Jump to content

Hot dry season at Camp Hwange


Bush dog

Recommended Posts

Continuation of the second day

 

At Shumba, a yellow-billed kite was feeding on…….  Well, on what was it? I really don’t know.

 

_U5V7795.jpg.c45dbc7671dde793ade82ea1bb862cdc.jpg

 

_U5V7811.jpg.dd7be966fc55704964b1c6bdbac8bea6.jpg

 

_U5V7833.jpg.477a0170be751e276cd3e7136b010139.jpg

 

Black-shouldered kite.

 

_U5V7838.jpg.2caf5f8e1d16bfa4c98579cbe9f0ec97.jpg

 

Buffalo.

 

_U5V7840.jpg.96fb856671898907a4a56eecc4cafd07.jpg

 

We stopped at Ebony Pan for breakfast.  A first small herd of thirsty elephants arrived and came very close to us.  Washington had to make them aware of our presence projecting, with his foot, in their direction, a little sand and dust.  They turned back without eventually drinking.  Never mind, they did not miss much, the water was very muddy and more conducive to mud baths, which was certainly done by some individuals from a second herd, arrived shortly after, and a lone dagga boy.  Sorry, no decent pictures!  At that period of the year, the light quickly becomes very harsh.

 

We then went to Masuma where everything was very calm, just some crocodiles basking in the sun and a few elephants.

 

_N7A9552.thumb.jpg.df1b139a0f009a3e2f86f17b8dac3dfb.jpg_U5V7886.thumb.jpg.83ac8f0e2c992b2bc8e2e089027a089f.jpg

 

_N7A9560.jpg.da0f46bec51523d31903122556a504a6.jpg

 

In the afternoon, we stayed on the concession.

 

Dickinson’s kestrel.

 

_U5V7889.jpg.cba9fb97722a73864db0f8dddc7ad1d9.jpg

 

This leopard was lying motionless, at the foot of a tree, at a certain distance from the road.  I still wonder how Wahington was able to spot it while driving.  It quickly moved away and disappeared deep into the mopanes.

 

_U5V7897.jpg.2f9f97eafae18b4f3d2d698783ceaa34.jpg

 

Slender Mongoose.

 

_U5V7901.jpg.3e59b05c98d6a14db71b2a7ff345630d.jpg

 

Zebra.

 

_U5V7908.jpg.62f40195dbd24a311e559e778be26dd0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lovely Slender mongoose image

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Geoff

 

Thanks Geoff, your pictures from Zambia and Kenya are great!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This looks like an awesome trip to Hwange, @Bush dog! Amazing pictures, especially like the serval photos. Coincidentally I saw my first ever serval a few weeks ago in Kafue, but it was a brief one and hard to have a good look at it. So nice to see such great photos!

Stayed in Hwange before, in the eastern part, it wasn't that busy at the end of green season/beginning of dry season. But will keep in mind the eastern section if I happen to return.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6-11-2017 at 8:49 AM, optig said:

@Christopher Moran I'll be at Camp Hwange and Little Makalolo from the 14th to the 17th of June next year as part of my second longest and most ambitious safari ever.

So I guess that trip includes Kafue and Hwange? Wondering what your itinerary will be, did you post it somewhere in trip planning? (can't find it myself)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@LarsS

 

Thanks a lot!  The serval you saw, certainly the first of a long series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

End of the second day

 

In the late afternoon, I was fortunate to witness something I had never seen before, one of the highlights of this trip.  Indeed, I saw the mating ritual of the red-crested korhaan.  What a show to impress the female.  When I arrived, the courtship display flight had been already completed.  It was in the second phase, the mating ritual.  To do this, the male gives itself a hunchback appearance and while bobbing up and down, slamming its beak and raising its bright red crest, after which it is named, it moves in small leaps around the female while approaching.  Throughout the dance, its gaze remains focused on the female.  This ritual is repeated as long as the female does not give it the green light for mating.

 

_U5V7911.jpg.f8e061486b5b57276a901cbe8b4f8567.jpg

 

_U5V7947.jpg.150703fc2008539e6c6a346288d0b45f.jpg

 

_U5V7958.jpg.614493760e25c15ee76c722c110b3251.jpg

 

_U5V7968.jpg.df7949353377df7060cfdefe2775e86f.jpg

 

_U5V7974.jpg.2f726b7167b473aaff38fc1972f4eb8c.jpg

 

_U5V7977.jpg.cd5cf9beff8243a4e67dfe71e79788b3.jpg

 

_U5V7984.jpg.694266d09b30aadc971b61cd9adf9083.jpg

 

Sundowners were again taken at Shumba.

