Helen and I travelled to Chobe River with CNP Safaris in March this year. That time of the year is fondly called ”the Jacana season” because African Jacanas were normally in the midst of their breeding season. This was the time when wildlife photographers would be able to see and photograph Jacana chicks with their fathers and all the fascinating behaviour that entailed.

“The river has great wisdom and whispers its secrets to the hearts of men.” ~ Mark Twain

During this trip, the Chobe River levels were considerably lower than average. Measurements of the water level of the Zambezi River at Katima Mulilo (which usually pushes water into the Chobe) were approximately four metres lower than last year. While of concern, there was some relief for the Chobe Riverfront from late rains in the latter part of May.

The level of water in the Chobe river has a distinct effect on the breeding behaviour of the African Jacanas. We saw very few adult Jacanas and even fewer chicks. A favourite place to see and photograph Jacanas, and many other species of water birds, is “Jacana alley”, a small inlet west of the Jackalberry trio (three large Jackalberry trees growing on the sandbank at the very northern edge of Sedudu Island).

We did not find any chicks in the usual places in “Jacana alley”. It looked as if the breeding had not begun in earnest delayed by the low water levels. African jacanas are not migratory, but are nomadic, driven along the river by the changing water levels.

Interestingly, there was not the usual plethora of water lilies in the inlets where we usually found the Jacanas. Water lily plant growth is known to be distinctly seasonal with plants at all water levels producing more and larger leaves and more flowers in the warmer months. Plants in deeper water have significantly greater biomass allocated to leaves and roots, while plants in shallow water around 30 cm deep have significantly greater biomass allocated to their rhizomes.

“Rivers flow not past, but through us; tingling, vibrating, exciting every cell and fiber in our bodies, making them sing and glide.“ ~ John Muir

This water lily was surrounded by what I think were water chestnut plants but I cannot find any definitive descriptive articles on it. This trip revealed a relative dearth of water lilies and a plethora of water chestnut plants with their serrated triangular leaves green above and red below.

Finding African jacana nests is difficult because they are usually, along the Chobe River, made of loosely knitted water lily stems to form a platform for the eggs and the platform is well camouflaged. One of the unusual places we found African jacanas was in the western channel past Sedudu Island close to the Chobe Water Villas on the Namibian side of the Chobe river. This was unexpected because of the high density of boat traffic along this channel. There were more lily pads probably because level of the water was much deeper in the western channel than in the “Jacana alley” inlet.

We did not get to see the polyandrous behaviour of African Jacanas. In behavioural ecology, polyandry is a mating system where one female mates with several males in a breeding season. The male must compete for the female’s attentions which he does mainly with his nest-building skills. The male mates with only one female and then takes on sole responsibility for raising the chicks. He builds the nest and incubates the eggs with no help from the female. The male is also responsible for the parental care of the chicks for around three weeks after hatching.

Well-known ornithologist, Warwick Tarboton wrote in the Ostrich, Journal of African Ornithology Volume 66, 1995 – Issue 2-3 that in the flood year, the African jacana’s breeding season was 30% longer than in the drought year, more birds bred (27–29 vs 8), more clutches were laid (39 vs 16) and hatching success was much greater (36% vs 0%). In the flood year all breeding females (n = 7) had polyandrous matings (with between 2–7 males) whereas in the drought year only two of five breeding females were polyandrous. In a drought year, opportunities for females to mate polyandrously were minimal because of the rapid rate of clutch loss and the aggressive behaviour of dominant males which prevented access of lower ranked males to breeding females.

Although we found fewer African Jacanas, we saw large flocks of Collared pratincoles. These summer migrants feed mainly in flight, catching prey aerially like swallows sweeping back and forth. The Collared pratincoles do most of its foraging in the evening or on moonlight nights. During the day they catch invertebrates on the ground such as grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders and small molluscs. Collared pratincoles put wonderful murmuration displays which are mesmerising.

Although we saw very few African jacanas in “Jacana alley” we saw many other birds in the reeds around the inlet. We always see Malachite kingfishers hunting from the overhanging reeds. These minute fishermen look like colourful gems gleaming in the sunlight.

A Tawny flanked prinia building its nest on reeds overhanging “Jacana alley” waters. It was building a typical prinia-type pear shaped ball nest with its entrance on the one side near the top. The nest was finely knitted from lengths of grass and reed leaf strips.

