Ok Im going to try again…already sat here for 4hrs and still no blog!
Good Morning to all of you! I did not blog last night as I had a visitor from Canada!! We had such a nice chat..and food (btw, I love cooking and 90%) of my food is cooked on a fire outside!) that by the time he left it was really too late! But here I am with a quick account of my week!
Thanks for your comments…Andy I think everyone that has ever come to Kruger has got a special place! Marissa, thanks for the compliment…Im still very new to photography and learn something new every day! Glad you enjoyed the pics. Flower Power and Jono, thanks for the welcome;…will really try and show you the magic of Kruger! AJ, Im also new to birding…but anywhere in Kruger is great! Most ppl believe, and I have seen it.. but Punda Maria is probably the best place! You should visit Pafuri Picnic spot and speak to Frank. He is a qualified Sasol bird guide and with the help of the Sanparks Forum got going in birding! I spent an hour or so with him in July and we counted 25 different birds…can just imagin what Summer time must be like!
On that note, I think its just fitting to call this week a “Birding Week”..I did see lots of Rhino, Elephant, Zebra, Kudu, Impala, Bushbuck, Steenbuck etc…and also a great treat to see another of the rare antelopes in Kruger…a Reedbuck! Only 2 lions for this week, but far into the bush so no pics…And offcourse, no week is complete without the special Leopard sighting! I wanted to show you the leopard that I saw, but decided to rather show you a pic of one I saw a few weeks ago.. must be my fav leopard pic to date! Hope you dont mind this little “cheating”.
What I really like about this area is especially now in the dry season, all the dams around..about 8km from here on the way to Numbi Gate is the Mestel Dam… 9km up the road to Skukuza is Shitlhave Dam and about 30km from camp Transport Dam… great places to just sit and watch what comes around. It was at Transport Dam that I watched 2 African Fish Eagles… a fully grown one and this Immature.. not sure if they were having a territory fight, but they kept on going at each other for hours! Great to watch…
Apart from once again going into town for a few supplies, I also drove the roads up to Phabeni Gate….went to Lake Panic (which if you are in the Skukuza area, is really a must!) On the way to the gate to go and do my shopping a very nice sighting of an Dark Chanting Goshawk.. its always nice to get one sitting so close by!
Not sure why, but half the post dissapeared..I will try one more time..should have been out there hours ago looking for sightings to bring to you!
So Im trying again…not sure if its going to work or not…I will continue with this post and check back tomorrow to see if it worked or not…if not, I will revert back to my original way of posting the pics.
On the way to Skukuza this beautiful Immature Martial Eagle sitting in a tree close to the road…I just love it when they are close by as the 100-400 lens is not ideal for birding, but its good enough at the moment…
Sometimes in Kruger the animals get very confused, they are not sure if they should hide from the wind and the drizzle..or hide from the sun..Wednesday was one of those days…I really did not find any animals apart from a few Impala and a small herd of Elephant… close to camp this Brown Snake Eagle was just sitting in the right spot when the sun peeked out for a moment.
Now, if you like birding and do visit the hides in Kruger, no visit while you are in the area of PKop or Skukuza is complete without a visit to Lake Panic.. I went there on Thursday, watched the Spottedbacked Weavers building a nest.. the Darters and Pied Kingfishers fishing.. but my best sighting was of this Black Crowned Night Heron..
(Somehow think Im doing something wrong here..please bear with me..will get it sorted out with a quick email.. hope B does not get upset with receiving all these silly emails from me)
Im going to leave you with a last picture of a Ground Hornbill.. I just love their eyes and eyelashes.. think many ladies would give a lot to have some like that.
And with that I hope I have some awesome sighting this week to share with you on Sunday. This is my last week at PKop and then I move onto BergnDal!
Until next week (Or when I check back to fix the pics if not OK)
Martie
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Wow Martie. That photo of the Immature Martial Eagle looks amazing.
Yay for new Martie pictures (and words!). ITA, Kruger is very special. Watch out for those Canadians – that guy, in Mopane camp, who became my husband…Canadian. EEP!