Lakes, Baobabs, Falls and Islands - Green Season in Southern Tanzania

[pedro maia]

I think I forgot you were doing this report , just caught up and I’m glad I did, the Udzungas part was very nice but Ruaha seems to be really beautiful, great sighting of wild dogs by the way.

 

How about tsetse flies  Michael?

[Alexander33]

I always love seeing chameleons, and you managed quite a nice series of images there.  You had to be pleased with your Diederik Cuckoo!  You've done a good job of depicting the quiet solitude and beauty of this park with those lovely landscapes.  Also, I really like the abstract shots of the grasses -- @AndMic, are those yours perchance?  

 

Edit:  Oh, and congrats on the serval!  Great sighting, that.

 

Edited September 5, 2020 by Alexander33

[AndMic]

@Alexander33 yes, quite right, that's me :-)

 

[shazdwn]

More amazing photos - love the chameleon

[michael-ibk]

On 9/1/2020 at 3:22 PM, pedro maia said:

How about tsetse flies  Michael?

 Sorry Pedro, overlooked your question before. Yes, they are an issue. Not in the open plains and not in camp but there are some stretches where they can be a nuisance. Camps in Ruaha (or at least Mdonya) use the good old burn elephant dung trick, and that does seem to help a bit. Can give some of the photos a pretty hazy quality though.

 

They are not a real problem, unlike some TseTse-infested forest areas in Kafue for example. I don´t react to them much anyway but also @AndMicwho gets nasty swellings said it was not too bad.

[michael-ibk]

The next day we opted for a full-day drive again, finally planning to get to the open Ruaha plains.

 

 

It was still almost dark when we had a nice encounter with this Verreaux´s Eagle-Owl. We had seen it twice before but it was an atypically shy one - always flying away once the car approached. This time it seemed to be too tired to bother - I sympathise at 0600 in the morning.

 

 

Go-Away-Birds are common in Ruaha - the Bare-Faced variant here.

 

 

While it was far from cloudless this would turn out to be our nicest day light-wise.

 

 

A bit too distant unfortunately but always quite a special bird to see - Dwarf Bittern.

 

 

Notice the hazy look? Well, that´s Anti-Tsetse Elephant dungburning.

 

 

White-Browed Coucal - common and bold, just the way I like my birds.

 

This was also the morning when we had our Dog sighting which I already covered. But what the heck, I love my Doggies so some more photos from that encounter.

 

 

 

BTW, while I fully agree with all the reasoning behind the "Painted Wolf" rebranding I still find it hard to think of them with than name. Guides seem to be the same, haven´t met anybody so far who did not call them Dogs - the Painted thing only seems to exist on the internet so far.

 

 

 

 

 

Magpie Shrike - a classic Southern Africa bird. The Tanzanian population is not linked to their cousins there, the Miombo belt is an impenetrable barrier for sor many species.

 

 

 

It was a good morning for Elephants - so many of them would pop up that we wondered where they had hidden the two days before in the Mdonya area.

 

 

Going through my photos I unfortunately came to the firm conclusion the Courser already presented in earlier posts was definitely not faking anything before to lure us away from chicks - this wound does not look good (had not noticed it on safari). This was at exactly the same spot where we had seen this bird before.

 

 

 

This neat Sandgrouse couple was in a much better state.

 

 

Banded Mongoose - seen quite regularly but as mentioned before almost impossible to get a photo in the lush vegetation of the Green Season.

 

 

Tawny Eagle, one of the most familiar safari birds of prey.

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

We enjoyed a late breakfast at the river - and in Green Season, especially this unusually wet one, yes, this absolutely deserves to be called the "Great Ruaha".

 

 

I´ve often seen pictures of the river in various reports, sometimes not much more than a trickle of water in very dry times so it was quite something to see it like that. A hard time for Tanzanians - many bridges were washed away, the damage of property substantial and unfortunately there were also many deaths.