“Rivers have what man most respects and longs for in his own life and thought-a capacity for renewal and replenishment, continual energy, creativity, cleansing.” ~ John M. Kauffmann

We saw many Squacco herons which were very busy in the reeds along the river’s channels. They feed in one section for a period and move frequently so as to not over work a particular area.

Squacco herons feed mainly on fish, frogs and insects which are in abundance among the reeds and grasses growing in the water.

Although, we saw many Squacco herons, we never saw any fighting like you could see when Great White egrets and other herons when they get too close to each other. Squaccos appeared to hunt in well spaced sections of the reed and grass beds.

Purple herons are secretive, spending less time out in the open than the Grey heron and tend to skulk in reed beds. Their long toes enable them to walk on floating vegetation and bushes, while not making any attempt to grip the branches. Purple herons always nest over water usually deep inside reed beds. The nest is a platform of reeds or rushes in the reedbed or papyrus, and sometimes in a tree lined with reed leaves and small water plants. Differences in habitat preference reduce competition with the reed-bed dwelling Purple heron, the dryland feeding Black-headed heron and the water’s-edge feeding Grey heron.

The Chobe River in northeast Botswana is part of the vast and interconnected Okavango-Kwando-Zambezi catchment system covering approximately 693,000 square kilometres, with its headwaters in the highlands of Angola. This region has highly variable seasonal rainfall with nearly all the annual rainfall, averaging 604 mm, occurring during the summer wet season (December–April), and minimal precipitation during the dry season (May–November).

“Life is like a river, it is always flowing, it can flow slowly or it can flow quickly, it can change course but nothing can stop the river from flowing. The same happens with life, there are no external circumstances that can stop it from flowing. One thing is sure: Life always goes on.” ~ Vasanth Pai

The Chobe River flows into the Zambezi river at the Kazungula quadripoint (where the borders of four countries meet: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). The combined flow cascades over the Victoria Falls about 80 kilometres down river from the Chobe-Zambezi confluence. To underline the seasonality, the peak flow over the iconic Victoria Falls is experienced between March and May. Thereafter its flow progressively drops until November when the cycle starts again. Interestingly, daily flow hydrographs, where measurements were taken at Victoria Falls, show peak flow over the Falls has been getting progressively earlier shifting from late April in 1990s to early and mid-March in recent years and the flow rate peaks have declined from over 6000 m3/sec in 1978 to just above 4000 m3/sec recently and 3600 m3/sec in 2021. The highest ever recorded flow rate over Victoria Falls was in March 1958 at 10 000 m3/sec which must have been spectacular, and somewhat frightening. Compare this to the Congo river which has an average discharge or flow rate of around 41 000 m³/sec with a peak of 73 000 m³/sec during the exceptional flood in 1962.

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

The weather was variable in the week we visited Kruger at the end of February this year. It was overcast and raining for periods on most days and very windy on some days. Both mammals and birds do not like the windy conditions because it disrupts the hearing and smelling senses making them more vulnerable to predators.

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

The vegetation was very thick in mid-summer making mammal sightings more difficult. The area from the Numbi gate to Skukuza had very thick bush. This meant that sightings of mammals was restricted, in large part, to the sides of the roads.

“It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility. ” ~ Rachel Carson

There was good grazing on the sides of the roads which attracted Burchell’s zebra. The southern Burchell’s Zebra has a distinctive shadow brown stripe in the white stripe, a characteristic which diminishes the further north they occur.

Zebras have a dark circular patch on the inner forelegs which is designed to accommodate the sharp end of the hoof when lying down. The white fur represents an absence of melanin; white is not its own pigment. Since white stripes only exist because pigment is denied, black is understood to be the “default” colour of a zebra.

One of the most productive drives during our week in Kruger was along the H3 from Skukuza to Malelane. The bush was more open so the mammals were more visible. Near Renoster Pan we saw a large bull elephant walking towards the road. As soon as he saw the cars on the road he walked parallel to the road until he found a quieter place to cross. He was clearly avoiding unnecessary conflict with humans.

“The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery, not over nature but of ourselves.” ~ Rachel Carson

Further down the H1 towards Malelane we found a large herd of buffalo spread out either side of the road. The buffalo were grazing and wandering through the mopani bush making it difficult to photograph them as a herd so I picked out one of the larger bulls at the back of the herd. You can see how smooth the top of his boss was indicating he had done his fair share of head butting and fighting over the years.

