We have a passel of photos today taken by reader John Pears in or near Kruger National Park, South Africa. His notes are indented.
African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)– in Timbervati Reserve; this was a first for my wife and me. We came across a pack of 20+ that had been feeding on fish trapped in a drying waterhole. These packs are becoming increasingly rare and the reserves ask for any sightings to be reported.
Bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) – also a common sighting in the Kruger, often in big herds. Drought conditions are concentrating the herds, putting pressure on the trees, which are often casualties of elephants. In one reserve they had taken to wrapping the vulnerable trees in wire mesh which they believed elephant didn’t like rubbing on their tusks.
Lion (Panthera leo) – this pair of males were the first we came across on entering the Kruger, not one of my best photos. We eventually saw 27 in 4 days—a personal best. Again the drought conditions concentrating the herds of wildebeest and buffalo also causes the lion to follow.
Swainson Francolin (Pternistis swainsonii) – ground birds are common – bird life is spectacular and not to be overlooked.
Burchell’s Zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) foal – quite the cute one!
Zebra and Red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) – Oxpeckers are always found with the game. Busy and amusing critters that will disappear into most cracks and crannies.
Lion – we came across a breeding pair as the sun was setting on our 2nd day in the Kruger. The light was good, the pair were obliging and unabashed with the crowd of spectators!
Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and oxpecker – four horns, four oxpecker…nothing more to say:
Yellow billed kite (Milvus aegyptius) – photographed in the early morning light:
We’ll have more photos by John soon.
Finally, we must keep up with the rapidly-growing bald eagle chicks (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on Stephen Barnard’s ranch in Idaho. Here’s the latest shot and comment:
Look at the size of this nestling at week 3. Look especially at the beak compared to the adult (Desi, I think).
The chick’s beak is HUGE!
Great photos! Thanks!
Wonderful photos!! Thanks, John
Thanks
When I was in South Africa a few years ago, we watched as a small herd of elephants wandered through some trees feeding. One thing they would do was wrap their trunk around a small tree and pull it out of the ground and eat the roots. Larger trees were simply pushed over and the roots and branches were stripped. They left a path of destruction in their wake as if a small tornado had meandered through the landscape.
I think damage is an inevitable consequence but as herds get concentrated by drought or other constraints on territory, damage can become quite intense
What we saw was a herd in Pongola Nature Reserve. The guide said the elephants stayed in the area moving from the lake shore to the hills and back. I’m not sure how constrained they were, but it might have been a case of overpopulation. I don’t think there are predators in the area.
Really nice photography — thanks!
Just a quick taxonomic note: Swainson’s francolin is now Swainson’s spurfowl. Some years ago it was discovered that francolins are not a thing — I mean, that they weren’t monophyletic — and that there are two groups that are not closest relatives. One group got to keep the name “francolin”, and the other didn’t. So “spurfowl”
fascinating.
A friend who we spent a few days on safari with was explaining how ‘acacia’ were being reclassified to the exclusion of many African varieties!
wow! All great photos…really exciting to see. Love the zebra photo.
The chick eagle’s expression is so much like a grownup. He already looks like he means business.
I’ve only seen a wild African Hunting Dog once in the field. It was a surprise because it was rather far from what I understand is their preferred natural habitat. It was amazing.
i’d love to see them hunting..
Terrific photos, as always. The first lion pair look to be a mature male and a young male, on their own. I wonder what the backstory is behind that association.
I don’t have much of a backstory. We spotted the older of the pair sleeping. When he woke up he wandered about 50 yards to join up with the younger of the 2. These were the only male lion we saw outside of prides or breeding pairs. We did see pairs of lioness but they were in hunting mode and I don’t think that is so unusual.
Beautiful pix. Thanks!
The buffalo/oxpecker is frame-worthy to my otherwise untrained eyes.
Mike
It’s one of my favourites
Wonderful pictures. The ox-peckers remind me of Mohamed Noor’s on-line genetics and evolution class. He used ox-peckers as an example of a long standing assumption of optimality. It had long been thought that there was mutual benefit because the birds ate ticks from the oxen. But in a 1999 paper Paul Weeks showed that the birds (in his study) did not reduce the number of ticks on oxen, and in fact also fed on blood from open wounds including tick-bites which the birds enlarged. Paul Weeks’ article “Red-billed ox-peckers: vampires or tickbirds?” in Behavioral Ecology, is a free download from Oxford Journals.
thanks and fascinating stuff…
Spectacular photos. Thanks!
Whenever I see these kinds of pictures from Africa, I am reminded of all the “mini-disasters” that shape species: natural selection, when in the form of faster animals being able to escape predators or those who are better camouflaged, etc. and thus surviving to have young is one thing; add to it the “selection by climate” where a cruel, unforgiving drought causes immense hardship on animal populations, adds a whole new dimension to “survival of the fittest”. The pond drying up: very bad for the fish, but what might just carry the dog pack through. Sometimes virtually ALL the larger animals in an given area are wiped out by such events, even after incredible struggles for survival while, a few hundred miles away, other populations might be doing just fine.