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Kgalagadi September 2016: raptor kills and roadside rescue


Tdgraves

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and here's one without the aid of a zoom lens

 

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taken with my iPhone..

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Day 5 Transfer to Urikaruus, 15/9/16

 

As it is a relatively short drive to Urikaruus, we left late and tried to go as slowly as possible. As it happened, we actually went past and to the picnic site for a while, as we were still too early to check in (although I'm sure we would have got away with it)

 

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The lions had left and we stayed a while a another waterhole. Some giraffe were behind the dune and we were hopping that they would come down for a drink. However, something spooked them, so they did this instead!!

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I have never seen such a large herd of giraffe before and not running for such a sustained distance

 

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On arrival at Urikaruus, you have to get out of the car to remove the chain which is across the entrance road. I guess too many non-residents used to use it. As I got out, I saw this guy...

 

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We had arrived to our wilderness home for the night, so it was time to unpack again.

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Great sighting and amazing photos @@Tdgraves! Love the running journey of Giraffes (quite a big group) and the lions sequences among many other images, of course. What a fabulous KTP safari!

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Day 5 Around camp Urikaruus and evening drive

 

Again I couldn't sleep at siesta time (spotting a pattern here?) mainly because the room was too hot (33 degrees outside), even with the fan on full. So I was happy watching the birds.

 

White-browed sparrow-weaver

 

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Chestnut-vented tit-babbler

 

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And oryx at the waterhole

 

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Not long after the OH emerged from his nap, we heard lots of bird noise - as a lanner had taken a dove - another raptor kill!

 

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We went on a drive, but it was very quiet

 

Purple roller

 

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Crimson-breasted shrike

 

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So we were back well before sunset. I decided to take some accommodation photos, which I do not usually do, but given that the Urikaruus set up is so unusual, I thought it'd be easier than describing it to friends

 

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Time for a sundowner!

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First attempt at night time photos

 

As I had finally purchased a wide-angle lens, I was keen to try some astrophotography, but was dismayed to find that we had a full moon during our trip. However, ever the optimist, I still packed the tripod. As this was our first wilderness camp, it was a good time to try, as the main camps have more people and therefore more lights.

 

Just after sunset, the view of the waterhole with Venus rising

 

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Some vague darkness before the moon rose

 

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The Southern cross

 

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And then to show how bright a full moon really is - it casts shadows!!

 

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And illuminates the valley

 

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The culprit...courtesy of the OH (handheld)

 

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Stirling effort! Pity about the moon.

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Day 6 Urikaruus, Morning drive, 16/9/16

 

Having been too hot to sleep in our room at siesta time, when the alarm went off, it was freezing! I quickly got dressed with many layers, hat, scarf and gloves to go outside to the kitchen and put the kettle on for coffee. However, when I opened the door, it was much warmer outside than in :( By the time we got into the car it was 8 degrees. I had the 7D today.

 

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We saw the Gabar goshawks again

 

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As I have noticed before, it was quiet following the full moon. We went back to camp to pack up and make breakfast.

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Day 6 Transfer to Nossob, 16/9/16

 

After packing our stuff and a take away breakfast, we hit the road again.

 

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We saw several ostriches having dust baths, but as soon as we stopped, so would they. I think this is about the best we managed for the whole trip (courtesy of the OH)

 

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It was mainly a birding drive, going across the upper dune road. We did not see many other vehicles, but those we did see on the dunes were aiming to cross as quickly as possible, rather than doing a game drive.

 

Northern black korhaan

 

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Black-chested snake-eagle

 

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Greater kestrel

 

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Ant-eating chat

 

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Southern pale chanting goshawk

 

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with some form of rodent breakfast

 

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Kalahari scrub-robin

 

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Chat flycatcher

 

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Fiscal shrike

 

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By the time we got to the first waterhole (empty) I was already tired from driving and needed the loo, but the picnic site was still ~40km away. Less "game" and more "drive" required!!

