Dog Day Afternoons.

[Mel]

Lovely scenery photos, but the shot of you suggests that it wasn't THAT warm
In fact, it must have been cold, cause you're Welsh and I remember people from the island
being rather lightly dressed when I was still wearing my scarves

[Dewi]

Thank you Pumbaa & Mel.

Pumbaa - The good thing about loosing track is that there are usually lots of pics to catch up on. That Pel's was a real highlight for us.

Mel - It was not cold in the polar sense of the word, but you know what it's like in the pre-dawn and the hour just after dawn, especially when motoring upriver with no cover in the boat. We peeled layers off like onions as it got gradually warmer.

[Dewi]

Other birds seen on the boat trip included giant kingfishers.



African green pigeon.



And African darters. Lots of them.







African jacana.



It was also great to see lots of new species, most of which I failed to get photos of.

Brown firefinch, pygmy goose, chirping cisticola & greater swamp warbler being the ones I failed on with my camera (I did get pics of two of them, but they are either hidden behind reeds or blurred ).

The two I did manage were swamp boubou...



and coppery-tailed coucal.





But sometimes it's not the new birds that wow. It's the little gems that you get to see that leave an impression on your mind.

[Lisbeth]

The little bee-eaters are sooooooo pretty sitting on that kind of palm "branch" Also the giant kingfishers are lovely. Normally one only sees one at a time

[nan]

wow Coppery-tailed Coucal and adorable Bee-Eaters
and of course the Kingfishers

[Mel]

Coppery-tailed coucal.... I didnt even know those existed and they look rather simalar to the ordinary ones
At least to my eye

[Dewi]

Thanks for commenting Lis, Nan & Mel.

[Dewi]

We left Drotsky's early the next day and headed south to Maun, then back East to Dijara where we would spend our last few nights camping in the wild. I'm moving on now though to a sighting that we saw on the roadside in Rakops as we headed back South as I want to end this TT in Dijara.

As we were driving through the outskirts of Rakops, we noticed some vultures coming down to land near the roadside up ahead. As we pulled over onto the verge, we saw a venue of vultures on a horse carcasse with lots more coming into the feast.

Incoming.



Checking that the coast was clear before dropping in.





Diving in head first to get a choice tidbit.



Kicking up dust in the scramble for a bite.



Those that had eaten were waiting to go in again.



Showing a bit of force.



Elbowing a way in.



Table manners.



"I've got your back mate."



Other travellers noticed us stopped, taking photos, so they also pulled over to watch the spectacle. I have quite a few pics of this sighting, so bear with me as it gets better when one of the local bullies jumps into the fray.

[nan]

always big fight and noises at these sightings... very interesting

[Lisbeth]

What a mess of vultures There is quite a lot of them