Africa Wild

so.........................

after the weir i headed off along the great north road...

these hyenae are part of a den which is about 2 k's from sunset dam

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and a short distance from there

i landed up behind the sanparks morning drive

who seemed to be chasing this big fella down the road

cause the faster he ran the faster they drove...
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until he stopped to mark off his territory on a few roadside bushes.
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back at the dam

a croc was cruising along ....
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before taking up his position in the sun

like a security guard at a municipal building.....
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with the croc out of the water

these two yearlings felt it was safe enough to have a drink in a nearby pool
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back at the weir the crocs were just lying around

and smiling at the prospect of a good feast ......
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while this terrapin was exercising on an airmill

(like a treadmill.. but in the air)
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so...........

i turned my attention to the birds in the vicinity.
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a while later

there was some action in the water



but it turned out to be a tiff amongst the diners

'cause one guy was queue hopping....

here is an interesting link on queue hopping......
http://letterfromthenetherlands.blogspo ... h-way.html










one successful queue hopper

had managed to maneuver his way to the posterior of the hippo

and had a firm grip on the propeller......

(that is what a blonde girlfriend of mine thought it was when she witnessed a hippo spreading his dung all over the place in shallow water)


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and he gave a couple of hard tugs on the thing

in an attempt to dislodge some of the flesh

it was amusing to see how,

when he tugged on the tail,

he closed his eyes every time........


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eventually he seemed to tear off a chunk and gulp it down
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Amoli wrote:Super narration and pics of Crocs...

Beautiful pics of the pied wagtail (?) and reflection

thanks amoli...

pied wagtail indeed...the shadow as well..............

so .................................

i took a quick drive up the h10 and

i "bumped into" my old friend for the 3rd time this trip.

took some time to watch how precise he can be with his trunk

while peeling the bark off the branch.....
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the other hippo was still lying in the rapids.....

his 3rd day there.
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this kingfisher was very active at the weir.......

so much so that i have 3 more compilations like this one.....

i hope the greenies with "slow connections" can view this file.....
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Lisbeth wrote:Great video of the kingfisher

Flutterby wrote:
Lovely video of the kingfisher!!

hi lisbeth and flutters.

thanks for the comments.

that "video" is actually a compilation of 12 separate photgraphs....

Richprins wrote:
Did you know the pied kingfishers are the only ones that can hover like that!?

i don't know if that is entirely true.

not according to http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/12/co ... ering.html

so .....

while at nthandanyathi

i caught a glimpse of this green-backed heron
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and back out on the s 28

an anxious looking eagle
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a martial looking for lunch
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a korhaan hiding from the martial
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an egret on the lookout
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there is a little pool of water next to the road

at the southern end of the s28 ...

these two ladies were quenching their thirst

(i believe that they are ladies because they only have two "warts" and their "whiskers" seem to be quite long)
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just up the road from the hide

these two "vlakvarke" came hurtling past exhibiting the typical

antenna tail style of running....

(i am told that the afrikaans name vlakvark means pig of the plains - vlaktes")
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i stopped to watch this guy on his "knees" ( actually his wrists)

scratching about

a good view of his upper and lower tusks ( which i believe are called tushes)
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this old man has lost one of his upper tushes

but, we can see how he uses his snout to dig in the dirt....
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so...................

back at the weir....
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my initial question was...

who had the ability

to remove the tender parts of the face

they say that the cheeks are always a delicacy.....
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but the rest of the hippo

had become the focus of attention

of a gathering of crocodiles

(and one frustrated vulture.... )

who were tossing back the meagre morsels ..........
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so...................

my last sunny day at the weir.





the pied kingfisher kept me busy
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and a fish eagle flapping about overhead
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Utterly remarkable stuff, leachy!


Interesting how the fly maggots at the carcass hang around on the rocks...

I think fish, mostly barbel, would do the finer cleaning up of the exposed skull there, along with the maggots!

Difficult bird shots there!

so...................

it was overcast and raining ......

and it was time to go....




one last visit to see the hippo

who must have had a restless night

tossing and turning in his sleep....

lost a bit of weight as well...





then that crazy woman



who stood 3 cars away from the

lion on the weir to get a good photo.....




on the way out

this senegal lapwing

(now i see why it is called a lapwing)

kept me entertained during its daily ablutions..


















then the sun came out


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and i went home.........