 

Black-headed heron

 

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A couple of non-birds

 

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This was on the crest of a dune on a bend, so if I had been doing 50 km/hr like the other vehicles, it may have been a tad flatter....

 

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We saw a Bateleur come down and hoped it had made a kill or come for a drink. We were correct and found him around a few more bends.

 

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Unfortunatley I didn't have much time to adjust my settings to the harsh sunlight and missed him taking off. GRRRR :angry: However, we were to have more opportunities during this trip.

 

White-backed mousebird

 

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And we got to the picnic site without my bladder bursting! As usual, a good spot for birding, but it was also overrun with Kalahari striped mice. They were so tame that they would approach your feet looking for scraps and were so unafraid, there were a few that were victims of roadkill in the parking area.

 

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Acacia pied barbet

 

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African red-eyed bulbul

 

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Southern grey-headed sparrow

 

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Southern masked weaver

 

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And then the OH took over for the relatively short and uneventful drive up to Nossob

 

This lanner falcon was the only sighting of note

 

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We checked in and unpacked, noting that the camp was supposedly fully booked, it did not seem very full, especially the camp site.

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@@Tdgraves

 

Have you tried to use C-PL when the light was harsh?? If yes, what are your experiences?

The light might not help the colours but it does help the sharpness of those birds at close quarters!

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@@xelas I didn't even have time to change the settings, let alone put a filter on!! I think the main problem was the metering off of the dark bird, so when it did take off, the shutter speed was too slow :(

 

Although as an aside, we didn't use a polariser at all during the trip, even though we took them and had discussed it at home. I guess were are more used to the Kruger with its' cloudy and changeable conditions...

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Indeed the Kruger has had much different light than either Etosha or Kgalagadi ... yet it was also different month. We have used C-PL at midday shooting but never used it in Kruger.

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Day 6, Nossob evening drive, 16/9/16

 

As we had already done a lot of driving we planned a short drive and as it happened, not much was going on. We decided to go North and got as far as Kwang waterhole.

 

Scaly-feathered finches

 

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Cape sparrows and friends

 

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Fawn-coloured lark

 

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We were a bit early back to camp, so decided to see what was at the waterhole - answer, not much

 

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We were sat on the stoop having coffee in lieu of sundowners, as it had got a bit cold and were very surprised to see @@cheetah80 and her OH approaching. My first safaritalk GTG! We knew we were going to overlap in Nossob for 2 days, but I had misremembered that they were arriving on Saturday and not Friday. I was even more surprised that we were next door neighbours for 2 nights, an even better way of getting to know each other

 

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Love your report. Just booked for next year, our first visit to KTP. Will be long wait. Until that I will be reading all reports.

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Day 7, Nossob, morning drive, 17/9/16

 

I was about fourth in the queue, behind @@cheetah80 and a lady who was on a three month trip. Everyone in front of me had decided to go south, looking for the cheetah that had been spotted, so I decided to go north. The OH was driving and I had the 5D. It was 5 degrees when we left. No sooner than we had got out of camp, then the familiar exclamation of "lions!" from the OH. A female raced across the road in front of us (too quick for me to grab the camera). Have you ever done an emergency stop on sand? Luckily we were only going slowly. She was soon followed by her partner.

 

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They crossed the road onto a slight slope behind us and were therefore going in the opposite direction to which we were pointing. At speed. They looked really shifty and kept looking behind them, as if being pursued, or up to no good! I was really glad that the OH was driving, as reversing at 20 mph on a bendy sand road was not my idea of fun. We wondered if they were heading to the water hole at camp, but first the female crossed the road in front of/behind us (we were going backwards!) and the male crossed in front of us (after giving us the eye through the windscreen) they then were in the valley and changed direction again.

 

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And one from the 7D

 

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And then they were gone, probably in less than 5 minutes! We did not see anything following them, but they were definitely spooked! No other vehicles had decided to come North at that point, so we had the sighting to ourselves :D

 

We carried on northwards

 

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And got to see our first KTP eland

 

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we were parked at Kwand waterhole when these guys arrived. Our first KTP spotted hyaena sighting.

