Africa Wild

Speaking of snoozers

The drive to Grootkolk was quiet, and I feel one of the main reasons for that was the lack of water at many of the waterholes. There were only FOUR with water all the way from Nossob to Union's End (< 50%) - Kousant, Polentswa, Geinab, and U.End.

We asked about the situation when we checked in at Grootkolk, and were told that one of the other couples staying there was a lady who was a financial officer of some sort at SanParks and she was extremely dismayed and angry over this issue and was going to raise a ruckus upon her return to work.

There were more with water, or at least some different ones, on our way back to Nossob, but the unpredictability severely limited our choices of routes to drive, not only out of Grootkolk, but Nossob as well, the 3 days we were at that camp. You drive for an hour or so only to find a dry concrete container and very perplexed/stressed animals, if any at all.

Polentswa waterhole had lots of birds coming and going and it was fun to sit there for awhile watching the activity.









Bateleur Eagle





Lanner Falcon





My first Booted Eagle










Tawny Eagle

We saw fewer lions this trip than before, and I don't usually take pics of those just lying around, but this one picked a scenic area to rest.

Having trouble w/ TinyPics so will try again later....

Wonderful bird photos

Beautiful Bird photos ..Those waterholes have timers ...so if a large herd of say Eland arrived during the night ..They would have soaked up the water leaving it empty until the pump started again at the preset time ..That's what we were told in April by the Section Ranger at Twee Rivieren when I popped into his office

What exquisite pics, Ex!

What are those little birds in the first pic?

The booted eagle is magnificent!


Interesting about the water. As always, one struggles to get the true story...

Stunning pics as usual!!

I love the queleas/finches among the yellow flowers

Someone else somewhere has mentioned the waterhole issue. There are already few roads in KTP, if the waterholes are empty you can just as well forget about it

The insect next to the booted eagle fascinates me

Great raptor pics

Richprins wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 7:36 am What exquisite pics, Ex!

What are those little birds in the first pic?

Those little Birdies are Red Headed Finches ...

Peter!

TinyPics is behaving now, so will finish the entry

Thanks for all the bird pic compliments harrys, Peter Betts (unlike your pics, if you click on mine you will be sorely disappointed ), RP, Flutts, and Sis (yep, I like the wasp in the Booted Eagle pic as well).

Interesting info. about the timers on the waterholes, but makes sense. I just feel sorry for the poor thirsty animals that have walked in the heat for a drink, only to realize they must continue walking even more kilometers, and may even not find water there.