Sunrise Safari May 12, 2016
(First an apology- 2/3 through this post, the text created a block background and I have tried for 2 hours to get it back but was unable to yet-- so because of time, I will post it to everyone and keep trying to correct.)Good Morning everyone. This morning we have James as one of our guides and he has Bryan on Camera.
We are in the Northeast corner of South Africa. Sam is out on the other vehicle with David on Camera and Stefan will be doing a bush walk for us.
We see Waterbuk walking on the horizon
 |
| Waterbuk |
James has located a Guinea Fowl and a crested Francolin
Click On Link Below To View Video
Waterbuk heading for a drink
 |
| Waterbuk |
 |
| Waterbuk |
James has found some Tawny Eagles high up in the branch of a dead tree
 |
| Tawny Eagle |
James received a report from Final Control that a viewer could see these Tawny Eagles on the Dam cam and that the two were mating. James immediately got out his bird quide book and did confirm that this is indeed their mating season. Vultures mate at this time of year as well.
 | ||||
| Tawny Eagle |
 |
| Clump Of A Termite Mound |
 |
| Elephants kicked away the clump of Termite Mound |
Over to Stefan who shows us this magnificent Sunrise with his view of the Tawny Eagles in silhouette.
 | ||
| Tawny Eagles As The Sun Rises |
Stefan is following up on Lion tracks. He once tracked a male lion for 14 km.
Let's hop over to Sam who has his sunrise to show us. The sun is so bright and golden
 | |||||||
| Beautiful Sunrise In The Heart Of South Africa |
 |
| Female Duiker |
James has found 2 birds for us. A Red Billed Hornbill and a Cape Glossy Starling
 |
| Red Billed Hornbill |
 |
| Cape Glossy Starling |
OH LOOK! Everyone! James has found an usual bird called a Red Faced Mousebird. What is so unusual and has James quite excited is that the group of them are huddling together to keep warm. He has never seen this behaviour before. Incredible!
 |
| Red Faced Mouse Bird |
 | |||||||
| Red Faced Mouse Bird |
Click Link Below To View Video
James tells Bryan to move the camera to the "sticky outty thing" because there is a Cardinal Woodpecker there.
 | ||
| Cardinal Woodpecker |
We head on over to catch up with Stefan. Stefan is talking about how Lions zig zag when they travel and criss cross through their territory. This allows their scent to create a presence in their area.
Click Link Below To View Video
Stefan explains his ankle protectors that he is wearing. They are not to protect against snakes but to protect his ankles from grass seeds. The seeds have barbs on them that acts like a screw and they drill through your socks and will drill into your skin making a hole in your ankle
 |
| Ankle Protectors |
Over to Sam and he appears to have met a roadblock. An Elephant has pushed a tree over into the center of the road. Sam has got this! He will offroad and drive around it
 |
| Elephant Roadblock |
We are with Stefan now as he continues his tracking of a male lion. There are scuff marks in the road showing that a Buffalo herd passed here in the night. He says the Lion is North. He is listening so carefully as he has heard sounds. He heard as he describes it "panic, Lion jumping on a buffalo, lion growling.
So... Does he approach and see what is going on or does he wait.. Quite Exciting.... He thinks to approach more carefully
Stefan hears ox peckers alarm calling which is always a sign of nearby life. He is explaining how he scans.
He Looks FAR
He Looks MIDDLE
He Looks CLOSE
Constantly scanning.
Stefan tells us about what a drainage line is. It is a depression created by water down a slope. The water moves when it rains, gravity forces little streamlettes together as the water runs away from a higher ground.
It isn't a river.. It isn't permanent.
Kudo are eating a monkey pod and enjoying the yellow flowers. It is very unusual to be able to watch Kudo like this
Brief Chew, Swallow
Brief Chew, Swallow
Click Link Below To View Video
 |
| Kudu have Huge Ears |
 |
| Kudo's Ears Act Like Satellite Dishes |
 |
| Kudo |
Lets go over to Sam and spend some time with these awesome Elephants.
Sam read something quite interesting on how to estimate the height of an Elephant.
Is you measure the hind foot print of an Elephant and Times that measurement X5.5 it will give you the height of the Elephant.
Sam says the Elephant ears are the same shape as the African Continent.
Sam's Twin brother Thomas is one of the views this morning and says a hello to Sam.
Click Link Below To View Video
Sam tells us that they Elephants eyelashes protect their eyes from insects and dust.
 |
| Elephants Eyelashes Protect Their Eyes From Dust And Insects |
And we have some Buffs with James
Over to Stefan who has stumbled across a beautiful Seep line. It is sort of a spring. It acts like a sponge.
Stefan takes us on a journey from a seep right through to the Indian Ocean. The Video explains it so simply
Click Link Below To View Video
Over to James who has a Sandpaper Bush. He wants EVERYONE to feel this! Get ready!!
Click link below to view video
Sam is still enjoying the Elephants this morning
Click Link Below To View Video
Back to Stefan. He is talking about when the Birmingham Boys first arrived from Manyleti. He is standing in the same area where they were first sighted. (Check the MAP pages here on my blog to see where Manyleti is)
Stef has a Millipede to show us. He lifted a piece of bark from the ground and there it was. The Millipede has gone into hibernation so Stefan nicely covered him back up.
 |
| Millipede |
Stefan also finds an exo skeleton from a Scorpion. It basically climbs out of his body and leaves the remains.
 | ||
| Scorpion Exo Skeleton |
Over to Sam who has the cutest little squirrel having his breakfast
 |
| Squirrel |
Click Link Below To View Video
Sam now coming up to Buffleshoek Dam. No signs of any lions but there is a Hippo in the water.
 |
| Hippo |
 |
| Hippo |
Sam tells us a story about how an Elephant Never Forgets
Click Link Below To View Video
Over to James who has an awesome sighting!! A Hoopoe!
 |
| Hoopoe |
James scans away and spots a Drongo who is being elusive. But James has a solution to this!
Clink Link Below To View Video
Over to Sam with some Elephants that are having a moment together
Sam says that there has been a sighting of something "STRANGE IN THE GRASS". Let's go see what it is?
Click Link Below To View Video
Over to James who shows us this sticky Love Grass
The sticky love grass is so sticky it traps ants so they cannot travel up to the end of the grass where it's seeds are.
James has found us an African Joker Butterfly
 |
| African Joker Butterfly |
 |
| African Joker Butterfly |
James has found us another bird. An Olive Thrush everyone!
We rarely see them.
James is going to play the song from the Thrush on his phone app so we can all hear it
Click Link Below To View Video
 |
| Broad Bordered Yellow Grass Butterfly |
Until Next Drive!!
Cya
No comments:
Post a Comment