Africa Wild

A very exciting dinner party with uninvited guests The black mambo looks quite big

IMO it is a Greater blue-eared starling.

Whoa!! Genet vs Black Mamba! What a special sighting.

Thanks too for the imagery of the Genet poo rolling down the roof and onto the dinner table.

Dewi says this is a steppe buzzard, probably, Pumbaa!

nan wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 12:09 am wow Black Mamba and Genet

super interaction

It was one of those thrilling evenings

Richprins wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:28 am How incredible, Pumbaa!

How close were you to the snake?

Yes, the roads are limited around B&D, one of its only drawbacks...

We were all the time about 5 m and more away from the Mamba

Flutterby wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:06 am Amazing interaction between the genet and black mamba! I don't know if I would have hung around though!

I only held the torch shotly and after a quick look onto same I walked back to our verandah - Our neighbour came also closer so Timon was not alone

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Fri Apr 20, 2018 10:33 am A very exciting dinner party with uninvited guests The black mambo looks quite big

IMO it is a Greater blue-eared starling.

Might be right with the starling id It was a huge mamba indeed - The biggest we have ever seen

Ratel wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:14 am Whoa!! Genet vs Black Mamba! What a special sighting.

Thanks too for the imagery of the Genet poo rolling down the roof and onto the dinner table.

Always one of those stories to tell but imagine the poo would have landed in one of our glasses

Flutterby wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:36 am

Richprins wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 8:59 am

Gladly same only landed on the table itself and we could throw it down on the grass

Richprins wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:15 pm

Dewi says this is a steppe buzzard, probably, Pumbaa!

That was my finding as well - Thanks for the help

We today turned into S114 where we came across giraffes,



more egrets,



a cinnamon breasted bunting,



a group on marabous on the ground



as well as a beautiful and colourful lilac breasted roller



and we then stood again on the causeway between the S114 and S118 but today no leopard was around but at the waterhole right on the other side of the causeway we could already see zebras and impalas as well as a tawny in flight



and a bit later also a juvenile bateleur in flight could be captured.



The waterhole itself was highly frequented by lots of zebras





and even one warthog after the other appeared as well on the scene



and they started to quench their thirst jointly whilst the zebras allowed a lot of lovely close ups





and we again had a great time in simply sitting and watching and let the animals come to entertain us.

We spotted a few European bee eaters in the distance and were happy to observe a rhino cow together with her nearly fully grown calf coming steadily closer



At another waterhole we saw a lot of impalas



and also their oxpeckers were not far.



We positioned ourselves again at the waterhole and after the impalas were gone their way we noticed a giraffe as well who also wanted to take a drink



I love also the terrapins taking a sunbath at the brim of the waterhole



and we were already on our way to carry on when we noticed a huge rhino bull appearing on the scene as well and also the rhino calf with her older calf nearly arrived at the same time the vicinity of the waterhole.



A driver from the Lukimbi Safari Lodge was a bit eager and drove to close to the rhino bull and so same started to put up a fuss and attacked the car with a loud snort – The driver got the fright of his life but could escape the scene whilst we already parked in an appropriate distance but normally we are not used to such behaviour of the rhino bulls in the park as they are normally totally calm and relaxed.

The cow and her calf also did not trust the situation and first inspected the pontoon on the other side of the road whilst the bull walked straight to the waterhole



and it took quite a while until they decided to walk in slow motion into the direction of the waterhole and whilst we drove a bit backwards they were convinced to near finally the waterhole.



All three were quite massive and the bull already from the beginning made some strange noise which we so far never heard before but we already thought he must have been very much interested in the cow and started to near her intrusively and





Whilst observing them closer we also noted that she was wearing a collar on her feet.



to be continued.....

The zebras look as if the have just come out from a car wash

Another great rhino sighting