In Search of Some Good "Spots"

Post by **Ratel** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:13 am

Flutterby wrote:Not fair!!! We've been looking for the white lion for ages and you spot him first time round!! Only joking ...what a great sighting!!

And lovely birds too! Never seen a Harlequin Quail in Kruger...very nice! $\O$

Really sorry you haven't found the white Lion yet Flutterby. He has been seen on that stretch of the S41 north of the S100 quite regularly this winter. We looked for him again the next day but missed him by a few hours. I am not sure how much longer he will remain with the pride though, he is a big boy now.

Post by **Ratel** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:15 am

Thanks crew for following along and for the nice comments, particularly on the bird photos. Lyca took most of those so I have passed on your complements!

Just preparing the pics for the next installment...

Post by **Ratel** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:57 am

While watching the Lions Lyca spotted a trio of Ground Hornbills on the opposite side of the road. I joked that she was probably the only person there who saw them!

Since there was not going to be much more action from the Lions and we were starving hungry, we made the decision to make our way to N'wanetsi picnic site. Breakfast was doubly satisfying! The view from the lookout was beautiful and we enjoyed how confiding the resident Rainbow Skinks were. I tried desperately to spot a Leopard in the tree on the far side of the waterhole but failed miserably! Down in the water a Crocodile was finishing off its breakfast but it was too far away for pictures or video.

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Since it was now 10.45 we decided to head directly back to camp on the H6 and H1-3. Other than a Brown Snake Eagle pair at Shishangani and a couple of White-backed Vulture nests there wasn't much interest so we made few stops.

At camp we booked another night drive, reassuring ourselves that it couldn't be any worse than last night, grabbed a pizza for lunch, tried in vain to find the resident Scops Owl (which I had stupidly guaranteed we would see this trip!), and then did some general birding around the grounds. A few more species were added to the trip list, and Lyca managed this nice shot of a Greater Blue-eared Starling at a dripping tap.

Post by **Ratel** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 10:30 am

The best road for cat sightings that day had again been the H1-4 north of the S90, so at 3.30pm we headed out the Satara gate and turned left. A few kilometres from camp a roller caught our eye and seemed to warrant closer inspection. Good thing we checked, as it was our first Purple Roller of the trip. $\O$

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The drive turned out to be a good one for Elephants. First up was a female just north of the S90 sporting a nice set of tusks....

...and later this one applying its makeup!!

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I carefully positioned the car for Lyca to capture this very close LBR.

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2km north of the S90 we found a couple of cars parked off, their occupants staring intently to the east. As we slowly approached we wondered what on earth they were looking at?

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To be continued...

Post by **Lisbeth** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 2:55 pm

Great pic of the skink ( the whole tail in the frame

)

The female ellie has a pair of very long tusks

I cannot make out what the mystery sighting is

Post by **Flutterby** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:39 pm

Nice tusks on that ellie, I wonder if Aat knows her.

I like your roller pics!

Is that a tail in the grass?

Post by **Bushcraft** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 3:48 pm

I agree with sitting back and enjoying the sightings when one first enters $O/\$

Surprising to see the giraffe cruise so close to the sleeping lion.

Pity about the chow and night drive, but both a very hit and miss at Satara.

Great to get junior hyenas out their den. $O\/$ $O\/$

“Space chickens”

, I will have to quote you on that

That lone buffalo seemed to have a pelican

You got “snow white”

He’s not looking that wonderful and is soon going to get booted out of the pride

I see what looks like a tail in the grass

Post by **Richprins** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 6:01 pm

Ja, Lion tail!

Very good this again, Ratel, a nice mix!

You should put the ellie lady on aat's thread, he does women too! $\O$

https://africawild-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=243&t=503

What a great view always at Nwanetsi!

Post by **Pumbaa** » Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:41 pm

Love you roller shots, ratel,

plus the N'wanetsi look out always worth to take that look down - Sigh

Post by **Ratel** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 3:17 am

Well done RP, BC and FB!! In the last shot Lyca just managed to catch the flick of the Lion's tail. That's all we could see of them, yet there were still cars waiting patiently for something to happen. Funny how Lions have that effect on people.

Later in the trip on the H4-1 we caused a mini-roadblock while trying to ID a Goshawk that was moulting into adult plumage. More enjoyable than the nice raptor sighting was watching the faces in all the other cars that stopped around us as they realised what we were looking at!

I guess at 5pm on the H4-1 everyone is thinking about Leopards not Goshawks?

Good to have you on board BC. $\O$ I promise the next day will be more to your liking!

You are right about the white Lion, he is looking a bit ragged. I think he has a tough future ahead of him but I hope he does OK.

Pumbaa for us Rollers are one of the iconic sights of the African bush since we don't have any in Australia, so photographing their beautiful colours is a must! Glad you enjoyed the photos.

Lisbeth, we get lots of practice photographing lizards here in the Australian outback.

Can you see the Lion tail now??

Africa Wild

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