The Heat is on and the Lions as well

[Pumbaa]

Great birding from the Sweni bird hide. Love the FE
Very relaxed hyenas.

We had such a fantastic time there

[Pumbaa]

That lazy unmotivated hyena
And as for the wee pup -what a beauty

Elephant at Sweni very wary of that stick
I’ve never seen an elephant there either !

Love all your bird photos from the hide - excellent spotting the GBH and Crakes

Last pic of the Openbill in different pose

Thanks Pumbaa and Timon

That open billed stork posed indeed like mad

[Pumbaa]

Those hyena eyes

Love posing zebra photos

Fantastic birding at Sweni hide

Wow, ellie at Sweni

Thank you for sharing Pumbaa & Timon

He was such a relaxed ellies, well besides the stick

[Pumbaa]

Lovely photos of the Hyenas and big elephant.
Another wonderful collection of birds. Really like the Openbills.

And more birdies to follow - It was a bird morning

[Pumbaa]

Most of the time we had the hide all to ourselves only two couples shared the hide with us some longer and some only for a short while so we enjoyed again the silence and for sure the many birds we finally discovered for example this pied kingfisher with such a mini fish



but where are one pied kingfisher there are often more.



Luckily it was one of the very few days during that trip where it was overcast consequently we escaped the 40 degrees and “only” had 35 degrees during the hotest part of the day. We discovered a bit in a distance a green pigeon



and for sure took from time to time more shots from one of the fish eagles.



To our joy even a male paradise flycatcher was willing to pay a visit but same only landed far away always on one of those overhanging branches at least Timon was able to capture same from time to time



as these birds tend to never sit still.



The goslings of the Egyptian goose family were now collective tired,



the goliath heron was still scanning the water,



also a couple of very noisy grey louries arrived



and they got more and even noisier



Now even the African jacana dads with their offspring could be seen far closer

[Pumbaa]

and also more Egyptian goose arrived as well as knob-billed and white faced ducks.



When we finally returned to our car we noticed that we spent 2 2/2 hour in the hide so much could be seen there and we never had a dull moment the time simply spun away.



Our plan was to return via the S41 and finally the S100 back to Satara but as often someone else had other plans for us......We stopped again on our beloved causeways along that road and detected a reed cormorant,



and more black crakes





when a couple in a car stopped us and told us very excitedly something about a lion kill with a lot of vultures around only a couple of kilometers from here. Well the couple of kilos turned finally out to be more than 20 kilometers and as often when we were informed about such sightings we took our time and do not head like mad into the direction of the mentioned sighting. First we paid a final visit to Gudzani dam and we even had enough time to stop and photograph the many carmine bee eaters who appeared in masses on branches along the roadside.





Finally we noticed a couple of parked cars and looked a bit around, the grass was extreme high here and at first sight no lions could be seen but there was active air traffic



whilst already a lot of different vultures landed on branches or bushes close to that kill.



Finally one of the male lions showed up in total we have been told about four of them and to the left on the ground you can see the kill which was much sought-after.



Well the lion only turned around and laid down again to guard the kill but for us everything that goes with it was far more interesting than the lions. Lots of marabou storks were around as well either on the ground



or on branches on the lookout.



to be continued..................................

[Karin Mitton]

Lovely episode.
Excellent photos of the Paradise Flycatcher - I still don't have a good pic of one!
Love the Goslings.
The Black Crake photos are superb.

Lots of birds at the kill.

[umtali1]

More wonderful birds

I absolutely love the paradise flycatcher

[FinMari]

Pied with tiny tiny fish

Green Pigeon I usually see it in some bush

Very productive birding with Paradise Flycatcher highlight

Thank you for sharing Pumbaa

[colbol]

Brilliant photos again thanks Pumbaa and Timon

Flycatcher find and photos

Tired EG goslings

Love the last pic of the marabou stork

[Carla + Tony]

Great of the lazy hyena. Those eyse on the youngster

Fantastic birding at the hide From majestic looking FE to muddy goslings and everything in between Well done catching the paradise flycatcher on camera
Beautiful carmine bee eaters on the way to the lions.

You get there and get.....flat cats...YAWN....boring! Indeed so much else going on around. Great of the maribou stork. Do really like the photo of the stork in the long grass.

[Ollie]

Love all the bird photos It often happens that someone tells you about a sighting and that it is just a few km's down the road or just around the next corner..... and ends up being way further I guess most people are so excited to share details of a sighting that we loose track of the rough distance.

[Jan van Wyk]

Wow....stunning birdie images......great sightings all around .........

Thank you for sharing .........

[Meandering Mouse]

Fantastic images. A special at the Paradise Flycatcher.

Those goslings are so cute. It is my morning smile.

That would have been the perfect Father's Day image of the Jacana.

What a perfectly posed FE.

[Pumbaa]

Lovely episode.
Excellent photos of the Paradise Flycatcher - I still don't have a good pic of one!
Love the Goslings.
The Black Crake photos are superb.

Lots of birds at the kill.

We are also still in hunt for more shots from the paradise flycatcher