When I chose the ostrich images last week, I flagged quite a few other bird images to work through, and settled on a few water birds seen in Botswana on my most recent trip. All of these images were taken during the Okavango Delta portion of the trip.
I think this year finally needs to be the year that I get my act together and start my E-Bird list to track all the birds I’ve seen. Thankfully, my last two trips I’ve travelled with an incredibly organized, avid birder, so hopefully I can get some screenshots of her lists to get me started from the most recent trips. The rest will be scanning through my image catalogues; and to be honest, I can think of worse ways to pass the time. Who knows what images might jump out at me, wanting to be revisited.
The African jacana often appears to be walking on water, but is really just taking advantage of slightly submerged plants like these water lilies. They have incredibly large, wide spread feet to distribute their weight on sparse vegetation.The distinctive profile of an African spoonbill. I love that the spoon shape of the bill is reflected in the water.I’d have to go through a lot of photos to be sure, but I think this was my first sighting of a black heron. We were even lucky enough to see it in the umbrella posture that it uses to create shade to hunt.
While I have seen ostriches on several of my African trips, they aren’t the most common bird to come across, so they are always special to see. Until you are right alongside one, it is easy to misjudge just how enormous these birds are.
This past trip we had a couple encounters with ostriches; first a group of them at sunset, who were all moving like they had somewhere to be, and second a lone female and a lone male (though the lone male was too far away to bother trying to capture any pictures).
A lone female ostrich feeding in the early morning in Moremi Game Reserve. Botswana, April, 2024.I love that you can see the dust being kicked up so you know that this group was really on the move. Our guide was desperate to find the ostriches so everyone in our vehicle would have the chance to see one (there were quite a few safari newbies on my trip, which is always fun), but we didn’t know he was also desperate to get us to a special spot for a wonderful sundowner party at the top of a hill. We did miss most of the sunset, but spending time with animals and birds is why we were there. Savute, Botswana. April, 2024.
I’ve often said that if there was only one animal I could watch on safari, it would be elephants. They are always doing something: feeding, drinking, fanning themselves with their ears, and most importantly, interacting with one another.
It’s the interaction that I wanted to highlight with my selection of photos today.
This group of young elephants were having a lot of fun alongside the waterhole, where the rest of their herd was drinking and splashing. These guys were enjoying a bit of trunk wrestling in the late afternoon heat. Botswana. April, 2025.A classic trunk hug from a mama to her baby. Botswana. April, 2025.The type of mama and baby photo you normally see in illustrations, with baby holding on to mama’s tail. Botswana, April, 2025.A small family heading to the waterhole, passing by a large, solitary male. Here you see the matriarch leading the way, followed by the youngest, with older elephants protecting the youngster from the rear. Elephants are so protective of their young, and it is very common to see groups walking in this manner, to provide as much protection from danger as possible. Botswana, April, 2024.
I decided to focus on birds this week, and looked for images where I had a pair of the same species together. I was surprised how many I found, and surprised by how many bird images I still have to go through from my last few trips.
While the wattled cranes are a fairly rare sighting and the pygmy geese were a first for me, the rest of the birds featured are fairly wide spread and easy to spot. I’d be pretty shocked for anyone to go on a southern African safari and not see a lilac breasted roller and at least one type of hornbill.
A pair of wire tailed swallows perched on the guard rail along a bridge. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A pair of yellow-billed hornbills spotted on a drive in Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April 2024.A pair of pygmy geese seen in the Okavango Delta. Botswana. April, 2024.A pair of wattled cranes seen in Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024. A pair of red-billed hornbills spotted during a game drive. Makadikadi Pans National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.Seeing double with a pair of blacksmith lapwings perfectly reflected in the shallow pool they were standing in. It was a toss up between watching the birds and watching the sunrise. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.A pair of wire tailed swallows hitching a ride on the front of our boat. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.A pair of lilac breasted rollers spotted in Chobe National Park. We had hoped seeing them together we might see the unique rolling behaviour in flight, but no luck there. There’s always next time! Botswana, April, 2024.
I had originally planned to post some elephant photos today, but I came across one hippo photo that made me change my direction.
Hippos can be interesting to watch and listen to while out on a game drive, but they generally aren’t an animal that a guide specifically seeks out to show guests – at least not on any game drive I’ve been on. Hippos have their typical ponds and pools that they spend time in, so it is usually quite easy to add a drive past the area during a game drive, or stop nearby (at a safe distance, of course) to have morning coffee or sundowners in the evening.
It is very interesting to have the opportunity to see hippos out on land, especially in the daytime when you can really appreciate their size and bulk. Our camp in the Okavango Delta had a resident hippo in the camp that they called Oscar. Oscar wandered around in between the cabins grazing, even during the day. We were lucky to have him hanging around our cabin one afternoon, although the only photos I managed of that sighting were of his butt as he walked away, or when he was mostly obscured by bushes.
Here is my selection of images for the week.
We watched this group of hippos during the downtime between morning and afternoon drives from the deck of our cabin. I’m sure this is the smallest baby hippo that I’ve ever seen. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A group of hippos heading back to the water, spotted on a boat cruise of the Chobe River. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.A pair of hippos grazing in the late afternoon, seen while on an afternoon boat cruise on the Chobe River. The land in the background in part of Namibia, and farmers had set the fields on fire to burn dead vegetation.Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.A hippo pod at sunset, during a beautiful sundowner drinks stop. Our camp set up a bush bar near this pond, and all the vehicles congregated there to have a few minutes to chat and enjoy some refreshments. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.I spent some time in a hide near a small dam that the lodge kept filled, and watched this hippo. For some time I wondered if it was dead and floating, but it was very much alive and seemingly just enjoying having a peaceful float in the morning sun. Eventually, it righted itself and carried on with its day. Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.
After a few dreary and grey days, I was in the mood for colour again, and these giraffes images certainly fit the bill. The shape of the giraffe is so easily recognizable that they are a great subject for a silhouetted shot, if you are fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time, with both subject matter and weather cooperating.
Our progress along this road was halted for a giraffe crossing. I think we had 3 or 4 individuals that crossed, just as it got light enough to take some photos. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.
A pair of giraffes in the last moments of light after sunset. A beautiful full moon was rising in the opposite direction. Savute, Botswana. April, 2024.A lone giraffe and the rising sun. Our guide spotted this giraffe at a distance and positioned the vehicle perfectly to watch the sunrise. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.
I was treated to a beautiful sunrise sky this morning when I was out walking my dogs; in one direction, warm yellow, orange and peach tones, and in the other, cool blues and purples. It was such a lovely start to the day. While I didn’t have my camera to take any pictures, I did have a few lovely sunrise shots just waiting to be edited from my last trip.
The sun just peaking up behind a hill in Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.Sunrise over Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.Another Savute sunrise. The skies in Botswana are magical. April, 2024.
I was in awe of the lilac breasted roller at first sight, and they have remained my very favourite bird to spot on safari ever since. It would be a challenge to think of a time on a game drive when I saw one and didn’t mention it; not necessarily as a request to stop, but it is just such a striking bird that I can’t help but comment on it. Seeing them with a beautiful clear blue sky in the background is a bonus, but they are beautiful even in flat light.
Here are a couple of images of lilac breasted rollers from my most recent trip.
A lilac breasted roller coming in to land at an ant hill. The rollers were very active in this area, which was not far from the banks of the Chobe River. They gave me lots of opportunity to try to catch them in flight. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.This roller posed for a decent amount of time, in perfect early morning light, allowing not only for some good photographs, but a good opportunity to study the bird. Notice the tiny hook at the end of the beak, and that the eyebrow feathers are perhaps the plainest ones anywhere on its body. Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.Another roller in perfect light, showing off a view of the underside and wings as it takes off from its dead tree perch. Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.
Today, my eyes were drawn to dramatic, saturated colours, so I selected a few landscape images to edit. While today was a lovely day, with sunshine and blue skies to accentuate the fresh snow on the trees, I often find this time of year lacks in colour, and that, along with the lack of daylight, leaves me feeling rather blah. It’s nice to have these images to look over to perk me up as needed.
I snapped this image while waiting for our guide to pick us up for our morning drive. If I would have had more time, I would have set my tripod up for this, but even though I had to crank up the ISO to accommodate the shutter speed, I’m happy enough with the results, because at least I can remember the dramatic pink and purple skies. So many of the images I have can transport me right back to where I was when I snapped the shutter. I look at this and hear the chatter of early morning birds, smell the freshness of the bush at dawn and feel the slightly cool breeze. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.
Sunrise on the Chobe River, during a morning boat cruise. It was such a peaceful morning out on the water. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.Our guide was upset that we spent so long with a bull elephant eating reeds in a channel, that we missed the sunset. But based on this image, I don’t think we missed anything at all. The colours at sunrise and sunset in the Okavango Delta were something I looked forward to prior to my trip, and they did not disappoint. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.A sunset drinks stop, complete with hippos. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.I was so happy I was able to capture this sunrise, as I was having issues with one of my cameras while it was happening. I was getting an F0 message on the camera body that had a 150mm-400mm lens, but the error resolved when I switched to a smaller lens. A quick search on the internet yielded the likely cause of the issue, and thankfully one of the people in my group had a small screwdriver allowing an easy fix, but it definitely had me perplexed for a bit. It turns out, the weight of the 150mm-400mm lens over the years had loosened some screws in the body of the camera. This was taken my last morning in Moremi Game Reserve. Botswana, April, 2024.
Last week I focused on land predators, and this week, it is a few predators of the air.
A Pel’s Fishing Owl. As the name suggests, this owl primarily feeds on fish. I’ve highlighted this owl in a previous post, with more images of this owl and her chick, which can be found here. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.It would have been nice if this dark chanting goshawk had turned its head slightly, but at least it stayed still so I could get a shot. I saw lots of dark chanting goshawks on this trip, and had previously only seen the pale chanting goshawk, so it was nice to add a new bird to my list (which I really should start keeping somewhere, other than in my head). These birds have a varied diet of small mammals, birds and reptiles. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.This is the tawny eagle mentioned in my post from last week, that lead our group to a hyena sighting. I believe our guide thought that the tawny eagle was feeding on the liver of the impala that the hyena caught, but wasn’t 100% certain. It was definitely a very fresh piece of meat. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.I’ve been fortunate to see many African fish eagles during my travels, as they are widespread and common, but this was the first time that I saw one having a drink at the river. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.Another eagle I have been fortunate to see on several different trips; this is a brown snake eagle. As the name suggests, its primary diet is snakes. This sighting was one of the times where there actually was a bird on the tree, rather than just a piece of broken branch fooling us. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.I was so excited to finally see an adult bateleur eagle during this trip, as previously I’d seen many juveniles, who don’t have near the impressive colours as this adult. We were very fortunate that this individual chose to stay on this branch for a long time, allowing all of our group the chance for good views and photographs. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.
