Ndutu (Ngorongoro Conservation Area) and Central Serengeti National Park (Seronera area) - February 2023

[madaboutcheetah]

@Nik63- Wow re the Striped Hyena.  So, you had multiple sightings in Ndutu? 

[ice]

Ndutu is a great place for striped hyenas and also for caracals, had multiple sightings of both there myself

 

[Nik63]

On 3/18/2023 at 6:04 AM, madaboutcheetah said:

@Nik63- Wow re the Striped Hyena.  So, you had multiple sightings in Ndutu? 

@madaboutcheetahExactly we had two sightings of the same individual in the same place (close to our camp) in two consecutive days. 

[Nik63]

5th February - Still in Ndutu - The last sightings before moving to the Central Serengeti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crossing the border between the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti National Park

 

 

 

 

 

Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax)

 

 

 

Agama lizard

 

 

Picnic area close to the park gate

 

 

During lunch we were surrounded by Superb Starlings, African Mourning Doves, House Sparrows and Black-lored Babblers

 

 

 

 

 

Magnificent Lions on top of a kopje

 

 

 

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

 

 

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)

 

 

 

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

 

 

The black bird should be a Cape Rook (Corvus capensis)

 

 

 

 

Wattled Starling (Creatophora cinerea)

 

 

 

 

Black-bellied Bustard (Eupodotis melanogaster)

 

 

A Leopard was here??? :-)

 

 

Rufos-naped Lark 

 

 

Cape Teal (Anas capensis)

 

 

 

 

Knob-billed Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) 

 

 

Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

 

 

 

 

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)

 

 

 

Spotted Thick-knee (Burhinus capensis)

 

 

Blacksmith Lapwing (Vanellus armatus)

 

 

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus)

 

 

The beauty of the King of the area!

 

 

 

To be continued...

[Atravelynn]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:26 AM, Tom Kellie said:

~ @Nik63:

 

The starlings on a zebra back images are terrific!

 

Thank you so much.

 

      Tom K.

My thoughts too!  They are equally impressive without the zebra, in flight. The tail on that Steel-blue Whydah is impressive too.

Edited April 7, 2023 by Atravelynn

[PT123]

@Nik63I'm just getting caught up and will join the others in congratulating you on stripped hyena sightings, fantastic! Great over-all report with a lot of diverse sightings. Nothing says "Serengeti" like a picture of a male lion on the kopje - great shot! Apologies if I missed it, what camps did you stay at?

 

[michael-ibk]

Life is just not fair - two Stripey sightings in a row? Fantastic! A really enjoyable report with lots of great photos, thank you so much for sharing.

[Nik63]

On 4/7/2023 at 10:19 PM, PT123 said:

@Nik63I'm just getting caught up and will join the others in congratulating you on stripped hyena sightings, fantastic! Great over-all report with a lot of diverse sightings. Nothing says "Serengeti" like a picture of a male lion on the kopje - great shot! Apologies if I missed it, what camps did you stay at?

 

@PT123In Ndutu we spent two nights in the Ang'ata Migration Ndutu Camp 

 

https://www.angatacamps.com/ndutu

 

and in the Central Serengeti we spent two nights in the Embalakai Serengeti Camp

 

https://embalakaicamps.com/our-camps/accommodation/

[Nik63]

A beautiful Leopard

 

 

 

 

Black Coucal (Centropus grillii)

 

 

 

Black-headed Heron (Ardea melanocephala)

 

 

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus)

 

 

 

Hippos!

 

 

 

Bohor Reedbuck (Redunca redunca)

 

 

 

Topi (Damaliscus lunatus jimela)

 

 

 

 

 

Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) - A breeding male?

 

 

 

 

Just outside our camp

 

 

 

 

Embalakai Serengeti Camp

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued

[Nik63]

6th February - Early morning - Very bad light - Scattered rain - Some nice obeservations

 

 

 

 

 

 

Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa)

 

 

 

Gray-backed Fiscal (Lanius excubitoroides)

 

 

Little Bee-eater (Merops pusilus)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax aka Bush Hyrax (Heterohyrax brucei)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northern White-crowned Shrike (Eurocephalus rueppelli)

 

 

 

 

To be continued

[Nik63]

6th February more or less at 08.30 A.M. - A male Leopard was sniffing all around looking for a female...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and the female was sleeping not far from him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6th February at 10.50 we spotted a mum Cheetah that was having food with her cubs - All around: Jackals, Vultures, Eagles, etc.

 

 

Suddenly a Black-backed Jackal found a hidden young Gazelle and...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red-billed Teal (Anas erythrorhyncha)

 

 

Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 males Cheetah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right after lunch we spotted an awesome Serval (Leptailurus serval)

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued

 

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Excellent variety, plus a posing serval, wow!

 

[PT123]

Wow, for a short visit you just about saw it all and did a great job chronicling your sightings - thanks for sharing all the great pictures. 

[pault]

This looks like a really exciting visit. I am glad to see it is not over yet and thanks to @PT123 for the bump as I had missed the latest installments somehow.

 

Great sightings - even the beetle is a bit different from the norm. Any idea what it is @Nik63?