The tent is dark with all the vented windows covered by canvas, but just before going to bed I had pulled one back a bit so that I had some idea when dawn was coming. I woke up to see there was light coming through the window, so got up to have a look what was going on outside. At first the shape I saw didn't register, but I soon quickly realised that about ten feet away from the front of the tent was a bull Elephant munching on the acacia bush outside the tent.
I called Helen and she go up and we both watched as the elephant made it's way around the tent coming ever closer. At one point we could hear chewing alongside the tent. Anything can turn up around the tents, at this time of year they come looking for water. Last night over dinner we discussed the possibility of seeing elephant today on the game drive, but Hassam dismissed this due to the mud. Apparently the larger game head for the higher ground when the mud comes. This elephant was probably on its way, but stopped to explore our camp.
Now fully wide awake, it was time to get out and explore, however we decided to wait until the elephant was sufficiently far enough away to not be a threat. It was an overcast morning with one or two dark clouds that provided a little sprinkle of showers while we waited for breakfast.
Birds were very active around the tents looking for scraps to eat. The Superb Starlings are common almost everywhere, but are always a delight to see.
Another very forward bird was the White-headed Buffalo Weaver.
Early mornings are cool and the best time for balloon rides and away in the distance several were appearing above the horizon.
From the tents we could see Impala, here a couple of males grazing on the Acacia bushes.
Away off in the distance were herds of Zebra and Wildebeest, the animals we could hear non stop through the night.
In the bushes and trees around the tents were a pair of Usambiro Barbet. This is a subspecies of D'Arnaud's Barbet, but varies from the nominate species by having longer wing, a shorter tail and a dark bill.
It was called after the place Usambiro in Tanzania where it was first collected in 1908. Some consider it to be a separate species itself.
The elephant was never too far away, and at one point returned to the tents at the far end of the camp. From here it was moved away by the staff clapping there hands and shouting.
More birds kept coming, this time a Green-backed Woodpecker on the main path.
A white-browed Coucal, which is a species of cuckoo, and probably the reason why all the smaller birds were mobbing it
The sexes are similar, adults having a blackish crown and
nape, a white supercilium, rufous-brown back, chestnut wings, blackish
rump and black tail, glossed with green, with a white tip. The underparts are
creamy-white, the eyes red, the beak black, and the legs and feet greyish-black
or black
A Northern White-crowned Shrike, another common bird of the open grassland
And a Short-winged Cisticola, the ultimate "LBJ", but I think I have got this Identification right.
After another excellent breakfast we were into the Land Cruiser, the roof up and heading down the muddy track we had arrived along yesterday evening. We passed Zebra close to the camp and a distant Giraffe, but is was for a few more birds that we stopped first. A group of White-bellied Bustards, yet another new bird for me. These are one of the smallest bustards, and are widespread in sub-Saharan grasslands and savanna.
We could see several of them, and they do stay in family groups with the young remaining with the adults much longer than other bustard species.
By the side of the track on any prominent bush or tree would sit Rufous-naped Lark. From here they would deliver a distinctive song which after awhile does become quite monotonous.
Shrikes are also plentiful, and along with the Common Fiscal the Grey-backed Fiscal were the commonest. The Grey-backed Fiscals will gather in groups. In this group here I counted sixteen birds before several flew off.
The name comes from the shrike's habit of catching and storing its prey by impaling it on thorn bushes and is associated with the fiskaal -- a taxman associated with the Dutch East India company. The fiskaal, who wore black and white whilst doing his job, collected year end (fiscal) taxes, viciously preying on people's money and leaving them hanging 'out to dry'.
A lone Spotted Hyena was seen in the grass, it was constantly looking back at something in the grass away in the distance, we couldn't see what it was seeing though.
Suddenly, whether disturbed by us we weren't sure, it was off, and started to run...and run. We could see it well across the plain in the distance still running!
A dead hanging bough from a large Acacia tree provided the perfect perch for a pair of Lilac-breasted Rollers, one of the iconic birds of the open East African savanna.
The name roller comes from the males display flights which includes some clever aerobatics and rolls as it tries to impress a mate. The plumage consists of eight colours; green, white, black, yellow, turquoise, dark blue, reddish brown, and of course lilac.
Next bird was not as colourful, but probably more important to me, a Double-banded or Two-banded Courser, another life tick. The double-banded courser lives and breeds in flat, stony or gravelly, semi-desert terrains with firm, sandy soil and tufty grass or thorn scrub and is widespread in these habitats through Ethiopia, Somalia Tanzania and South Africa.
