Joyride with the Bateleurs *

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Pumbaa
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Joyride with the Bateleurs *

Post by Pumbaa »

Friday, 8th February, 2013 – Berg en Dal

Somehow but true we managed to be finally back and besides our colds and bronchitis we both caught prior to our departure everything else went more than well and finally we were standing on the bridge over the Crocodile River close to Malelane Gate and simply breathed and sighed. We spotted our first impalas and many hippos in and outside the water.

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We arrived that early as never before at the gate and gladly same was nearly empty for a Friday afternoon and the obligatory check in took only a couple of minutes and whilst I was busy in doing the necessary paperwork Timon started already in snapping away and the first victim was a very patient drongo sitting on one of the cacti

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and finally after a drought of nearly one year the boom opened and we were back and had still 16 nights in the park ahead of us out of which we wanted to make the most. We were greeted by the many European bee eaters and noisy banana birds whilst in the background the calls of the woodland kingfishers could be heard and soon when one had finished its call the next one started again and so on – Sigh!

Soon a group of impalas came into sight

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followed by some warthogs

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as well as crowned plovers and lots of magpie shrikes.

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The turn off to Matjulu waterhole came into sight and although we drove already a lot with nearly no sleep the prior night in the airplane we could not resist in not making a short detour via this loop. In the beginning you had to drive via steep curves up and down and the only recently heavy rainfall was still visible and in the downs sometimes water was still standing and had to be crossed and also the one or two low water bridges which had to be crossed still were washed by water and whilst driving up again you simply had to be careful as parts of the road were still missing or washed out and still an incomprehensible amount of water was still coming from nearly everywhere and lots of areas in the park where still covered by huge puddles and drying mud – but all the “negative” things do also have positive things as the park was amazingly lush and green and simply beautiful

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At Matjulu waterhole itself a group of zebras had already left, however, hundreds of European swallows as well as White fronted bee eaters were buzzing round only meters away from the ground catching insects which is also one of the advantage of a wet summer.

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Whilst we arrived there some jokers obviously mend they were cool whilst climbing out of their car and having a closer look – Gladly birds were not on their interest list and they soon drove off and let us alone together with our feathered friends and you just had to wait as they all came back. This pin tailed whydah landed only centimetres from where we stood

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and was more than willing to pose nicely

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and also some fluff balls landed close by and wanted to be captured

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Also some other cars drove by but nearly turned around the minute they arrived and so luckily for us the bee eaters came back in continuing their dust bath which they had to interrupt because of the arriving cars

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A highlight for us was that a sunbird – one of my most wanted to be seen birds – landed on a flower close by but before Timon had the camera in position same flew already away – this procedure took place a couple of times but we did not manage to get a picture and so it was impossible to identify this beautiful bird.

However, the pin-tailed whydah was again back and landed close to our car on the ground searching for some dinner in form of grass seeds and also the bee eaters came back and continued like mad their sand bath.

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We decided that we will return the next evening again and so we said good-bye and drove back to camp.

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The check in as well as renewal of my Wild Card were done in no minutes and I got the key to bungalow No. 39, however, same did not fit and only after shacking on the door we realized that we got the wrong key in our hands although No.39 was clearly marked on the tag – We had no alternative to return to camp and soon the lady from the reception gave me another key for no. 39 and finally we could move in – Normally in fact I have no problem in returning to reception to claim for another key but that evening I was in fact a bit tired and simply wanted to relax.

The bungalow in fact had no view – simply because the bush was so dense – same was indeed located right at the fence but the privacy offered was a great advantage – Timon got the braai going and we soon already repacked our luggage and the just bought food so that we would not waste any time the next morning. Needless to say that we slept like logs that night but were ready for new adventures the next morning.

Saturday, 09. February 2013 – Berg en Dal

What a feeling it was to awoke in our beloved bush the next morning – Sigh! – and needless to say that the morning coffee tasted much more better. During our first full day in the park we always do start on the Matjulu loop and so it was today. Whilst heading forward we met a very skittish and very agitated hyaena who was always on the run and due to the poor daylight at that early hour only blurred pictures came out – the hyaenas, however, were good to us this year and we had later during that trip enough time for extensive photo sessions with them. We found that early morning, however, other victims who were willing to pose for example the ever present impalas

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and I simply could not resist in taking one of these typical Berg-en-Dal impressions – it was feeling far too good to be back

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to be continued with stripes, more birdies and the painted ones...........


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JustN@ture
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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by JustN@ture »

Great start Pumbaa \O \O
love the whydah and bee eaters ^Q^ ^Q^
0() 0()


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by flying cheetah »

That problem with the wrong key sounds very familiar to me. Last december I arrived at Croc Bridge at around 3pm and of course wanted to check in as quick as possible and get on a drive again. So I got my keys, brought all my stuff to the Verandah of the bungalow and then realized that they gave me the wrong key 0*\ As you know the monkexs in Croc Bridge I had to bring everything back to the car and then walk back to reception. But one hour later I was back on the road O-/
I also know the feeling to stand on the bridge in front of the gate after a long flight and drive from the airport. Last year it took me 45 minutes before I was able to leave there and enter the park (and five minutes later I saw my first leopard). When you stand on this bridge you can actually feel that your batteries reload again and you have arrived in another world..
Nice start with beautiful birds ^Q^ ^Q^


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by Pumbaa »

Thanks so much Leachy, Dewi, Mel, harrys, Bushcraft, Flutterby, Richprins, BluTuna, Hawkeyes, JastNature and flying cheetah for your overwhelming comments X#X \O O/\

That even makes continuing a bit more easier ^Q^

Will also try to catch up with a couple of trip reports you wrote as soon as time permits O/\ O/\ O/\


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by Pumbaa »

and we also met two extreme sleepy rhinos

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who were not willing to even raise an eyebrow – it was still far too early.

