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Yes it was surprising Restio, I cannot comment on the levels now as we didn't get there this latest trip.

Continuing on.......
as we spent so much time at Lake Panic, a few hours almost every day, we do so love it there,
I thought instead of scattering the pics throughout my report I would do something like a did for the Hyeneas, and include them all in one episode called

Lake Panic, (strangely enough)

A general view from the hide.

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A regular visitor, the Grey Heron.

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And this fella keeping an eye on the goings on, he actually came down, put his head on the sand bank and had a power nap.

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Another regular was this Darter.

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And in the quiet times there are always the gorgeous Lillies.

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I just loved the antics of the Pied Kingfishers as they squabbled over a tasty little fish so please indulge me but I just could not choose a particular pic.

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Now, I had better wait until the page is turned before I get into some serious trouble.

Lake Panic pics to be continued......

Thanks everyone for not only turning the page and keeping me out of trouble, but also for the nice comments, greatly appreciated.

We had seen pics and heard about the Allens Lesser Gallinule that had been seen there so were very keen to see if we could find it ourselves, and not only did we find it but had the extra bonus in that it had multiplied and 3 little bundles of fluff were the result.

It was extremely difficult to get all the chicks together as they were so active.

We literally took hundreds of pics of them and have narrowed them down to these which I think are the best of the bunch.
Once again, do indulge me, I just could not decide which ones to leave out.

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Here she is feeding the chick.

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They were really so adorable and provided us with endless joy and amusement.

But they weren't the only ones in the nursery and the Green backed Herons had also been very productive.

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African Jacana



and Chick..

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I still have a few more but better wait until the new page.

Wow the chicks look like teenagers now
Thanks Elsa
The pic where the Allens Lesser Gallinule raise the leaf is very interesting

It was very interesting Anne Marie, she/he would flip the leaves over and if she/he found something under the leaf, would call the babies and they would quickly eat it. Real cute.

Thanks for the comments and turning the page.

Continuing on with a few more of Lake Panic,
I did warn you we were a little obsessed with the place.


I found a couple more of the Jacana chick,
these chicks were a lot older than the ones we saw same time the year before.

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And then, not to be outdone,
Black Crake Chick.

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The little Tawny-flanked Prinia were very busy building their nests and also having to defend it from the Thick-billed Weavers.

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And to end the Lake Panic pics, just for something different, a Bush Buck, who crept in and had us on edge as we knew there was a large croc waiting in the reeds not too far away.


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All thats left now is the last few pics of our last day.
Will maybe try and get them done a little later.

Everything still seemed peaceful when we left, so we can only hope she didn't succumb to become "croc lunch"

Now, this is becoming quite ridiculous and I should really put this poor TR to bed, never have I taken so long to complete one before but then I have never broken my ankle before either, I guess.

Feb 22nd

So we come to our last day, inevitable I suppose, but at least I am comforted by the thought that we will be back in 3 months time.

As we head onto the H1-4 with our trailer hooked onto the car we come across a large breeding herd of Ellies with some tiny babies and they are attempting to cross the road but there are some safari vehicles who are way too close and partially blocking their path.
Suddenly the matriarch becomes irritated with this and makes a bit of a charge which has the safari truck careering backwards and causing us to also have to back up which is not all that easy with a trailer.
Anyway we made it without any serious mishap other than elevated pulse rates.
Fortunately they seemed to calm down and escorted the family across the road safely.

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Carrying on and a stop off at a green Sunset dam which is a little worrying but lets hope something can be done to flush out this troublesome algae.

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This buffalo looked as if it might be in labour but we didn't have time to hang around too long as there was still a long road ahead.

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And so finally we exit at Croc Bridge and I come to the end of this report.
Shew.

I must also thank Klystron for helping with all the editing and resizing of the pics and give credit as some of the pics were taken by him and of course Jock as well.

altho he loses a lot of brownie points for forgetting the new cameras battery charger at home.

Thanks to all for your patience and of course for all the kind comments and encouragement along the way.

Thanks for doing the trip report Elsa, it certainly brought back some very good memories. The wild dog, lion hunting, the hyaena den and of course Lake Panic will be remembered for many years. This trip will also be remembered for all the great forumites we meet from around the world.