We travelled down to the Berg-en-dal camp to have a look around. I was surprised to see the dam in front of the camp was empty which meant there was no game close to the camp. There were a few Vervet monkeys hanging around probably waiting to try and steal food from visitors sitting having a meal on the camp’s restaurant deck.

After a brief look around Berg-en-dal camp, which looked in need of maintenance, we decided to drive on the Matjulu loop which took us through the mountainous south western section of the park. We found quite a lot of mammal and bird life on this loop. Close to the road we found three adult giraffes sitting in the grass chewing their cud. Giraffes actually have four stomachs, similar to cows so have to regurgitate the grass and leaves and rechew them. Giraffes occasionally sit or lie down, but not for long. They fold their legs under their bodies when sitting down, but they maintain their necks lifted high. They are very vulnerable to predators when sitting down.

Further along the Matjulu loop we found a pride of lions lying next to the waterhole where they had killed a buffalo. This lioness had a dirty face after feeding on the several day old carcass.

“Nature has introduced great variety into the landscape, but man has displayed a passion for simplifying it. Thus he undoes the built-in checks and balances by which nature holds the species within bounds.” ~ Rachel Carson

The pride at the Matjulu waterhole was large with two fully grown males and a large young male with a mohican style mane. According to the informative Londolozi Blog, humans have around 10,000 taste buds on average, while most carnivores have far fewer, being around 470. Carnivores are responsive to bitter flavours but cannot taste sweetness. Bitterness enables carnivores to distinguish between meat that is spoiled and meat that is still safe to eat. Their digestive system is far better at processing meats and can tolerate bacteria that would cause immediate and severe stomach issues in humans.

The males had already fed well from the carcass leaving the lionesses to pick over the remains. The carcass stunk to “high heaven” so we positioned ourselves upwind to be able to spend some time watching the lions interacting. The smell was strong enough to make us nauseous. It was still early and cool enough for them to be out in the open.

The next day we visited Lake Panic which is close to Skukuza camp. There is a bird hide at the south-west end of Lake Panic. There are several fallen dead tree trunks in the section of the lake in front of the hide. A few Serrated hinged terrapins climbed onto the fallen tree trunk to warm up. This species is the largest hinged terrapin. To protect themselves Serrated Hinged Terrapins secrete a very foul smelling odour when threatened. This did not seem to worry an African darter that pecked at one terrapin’s legs to get it off the fallen tree trunk.

As has often been the case, on the second last day in Kruger the sun came out. We stopped at Shitlhave dam for a cup of early morning coffee. The resident pod of hippo which had been very docile when the weather was overcast were now more playful in the sun. Two young hippos were sparring and testing each other’s strength.

Hippo bulls are territorial in water but not at night on land. Bulls defend territories for mating rights not food. Play fighting among young hippos can be fun to water and photographically productive. When a bull hippo is threatening others, the display is much more obvious with yawning, water scooping and head shaking combined with rearing and lunging.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Our mammal sighting were limited by the cool, rainy and windy weather. A long time ago, I learnt that the weather can be a photographer’s friend. Overcast skies filter the harsh sunlight. Rain-filled cloud formations can provide wonderful backgrounds. Often the cooler weather allows predators to be more active later in the morning. I would never stay indoors in a game reserve because of overcast rainy weather.

“You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.” ~ Nate Berkus

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

We visited Kruger National Park in February this year. Our focus was in the southern western section of Kruger including Pretoriuskop, Berg-en-dal and Skukuza camps. That time was late summer in southern Africa and the migrant birds were enjoying the warmth and abundance of food that summer conditions brought.

Kruger Parks’ slogan – Custos Naturae which means Guardian of Nature

Our base was Pinelake Resort next to Lake Longmere just outside White River and we travelled into Kruger through the Numbi gate. After looking around Pretoriuskop camp we drove to Shitlhave dam. The area around the dam is open grassland which attracts rollers and a variety of avian insect and seed eaters. There are normally a selection of waders, ducks and storks which remain around the dam.

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

One of the more colourful migrants see at the dam was the European roller. This is the only member of the roller family which breeds in Europe. This species is usually seen perched on top of a prominent bush or tree. It prefers woodlands, bushveld and grasslands, and avoids open dry areas in the west of southern Africa. Its food comprises of insects, small mammals, reptiles and frogs.

While sitting quietly with a cup of coffee and a rusk watching all the avian activity around the dam, this Marsh sandpiper strolled along the edge of the water in front of us. It was foraging in the grass for edibles.

