Tuesday was our last full day in Mashatu. We got to spend another delightful morning at the hide, while visiting with some old and new animal friends in the afternoon.
As always, we were in the vehicle in time to greet the rising sun.
There were hundreds of birds at the hide’s waterhole when we arrived – doves and Queleas dominated, along with Golden Breasted Buntings and a variety of others. (A Meyer’s Parrot and a Scarlet Chested Sunbird visited briefly, but I was unable to catch their pictures.)
Eland and Impala were early arrivals.
The Pell’s Spotted Owlet appeared briefly on the scene, sizing up its prospects.
A small group of Kudu dropped by.
This morning’s Black-backed Jackal managed to make it all the way to the waterhole for a drink.
The first elephants appeared with an Impala accompaniment.
A mixed herd of antelope was next: the inevitable Impala, plus two very large Kudu bulls, and a maternal herd of Common Eland. (BTW, “eland” is Afrikaans for “moose,” a name of Germanic origin given to these moose-sized antelope by early Dutch settlers.) And everywhere, there were birds.
There was a bit of a dust-up within the Eland herd.
The birds were unperturbed by the fracas.
And then the Pell’s Spotted Owlet returned. It appeared, then vanished at various spots on the waterhole’s bank as it attempted – without success – to capture breakfast.
The Quelea were a popular target for the little owl, but they were just too fast.
A Kori Bustard patrolled the perimeter, and the Banded Mongoose came back as a business.
And then came the elephant show. There was slurping and blowing, tough little boys chasing off birds and mongoose, and a wholesale takeover of the waterhole by these stately giants. I could sit and watch elephants for hours.
All too soon, our time was up and we packed up for the drive back to camp.
As we headed out for the afternoon game drive.I noticed that new growth was beginning to appear on Mopane and Shepherd’s Trees, as well as blooms on some shrubs. Giraffe were suddenly everywhere, in clusters of three to five or six, munching on new growth.
We stopped for a bit at the hide, viewing the action at the waterhole from the other side. A troop of Baboons was very much in residence.
We traveled down the dry riverbed and passed once again under the fallen tree. (I enjoyed the sense of knowing where – to some extent – we were in the landscape.
On a patch of open plain, we saw a pack of six-to-eight jackals eying the Guinea Fowl.
And then we came across my favorite sighting of the afternoon: a pair of Ostrich girls, flouncing their feathers like can-can dancers as they pranced along their way. Offenbach’s Galop Infernal (the can-can song) always goes through my head when watching Ostriches strut their stuff.
A Kori Bustard and male Ostrich hung out with us at our sundowner. And we had a glorious sunset to end the day.
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Cool to see the reflections in the water at the hide! And elephants 🙂