When small Streams turn into Rivers

[Richprins]

What a selection, Pumbaa!

Sitting by the dam at B&D is very pleasant!

How odd the woodpecker bothering the bats...

Lovely bird sightings, Retz are common at Marloth for some reason.

[RogerFraser]

Lovely selection of birds Pumba .Love the woodpecker and cuckoo .

[ExFmem]

I always enjoy your photos, so thanks for this TT as well as all the others. As I always say, I love your bird pics and see so many species I have never seen before. Though I prefer KTP, your tales do make me miss the incredible variety of animals Kruger offers. Again, and keep 'em coming!

[Pumbaa]

super serie of nice birds... my preferred... THE Ret'z

We were sooooo happy to finally spot one

[Pumbaa]

Great sigting of the buffalos. When the herds are that big, there is always something to observe

A "handsome" monitor? A monitor can be a lot of things, but "handsome" is not an adjective that I'd use

What a lot of lovely birds Bennet's woodpecker and the Retz' strike

The crested barbet is one of my preferred birds

I don't know why, but I always find that the Parrots are out of place in Kruger

Maybe you are right with the parrots but nevertheless they are always entertaining and love all the monitors they simply do fascinate me

[Pumbaa]

What a selection, Pumbaa!

Sitting by the dam at B&D is very pleasant!

How odd the woodpecker bothering the bats...

Lovely bird sightings, Retz are common at Marloth for some reason.

We had a good laugh about the woodpecker / bat encounter A pity that the Retz is a rarer bird in Kruger at least for us

[Pumbaa]

Lovely selection of birds Pumba .Love the woodpecker and cuckoo .

The variety of birds in camp that day was simply incredible We were over the moon

[Pumbaa]

I always enjoy your photos, so thanks for this TT as well as all the others. As I always say, I love your bird pics and see so many species I have never seen before. Though I prefer KTP, your tales do make me miss the incredible variety of animals Kruger offers. Again, and keep 'em coming!

Yes, that is what fascinates us that much from Kruger in summer the variety of animals and then these many different birdies

[Pumbaa]

Meanwhile we nearly reached the end of the trail and there we noticed another green-backed heron,



a couple of pied kingfishers



and had to capture the dam wall again as it was simply too fascinating to watch the water overflowing same



and enjoyed once again the view.



On our walk back we nearly overlooked the more than impressive crocodile.



When it comes to different bird species this was in fact one of the best bird hunt we ever had whilst strolling through a camp on the lookout for birds. We took now a longer break and only left camp around 16.00 o’clock and after a couple of impalas here and there only at the end of the S110 we discovered a black bellied korhaan in the thick grass.





After we turned into the H3 we noted a couple of cars and one passenger told us: “A leopard just crossed the street” again bad luck for us as same stayed invisible so we continued and stopped again on the Matjulu bridge where now the white breasted cormorant moved a bit closer,



also one of the many egrets we already saw there could be seen as well



and after a while even a group of waterbucks arrived to quench their thirst. It was simply such an idyllic spot with the lower water level.

[Pumbaa]

As we only left camp that late we already turned around and were lucky to capture a black shouldered kite



and simply had to stop for a mountain view before we returned back to camp.



We soon lit the braai and were busy inside the bungalow when I heard a strange rustling and then I noticed two vervets out of which one had already grabbed one of our potatoes from the braai. Timon was outside like a flash and even got hold of the potato so this time we won and after we put the potatoes back on the braai we stayed outside and enjoyed another delicious braai and luckily it stayed dry that evening.

Tuesday, 14 February 2023 – Berg en Dal

Explored roads: S110 – H3 – S110 – H3 – S110

Unfortunately it was after we enjoyed our first coffee still extreme dark today and even dark grey clouds started to endark the sky so the light was not perfect when we stopped for a brown snake eagle



with a snake for breakfast



whilst the rest of our drive was dead quiet until we again stopped on the bridge across the Matjulu where today a group of waterbuck males



just arrived to take a morning drink and it was once again such a peaceful scene at the riverbank.



For sure one of the great white egrets was around as well and now posing nicely from on top of a tree



whilst the waterbucks were still present as well



and it was so nice simply to watch their activities.



After a while we continued and were surprised by a crowd of cars, however, without seeing anything so we were about to continue when a friendly woman driving an OSV informed us that there will be lions coming up we shall not drive that far so we squeezed the car in one of the gaps we found between the other cars and waited altogether. Luckily we in fact waited not that long and one lioness appeared



unfortunately the minute she arrived another car also arrived and blocked the view so we got only a few shots before she crossed the street and disappeared here in the thick vegetation.



to be continued........................