While gazing over the Shitlhave dam we suddenly heard the cackle from Hammerkops. To our left on a rock next to the water edge were a pair Hammerkops mating. Both male and female birds have a specialised opening at the base of their tail feathers known as an avian vent, or cloaca. This opening connects to a chamber where the sex organs lie – testes in males, ovaries in females. The act of passing sperm from male to female is known as the “cloacal kiss”. The males does not have a penis. The male and female press their cloaca’s together for a few seconds to transfer sperm to the female.

An adult Southern Carmine bee-eater perched on a dead branch in the heat of the morning facing Transport dam. This species is an intra-African migrant visiting in summer from Equatorial Africa. In summer, we have always found Southern Carmines in this area. There is a plethora of flying insects from bees to wasps and dragonflies. Carmines hawk from a prominent perch and usually return to the perch with their prey which they proceed to beat to death against the perch.

“My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature”. ~ Claude Monet

The lighter, faded coloured Southern Carmines are fledged juveniles. The juveniles were accomplished hawkers.

A Grey heron drying it wings after a early morning cloud burst. It was facing east directly into the morning sun. The weather was warm so it would have dried its wing feathers quite quickly.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

A Rattling cisticola – although it was difficult to see the red panel on its primary wing feathers and pale tip on its tail feathers. Its rufous cap was evident. This is a common species in open savanna and scrubland habitats and likes to sing on open perches.

A Common sandpiper walking on a fallen log in front of the hide at Lake Panic near the Skukuza camp. This species has green-brown upper parts and a white throat which has light brown streaks. Its belly and undertail coverts are white. It has a short straight grey beak and green-yellow legs. Common sandpipers have white wing bars and white tips on the secondaries and inner primaries. They have a conspicuous white eyering and a dark eye stripe. A key diagnostic feature is the white section above its shoulder.

A pair of Malachite kingfishers were very busy fishing from the reeds in front of the hide at Lake Panic. This is the smallest fish eating kingfisher. The smallest kingfisher in southern Africa is the Pygmy kingfisher but it is insectivorous.

“Light is a thing that cannot be reproduced, but must be represented by something else – by color.” ~ Paul Cezanne

A Grey heron standing on the back of a hippo bull which was sleeping with his head in the shade in the pool in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The bull hippo seemed completely unfazed by the heron walking around on his back. The hippo gave the heron access deeper into the pond to hunt fish and frogs.

A pair of Pied kingfishers were successfully hunting from higher perches in front of the hide at Lake Panic. This species also beat their prey against their perch to kill it and then throw their prey up in the air to rearrange its position so it can be swallowed head first. This prevents the dorsal fin of the fish getting caught in its throat.

Tucked away inside the bush overhanging the pond in front of the hide at Lake Panic was a nest with two newly hatched Green-backed herons. We watched the Grey heron get closer and closer to the nest but nothing happened. The outcome could have be very different if it had been a Black-headed heron.

“Nature is ever at work building and pulling down, creating and destroying, keeping everything whirling and flowing, allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion, chasing everything in endless song out of one beautiful form into another.” ~ John Muir

There was a colony of Lesser masked weavers nesting in the large tree overhanging the pool in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The Lesser masked weaver has a black mask that extends halfway up the front of its crown and its eyes are whitish. All the bird activity caught the attention of Diederick’s cuckoos, Gabar Goshawks and Little sparrowhawks.

The next day we decided to travel down to Berg-en-dal camp from Pretoriuskop. We started down Voortrekker road but found it too rough and corrugated so we took the longer route on a tarred road using the HI-1 road and turned right onto the H3 tarred road. A few kilometres south of the Afsaal picnic site we found a family of Southern Ground hornbills foraging through the grass and over a rock outcrop next to a dry riverbed.

The Southern Ground hornbill is the size of a turkey, and is the largest species of hornbill. The species is immediately recognizable by its jet-black feathers, yellow eyes, and bright red throat and wide red eye ring. The male and female mostly look the same but the female has a purple-blue patch of skin on its throat. The male’s throat is uniformly red.

A Red-billed oxpecker preening itself while sitting on the back of an impala ewe. This species has dark brown upper parts and beige under parts. It has a red eye with a yellow eye ring and a vivid red beak. Oxpeckers have stiff tails feathers and sharp claws to be able to balance and hang on to their moving host. Red-billed Oxpeckers feed on ticks and clean up wounds in the tissue of the host’s hide.