 

 

While we were there it was impossible to reach Ruaha by car. Which made it very difficult for camps - they actually had to drive to crossin points and carry provisions for camp by hand through the river! I certainly did not envy them.

 

 

 

Much less to worry about as a tourist.

 

 

I tried to get some of the swiftest aereal acrobats on the bridge. Lesser Striped Swallow, Little and White-Rumped Swift and Mottled Spinetail.

 

 

 

 

 

Someone was apparently a bit miffed it was not considered iconic enough to be used as a roadsign and so decided to photobomb.

 

 

Grey Hornbill

 

 

The one even every non-birder knows.

 

 

Its European cousin, unusually brown from this angle.

 

 

 

Suaheli Sparrow, replacing the almost idenctical-looking Grey-Headeds here in Ruaha.

 

 

Yellow-Collared Lovebird, a signature-bird of the park. Very common, almost frustratingly so. Seen all the time but so very tricky to get a photo since they almost never allow close approach.

 

[michael-ibk]

We passed the central area close to the airstrip. Even though it was already noon a much too beautiful landscape to worry about the light - neatly arranged Baobabs always deserve being photographed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waterbuck don´t seem to be common in the park (at least not this time of the year) - I´m pretty sure these were the only ones we saw during the entire stay.

 

 

Crested Francolin

 

 

Dark Chanting Goshawk

 

 

Roller Close-up

[michael-ibk]

Soon afterwards Jimmy and Ayoubu found some lions. It was neither the most riveting sighting nor the most impressive demonstration of tracking skills to be quite honest - the tracks of other cars were even obvious to us. Still it was almost impossible to get a glimpse of the lions, they were lying in the high grass and between the bushes.

 

 

This was the only one even bothering to open its eyes, the others never even raised their heads. Well, they´re not called Lazy Lions for nothing!

 

We´d visit them again on our way back in the late afternoon but their activity level still was not exactly awe-inspiring.

 

 

 

 

Even the Bustard was not too impressed and marshed almost straight through the pride. (Well, it did not to be honest, this was 100 metres away but I needed some narrative justification to insert this photo here. )

 

 

Well, we did get one standing lion at least:

 

[michael-ibk]

 

Finally we reached the plains around the river, the most productive area in Ruaha.

 

 

Grant´s Gazelle live here, pretty much reaching the Southern end of their range.

 

 

Superb Starling, a classic Savanna bird.

 

 

I was delighted to find a Pygmy Falcon, one of my favourite birds of prey. There´s a huge gap of more than 2000 kms between the East Africa population and the ones in the South (Kgalagadi for example where they are often seen).

 

 

Not quite sure what it´s eating here. Looks like a leg but in that case it would be much too big to have been killed by the Pygmy. Don´t think they would eat carrion?

 

 

Token vegetation picture.

 

 

 

D´Arnaud´s Barbet, a bit looking like me when I have trouble understanding something.

 

 

The river gallery forests are of course a good place to see "the voice of Africa".

 

 

Common Sandpiper living on the edge.

 

 

Hamerkop - one of few actually, did not see many of them.

 

 

I love Saddle-Billed Storks which is the only reason I´m including this picture - they were very far away.

 

 

We enjoyed a late lunch here by the river. After a short meet-up with our Dutch friends from camp we were the only people here. I imagine this must be quite a busy place in season.

 

 

But always a nice place.

 

 

 

Golden-Backed Weaver

 

Our friends from camp were so kind to point us to a special birdy hiding over their lunch table.

 

 

African Scops Owl, another "Pygmy" bird of prey. Very cool to look at but the love for them wanes quickyl when you are unlucky enough to have one over your tent in the night. Their "Zrrzriiit" can drive you mad.

 

 

Bat almost succeeding in pulling off the "I´m a big bold dangerous vampire" thing - but since it was smaller than my thumb it was not too scary.