 

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we went a bit further north before turning around. We saw the largest gathering of vultures roosting....

 

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and a rock kestrel

 

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We were stopped at Cubitje Quap on the way back to camp. These kudu slowly approached from the dunes for a drink. Unfortunately, just after I took these, some idiot in a minibus decided to do a ten point turn (completely unnecessarily) and scared them off :angry: so they did not get their drink

 

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A predator morning! Time for breakfast....

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Day 7 Nossob, evening drive, 17/9/16

 

First from camp. This guy was in the tree next to our braai

 

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Pearl-spotted owlet

 

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and this yellow mongoose was looking for left overs

 

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Given the amazing morning that we had, it was not surprising that the afternoon was quiet! We went south and there really wasn't much about. It was relatively cold, 21 degrees

 

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Kalahari scrub-robin

 

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Black-chested prinia

 

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Yellow canary

 

 

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We decided to go north up to Cubitje Quap to see what was about - answer, not much!

 

Wattled starling and Namaqua sandgrouse

 

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Turtle doves

 

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Another day over!

Edited by Tdgraves
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Another attempt at night time photography, 17/9/16

 

Cooking on the potjie - with @@cheetah 80 and her OH in the shadows on the stoop next door!

 

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Moon rise

 

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And my first attempt at the milky way - light pollution, roof and all!

 

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Starting to look promising - may be there will be a point to bringing the tripod after all.....

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Day 8, Nossob, morning drive 18/9/16

 

I was using the 7D today. We decided to go South and it was 3 degrees when we left, brrrrr. Our first sighting was some more eland far on a dune, but a bit further along and there were some (slightly) more obliging ones

 

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Then some posing birds - a hoopoe

 

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scaly-feathered finches

 

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a martial eagle

 

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a goshawk with some nesting material

 

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and some more kudu

 

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We had our first glimpse of a Brandt's whistling rat but no photo - however, we now knew where they lived!!

 

When we approached another waterhole, we found the largest herd of eland that we had ever seen, but of course, as soon as we stopped, they scarpered!!

 

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We sat at the home for a while

 

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and decided to head back up towards camp

 

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at another hole these oryx were fighting, but it was a bit far from the road

 

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As it was still quite early when we got to camp, we decided to go north as far as Cubitje Quap to see if there was anything else about. There were lots of birds and we sat for a while. We heard a sudden noise, like a rush of air and all of the small birds flew off. A lanner falcon had struck and missed. However, in the confusion, it had caught a dove on the wing and took it off into the distance. Another raptor kill! Not caught on camera this time though....

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My fav--the hoopoe! Nice sparring oryx. Hopefully those kudu did not remain thirsty for long.

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Around camp, Nossob, 18/9/16

 

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Southern grey-headed sparrow

 

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Red-headed finches

 

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Chestnut-vented tit-babbler, one of the new ones for this trip

 

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Day 8, evening drive, Nossob, 18/9/16

 

It only reached 21 degrees this afternoon and for our drive we decided to go North, as had many others. They were all parked on the side of the valley, not far out of camp. Right in the middle, far away under a tree was a sleepy male lion. We moved on, as it did not look like it was going to stir for a while. The lion road block meant that we had the rest of the road virtually to ourselves.

 

First stop, Cubitje Quap, although there was not much going on

 

Yellow canary

 

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Cape sparrow and quelea

 

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So we carried on. At Bedinckt, we found this little chap

 

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and decided to turn back south again

 

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As we pulled up to Kwang, another vehicle was just leaving. We were surprised to see that there was something at the hole - why would the other vehicle leave if there was something there?

 

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Bateleurs! After firing off a few shots from the drivers seat with not such a good angle, as they seemed like they were going nowhere, I moved into the back to get a better view. A good decision it would turn out

 

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Sorry for the bateleur overload, but I am atoning for the missed opportunity on the dune road!!

 

We hoped to repeat our brown hyaena sighting at Cubitje Quap, but it didn't appear for us. There were still several cars parked near the comatose lion as we drove back to camp :(

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