Kenya after the Rains (mostly): Meru, Ol Pejeta, Olare Motorogi

[Marks]

Simply awesome elephants and lions on the previous page (such color on the mane!).

The elephant spraying water on this page is superb!

Glad you were able to spend a significant amount of time with the hyenas - I would have wanted to, too.

[jeremie]

Excelent TR!

[offshorebirder]

@@TonyQ - more great stuff - wow! Your baby Hyena photos blow my recent ones away. Nice Widowbird montage - they are so hard to capture doing their display.

 

I like that vehicle - looks like a hybrid of ours at 1] Offbeat Mara and 2] Ben's Ecological Safaris. Glass windows have their pros and cons, but pros include better visibility when it's raining than roll-down plastic and canvas. And being able to raise your beanbags a little by partially rolling up the window as your photo shows. But the glass that doesn't roll down can be a photographic impediment...

 

The harrier you asked about in post #168 looks like an immature Montagu's Harrier. Though highly similar to imm. Pallid Harrier, immature Montagu's and your bird show:

 

- more white on the face

 

- a dark crescent that does not reach down and all the way back up to the base of the bill

 

- less white in the underwing primaries

 

Stevenson and Fawnshawe's book and their electonic App both illustrate these subtle differences well.

[Livetowander]

To echo the others, very impressive shots. Well done.

[Kitsafari]

beautiful widowbirds! i've not seen them before - could be because my head was down and not up during the game drives (darn). do they retain the tails throughout? i vaguely recall somewhere (could be someone else's threads - i read a few TRs in one go, so i'm confused now!) that the birds dropped the long feathers after breeding season.

 

aww adorable hyena babies - looking messy and sleepy. and I think they still grow up to be cute and pretty hyena adults.

[Zim Girl]

Another vote for your great pictures of the baby hyenas. If I get a sighting as wonderful as yours when we go this year I will be over the moon.

[TonyQ]

@@Tom Kellie

Thank you- we always consider that we are lucky just to be able to go! (Thanks for the bird suggetion)

@@michael-ibk (thanks for bird suggestion) @@SafariChick @@bettel @Marks @Terry 

Thank you for your kind comments and I am pleased you like hyena (at least the babies!)

@@Livetowander @@jeremie

Thank you for your kind comments.

@@offshorebirder

Thank you - and also for the bird information!

@@deano

Thank you- we loved watching the widow birds

@@Kitsafari

Thank you. I believe the Widowbirds do lose the tail feathers when not in the breeding season (they are a lot to carry around!). I am glad you like the hyenas.

@@Zim Girl

Thank you - I hope you get to see some - they are lovely animals

 

Thank you also to those following and putting your "likes". It adds to the encouragement to keep going!

[TonyQ]

We meet Andrew at 4.00 and head out again. We also had a tracker with us this evening as we intended to extend the drive into a night drive. We had earlier discussed the fact that Patas monkeys can be seen at Ol Pejeta, and Andrew suggested we head to the west of the conservancy where they are sometimes seen in an area of Acacia.

 

Near a small pond we saw

Egyptian Geese

Zebra fighting?

Thomson’s Gazelle

Smiling Black-Backed Jackal

[TonyQ]

Reticulated Giraffe with darkening sky

Giraffe Testing their strength

Giraffe testing strength (1min 24sec)

 

Not a full-blown fight but two males testing their strength. It is interesting that one stops to eat a little during the middle of this.

Common Zebra Foal

I think the babies here are the youngest I have seen. The stripes are brown and the coats much hairier than the adults. Beautiful little animals.

Steppe Eagle

[TonyQ]

Despite much looking, we did not find any Patas Monkeys. However we did have a treat ahead of us. On top of an open plateau area we saw

Black-Backed Jackal with Pups

 

There was a den up here, built in old Aardvark holes.

An adult had just returned

and was regurgitating some food for the little babies.

 

Andrew explained that we had to stay a much greater distance from the Jackal pups than with the hyena cubs as they took fright more easily and would run underground.

 

The babies ran around with excitement, and we sat still with excitement! They were really adorable little creatures.

 

The babies still suckle for milk in addition to eating regurgitated meat brought back for them.

 

There were other youngsters around and they also got some regurgitated food.

 

The light was fading, but watching them was a real pleasure. Eventually the pups went underground (there was quite a cold wind on the plateau).

One youngster sat in the grass watching us.

[TonyQ]

As we considered a sundowner, it began to rain - so we had a raindowner in the car. The rain became very heavy it became obvious that we couldn’t do the night drive (the tracker stands with the spotlight through an open roof panel. We decided to head back towards the camp.

