark grass stems in their area with a secretion from their preorbital gland. The can stand on these mounds for a long time trying to be noticed.

“Be curious not judgmental.”

~Walt Whitman

One of the herbivores which does not migrate is the buffalo. We found a few large herds in the Western Corridor. Presumably this is what keeps the lions going through the lean phase from August to May.

This is a strong animal with attitude. Buffalo will always look directly at you and lift their head and look down their noses at you.  This was one of the bulls protecting the one flank of the herd. He was not about to take any nonsense from anything.

“Nature’s drama is never the same. Expect the unexpected it is sometimes low down, sometimes high up, sometimes fast, and sometimes slow. Each time mother nature reveals a little more, and each time you get a sense of how much you have still to learn.”

~Mike Haworth

Another herbivore which does not migrate is the Masai giraffe. Giraffe have different patterns much like a fingerprint, but giraffe in certain regions have a particular  pattern type.

This was bull giraffe using his full extension to browse on his favoured part of the tree.

Another group of Masai giraffe seen on the way to Nyasiriro plains. It is not often you see giraffe lying down but this individual must have felt secure because it could not get up quickly if there was a threat.

A family group of Masai giraffe down the road passed the Grumeti landing strip.

A single female eland down near the water pool dammed by the road embankment. Eland are very wary and will normally walk or run away from a vehicle. This must have been a young adult judging from its size and the size of its dewlap, the flap of skin below its neck.

Grant’s gazelle are bigger with lighter colouring and have no dark brown side stripe like the  Thompson’s gazelle.

Wildebeest and Thompson’s gazelle grazing together on the open plain.

A female Thompson’s gazelle and her fawn. They stopped to have a look around and in a split second were off.

You may notice the lack of zebra images. While we saw zebra, we do not see many and I did not get any images interesting enough for this post.

“The very essence of instinct is that it is followed independently by reason.”

~Charles Darwin

What I find amazing is that all the herbivores feed on different parts of the savanna. According to the WorldWildLife.org, different herbivores tend to feed on different plant species and on different parts of a plant. This reduces competition and enables a grazing sequence by different ungulate species. They eat different types of fauna, be it buds, leaves, or stems. Furthermore, some herbivores prefer areas closer to woodlands and others open woodlands and others open grasslands. Kudu prefer thickets in woodlands, impala prefer savanna, Grant’s gazelle prefer herbs and shrub’s  lower foliage, eland eat shrubs’ upper foliage, wildebeest usually feed on a wide variety of nutritious, short grasses, and topi tend to eat long grass leaves. Giraffes have no competition at tree top level. Buffalo are able to eat long fibrous grasses so tend to clean up grazing areas in the Serengeti.

“What is life? It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is the little shadow which ruins across and loses itself in the sunset.”

~Crowfoot

You can also tell the type of food that herbivores eat by their size and shape of their muzzle. The group of herbivores classified as ruminants have specialised stomachs. and lack upper front incisors and have a dental pad instead. This feature is especially evident in giraffe, buffalo and wildebeest.

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

Have fun,

Mike

Mid-September in the Serengeti is early spring. This is too early for most of the raptor migrants, so we saw mainly residents. Migrants such as Steppe Eagles had not yet arrived.

“Once you have travelled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.”

~Pat Conroy

The raptors in the Serengeti at this time of the year were Tawny, Bateleur, Martial and Long- Crested Eagles, an array of Goshawks, Snake-Eagles and Grey Kestrels. On our second day we found a Tawny Eagle hanging around a lion pride. Tawnys know only too well that where there are lions there are bound to be edible scraps. This adult Tawny Eagle saw the lions on the side of the Masira hill and flew over to the largest tree closest to the lions.

As the lions moved away from the kill site this Tawny Eagle took off from the tree to come down and look for scraps. Often you will see a Bateleur and a Tawny Eagle waiting together. The Tawny  does tend to dominate the Bateleur at a kill site.

This Tawny landed where it thought there were some scraps but had to walk around looking for the left-overs.

“When the doors of perception are cleansed, men will see things as they truly are, infinite.”

~William Blake

A Grey Kestrel perched at the top of a dead tree branch in the early morning light. This Kestrel was just outside our camp. It appears grey from a distance and the yellow cere and yellow legs are distinctive.

Dark Chanting Goshawk patrolling the grass plains. Chanting Goshawks are so-called because of their far carrying and melodious calls. The head, breast and upperparts are essentially dark grey, while the underparts, other then the breast, are white, finely barred with black. The primary feathers are black and its tail has broad black and white bars. 

This Dark Chanting Goshawk flew for  about 30 to 40 metres and then landed to investigate something in the grass then flew off again and repeated the process over and over. It often calls from a perch or in flight, making an accelerating series of piping notes and fluty whistles, which has been described as a song or chant. There are many notes in a series. It gives a high-pitched “peee-u”. Although quite capable of hunting for themselves these Goshawks are known to follow Honey badgers and ground hornbills  looking for scraps or an opportunity to steal their food.

