Africa Wild

Flutterby wrote:I've often seen ellies with grass/branches on their heads...I wonder why?

Lovely pics again Pumbaa!

I always do find it funny and lovely to photograph when they do wear such head gear

Mel wrote:Your ellie with the beautiful headgear is very, very cute
But of course, the little crossing the road is just as sweet

And again, lots of great bird sightings and photos

Baby ellies are always cute and interesting to watch when protected by mom or the whole herd

For sure also lots of zebra herds were around as well



and as always some of them were fighting between each other as well but we soon



returned back with our camera to a mother and her little one as the interaction between them was simply too cute



and on our further way back to camp we then only met a couple of elephant bulls.



Unfortunately it was a quiet morning so far so consequently we were already far early back in camp for a small break but as it was still bearable temperature wise we did not stay too long and soon decided to drive also another detour via the H6, S41 and S100 but whilst in camp we for sure looked for the scops owl and made a find as same was sitting in its favourite tree close to the toilets in the reception area.



It took us quite a while to capture same the right manner as it was in fact difficult to locate same in the thick vegetation at least it was a sleepy little owl but we were extreme happy to having seen it.



After our short break our car needed also something to drink and whilst waiting to get filled up I noticed an extreme colourful melba finch on the ground



searching for some seeds – Unfortunately we only noticed later the pipe in the background but we were also here happy to capture this bird as well as they in fact do not come across that often.

Also our drive along the H6 continued extreme quiet but at least the grass along this road was by far not that high as along nearly all the other remaining roads in that area. We came across more elephants



which could be found here again in quite large groups as we still remember last year during the drought only sporadically elephant bulls could be seen here.





Large herds of wildebeests were hanging around on the roadside



and at Sonop waterhole a couple of giraffes gathered to quench their thirst



and abusing a dead branch as scratch help



and it took not long until we spotted more elephants and giraffes.





to be continued....

Nice the muddy socks that the zebra wear, Pumbaa!

Those melbas are difficult to photograph so nicely!

Lovely pics of the finch - never seen one of those before!

Love that Melba finch... what a pretty colourful bird

The owl was not really forthcoming, keeping its eyes shut tight

Also, that first photo of the zebbie series is quite special. I like how mum shows her affection and protection

Richprins wrote:Nice the muddy socks that the zebra wear, Pumbaa!

Those melbas are difficult to photograph so nicely!

Always love their muddy socks

Flutterby wrote:Lovely pics of the finch - never seen one of those before!

They are such colourful and beautiful birds - I guess it was also only the second time for us

Mel wrote:Love that Melba finch... what a pretty colourful bird

The owl was not really forthcoming, keeping its eyes shut tight

Also, that first photo of the zebbie series is quite special. I like how mum shows her affection and protection

We can photograph zebras for hours - Always so much interaction