Enjoying The Kruger Without Staying In The Park

[Flutterby]

Lovely tusks on that ellie , and nice variety of birds.

[Pumbaa]

And again a lot of fantastic raptor shots, Lisbeth,

plus quite huge ellies, a buffalo and a steenbok

[Klipspringer]

I love the Tawny eagle They are lazy birds very often stealing from other predators, but sometimes they hunt by themselves

[RogerFraser]

Love the Ellies meeting up . Bateleur always a favorite with the family .The ellie in the distance ellie looks at least to be an upcoming tusker

[Mel]

Watching elephants meeting up is always rewarding to watch

There are some really nice bateleur shots - my favourite is the last one of the lot

And that greenshank and the roller are well captured too

[Dzombo]

IMG_2875 - Copia.JPG

These are Barn Swallows.
Not really unusual for them to do this.
Saw it many times in March.

No idea why they do it. Maybe the like the clear grassless area on the ground?

[Lisbeth]

Lis!
That is a tusker, I'm sure!
Which windmill is that broken one?

The tusks were thick but rather short. I must have a look at Aat's website
I have come to the conclusion that the broken cement trough is Jumbo waterhole.

Lovely tusks on that ellie , and nice variety of birds.

And again a lot of fantastic raptor shots, Lisbeth,
plus quite huge ellies, a buffalo and a steenbok

The raptors are "fantastic", the shots less

I love the Tawny eagle They are lazy birds very often stealing from other predators, but sometimes they hunt by themselves

Maybe a sign of intelligence

Love the Ellies meeting up . Bateleur always a favorite with the family .The ellie in the distance ellie looks at least to be an upcoming tusker

The colours of the bateleurs are very pretty.

Watching elephants meeting up is always rewarding to watch

There are some really nice bateleur shots - my favourite is the last one of the lot

And that greenshank and the roller are well captured too

The last photo is at least a decent one Mel!

IMG_2875 - Copia.JPG

These are Barn Swallows.
Not really unusual for them to do this.
Saw it many times in March.

No idea why they do it. Maybe the like the clear grassless area on the ground?

I would like to know why

That concrete dam looks as he is screaming for maintenance
Love the bateleur pictures

Poor squirrel

Yes, that dam looks as it could break soon

[Lisbeth]

The destination is Engelhard Dam!

First stop Sable Dam. On the way the only Dark Chanting Goshawk that I saw and of course faaar away and a Bateleur

At the dam a lovely family of Egyptian Geese running from here to there as geese do

Further on a Yellow-billed Kite

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Another try

A Sabota lark or two singing delightfully

A Knob thorn tree.

The usual view from the Letaba Restaurant waiting for a bite of lunch

With only a Goliath Heron in the distance

[Lisbeth]

Along the river on the H1-6 walking on the opposite shore, of course , a Waterbuck lady with her offspring

En passant a White-Fronted Bea-Eater

View on the river

Just before the bridge, there is a small loop (45) where you can often see lots of water birds and today also Impalas.

And from the bridge I could see a lot of African Openbills spread out

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[Lisbeth]

I turned unto the S62 direction Engelhard Dam.
There was nothing until I arrived at the Matambeni Hide and also there only a couple of Pied Kingfishers

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A rock formation

and still the same kingfishers , which sometimes took a dip, but never caught anything to my knowledge

A Great Heron (breeding)

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The river with hippos

Backlightning

At the entrance to the hide and good to know

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Outside the hide to the right a Fish-Eagle had arrived

On the left-hand side a Yellow-billed Stork. I wonder if sitting on the heels are their way of resting

On the next little road going towards the water I found the Tomb stone of Christine Ledeboer’s grave

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(Imagine being dressed like that in the Kruger )

Leonard Henry Ledeboer came from Holland as a young man in 1888. He hunted elephants with such well-known characters as Frederick Courtney Selous. Another place of recent historical interest is Ranger Ledeboer's quarters. In 1919, he became one of the early rangers of the future Kruger National Park, and later relieved "Ou Kat" Coetser at Satara. He retired to Letsitele, where he ran a small store.
His second wife, Anna Maria Christina Ledeboer (née Bindemann) is buried just west of the confluence between the Letaba River and the Makhadzi Spruit. Mrs Ledeboer apparently died unexpectedly of a heart attack or of malaria.

The grave is at the end of the 3rd turn off on the S62.