Ostriches
Ostriches are such common birds, and I am therefore amused at how excited I get when I see them in Kruger! I saw more ostriches during this trip than previous trips combined.
Owls
Earlier I mentioned the African Barred Owlet that I got as a lifer. The next night I was sitting outside when a bird started calling at the top of it’s voice. I quickly played the owl calls on my phone and realised it was another Barred Owlet. Then I went hunting. It was calling so loudly that it was actually very easy to locate it. It continued calling for a long time – it was the perfect sound track for the evening!
While I was visiting Tsendze camp, Roger also pointed out the location of the resident African Scops Owl. These small birds can be so easily overlooked. This was another cool sighting as I have not seen one of these little owls for many years.
On my first night at Letaba a ghostly white shape flew very low over my head while I was speaking to my son on the phone. I got a little fright and may have said a bad word out loudly. My son thought it was funny when I explained! I quickly walked to where the “ghost” disappeared and found the Barn Owl. I was busy looking for creepy crawlies and only had my macro lens, but I was quite happy with the quality of the photo. What a beautiful bird!
I know that the Satara area is a good area to find Verreaux’s Eagle Owls. I think I will be disappointed with any visit to Satara if I don’t find them. I left Satara very early on Friday morning, and soon spotted the Owl in a tree. It was still very dark, and the photo is a little grainy, but I like the silhouette effect against the pre-dawn light.
I was driving along the Letaba River when I saw these two in a tree.
On my last morning in the Park I quickly went to see if I could find them again, and they were in the exact same spot as the day before! I just love those pink eye lashes!
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