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Saturday, October 18, 2014

Critters, nature and welcome rains

Last weekend we'd had a brief shower of rain. It's always rewarding to go out birding and "bushing" at this time and Saturday was no exception.
These critters (banded mongoose) ran ahead so fast, my photos are a blur. However, Grant and I had never seen so many together at once. At a quick head count, I arrived at 30
Pond Lilies
Cycling trio

While I was recovering from malaria this week, Grant and I had to leave off our evening exercise. So instead, we went birding every evening! Last week I was so envious when Eileen (who hosts this meme) showed photos of woodpeckers. (and I told her so, LOL!) On Thursday evening we'd just past a typical woodpecker tree, when I called for Grant to stop. I zoomed in and focused. Unfortunately I had my camera set on AV  instead of Manual and I kept trying to darken the photo. When I did adjust the setting, I looked up again and the woodpecker had disappeared around the other side of the tree! 

When I downloaded the photos, Grant id'd this as a Grey Woodpecker - a lifer for us! 

Yesterday afternoon we had another short shower of rain. Last night we went out again.
Freshly washed earth with promising stormy skies overhead
As we left the mine road and entered the bush proper, I spotted a dik-dik in the scrub nearby. 

Although we saw several birds and a couple of raptors, I will post about them during the week. Driving along the slimes dam wall, Grant stopped for me to photograph four Ibis silhouetted against the night sky. While we watched, we saw one bird bend to feed another. When I downloaded the photos, I saw this clearly.
Ibis against the night sky. If you look closely the bird second from the left is bending towards the third bird
Here, that third bird is eating off the tree. (juvenile or mate?) 

A little further along, Grant spotted a coucal in a thorn bush just below the bank. 
White-browed Coucal
Another glorious East African sunset

I'm linking this post to Saturday Critters Party with Eileen which you can visit here

I'll do a post on the pups later today, who were one month yesterday.

Here's wishing you all a wonderful weekend. 

 


18 comments:

  1. What fun captures for the day, Jo! Love seeing all the different birds/critters - and so different from the ones we have here in Oregon!! Hope you have a great weekend!! Give the pups a pat for me!!

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  2. hoping you're feeling much better, now!

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  3. All so very exotic to us European folk. Not that we don't have a few nice birds; the Hoopoe that visits us is my favourite.

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  4. HI Jo Glad you are feeling a bit better adn you got a lifer. When I was in Kruger one evening I saw lots of the Banded Mongoose but the light was not good so my shots were very poor. Probably show them later on (when I get to Kruger on my posts!!). Have a great weekend.

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  5. Great shot to of the mongooses (mongeese?)

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  6. Jo, I love your Grey Woodie. Awesome sighting and photo..Congrats on the lifer. The Ibis and the Coucal are great birds too. Wow, all those Mongoose are a cool sight to see. Gorgeous sunset to end your day..

    Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

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  7. I would love to see a mongoose. They're the critter type that saves the boy, in Rikki Tikki Tavi [a Rudyard Kipling story]!!!

    Wow...you should add this link to I'd Rather B Birdin' this week to share all the great birds you spotted and posted here.

    http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com

    The new linking tool opens at 12:00 noon Texas time.

    I enjoyed this a lot. Oh, and I love the rains!

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  8. At least you see some other critters than me, I only see cats and dogs for the moment not even a cow !

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  9. i would expire from joy at that many mongoose, i have never even seen one.. and the white crested coucal is amazing.. love the dik dik

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  10. Love the landscape.

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  11. So sorry you had malaria! I have been reading that quinine was used in the past to cure it...is it still the medicine of choice? LOVE the Coucal! Wow! Beautiful bird. And those mongoose and the lifer grey woodpecker. Well, all the animals and birds were awesome finds! Nice post!

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  12. Great birds and great wildlife! You are so lucky. Plus I like the scenery:)

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  13. Oh no! Praying you are completely healed as I leave my comment and a prayer for you...Beautiful shots as always. Take care sister and God bless and protect you...

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  14. How interesting that I always use AV for birds and that you prefer Manual. Yours certainly worked with the White-browed Coucal - what a terrific bird it is.

    Imagine seeing 30 or more Banded Mongoose, fabulous. I think I saw that species in Kenya or maybe a related one?

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  15. Thank you ever so much for sharing the link to your bird post at I'd Rather B Birdin' this weekend Jo!!

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  16. Hoping you feel much better. The Grey Woodpecker and the Coucal are beautiful birds.

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  17. It's nice to see new places ! Great photos !

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  18. Saw huge groups of banded mongoose at Pilanesberg and enjoyed their antics. You do very well capturing birds, something I struggle with. Hope you are feeling well.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo