The Heat is on and the Lions as well

[Lisbeth]

Taking it easy and staying put for another day was an excellent idea. Kruger was not running away and you were not missing anything with the many birds around.

The trumpeter hornbills are very special

[Michele Nel]

Wow ...a feast for my eyes. All those birds....
I guess many of your bird sightings in February were migrants and I probably won't see them in October ????
Definitely hoping to see the scarlet sunbirds, Trumpeter Hornbills, Jacanas and Thick-billed Weavers. These are all birds that I have not seen very often.
Are your weavers in your first post Village Weavers ? And also the glossy starlings ...are they perhaps Greater Blue-eared Starlings? I went through my photos of Kruger taken in 2014 and 2015 and it seems my Glossy Starlings are in fact Greater Blu-eared Starlings.

Great photos Pumbaa and story telling .....looking forward to more . :)

[Richprins]

Catching up, Pumbaa!

So lovely to be on the next trip already!

And an extra day...I suspect it might happen again as it seemed so restful!

An awesome selection of birdies indeed, my favourites are the sunbirds and the starling twins.

That waterbuck cow looks skinny, but the bull magnificent!

Ja, it was hot and dry in February...

[Pumbaa]

Taking it easy and staying put for another day was an excellent idea. Kruger was not running away and you were not missing anything with the many birds around.

The trumpeter hornbills are very special

Exatly what we thought and it was afterwards the best thing we could do

[Pumbaa]

Wow ...a feast for my eyes. All those birds....
I guess many of your bird sightings in February were migrants and I probably won't see them in October ????
Definitely hoping to see the scarlet sunbirds, Trumpeter Hornbills, Jacanas and Thick-billed Weavers. These are all birds that I have not seen very often.
Are your weavers in your first post Village Weavers ? And also the glossy starlings ...are they perhaps Greater Blue-eared Starlings? I went through my photos of Kruger taken in 2014 and 2015 and it seems my Glossy Starlings are in fact Greater Blu-eared Starlings.

Great photos Pumbaa and story telling .....looking forward to more . :)

Thanks Michele - I really have no idea about bird sightings in October - Sorry and overall no idea whether the mentioned birds are migrants A regular spot for jacanas is definitely Lake Panic, Ntandanyathi hide, the Lower Sabie Causeway and everywhere where water lilies are around at least in February you can find them there

[Pumbaa]

Catching up, Pumbaa!

So lovely to be on the next trip already!

And an extra day...I suspect it might happen again as it seemed so restful!

An awesome selection of birdies indeed, my favourites are the sunbirds and the starling twins.

That waterbuck cow looks skinny, but the bull magnificent!

Ja, it was hot and dry in February...

I can get used to such an extra day in fact

[Pumbaa]

Finally also a couple of red collared barbets appeared as well



and they were quite good visible in the huge trees at the parking area.



After such a fruitful birding session we returned back to our bungalow only to tick the next bird specie from our list – a group of red faced mousebirds who landed in a bush



and also Mr. waterbuck was still around.



Meanwhile also the first elephant bulls now arrived at the edge above on the other side of the river



and the first one successfully managed to walk down the steep sand from the edge down to the river



and quenched his thirst.



Where one elephant is more are not far and now even a larger herd of elephants arrived still a bit hidden by bushes and trees but the first one peeped already through the dense vegetation



whereas other herds could not be seen due to the raised dust



finally same cleared and now we even noticed a couple of smaller calves in between them



and we again were over the moon whilst standing on the other side of the river on our veranda whilst having such fantastic sightings.

[Pumbaa]

Now the elephant spectacle even got topped as quite a few of them demonstrated again their different skills in sliding down the steep loose sand always so funny to watch and we never will be getting tired in capturing same.



The first group of elephants finally reached safe and sound the river and soon started to drink



whilst other elephants even needed a break whilst sliding down or moreover the sand was still lovely cool



and more and more elephants now united at the river.



Some even walked deeper in the water to cool down



whilst the first ones already had enough from the water and started to scale the steep sandy hillside again.



In between Timon simply had to photograph a black eyed bulbul close to where we stood



whilst meanwhile most of the elephants had trotted off already, however,



we still had something to admire as now once again the speckled mousebirds landed



in close by bushes and posed so nice for us.



to be continued…………………………

[Lisbeth]

Nice black-collared barbets

I love your elephants Is it the same slide as last year or was it the year before

Lots of mousebirds

[Pumbaa]

Nice black-collared barbets

I love your elephants Is it the same slide as last year or was it the year before

Lots of mousebirds

Yes, obviously the ellie slide and for sure I meant black collared barbet Sometimes my fingers are faster than my mind