The following day we drove along the Waterhole road between the H1-1 and S1 tarred roads. This is usually a productive drive from both a mammal and avian sighting perspective. We found a muddy Burchell’s Coucal skulking in the bushes along the gravel road. This species’ under parts are usually a light beige in colour. The barred upper tail coverts are a distinguishing feature. Coucals are a members of the cuckoo family but do not engage in parasitic breeding behaviour.

A Bronze mannikin looking after its hungry chicks. The adult Bronze mannikin has a grey beak and black-dark brown head. Its underparts are white and it has brown barring on its sides. Immature birds are a more plain buffy brown, with dark grey-brown upper parts and a black beak.

“This world is but a canvas for our imagination.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

A Jameson’s firefinch identified by its red plumage with a brown back and upper wing coverts, and blue-grey beak. This little finch was close to the Bronze mannikins in a bush along side a rivulet with water.

A Red-backed shrike. This is a beautiful small shrike. The male has a distinctive blue-grey head, black eye band and white underparts and fine scalloping on its breast. Its back is a rusty-red. It prefers thorny bushes which it uses as a larder to impale its prey on the thorns. This species is a Paleartic breeder and migrates to southern Africa during our summers.

A female Giant kingfisher perched on a fallen tree trunk in the pool in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The sexes can be distinguished by the position of their chestnut frontal plumage. The male has a chestnut breast band while the female a has a chestnut belly and undertail coverts. This is the largest kingfisher in Southern Africa and feeds on fish, frogs, insects and crabs.

A Woodland kingfisher with its bright red maxilla and black mandible. It has a white head, neck and underparts. Its shoulders are black and the back and flight feathers are a vivid cyan-blue colour. This kingfisher has a beautiful trilling call which is only heard in summer as it is an inter African migrant. It moves north during the winter months in southern Africa.

An interesting interaction between a large terrapin and an African darter on a fallen tree trunk in front of the hide at Lake Panic. The terrapin was quietly sunning itself and minding its own business when this darter flew in and landed on the fallen tree trunk. The darter waddled over to the terrapin and started to peck at its legs.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life”. ~ Henry David Thoreau

This large Serrated hinged terrapin stood its ground by retracting the legs being pecked at. Eventually the terrapin slid off the log to get some peace and the darter walked further along the log to sun itself.

The weather was variable in the week we spent driving around the southern section of Kruger. We found a small flock of Red-breasted swallows sitting on the ground with their breast feathers puffed up because it was quite cold. This looked to be a juvenile because its tail streamers were still quite short. This large swallow has a brick-red rump and underparts and dark blue upper parts and crown and face mask. This is an inter African summer visitor.

A Southern Black flycatcher is a slim glossy-black flycatcher. It can be mistaken for a Fork-tailed drongo but the former is smaller, has a square tail and a smaller beak. Its eyes are dark brown whereas the drongo has a deep red eye colour.

A fledged juvenile Brown snake-eagle. The adult has dark brown overall appearance but in flight the underwing is silver grey. The juvenile has paler brown feathers and the edges of the feathers are paler and white giving it a scaly look. The head and breast often show white feathers bases.

Late in the afternoon, we travelled on S118 loop down near Malelane. It has several waterholes adjacent to the road. We found this Dark Chanting goshawk perched on a dead tree trunk scouring the area for any prey. This species is a tall, long-tailed, slaty-gray hawk with pink-orange legs and beak and the tip of its beak is black. The flight feathers and wing tips are dark on both the upper and under wings, creating a uniformly dark wing pattern in flight. By contrast, the Pale Chanting-Goshawk has pale inner flight feathers and dark wing tips, which creates a strongly contrasting wing pattern.

The sightings of mammals can be variable but you are always likely to see a wide variety of birds in Kruger. The sightings are affected by the weather. The birds are less active in cold and windy weather, as are the mammals. The wind can be an advantage when taking images of birds in flight. A bird flying into the wind will always fly slower making the photography easier. The birds of prey also seem to be disturbed by too much road traffic and they usually fly deeper into the bush so I prefer to stay off the main roads. Long lenses ensure that I can give most birds enough ‘fight-flight’ space, usually around 30 metres.

“Few can sojourn long within the unspoilt wilderness of a gam sanctuary surrounded on all sides by its confiding animals, without absorbing its atmosphere; the spirit of the wild is quick to assert supremacy, and no man of any sensibility can resist her.” ~ James Stevenson Hamilton

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at it interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike