African Delight ... Impala of Botswana

I do love Impala  ...

Even though they are one of the more common antelope of the African savannah, and known as "the Macdonalds of the bush" they have a serene and quiet beauty.   I love their eyes, eyelashes ears and their colour.        Impala [Aepyceros melampus]

Whilst with Pangolin Safaris we ventured into the Chobe National Park in the Unimog.   We are able to photograph from either side of the vehicle at any particular sighting.   We each had a seat with camera bean bag and an additional bean bag to use on the opposite side of the vehicle which we could move across to.

A Baby African Elephant Swims ...

What an impressive sight - a herd of African Elephants in the middle of the Chobe River oblivious to all but their task at hand -  foraging, munching, swaying, stretching amongst the muddy vegetation.

As our boat nudged gently into the grassy clumps, the elephants on the right hand side of the photo below swayed over to check out the bow of our boat as well as our cameras.

Botswana's Chobe River is well known for its impressive herds of African Elephants - Loxodonta africana.
We observed these elephants to be calm and not concerned about our presence.

After digging up large clumps of grass, and then thrashing & shaking sand from the grass, this female African Elephant devours her fibrous selection.  She consumes a great quantity of food as part of her extremely varied vegetarian diet,  which includes grass, leaves, twigs, bark, fruit and seed pods.    

An African Elephant's trunk is a long nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and grabbing things.   The trunk contains about 100,000 different muscles, and has two fingerlike features on the end of their trunk that they use to grab small items.  

An African elephant uses its large ears for cooling, communication & hearing.

Elephants are fond of water and enjoy drinking, bathing, wallowing, playing & showering in the Chobe River.  

Check out the baby elephant ...
This family herd of female elephants (cows) and their young are enjoying a swim across the Chobe River.

The herd is reaching the other side of the Chobe River.

Time to dry off and enjoy a stroll whilst foraging for food.

These hungry animals do not sleep much, and they roam over great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies.

More about elephants another day.

Cheers Jen

Skimmers Delight

After many hours of spotting the African Skimmer and following its flight through the camera lens  we were able to capture a collection of images, some of which I've included below.

The Skimmer, a distinctive and agile bird found amongst the sandbanks of the Chobe River in Botswana, are quite a challenge to photograph - think I still need lots of practice!

African Skimmer in action

            

African skimmers feed mostly at dusk, dawn and during the night, and rest during the warmest part of the day.

African Skimmer in flight

The Skimmer, which has a uniquely shaped yellow-tipped red bill, with the lower mandible distinctly longer than the upper, flies just above the calm surface of the water searching for small fish.  As the bird's elongated lower mandible breaks the surface of the water it scoops up its catch.

Returning to the sandbar

A clutch of two African Skimmer eggs - nested in a scrape of sand

These agile birds are monogamous and nest in a scrape on a sandbar where they lay a clutch of two to three eggs over several days.

           

The African Skimmer ( Rynchops flavirostris) is frequently sighted in pairs or small flocks, along the Chobe River Botswana, amongst the sandbars and islands with little vegetation. 

Skimming for small fish

Bye for now

Cheers Jen

http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/animal/african-skimmer

http://www.arkive.org/african-skimmer/rynchops-flavirostris

What's for dinner, Mr Fish Eagle?

Back again searching the skies, trees and branches overhanging the still waters of the Chobe River ...   looking & listening for the majestic bird of prey,  the African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer). 

Like many other photographers and safari-goers in search of prey, our eyes scanned the tree line whilst listening for the distinctive and haunting call of the soaring African Fish-Eagle.

Success at last - for us & the Fish Eagle  ... the soaring, calling Fish Eagle with a catch in his claws!

Any idea what's for dinner?

Almost Dinner time...

What's for dinner?

The Fish Eagle hunts from a branch on a large tree close to the water.  It approaches its prey in a soft descent, kicks out its talons, almost stopping its flight to catch its prey.   The caught prey is often a few centimetres beneath the surface of the water.

NIKON D7000 & Tamron 150-600mm lens, f/5.0-6.3
Photo ISO: 400,  Focal length: 600mm,  Exposure Compensation: -1 EV,  Aperture: f/6.3, ShutterSpeed: 1/4000

African Fish Eagle on the Chobe River from Pangolin Photo Safari - Photo Boat 

Often known as the “Africa’s voice”, it has a typical call, a loud barking which carries far into the distance, “whii-oh-hyo-hyo-hyo”, frequently uttered, and almost similar to gull’s call.  It often calls while flying, and it is noisier at dawn. Close to the nest, it utters a soft “quock”.

Something different next time ...  

but definitely another of our adventures with Pangolin Photo Safaris http://www.pangolinphoto.com/about-us/photo-boat

Bye for now

Cheers Jen