 

Driving became really difficult. In the western part of Ol Pejeta much of the soil is Black Cotton soil. When it is wet it becomes extremely slippy. Driving took much concentration and much skill as we negotiated small hilly tracks with the car skidding about. Eventually we reached a main track and the driving became a little easier.

 

“I am glad you were driving then and not me” I said to Andrew.

“So am I” said MrsQ.

 

As we got close to camp we moved round a bend and had to brake, because on the road in front of us

Five lions were walking along the track.

 

We were about 200m from the camp at this stage. Apparently they like walking on roads after rain as it means they don’t have to go through long wet grass.

We followed them for a few minutes and they left the track.

 

We headed home with a smile on our faces.

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@TonyQ

 

How about that? Lions on the track at night!

That's as sound a reason for being a bit late as any.

Your over-the-top lovely images of the wee jackal puppies are unlike any that I've ever seen.

Until seeing your post I hadn't known that they were so dark and unmarked.

Those stunning reticulated giraffe and the zebra foal display the glories of rich russet tones.

You and @@Thursday's Child enjoyed such a wealth of exceptional sightings.

Given your photography skills, those of us who weren't along are able to share in the fun...if not the slippy cotton soil!

Thank you for posting these.

Tom K.

[michael-ibk]

That Jackal sighting is really something special, wonderful to see this. Are Patas Monkeys "naturals" in Ol Pejeta or have they been introduced?

[Alexander33]

I wonder how many people's opinions of hyenas have been changed from negative to positive on account of a visit to a hyena den. They really make excellent parents and are fascinating creatures.

 

Your photography continues to be just beautiful. The series of the plains game in post # 162 is very nice.

 

The shots of the widowbirds are great as well. I would love to see any member of that species some day!

Edited March 1, 2016 by Alexander33

[dlo]

@@TonyQ

 

Ok so first you post the cutest little zebra but then you totally go overboard on the cuteness quota with those jackal pups! Like a giraffe I will stop to eat at all times if something good is put in front of me.

[PT123]

@@TonyQ

 

Driving in wet black cotton soil seems a lot like driving in the snow on an unplowed road. Slow and steady, turn into the skids when the jeep fishtails. I'm glad that the drive turned out to be a bit of a success - nice lioness shots!

[Marks]

Fantastic jackal sighting.

[Kitsafari]

I swear that each time you roll up in front of them, all the wildlife say -look! It's TonyQ and Thursday's Child, they take such great pictures that flatter us. Let's Pose!

 

I've never seen jackal babies that young and they are adorable. I love jackals too, heck, I love all mammals. And so do you, from the care you give to taking their portraits.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Kitsafari

[deano]

@@tony Q - really like the steppe eagle posing like a nightclub bouncer - lucky for you your name must have been be on the list so he let you in. The jackal sequence is fantastic and like @@Kitsafari I have yet to see pups that young (in fact I think I've yet to see anything younger than sub-adult). Great image of the zebra foal and then the lions on the road at night - just what I love about Africa.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

[mapumbo]

Good for you!!! You guys are baby mammal magnets. Most jackals have a fairly sweet face, but the face of the mother jackal with the small cubs is really feminine.

[Thursday's Child]

@@TonyQ says that's the closest he's ever come to being described as a babe magnet...

[SafariChick]

Ditto what everyone else has said - the jackal pups are just adorable! I too have never seen ones so young. And the zebra foal is also precious. Well done!

[samapi]

@@TonyQ, very nice trip report !! Meru is just gorgeous and full of wildlife

At Ol Pejeta, did you see any Grevy's zebras and wild dogs ?

The jackal pups are so cute and nice to see lions during night game drives.

[Kitsafari]

@@TonyQ says that's the closest he's ever come to being described as a babe magnet...

 

 

LOL! @@Thursday's Child, that's the most witty line in this TR!

Edited March 4, 2016 by Kitsafari

[TonyQ]

@@michael-ibk

Thank you. I think Patas are "naturals"

@@Alexander33

Thank you. I think hyenas are interesting animals - and seeing the young ones does make a difference.

@@dlo

Thank you 

I don't know why there is not more interest in Jackals. I like them!

@@Kitsafari

Thank you. That is a very nice compliment (the first one!)- I do love to watch all animals.

@@deano

Thank you - I lie that image of the night club bouncer!

@@mapumbo

Thank you. It was a very good time of year to see babies (and more to come!)

@@SafariChick

Thank you- I am glad you liked the pups

@@samapi

Thank you. We did see Grevy's - will show some later. No Wild Dogs. There was a packin the past but the Alpha Female died and they dispersed. Andrew said they have'nt see Wild Dogs for over a year.