 

 

It was very, very hot now - many Elephant families were keeping to the shade.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

After lunch we did a loop around the plains. And even though it was not the time of the day to expect Big Cat action (and we did not see any) this was beautiful - such a lush place full of life, it was a real Garden Eden with animals everywhere. One of my favourite memories from this trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not forgetting about my birdies:

 

 

 

 

 

As luck would have it we´d even get a second Pygmy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grey-Capped Social Weaver

 

 

Southern Red Bishop

 

 

Black Coucal  - a lifer for me.

 

 

 

The only Crowned Crane of the trip.

 

We had to leave the plains about four - more than 50 km back to camp, and we did not stop much except for the lions again.

 

Ok, you know me by now - and for some birds of course. Dust-Bathing Crowned Hornbills in this case.

 

 

 

 

And there was another stop - for one of the most intense, scary and fascinating animal battles I´ve ever witnessed. Two of Africa´s most deadly animals in a fight to the death - coming up!

Edited September 19, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

A word of warning - I know some people cannot stand even looking at snakes. And you don´t really have to be "Ophibiophobic" to get a bit uncomfortable about what we saw. So skip this if you  don´t like to look at them.

 

We were on our way back, smiling, relaxed, enjoying a cold beer while driving (there was no more time for sundowners) - it had been a really beautiful day. All of sudden Ayoubu hit the brakes hard - there went my precious drink! What had happened?

 

 

A Puff Adder on the road. Ok, quite cool. I even asked if I could get out, taking a photo at ground level (from a safe distance of course). But Jimmy said "Absolutely not" - Ayoubu had stopped not only because of the Adder.

 

 

Notice the Ant? It had the best seat in the arena to watch what would happen now. It would stay on the Adders´s head.

 

Death was coming for the Puff Adder.

 

 

A freaking Black-Necked Spitting Cobra! Ayoubu had seen both of them on the road, the Cobra had just fled into the grass when the car had approached.

 

 

But now it was fully prepared to continue what it had come for.

 

 

 

 

The Puff Adder did not move at all in the beginning. Was it hoping to play dead? Hoping the Cobra would just check it out? Or preparing to strike itself?

 

 

Hoping for mercy?

 

 

In vain. The Cobra striked and its fangs went deep into the Adder.

 

 

 

"Irrational fear" of snakes btw? Well, it´s quite rational to be (very) afraid of this once. According to Wiki the Black-Necked Spitting Cobra is known for its tendency to liberally spit venom and bite with only the slightest provocation.

 

 

 

The Cobra left again into the grass, leaving its opponent for a while.

 

 

I never thought I´d feel this - but I did feel sorry for the Puff Adder.

[michael-ibk]

 

It was looking into the grass, its ant friend still on its head. Maybe its enemy was gone?

 

 

But no, the Cobra would always come back. And back. It had found its prey, and it was unwilling to leave it.

 

 

 

There are some of these absurd Youtube videos around with "animal battles to the death", Lion vs. Tiger and nonsense like that. But this was very real. Two of Africa´s most dangerous animals were going toe to toe here. And only one of them would get out of here alive.

 

Puff Adder vs. Cobra - who will win?

 

 

 

 

It was quite surreal, the Cobra came closer and closer, sometimes slightly touching the Adder, almost in a gentle way.

 

 

 

 

But there was nothing gentle about its intentions. This time, however, the Adder had seemed to find its resolve, and it was not willing to go into the black night without a fight.

 

 

It tried to use its superior weight to bring its enemy down.

 

 

 

 

But the Adder was just too slow and sluggish - it never really had a chance. And the venom in its body already must have already started to impact it.

 

 

 

And the Cobra would not bow down.

 

 

In case you are wondering what the point of this fight is - we were too. And even Jimmy and Ayoubu, with all their time in the bush, did not know. Ayoubu thought it might be a territorial fight. But Kings (the camp manager) told us that Cobras are well-known to devour other snake species as prey. This was about getting and being food. As simple as that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An almost surreal pose, here the two snakes seemed to pose more in unison for us.

 

We watched this for almost 20 minutes but could not stay to the end - it was so late we really had to get going. But there was little doubt where all of this would end for the Puff Adder.

