Monthly Archives: August 2014

Going Home

Sunset

The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment when the trailing edge of the Sun’s disk disappears below the horizon. The ray path of light from the setting sun is highly distorted near the horizon because of atmospheric refraction, making the sunset appear to occur when the sun’s disk is already about one diameter below the horizon. Sunset is distinct from dusk, which is the time at which the sky becomes completely dark, which occurs when the sun is approximately eighteen degrees below the horizon. The period between sunset and dusk is called twilight.

Sunset creates unique atmospheric conditions such as the often intense orange and red colours of the sun and the surrounding sky.

[Ref: Wkipedia]

Sunset on the Chobe River, downstream of the town of Kasane northern Botswana, Southern Africa,

Mr Perfect

Allen’s Gallinule Porphyrio martinicus

This little guy, sometimes referred to as the Lesser Gallinule, is an uncommon resident in Southern Africa and partial migrant to seasonally flooded areas.

We found him co-habitating with the African Jacanas and Black Crakes in dense river reeds and water-lily fields. Like his co-habitants he can navigate these ares by walking along the densely packed water-lily leaves.

This prime example of this somewhat aloof creature was captured in the early morning on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.

Adorable Dabchick

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

The Little Grebe (also known as Dabchick) is a small water bird with a pointed bill. The adult is unmistakable in summer, predominantly dark above with its rich, rufous colour neck, cheeks and flanks, and bright yellow gape. The rufous is replaced by a dirty brownish grey in non-breeding and juvenile birds. Juvenile birds have a yellow bill with a small black tip, and black and white streaks on the cheeks and sides of the neck. This yellow bill darkens as the juveniles age, eventually turning black once in adulthood. In winter, its size, buff plumage, with a darker back and cap, and “powder puff” rear end enable easy identification.

[Ref: Wikipedia]

This scene was captured at the Klein Namutoni water-hole, south of the Namutoni rest-camp, Etosha National Park, northern Namibia, Southern Africa.

Serenity

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

A fine example of this seemingly delicate bird.

This wader is a local resident in Southern Africa. It builds its nest in estuaries, marshes, pans and flooded ground which it defends in a very vocal manner.

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana.

Mother and Child

African Elephant Loxodonta africana

These fine examples of the African Elephant are wading back to the south bank of the Chobe River after enjoying an afternoon’s grazing on one of the many islands in the river.

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.

Speedy Re-visited

African Jacana Actophilornis africanus

In an earlier post entitled “Speedy!”, I related the curious behaviour of the jacanas with respect to the raising of the young, viz., the fact that the male assumes this duty and the responsibility to protect the young against all dangers. The male African jacana has therefore evolved some remarkable adaptations for parental care, such as the ability to pick up and carry chicks underneath its wings.

In this image, a father can be seen doing exactly that!

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.

Portrait in Paradise

Southern Carmine Bee-eater Merops nubicoides

This sub-equatorial African species, like other bee-eaters, is a richly coloured, striking bird, predominantly carmine in colouration, but with the crown and undertail coverts blue.

Its usual habitat included low-altitude river valleys and floodplains, preferring vertical banks suitable for tunneling when breeding, but readily digging vertical burrows in the level surface of small salt islands. This is a highly sociable species, gathering in large flocks, in or out of breeding season. They roost communally in trees or reedbeds, and disperse widely during the day. Nesting is at the end of a 1-2m long burrow in an earthen bank, where they lay from 2-5 eggs.

This is a migratory species, spending the breeding season, between August and November, in Zimbabwe, before moving south to South Africa for the summer months, and then migrating to equatorial Africa from March to August.

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.

Whoa!

African Elephant Loxodonta africana

We ventured a little too close to this “gentle giant” while he was enjoying a late afternoon swim! He was not at all comfortable with us being so close!

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.

Perfect Formation

Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta

Cape Gannet Morus capensis

These guys are marvellously efficient flying machines. They can glide for seemingly never-ending periods of time without so much as a single flap of the wings. Energy conservation is the priority! Much of this gliding is done mere centimetres above the water surface so as to capitalise on the “drafting” effect of the wind flowing over the moving waves.

This mid-morning image was captured 25 nautical miles south of Cape Point, South Africa in the sub-Atlantic Ocean.

Speedy!

African Jacana Actophilornis africanus

African jacanas are waders in the family Jacanidae, identifiable by long toes and long claws that enable them to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, their preferred habitat. Jacanas are found worldwide within the tropical zone, and this species is found in sub-saharan Africa.

The jacana has evolved a highly unusually polyandrous mating system, meaning that one female mates with multiple males and the male alone cares for the chicks. Such a system has evolved due to a combination of two factors: firstly, the lakes that the jacana lives on are so resource-rich that the relative energy expended by the female in producing each egg is effectively negligible. Secondly the jacana, as a bird, lays egg and eggs can be equally well incubated and cared for by a parent bird of either gender. This means that the rate-limiting factor of the jacana’s breeding is the rate at which the males can raise and care for the chicks. Such a system of females forming harems of males is in direct contrast to the more usual system of leks seen in animals such as stags and grouse, where the males compete and display in order to gain harems of females.

The parent that forms part of the harem is almost always the one that ends up caring for the offspring; in this case, each male jacana incubates and rears a nest of chicks. The male African jacana has therefore evolved some remarkable adaptations for parental care, such as the ability to pick up and carry chicks underneath its wings.

[Ref: Wikipedia]

This image was captured on the Chobe River, near Kasane, northern Botswana, Southern Africa.