Africa Wild

The plains around the waterhole are so large and seeing it covered with wildlife is impressive

I think that I agree with Alf

What a selection, Pumbaa!

Lovely buffalo, zebra and hyena shots...unusual to see predators at Shibyatsambamalela!

Interesting hyena behaviour you captured

Hyenas do what is called anal pasting. They do this by straddling a plant stem and then inching their way forwards so that the stem springs up and brushes against their anal gland. They project their anal gland outwards and secrete a paste onto the plant, the scent of which is a signal to other hyenas and sends all sorts of messages. The other hyenas here check it out.

Alf wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:40 am Maybe they smelled another animals marking for territory

Or either another hyena - At least it must have been the best perfume ever for the hyenas

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:32 pm The plains around the waterhole are so large and seeing it covered with wildlife is impressive

I think that I agree with Alf

It is amazing to see that great of different animals there

Richprins wrote: ↑Sun Mar 14, 2021 5:50 pm What a selection, Pumbaa!

Lovely buffalo, zebra and hyena shots...unusual to see predators at Shibyatsambamalela!

Totally right normally we either spot northing there or lots of zebras, ellies or impalas besides a couple of birds

Klipspringer wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:43 pm Interesting hyena behaviour you captured

Hyenas do what is called anal pasting. They do this by straddling a plant stem and then inching their way forwards so that the stem springs up and brushes against their anal gland. They project their anal gland outwards and secrete a paste onto the plant, the scent of which is a signal to other hyenas and sends all sorts of messages. The other hyenas here check it out.

It was interesting to watch and thanks for the information

We in fact could not describe their behaviour maybe not only the flowers smelled invitingly but maybe another smell of other animals onto these flowers as well





again we sometimes burst out into laughter by the faces the hyenas made



whilst sniffing on the flowers and obviously one hyena from the two others could also not understand that fuss about the flowers.



Timon was in his element and took shot after shot and again we were the whole time we spent with the hyenas totally alone with no other car around



and our two flower snufflers tested nearly each flower along that roadside





whilst the other hyenas watched the whole spectacle from a bit farer away.





Sorry again about the masses of pictures but it was again hard to choose some favourites as it was such a more than lovely time we spent with the hyenas.

After quite a while both lost interest in sniffing on the flowers



and all of them walked across the street and disappeared in the thick bush.



So we carried on and met during our further drive another brown snake eagle on a dead branch



and for sure stopped again at Grootvlei one of those hidden gems in Kruger. Needless to say that the dam was full of water and also full of hippos



and to our surprise we again met here a Kittlitz’s plover a bird we already saw one year ago at exactly the same spot.



The hippos used a tree trunk in the water as rubbing post and we also saw a lot of Egyptian goose and spoonbills a bit farer away



and many other water birds a bit closer.



We again had a great time we spent there and could have stayed even longer but the clock was ticking



but a stop at Nyawutsi hide is always a must when driving that road another hidden gem we only discovered two years ago.



Maybe not a classical bird hide but always worth a stop and we even spotted a woodland kingfisher there and after a nice break from driving there we carried on to stop for masses of carmine bee eaters





and for a black stork in the shade of one of the many causeways we had to cross along that road.



to be continued……….

Lots of great hyena shots