Untamed Land

Untamed Land
Untamed Land

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Gary's Photos in Queen Elizabeth NP

This is one of Gary's favorite photos from the trip. I saw the same geese, and did'nt take a photo because I was hoping to see something more exotic to photograph. Egyptian Geese are extremely common, and there were many other things to see in the immediate vicinity.
One of many Hammerkops on the trip. Almost as numerous as Egyptian Geese.

I also shot a photo of this same group of Pink-backed, and Great White Pelicans, and one Grey Heron.
A great shot of rare Saddle-billed Storks and White-breasted, (Great) Cormorants.
A really nice look at a Yellow-billed Stork.
You can't tell size from the photo, but Giant Forest Hogs are huge. Much bigger than Warthogs.
We were all delighted by this meeting with Banded Mongooses near the Mweya Restaurant. They came right into the open air restaurant, and were scampering all around our feet. What an exhilerating moment. The food was'nt half bad either.
Along with the mongooses, there were several Warthogs lounging around just outside the restaurant. Even better were the many sunbirds in the trees and hedges surrounding the place. Like this Scarlet-chested Sunbird.

The other predominate sunbird of the area is the similar, (both in name and appearance) Red-chested Sunbird.
Moving on, we saw many Fork-tailed Drongos in the park.
Just outside the park's boundaries, Gary photographed this male, Brown-throated Wattle-eye. Only the female has a brown throat.
 Similar in size and appearance, also in the same vicinity as the previous species, this is a cute, Black-headed Batis.
From the same area, beautiful, Black-headed Gonoleks. We saw them just about everywhere we went.
Also near the outskirts of Queen Elizabeth NP, this male Pin-tailed Widow, (Whydah).

1 comment:

tess stieben said...

The storks bills are amazing, nature sure outdoes herself when it comes to birds.