Trips and Bits: 5th November 2013

Gosh – all too soon this is our last full day on safari!
The day breaks with a cloud cover, a blessing really, as temperatures are still in the high 30s.
This morning we’re going to attempt to locate and view a rhino, the only one of the ‘big five’ we’ve not been privileged to see.
It really has been an astonishing vacation, and about as close as you can get to the wild without pulling a Tarzan/Jane stunt, and returning to nature.
So this morning, it’s up early, a light breakfast, and the three of us into the jeep, with Samuel our trusty guide.
As a game reserve, the 70,000 hectare Majete is still in the process of being re-stocked after all of the big game was cleared out in the 70s/80s, so our chances of sighting rhino are slim.
However, birds do not need restocking, and they’re everywhere for those who want to see, and with a good guide!

The Brown-headed Parrot, hard to see unless pointed out . . .

. . . not so, with their brilliant colours, the African Pygmy Kingfisher, the Brown-hooded Kingfisher, and with his size, the Black-headed heron, who perches, flys, lands then takes off again . . ah, decisions, decisions.

Much harder to spot, an African Barred Owlet, one of the smallest of the species.

On the other hand, the Trumpeter Hornbill doesn’t care who sees him.

Lower down at ground level, the Leopard Tortoise makes his way, one of the ‘small five’.

The Marabou Stork is the larges of its species, up to 60 inches tall, and counts itself as part of the clean-up crew, along with vultures, feeding on carrion.

A Martial Eagle perches on the lookout for prey, while Wahlberg’s Eagle prefers an airborne hunt.

Scratching around at ground level, the African Pipit, Arnott’s Chat on the lookout for bugs, the Lesser Masked Weaver doing likewise a little higher, and a migrant European Bee-eater.