From Floods and Surprises in River beds

[Lisbeth]

There is even a Melba finch and a blue waxbill in the first pic of the hyena

Lovely giraffe pic

The Barn owl and the black-shouldered kite

[Mel]

Great shot of the plover! Same goes for the hippos "mouthing each other off"
And the black stork. I've always wanted to see one. Apparently there is a breeding pair at one of our ponds here.
But they are so secretive you barely get to see them. Only those hardcore birders who can afford to sit at the
hide the whole day

The giraffe shot - so typical cliché African. But equally pretty

[Pumbaa]

You always have such a varied selection, Pumbaa!

Never seen a barn owl, looks easy!

I LOVE the hyena with the bright finches, what a contrast!

That may be the Makambeni stream, always water there!

A long night indeed!

Unfortunately the shots of the finches did not come our as wished but you do have a good eye in spotting them

[Pumbaa]

A busy little waterhole!

A pity was that only one car fitted on the causeway

[Pumbaa]

There is even a Melba finch and a blue waxbill in the first pic of the hyena

Lovely giraffe pic

The Barn owl and the black-shouldered kite

Also a good eye to spot those finches Finally we found the barn owl

[Pumbaa]

Great shot of the plover! Same goes for the hippos "mouthing each other off"
And the black stork. I've always wanted to see one. Apparently there is a breeding pair at one of our ponds here.
But they are so secretive you barely get to see them. Only those hardcore birders who can afford to sit at the
hide the whole day

The giraffe shot - so typical cliché African. But equally pretty

I would not say that we are hardcore birders but we simply spend quite a while at ponds or even in our garden Totally right about that giraffe shot

[Pumbaa]

and a family of ground hornbills again in the shade of a tree.





Kudus were also around



as well as white crowned shrikes,



lots of European roller



and even a Jacobin cuckoo. At least along that road it was a bit more around and therefore we carried on and decided to drive back via the S129



at the end of that road nearly at the crossing with the S128 there is a small pond and today same was filled up nicely with water and we could trace white storks there,



noticed a lot of different vultures on the ground such as white headed,





and a sandpiper was foraging extreme close to where we parked.



Then we had again long distances we drove which were extreme quiet but due to the heat we anyway had not that high expectations but a lot of European bee eaters were around,

[Pumbaa]

as well as a larger group of warthogs who soon took over completely one of the larger ponds or wallows along that road





this group was indeed a bit shy but after we switched off our engine same more and more relaxed





and we were allowed to attend their group wallow.





Then it still got hotter and quieter again and only nearly at the end of the S128 we spotted an African cuckoo a bit hidden in a bush



and another Wahlberg eagle and after another short break at Lower Sabie



we made another stop at Sunset dam where now another black winged stilt could be observed extreme close to where we parked.





The wattled plover we saw already in the morning was now also close enough for a photo shooting



to be continued....

[Peter Betts]

Lovely Pics Pumbaa especially the African Cuckoo..hard to see let alone photograph ..Your White Headed Vultures are in fact Lappet Faced ..also a great pic

[Flutterby]

Warthogs are always fun to watch. Great pic of the cuckoo.