 

_N7A9602.jpg.e6aa7ae6e686dc914946d9dc7274c027.jpg

 

_N7A9613.jpg.40ac3461e6ce890a4c0f87ce1cecee7d.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Third day

 

This day was a lions day but perhaps I should say it was first a lions night.  Indeed, in the middle of the night, I was suddenly awakened by the loud roar of a lion that must have been close enough to my room.  Others, more distant, answered it and so on until dawn.  We were of course out again at 5:30.  The sun was not up yet that we already saw the two young males, sons of Vusi and one of the two beautiful females that Julian, manager of the camp, called the Super Models. 

 

_N7A9648.jpg.78762c0cf76338fce0e17ad306180cd7.jpg

 

_N7A9658.jpg.db7d48ab0a8062c540cecb259b88b65c.jpg

 

_U5V7999.jpg.7f221e5c74e4c1db74fab35da40f31df.jpg

 

Those two boys are almost three years old.  A few months ago, they were still seen with their mother and aunt.  Now, they are on their own, especially since a solitary male, quite young also but older than them, appeared in the area last March.  But they did not move from the concession and the surroundings of it and their presence does not seem to embarrass the newcomer who may be thinking of them for a future coalition?  We left them when one of the two other cars radioed us that the Super Models were not far.  Those two independent girls are now together for quite a long time.  One is pregnant by the newcomer.

 

_N7A9687.jpg.8d05d4a48c560ed28032f43bf9a6f07e.jpg

 

_N7A9691.jpg.f36d2afadd9576e4044a72a7e9a89534.jpg

 

_U5V8002.jpg.d4301b948d54e6ccde62b9ba439f3ab9.jpg

 

_U5V8008.jpg.6c6bdacb511f6517d9e9758488168975.jpg

 

_N7A9718.jpg.e8bb700c2110ce3f7b582f0fdd0ddab1.jpg

 

_U5V8014.jpg.e638f37cd3df3a4d3b597da01c113098.jpg

 

_U5V8029.jpg.93524be34e2b061891f1323d372e40fc.jpg

 

_U5V8040.jpg.a8a61bfa5c23ebf43c02c21263e6ba34.jpg

 

The newcomer was in fact not far from the females.  It was called Toy Boy by one of the guides.  It was seen for the first time, in March, feeding on a dead elephant.  It was then extremely shy but gradually became accustomed to vehicles.

 

_N7A9705.jpg.d5d522695de150f10e70d67f8eab74bc.jpg

 

_U5V8016.jpg.93a63b0747376471b4553280c0682b84.jpg

 

_U5V8052.jpg.749735a9e3ec873e6c8d2b5af2a21df2.jpg

 

There will be more lions in the course of the day.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Continuation of the third day

 

After the lions and not that far, a herd of buffaloes.

 

_N7A9720.jpg.dcb0b3dfe4116a2d4471fba814791f47.jpg

_U5V8072.jpg.f31e6090f30e5fef1b98a8ce9a3b5bce.jpg

_U5V8094.jpg.5657227d110ec273979bd9fea2a02263.jpg

_U5V8096.jpg.e4ebdc06ff775c76c9afa818df7f0af9.jpg

_U5V8101.jpg.4a51fbf70aade666181aa061b3e6b35e.jpg

 

Senegal coucal.

 

_U5V8078.jpg.7c0810c98dc7657a5ad382ccf9438c8b.jpg

 

At Dwarf Goose, another herd of buffaloes.

 

_N7A9735.jpg.c485c61e2a0b15508ca867dee6b1553f.jpg

_N7A9744.jpg.1b7cb2dce98cee885d52f86d9952bea1.jpg

_U5V8111.jpg.57fb682ae23fb80d07ca4a76419c75bb.jpg

_U5V8113.jpg.d8791f1f559d927492bcb699803ee4f0.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Bush dog said:

At Dwarf Goose

 

Is it really Dwarf Goose? Oh, maybe Mongoose? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Geoff said:

 

Is it really Dwarf Goose? Oh, maybe Mongoose? 

 

Yes, @Geoff, it's really Dwarf Goose, probably this name was given to this seasonal pan because someone saw a dwarf goose on it when the name was given.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Bush dog Mike, I had to look it up. I'd never heard of a Dwarf Goose. It's not in my African bird books. Is it another name Pygmy Goose?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Bush dog  Wonderful pictures. The one of the 3 kudu drinking (elongated with the one in the middle) was quite striking. And I can see why the lionesses are called super models- they are beautiful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Geoff

 

Geoff, I thought it was another name for the Pygmy Goose.  After checking, I'm not so sure anymore.  The only mention I found is on Amazon.  It's a plastic garden gnome with a goose but I can't make the connection with a seasonal pan in Hwange.  Next time I'm in Camp Hwange, I will ask Julian the origin of its name.    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Imonmm

 

Thanks!  They are magnificent all the more they are not that young anymore, around 7-8 years old.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Continuation of the third day

 

We left Dwarf Goose and took the main road towards Masuma.  Arrived at Shumba at the level with the ranger's camp, it was with surprise that we found, on the left just below the road, Mandla beside a dead buffalo that it and Liam had killed during the night.  But where was Liam?  Five minutes later, we spotted it under a bush on the other side of the road.  We told the ranger to be careful with the lions around.  He was not aware of their presence. 