The bird's
crown is pale and streaked with brown/black feathers. A narrow black stripe
extends from the base of the bill, through the eye to the nape. The cheeks,
chin, throat and neck are buff/white flecked with dark brown. The feather of
the back and wing coverts are sandy brown with dark centres and broadly edged
with white/buff. The short bill is blackish, eyes are dark brown and the legs
and feet are pale grey.
We then found ourselves in amongst a herd of Zebra and Wildebeest. With the rains now starting the animals were coming into the region, following a trek from the Kenya border. The migration follows a clockwise route, that starts in the south-eastern area of the Serengeti in the new year, here the young are born, and the herds then follow the availability of grass across the Serengeti into the Maasai Mara through the early rainy season to the dry from June to September and then back now.
The herds we were seeing had increased overnight. To give the Wilderbeest their correct name, they are White-bearded Wildebeest. The Wilderbeest is one of those animals that become impressive wen see in the vast herds.
A stocky antelope with a short tick neck and spindly legs and smooth curved horns. The glossy grey brown coast differs in tones and shades but normally shows dark stripes and a black face mask that contrast with the white beard, hence the more formal name.
They are driven to wander by the need to find fresh grass and water. The are nature's lawnmowers. Compared to other grazers Wildebeest have a wider row of incisors that rasp through anything that enters the bite area. The effect of one and a half lawnmowers is enormous and combined with the fertilizer (dung and urine) they have a huge influence on maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. These two though do not look that dynamic.
Plains Zebra are known as the pioneer grazers as they tend to feed on the longer grass and pave the way for the short grass feeders like the Wildebeest. While they are not as populous as the Wildebeest, they can appear to outnumber them, maybe this is due to the stripes.
Zebra are often found in mixed species herds (even being seen with cattle in the NCA) adopting a safety in numbers tactic. Zebra have superb senses of sight, smell and hearing, and are usually the first to detect danger. They live in family units dominated by a stallion. There is a distinct hierarchy within the herds imposing this through grooming such as here.
Zebra are also one of those subjects that lend itself to a black and white approach.
We left the herds and returned to the longer grassland. Once again we came across a lone Hyena, and once again it had seen something.
it would walk, stop, walk stop, checking all the time something in the distance, something only it could see.
We continued, then Helen called to stop, she had seen something in the grass. Her actions were dead right. Sitting upright on a termite mound was a Cheetah. Then it lay down. It was distant, but definitely a Cheetah. One off the list already.
We watched hoping it would do something, but it went from laying down to sitting up.
and looking around.
We were with another Land Cruiser, and the two guides decided we would have a better chance to get closer if we followed the track to the right. Desperately keeping an eye on the Cheetah as we moved we pulled up in a perfect position which delivered some great views.
And it continued to look around the area, but we were closer.
These were by far the best views I have ever had of Cheetah. We did see one in Kenya eleven years ago, but that was distant and hidden by bushes. This was superb.
The Cheetah's coat is truly spotted black, and the structure of the animal quite slender, like a greyhound. The other feature of the Cheetah was readily visible, the black teardrop lines around the eyes. We waited for some time in the hope it would do something but it seemed to comfortable as can be seen in this photograph where it has it's eyes closed.
A male Pallid Harrier flew over it heading away from us. Who would have thought a Pallid Harrier and Cheetah in the same view!
We decided time was up, the Cheetah was superb, and it was a great start to the day, but we were ready to move on. After a few minutes drive we came across two Black-backed Jackals in the long grass.
And as we stopped to watch the jackals I found what could only have been a Bat-eared Fox, but it only showed briefly, the large ears being quite distinctive, before it flopped down in the grass and completely disappeared.
A little further along there was a small group of land cruisers. At first we couldn't see what they were watching, then out of the grass appeared another spotted cat, but this time something different, a Serval Cat.
The Serval cat is a small spotted an blotched cat, with long legs and large ears. It hunts by stealth and sound using the large ears to locate prey in the grasslands. As it walks it pauses and listens.
It will stalk the prey, then wait and finally a leap onto it. They are also known to jump high in an attempt to catch birds as they fly away. Our cat walked slowly in parallel to the track, and Hassam managed to keep us just in front as it headed closer to us.
It then turned away into the longer grass. The guide book I have refers to the Serval Cat maybe lacking the same appeal as the other three larger cats, but due to their mainly nocturnal habits seeing one is extremely difficult, and those fortunate to encounter one should consider themselves very lucky. We definitely considered ourselves extremely lucky.
As we watched the Serval Cat there was some chatter on the radios and between cruisers and guides about a Leopard sighting, and once the Serval Cat had disappeared into the long grass away from us, Hassam geared the land cruiser up and we were off bumping over the tracks and a speed we hadn't seen all morning. From a way back we could see a collection of land cruisers opposite a group of trees, and to be honest I wondered what we were going to encounter as we reached them.
Leopard sightings are notoriously difficult. Our experience in Sri Lanka has been of jeeps fighting to get into spaces to be able to see a hanging paw, and then if the animal moves trucks desperately trying to follow it which completely takes for the wildlife experience.
As we pulled up closer we could see people actively looking into the trees. It was at this point that Hassam produced his master stroke. Instead of fighting with all the other vehicles he took a slightly higher ground behind them. It did not increase the distance from the trees, but gave us some elevation over the other vehicles which meant they could fight as much as they like.
As we pulled up it was all about the Leopard, and we could see it lying in the grass, not a good view but good enough to see it was a leopard, and par for the course with this animal.
Then it stood up.
and walked into the open.
We then could see another cat, much paler than the first and much smaller. The two started to interact. We were now watching a mother and cub, the cub probably about a year old.
The tree was the centre of all activity and we were informed that up amongst the leaves and out of sight was a recent kill. Cubs will stay with the mother for up to two years, and this one was very active and up for all kinds of play fighting with its mother.
The mother though would engage for a while but then pull away.
Looking up into the tree.
And resting.
Then she took us all by surprise by jumping up the trunk of the tree and onto a bough on the other side to where we were told the kill was.
The cub watched its mother from below.
A few moments of peace away from junior.
But not for long, junior was on its way up.
Joining Mum on the bough.
The mother then decided to climb a little higher into the tree away from the cub. The cub though followed and it was difficult to decide if this was play or the mother trying to force-ably move the cub back down.
The mother then came back down, passing over the cub.
But then turned back to engage in what seemed more like rough and tumble and play with the cub. Here its almost as if the cub is ticklish!
A lovely close up of the two.
There then followed some quiet relaxed time where the two sat in the tree.
I couldn't believe what we were witnessing. I have dreamed of a Leopard experience like this but never in my wildest dreams had I expected to actually see it in the flesh. This was the furthest thought as we pulled up and saw all the vehicles jammed together.
Both cats posed on the tree, it was incredible.
A shorter focal length giving a sense of the surroundings.
Then some more rough and tumble.
The mother then climbed over the cub once more and headed up into the tree leaving the cub to watch us.
Then she decided to return once again.
This time going all the way down the tree back to the ground.
Pausing at the split in the trunk.
Before the final leap down.
The cub then followed her down, and both played around the base of the trunk once more, before the mother clearly got fed up with this and made to climb the tree once again leaving the cub behind.
This time she made her way to the right hand side of the tree.
Heading towards where we believed the kill was stored.
The mother disappeared leaving the cub on the floor. The cub then started to wander and we saw it making its way through the grass and away from the tree until it was obscured by all the land cruisers.
While all this was going on there were many land cruisers arriving and trying to get a position to view the action. The whole area was very muddy and in many cases there was spinning wheels as the vehicles became stuck. Through out this all Hassam retained his place and we were able to get these excellent views. It was amazing considering we came late to the party, we were so in debt to his skills as a driver and guide.
With the mother in the tree, and the cub hidden in the long grass we decided that it was time to move away. It seemed like we had been their watching these two for ages but in fact it was just under half an hour. As we made our way through the long grass more and more land cruisers arrived, as they pulled to a halt or tried to get through the mud to get a better view I couldn't help thinking they had missed the main event. Our timing was perfect. Earlier and we may have given up on any action like we did with the Cheetah. Later and we would have missed them completely. This is what game viewing is all about, 5% being in the right place at the right time, and 95% luck, oh and maybe there is a bit about the skill of your guide too.
As we pulled away from the scene I looked back at the muddy trails and the vehicles still waiting and looking.
This mud was to catch a few vehicles and we stopped on two occasions as we left for Hassam to help get stuck vehicles free.
In the title of this post I refer to Serengeti Day One / Part One. This is due to the amount of activity and photographs taken through the day. I will now close part one, the next installment of the day will come later. Can it surpass the morning so far?
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