Bird sightings started just after turning onto the H14 heading towards Mopani. I spotted a pair of Yellow-billed Hornbills feeding on termites on the side of a termite mound. It was fascinating to watch them gobble up the small termites without so much as a pause.
The Fork-tailed Drongos were probably the birds I saw the most of.
On the Monday I had a wonderful sighting of a Drongo interacting with a Wahlberg’s Eagle. He was dive-bombing the eagle constantly. The eagle ignored the drongo completely.
I saw surprisingly few raptors. I liked this pale form Wahlberg’s Eagle.
The Brown Snake Eagles always have the most piercing yellow eyes that really stand out against their brown plumage.
I only saw one Tawny Eagle the entire trip.
I came across a couple of White-backed Vultures in the area where the lions were eating the buffalo.
The lack of vultures was one of the disappointing aspects of this trip. I logged White-backed Vultures 3 times and saw a Lappet-faced vulture and a Hooded Vulture once soaring high above. I love Vultures, and wish I could have seen more of them.
Another cool sighting was of a Bateleur and a Cape Starling picking at something on the road just outside Mopani.
The Starling flew into a nearby dead tree. He was soon chased off by the Bateleur.
The Lilac-breasted Roller has to be the most photographed bird in the Park. I saw surprisingly few of these colourful birds.
I stopped at the Letaba River bridge on the Sunday when I arrived. I spotted an Egret in the distance. A Black-headed Oriole called from behind me.
I crashed a couple of bird parties during this trip. The first was just north of Mopani. The noise caught my attention, and when I stopped, I noticed quite a number of species. There was a Lilac-breasted Roller, a Long-billed Crombec and a Fork-Tailed Drongo. A cute little Blue Waxbill looked as if he had just had a bath before joining the Party.
Some of the other guests at the party included a White-browed Scrub Robin, a Green-winged Pytilia and a Golden Breasted Bunting.
The guest of honour at this specific party was without a doubt the Violet-eared Waxbill. It was only my second ever sighting of these pretty little things in Kruger.
The second bird party was just outside Tsendze.
Once again the guests included a Long-billed Crombec and a Green-winged Pytilia.
The other guests included an Arrow-marked Babbler and a Black-backed Puffback.
While I was sitting at one of the lion sightings, a Pied Crow flew over. This was another unusual Kruger bird sighting for me.
The area around the the Thongonyeni water hole was extremely dry, but I did find a pair of Ostriches and another Kori Bustard at water hole.
I can’t quite remember where I was when I saw another Red-crested Korhaan.
An adult and young Crowned Lapwing were scratching around near one of the Nshawu pans.
I only listed 134 species seen during the trip. I am sure that the early summer season and the extremely dry conditions had something to do with the low numbers. Despite this, the birds sightings were still spectacular.