 

_N7A9755.jpg.0f0d39bee2bdc045af202853d47b9730.jpg

_U5V8120.thumb.jpg.295575d780665684ac07977058e4580b.jpg

 

These two were also to participate in the concert of roars of the previous night.   They were not very far from the five others.  Which leads me to say that while they regard the concession and Shumba's surroundings as part of their kingdom, they are not too obsessed with the presence of the other five.  After all, there are only three young lions and two females.  I think their regular presence in Shumba is intended to keep any potential intruder far enough away from their main asset, the Masuma pride and its large number of females.

 

This tawny eagle was feeding on a guinea fowl.  I was taking pictures when it decided to fly away, I continued and it’s only when I looked at the small screen of my camera that I understood why it flew away, the arrival of a second one behind it.

 

_U5V8151.jpg.e503abcbde6053884439ce009428e253.jpg

_U5V8152.jpg.0d7c0c50b9bde170232b3e55205d1fc5.jpg

_U5V8153.jpg.a33501917c5f28fbf8231d8dfdcd06a4.jpg

_U5V8154.thumb.jpg.2ed3f10e2658298bc610c9ae77c684b6.jpg

_U5V8156.jpg.821023fc3c7094e695578d35a2a97bc0.jpg

 

Giant eagle owl, also feeding on a guinea fowl.

 

_U5V8170.jpg.aad842a08e77ce45e72c7f6fedb7d8c4.jpg

 

During lunch, we saw giraffes, sables, crowned cranes and elephants, of course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a magnificent series you got there!

 

Seems like the Guineas were having a rough day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

offshorebirder

Great new additions @Bush dog.     I particularly liked the photo series of the Red-crested Korhaan's courtship!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Geoff

 

Geoff, I asked Julian the origin of the name Dwarf Goose.  He told me that it's the ancient name of the pygmy goose.  They are coming each year, in the green season, when the pan is full of water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Peter Connan

@offshorebirder

 

Thanks!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Bush dog said:

He told me that it's the ancient name

 

Ha. Must be more ancient than me. :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Continuation of the third day

 

In the afternoon, on the concession, we came across four roans.

 

_U5V8228.jpg.a78388185c83e337faa3d62e96d40345.jpg

_U5V8240.jpg.c8cd20f2630dbea7294092c0224879a1.jpg

_U5V8258.jpg.58d0da997e9b79cd181e3f70f09b3462.jpg

_U5V8211.thumb.jpg.e154b6efc454dced9bd41d5675a528ae.jpg

 

Interlude.

 

_N7A9762.jpg.b96b329cf5c69099fc2ad89648e318fb.jpg

 

On our way to Shumba, to see Liam and Mandla, we stopped at the camp’s water hole where several tens of elephants were drinking.

 

_N7A9780.jpg.d0dabd9d804345c1ade1a3d0194cf88e.jpg

_N7A9783.jpg.4d0412bda24ffa47cffa59afafa64353.jpg

_N7A9790.jpg.ad8c2a771814c6c5819073e48ec38d71.jpg

_N7A9796.jpg.6cb5a12e5906259a6e2a69a7a9e2585a.jpg

 

Black-crowned tchagra.

 

_U5V8265.jpg.1392dd19c7ed8472d96a642f2538f134.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Continuation of the third day

 

The lions were still where we left them in the morning and Liam was just moving to go closer to its brother.

 

_U5V8292.jpg.45e2fe214dcd1c8628e82c24bf177287.jpg

_U5V8308.jpg.af90fbd6639ef3a6f555085098cb1f3c.jpg

_U5V8311.jpg.88e7adda831afd4e6c4d163fe5217127.jpg

_N7A9805.jpg.987504bc9a1e73eb970baf87a40cdc42.jpg

_N7A9808.jpg.d83e4a1f5107b43b8530662e5c138d56.jpg

_U5V8333.jpg.2eff6c0a389a8159d0fe4e4c9699017b.jpg

_U5V8350.jpg.87a0946a7a9d20db9af3c2b17c975f23.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy