Raptors
I was fortunate to see a wonderful mix of raptors on this trip. No trip would be complete without seeing a Fish Eagle. The call of the Fish Eagle is just one of the most beautiful African sounds. I saw a few Bateleurs, both adults and immature birds.
Summer is also a great time for Yellow-billed Kites, Wahlberg’s and Tawny Eagles. I saw a few Yellow-billed Kites.
A beautiful Wahlberg’s Eagle was one of the first raptors I saw.
A Tawny Eagle was taking shelter in the shade on a very hot Saturday afternoon.
On recent trips I’ve seen very few Brown Snake Eagles. I hope it is just luck of the draw and that their numbers are not declining.
On my last full day, I also saw a couple of Common Buzzards.
I only saw my first Amur Falcons of the summer the weekend before my Kruger trip, so it was wonderful to see a few of these birds during this trip. I also saw Lanner Falcons twice, but unfortunately no photos.
On one of our birding drives we spotted a pair of African Hawk Eagles. And then one of the highlights – I went for a drive in between the Saturday birding drives and found this gorgeous Martial Eagle not far from the Balule bridge. It was close to the road, so you could really get a sense of its power and grace. And those piercing eyes – just beautiful! It had a ring on, but unfortunately, I could only see the ring joint and no info is visible to enable me to find out more about this stunning bird.
Rollers
I was surprised at how few rollers I saw. I saw all three of the “common”’ species – Purple, European and Lilac-breasted Rollers.
Purple Roller – 
Lilac-breasted Roller – 
Running
I went for a short run at Satara and at Letaba. I found running to be a lot easier in the Park than at home, especially when you have this beautiful sunset to look at while you run!
Another creature that did some running was this Slender Mongoose. I found him in the middle of the day on the S89. He was so cute in the way that he would literally run from bush to bush, pause in the shade for a few seconds, and dash to the next bit of shade.
Next up: S is for …..