 

In there.

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by michael-ibk

[janzin]

wow, fantastic sighting! I was wondering if the puff adder might have some kind of resistance/immunity to the cobra venom as it seemed to still be pretty mobile after being bitten. On the other hand, it seemed like it didn't really make an effort to slither away. It looks pretty fat, too, like it had just eaten. Fascinating! (I love snakes...used to have a pet python.)

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by janzin

[ice]

well, it seems like you saw the beginning of a fight between a cobra and a puff adder, I was once lucky enough to the see the end (KTP 2013, albeit with a cape cobra)

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by ice

[ice]

if you think about it: snakes are perfect food for other snakes, what with the same body shape

[inyathi]

@michael-ibk I’m sorry if Tanzanians suffered as a result of the flooding, but otherwise I would say it is fantastic to see the Great Ruaha with that much water in it, there has been concern for a good many years now about the amount of water being taken put of the river to irrigate rice farms on the Usangu Flats and how much this has reduced the flow. I was very depressed at how little water there was when I visited in the green season in Feb 06, less depressed when I returned for a one-night transit stop in 2012.

 

 

Great Ruaha River Feb 06

 

 

 

Great Ruaha River, Ruaha National Park, Tanzania by inyathi, on Flickr

 

Feb 2012

 

 

 

 

I would say what an extraordinary encounter with those two snakes, but remarkably I can show you exactly what the outcome was, because on a night drive in Kafue National Park, I saw this whilst driving along the airstrip.

 

 

I sadly never saw any of the battle between the two snakes that you saw, but even so seeing one snake swallowing another was pretty amazing, but it’s not that unusual for snakes to prey on other snakes, I was going to say for exactly the reason @ice has given, (you just got in ahead of me with your comment and video ), it goes to show that such encounters are perhaps not that unusual . Whether cobras have some immunity to adder venom, I wouldn’t know, but you would think if they don’t, that the outcome would be too unpredictable, and taking on an adder unwise, this might suggest that they do. I also wonder if cobras attacking and killing puff adders are the result of chance encounters, because remarkably puff adders have no discernible smell, experiments have been conducted to see, if meerkats can detect the scent off a puff adder and they can’t, more recently in South Africa the same experiment was done with an elephant from a “tame” herd and it could not detect the puff adder scent either. So, I wander if this means a cobra cannot detect a puff adder by scent, their camouflage is already remarkable but producing no scent as well takes it to another level.        

Edited September 21, 2020 by inyathi

[ice]

well, I don't know about puff adders not producing any scent but I am pretty sure that these are indeed chance encounters - when I had my sighting back in 2013 I spoke to a lot of guides in the KTP and none of them had ever seen anything like it, although KTP is a hot spot both for puff adders and cape cobras 

[Caracal]

6 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

African Scops Owl, another "Pygmy" bird of prey. Very cool to look at but the love for them wanes quickyl when you are unlucky enough to have one over your tent in the night. Their "Zrrzriiit" can drive you mad.

 

 

I know exactly what you mean! I've often been prey to their persistent and monotonous calling!

What an amazing encounter between the Cobra and Puff Adder. I was hooked following it and felt like I was there. Am glad it's morning here - wouldn't have made good bedtime viewing!

 

[Atdahl]

What an awesome snake encounter!  That would have made the trip for me let alone all the other great things you have seen.

[campsafari2015]

Wow, amazing! The puff adder didn't seem to put of much of a fight at all...I wonder how long it'd been going on for before you arrived and how much venom it had in it. 

 

Love the owls and the sandgrouse. 

[TonyQ]

I enjoyed the Garden of Eden, and the serpents!

[Soukous]

27 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

I enjoyed the Garden of Eden, and the serpents!

 

me too, especially as they were occupied with each other

[shazdwn]

Incredible cobra and puff adder sequence - what a sight to see.

[BRACQUENE]

@michael-ibk

 

What can I add after reading and loving all your posts since coming back from holiday   ? Out of this world and simply stunning