“There is nothing invisible in this universe! There is only our lack of eyesight!”
~ Mehmet Murat ildan

This Secretary bird was also scouring the grass plains looking for anything to eat from snakes to insects, small rodents and birds, even bird eggs. This is an aggressive raptor with legs and feet that can deliver great strike precision. There is no distinctive sexual colour dimorphism.

The Secretary Bird’s legs are scaly below the knee and the feet have hard pads underneath. Although they look like long-legged eagles; their front toes are too small to grab prey. Instead they stamp on snakes to kill them and will devour the entire snake swallowing it head first into its crop. Often it will regurgitate the snake later for its partner or young.

Ruppell’s Vulture is now listed as critically endangered on the IUCN’s Red List. We saw only one in the late afternoon on the ground near where a pride of lions had fed. The Ruppell’s Vulture is much larger than the White-backed Vulture. Its back is a mottled brown and white and the base of the neck has a white collar, and its crop patch is dark brown. Although we saw this character on the ground, it is not uncommon for this vulture to soar at heights of 6,000 metres. They tend to be found mainly between the equator and the Sahara and in east Africa.

“The eyesight for an eagle is what thought is to a man.”
~ Dejan Stojanovic

The Long-crested Eagle is one of a group of smaller eagles. Its long crest on top of its head is its key diagnostic feature. It also has whitish legs with yellow feet. This eagle prefers to hunt along the edges of forest and woodland areas, especially those adjacent to grasslands as it preys mainly on rodents but will also prey on birds (mainly chicks), frogs and reptiles.

When in flight the underside of its primary wing feathers are white. This eagle was perched on a dead tree stump which was quite low to the ground. As you can see this is a perch hunter.

A lone Black-chested Snake-eagle. They are usually solitary and have that distinctive snake-eagle shaped head  with a crest and small beak. This snake-eagle has a dark brown head, back, face and chest. This raptor is a member of the fourth group within the Accipitridae family along with Serpent-eagles and Bateleurs.

Snake-eagles’ legs and feet are protected from snake bites by thick imbricated or overlapping scales. On take-off, this Black-chested Snake-eagle revealed a white under wing with black bars on the underside to its secondary feathers and black tips to the underside of its primary feathers.

Snake-eagles have those very distinctive piercing yellow eyes. From a distance, the Black-chested Snake-eagle can be mistaken for a Martial Eagle but it is much smaller and does not have dark brown flecks on its breasted feathers. Importantly, the Martial has feathers down to its feet whereas the Snake-eagle has yellow scale covered legs. When in flight the Black-chested Snake-eagle has white underwings while the Martial has dark underwings.

An intimidating looking dark morph Tawny Eagle. This raptor was sitting on a branch above a lion kill. It was waiting for an opportunity to feed on the mostly consumed carcass.

Judging from the full crop, this Tawny Eagle had already fed well but must have been disturbed, probably by a lion.

“…. each with its own beauty, and each with a story to tell.”

~Stephen Jay Gould

This image shows just how extended this Tawny’s crop can get.

Of all the raptors I have seen the Tawny has probably the greatest variety of morph colouring, ranging from blonde to striped to tawny to dark brown. In the next image, the dark morph Tawny was joined by a normal coloured Tawny. These two waited patiently for quite a while. Eventually their patience paid off and they were able to feed on the remains of the carcass.

“Evolution tells us where we came from, not where we can go.”      

~Jerry Coyne

A Brown Snake-eagle. This snake-eagle is brown all over and has the characteristic bright yellow eye. This is the largest of the snake-eagles and although an eagle, its leg feathers do not grow down to its feet. This eagle is a snake killer – feeding on puffadders, cobras, mambas boomslangs and any snake its sees in the grass. If there is a dearth of snakes it will feed on chameleons, lizards and other reptiles.

The Brown Snake-eagle is also solitary, and is often seen perched on top of tree for hours just searching the grasslands below for prey.

The Brown Snake-eagle usually hunts from a perch so this character must have seen something interesting and flew past us. The Brown Snake-eagle tends to go for larger snakes that the Black-chested Snake-eagle.

In flight, the Brown Snake-eagle has brown under wing coverts and silvery-grey underside to its primary and secondary wing feathers.

There is minimal interaction between snake-eagles and other raptors. The Tawnys seem to like to mix it up with other raptors mainly because of their size and brawn.

“Evolution has developed man to such a high degree that he builds zoos to keep his ancestors in cages.”

~Unknown

In the view of most paleontologists today, birds are living dinosaurs. As Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, indicated a bird did not just evolve from a T. rex overnight, but rather the classic features of birds evolved one by one; first bipedal locomotion, then feathers, then a wishbone, then more complex feathers that looked like quill-pen feathers, then wings. It really makes you marvel at the lineage of birds.

“You travel with modern lines, but you come from ancient times. Old genes in modern feathers. Your acute primal eyes miss nothing. You wear wild armoury on your face and feet. Your primaries help you to feel your way into skyward thermals. Oh we have still so much still to learn about you.”

~Mike Haworth

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

Have fun,

Mike