D is for Dry, Dust Devils and Disappointed ( cont )
Another disappointment to us was our visit to Red Rocks. On our previous trip Red Rocks really delivered. The amount of little birds that we saw there was absolutely amazing. Cut-throat Finch, Cardinal Woodpecker, Sunbirds, Long-tailed Paradise - Whydah, Yellow-fronted Canary, Emerald Spotted Wood-Dove and Bee-eaters to name but a few. The surrounding veld had produced many birds as well…Tchagras, Green-winged Pytillia’s , Firefinches and Brubrus. I had really been looking forward to going to Red Rocks. I am sure my incessant jabbering about Red Rocks must have driven Rookie and Rob around the bend. Well talk about a disappointment..not a Firefinch or Cut-throat Finch in sight…not even a Whydah of any kind or a Canary. The drive to Red Rocks was just as disappointing. The sum total of the birds that we saw were a Green-backed Heron, Barn Swallows and White-fronted Bee-eaters. On the plus side there were many many White-fronted Bee-eaters..so I have many many many many photos of White-fronted Bee-eaters.
Another tick for Birds Captured 2015
Another real disappointment was our visit to Lake Panic… another one of my favourite places and once my jabbering about Red Rocks ceased my jabbering about Lake Panic took over. We visited in the afternoon as the light is apparently better for photography then..well we arrived there in the worst light ever as the skies were thick with rain clouds and it even started to drizzle. But those raindrops were sorely needed so even though we were disappointed in the sightings we were elated at the prospect of rain.
I did however manage a photo of a Squacco Heron ( only our second sighting of one) and a Malachite Kingfisher
Dust..well of course if the veld is dry, understandably it is going to be dusty as well. Well there was no shortage in the dust department. Rob was constantly dusting the interior of the car down but it made no real difference. What always amazes me though are what I call "Dust Devils”…..whirlwinds of dust that seem to appear from nowhere, spot where you are parked, change direction and head straight for you, give you a few seconds (if you are lucky) to close your windows and leave you wondering what the hell had happened…
We witnessed a few of those but there was one in particular that was really huge but for a changed missed us but totally obliterated our view of the waterhole. Here we were just sitting and watching a Bateleur drinking. Zebra were approaching the waterhole and we were hoping that the Bateleur would take off and we would get award winning photos of a Bateleur in flight.
Well the only photos I got were these….
And they certainly aren’t award winning….and the Bateleur never did take off …. But the Dust Devil continued on its merry little way..probably looking for some other poor tourists to terrorise.
But yes these dry dusty disappointments were just minor events and it really just goes to show how unpredictable nature really is and I guess if one wants to see the same things in the same place, time and time again, one should visit a Zoo…and I ain’t doing that.
re the Croc photos on the front page of the Laevelder...must admit I am quite chuffed with the article. :)
never seen 