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several herds of zebras were up and around and it was once again more than a pleasure to simply press the button

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especially the little foals are always Timons favourites

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He snapped away as if these were the first zebras he ever saw but I think it is simply because we missed them so desperately.

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The noisy glossy starlings could be found everywhere in the park not only on picnic spots

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followed already by some well hidden kudus and more magpie shrikes and our first never seen bird before – a colourful Common Waxbill – which unfortunately kept to well hidden in a dense bush. Whilst we stopped to admire this beautiful fluff ball we realized more birdies in a nearby bush and also captured one of these foam frog nests which this year could be found everywhere in the park due to the wet weather.

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For us it is a rarity to spot black eye bulbuls in the park itself as they are much easier to be captured in camps and on picnic spots.

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A large group of helmeted guinea fowls forced us to stop

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with lots of chicks

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we met our first naughty vervet monkeys, more European bee eaters and the ever present lilac breasted rollers

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and soon stopped for this lovely posing lesser masked weaver lady

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and a juvenile ground scraper thrush which was also a new one for us - already No 2 during that trip -

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and we simply stopped for one bird and did not move and now the birds came to us or simply wanted to say hey to us or saw Timon’s huge lens and wanted to take a closer look.

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We stood still at the same spot when a blue waxbill came closer unfortunately too well hidden in another bush but Mrs. red backed shrike was ready to pose for us only another branch away.

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Well if the birding will continue that way as it already just started it will be a great trip for us – Believe me the wet weather, heavy rains and floods especially this year was indeed the best birding trip we ever had!

Another advantage where all the flowers which could still be found on the roadsides

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The rest of the drive on the H3 until we reached the turn off to Renosterpan was quiet but we simply enjoyed the smells, the noisy woodies, the gentle breeze simply everything but this was obviously only the calm before the storm as whilst slipping on the muddy road to Renosterpan only to realize half way through one parked car and some unmistakable ears popping out of the high grass......

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Wild dogs already on our very first full day in the park – What a chance!!!

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to be continued with our 1 1/5 half hours with the painted ones......


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by Dewi »

Amazing photos Pumbaa & Timon. \O

Love the Zebra's and the Wild Dog. ^Q^

The pic of the Groundscraper Thrush is a juvenile Violet backed Starling. ^Q^ Great pic. Hope it's still a new bird for you. \O


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by Richprins »

Whew!

Lucky fish! ^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^

Good pics, Pumbaa! \O

Renosterpan is a very lucky area, often! :-)


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

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At first sight only two doggies were visible but the longer we stayed with them the more movements from under a bush, behind dense grass we realized more of them and all in all we guessed it was a pack of around ten.

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A bit strange was that only one car was parking at that sighting and not more and so we already thought that the dogs have already left that place and moved on but gladly we were wrong and they simply rested.

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After a short private session with them also more and more cars wanted to visit Renosterpan and simply could not pass the dogs without stopping – who would! – and soon a traffic jam built up but as the dogs were spread over a great distance and so from nearly each point all cars were standing in a pool position as at least one dog was more than willing to pose and more than good visible.

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Needless to say that our cameras started to glow already at least the button and we took tons of pictures of them from all angles – A pity was and that is a fact that will pursue us through our whole holiday that the grass was extreme high and consequently the photography was not easy and sometimes the grass in front was sharp and the dog or animal in the background blurred but I think you all experienced this already.

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On one roadside there was still flowing a slight “river” but the dogs obviously loved that as they lied down right into the water and consequently when standing up again they were extreme dirty and muddy but I think it is simply the same protection against parasites as all the “grey” animals use.

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The temperatures were still bearable at that early hour and we also were glad that this pack was not on the move as they are normally are so we in fact simply had to park the car and wait until one of the dogs may come closer and fill out the frames completely.

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One of the females must have smelled lovely as one of the males pursued her permanently and does not let her out of sight

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and even when she did not take any notice from him immediately he started to squeaking to got her attention again. It was indeed a fantastic sighting.

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Meanwhile more and more cars arrived and even the safari vehicles got notice of this stunning sighting as there was a permanent come and go

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but as already described earlier the dogs positioned themselves so handy that each and every car had its own dog and we so both had as well, as I was taking pictures of a dog on my side of the car and Timon fired away on his side.

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I love the way the dog is peeping from behind the grass onto the other side of the road to check where its buddies were.

After a long time at that sighting we decided to quickly drive to the Renosterpan waterhole itself and then stay a bit longer with our doggies. As experienced already during previous visits here the view onto the waterhole was overgrown with high grass and nearly invisible and even the elephants about who we have been told earlier were no longer to be seen.

So it was time again to start the second extensive photographic session with the painted ones.

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Meanwhile also the safari vehicles from lodges from outside Kruger got notice of this wild dog sighting and so lots of safari vehicles came, stayed a while and drove off.

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At that stage we must have been the car which stayed the longest with the doggies but we definitely would never get tired in watching such close dog dance.

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to be continued with more painted ones........

Sorry about the number of wild dog pictures but it was a hard time for me to chose them - I promise there will also be more birdies coming up.......


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by Richprins »

Very good! Not sure why the dogs are playing in the water? If you put that pic up under the WD thread I'll try to find out, Pumbaa! \O


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Re: Joyride with the Bateleurs

Post by Pumbaa »

Once again thanks so much Toko, harrys, Flutterby, Just@Nature and Richprins for your so very much appreciated comments. ^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^ ^Q^

The bateleurs blessed us later with their presence up to that date it was indeed a joyride with the wild dogs. O/\ O/\


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