Imfolozi dag 3: So many different birds

Woensdag 21-11-2018

Imfolozi dag 3:        So many different birds

Dieren vandaag gezien / Animals spotted:

·         Impala

·         Spotted hyena

·         Greater striped swallow

·         Red-chested cuckoo

·         Black cuckoo

·         Diderik cuckoo

·         Jacobin cuckoo

·         Black-shouldered kite

·         African harrier-hawk

·         Common buzzard

·         White-backed vulture

·         Pale morph tawny eagle

·         Tawny eagle

·         Yellow-billed kite

·         Three-banded plover

·         Dark-capped bulbul

·         Blue wildebeest

·         Buffalo

·         Kudu

·         White rhino

·         Zebra

·         African wild dog

We left camp at 4 am. First we drove to Mphila hill to scan. On our way there we came across a spotted hyena but it moved of the road quickly. It was very cloudy and it was drizzling, so I got my rain gear on. We didn’t really get signal so that was not so great. The dogs were in a spot we couldn’t go.

We went looking for CF17 and a pride of lions. On the way back we found another hyena, this one moved of the road as well but when we drove around the corner there were another 4 lying on the road. The got up and 2 of the were very interested in the tiers. They came so close to the car that they even touched it. This was a good sighting. We moved on after a while and we continued our search. The lions were not far from the road but not accessible. Then CF17. We got close to her but she was still in the bush. The storm was coming closer and Ryan took us to the Bhejane hide. On our way there we saw a very light brown bird. It was a tawny eagle, but not the regular one but the pale morph. In the hide we had morning tea and got a chance to sit while the storm passed us. On our way back we passed the tawny eagle and so did we do another one, but this was the ‘normal’ one. When we scanned for CF17 we found out that she must have crossed the road. While we were waiting we saw about a dozen white backed vultures. When Ryan heard the impala’s bark we took off to see what was going on. Nothing we could discover, so back to our previous spot. We sat here for a while and then diceded to go back to camp. Fairly quickly Kat noticed she was missing a glove but didn’t say anything to Ryan. The rain started again. After a while I told Kat to tell Ryan she was missing her glove. He turned around and we headed back. And yes there it was on the 4x4 track. It started to rain a bit more while we drove to camp. I went straight to bed, what am I tiered at the moment. I don’t know why.

We left at 4 pm for our afternoon session. We drove to Mphila hill to scan for the Bhejie Pack. While we were doing this Ryan found out where they were because of their satellite signal. We drove there and waited for them to wake up. We were lucky. After more than an hour they woke up and moved on to the road. There are 11 of them in the pack now and they all showed up. They actually walked 2 by 2 in a line, very funny. We followed them till they disappeared in to the bushes.

When we arrived at camp Fi was back again.

Today we’ve seen 4 different cuckoo’s and lots of birds of prey.