Peter's third attempt

[lmSA84]

I can see your normal high quality has returned. I'm particularly impressed by the Green-winged Pytilia. I've only ever seen them once and they moved so fast and skulking that I could never even get an EBC

[PeterHG]

152 / Nam 134. African Fish Eagle. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. It was such a special feeling to get close to this beautiful eagle on our boat trip on the Okavango river.

 

 

[PeterHG]

153 / Nam 135. Pied Kingfisher. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana.

 

 

[PeterHG]

154 / Nam 136. Long-toed Lapwing. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. Same boat trip as the previous photos. A lapwing I had never seen before.

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

155 / Nam 137. Pel's Fishing Owl. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. If I had to name one highlight of our trip (there were many..) it would be finding the Pel's Fishing Owl. It took some effort, several tries  and the dedication of the owners of the lodge, but when we found one at last it was worth it. A huge owl, staring down at us from high up in the tree with its big , dark eyes. We felt privileged.

 

[PeterHG]

156 / Nam 138. Senegal Coucal. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. The other coucal of the region. We saw it when having lunch at a little restaurant in Shakawe, run by an Austrian lady, who could not wait to return to her homeland. She'd been in Botswana for some 15 years, but was totally fed up with all the frustration that goes with trying to run a business in Botswana. 

 

 

 

[Dave Williams]

The Pel's Fishing Owl is indeed something to be very, very pleased with!

[Galana]

Some great photos there. Nice Pels. Truly earns the description "Ginger Teddy Bear!"

[PeterHG]

157 / Nam 139. African Paradise Flycatcher. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. 

 

Edited April 27, 2018 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

158 / Nam 140. White-fronted Bee-eater. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. At the end of the afternoon I'd grabbed a chair from by the swimming-pool and placed it on the jetty. Seated comfortably, the sun behind me I could just sit and wait for one of the bee-eaters to choose a branch within easy reach of my camera. Life of a bird photographer can be very hard sometimes  

 

[PeterHG]

159 / Nam 141. Pygmy Goose. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. Not everything came as close, but it was a nice sighting all the same.

 

[PeterHG]

160 / Nam 142. Burchell's Starling. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana.

 

[PeterHG]

161 / Nam 143. Hadada Ibis. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. Their unmistakable call is certainly a part of the 'Africa' feeling for us.

 

[PeterHG]

163 / Nam 145. Magpie Shrike. Feb. Drotsky's Cabins, Botswana. Extremely common in the southern parts of the Kruger we visited last year, but we only saw one or two this time and also on a rather dull day.

 

[PeterHG]

163 / Nam 145. Southern Carmine Bee-eater. Feb. Mahango Game Reserve

 

[PeterHG]

164 / Nam 146. European Bee-eater. Feb. Etosha. I forgot to include this one from theEtosha days. That makes six different Bee-eater species on this trip and all of them equally beautiful.

 

[PeterHG]

165 /Nam 147. Slaty Egret. Feb. Mahango Game reserve. On our first visit to Mahango we thought we saw this egret, but it was probably a distant black heron. Here the diagnostic yellow legs and rufous brown throat are visible visible, though it requires a heavy crop. Lifer again.

 

[PeterHG]

166 / Nam 148. Red-billed Oxpecker. Feb. Mahango Game Reserve. I also managed to get a shot of the Yellow-billed here, but unfortunately one SD card went missing in-between back-ups

 

.

[PeterHG]

167 / Nam 149. Greater Painted Snipe. Feb. Mahango Game Reserve. Another one I was happy to get. We'd seen it before, but this time it came a lot closer.

 

[PeterHG]

168 / Nam 150. Common Ostrich. Feb. Mahango Game Reserve.

 

[PeterHG]

169 / Nam 151. Striated Heron. Feb. Buffalo Core Area. This park is situated opposite Mahango, giving access to the floodplain areas on the other bank of the Okavango River. Hardly any other visitors when we were there.

 

[PeterHG]

170 / Nam 152. African Wattled Lapwing. Feb. Mahango Game Reserve.

 

[PeterHG]

171 / Nam 153. Red-billed Francolin. Feb. Mahango Game Reserve.

 

[PeterHG]

172 / Nam 154. Water Thick-knee. Feb. Mahango Game Reserve. The only picture I was able to take of it.

 

[PeterHG]

173 / Nam 155. Arrow-marked Babbler. Feb. Mahango. Mistake on my part. I took the little group of babblers that was foraging in the bushes for Hartlaub's Babblers, like those we saw every day at Drotsky's. I had already taken enough photos of those, so I didn't try. It was only at the last moment I realized that these were in fact Arrow-marked Babblers. Just manage dto get one shot off before they left.