Birding with Kenn and Kimberly

Kimberly Writes: We woke early today, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the lovely Howard's End Manor , our home for the next few days. Our wonderful hostess, Bronwen Dawes, made us feel so welcome, and we highly recommend this place to anyone planning a trip to Cape Town! After breakfast, we headed for the beach. Well, sort of. We headed in the *direction* of the beach, but drove past all the people soaking up the sun, on our way to a much better place!  We were headed for the Strandfontein Sewage Ponds!  This waste water treatment plant is actually a famous birding spot, and if you think that sounds a little crazy, you might want to take a look at today's photo album and see the birds that we found there! The bizarre yet beautiful Greater Flamingo.  Greater Flamingos are the largest and most widespread species of the flamingo family, and here on the sewage ponds, there were flocks totaling in the hundreds. Sitting still, they're beautiful, ...

Kimberly Writes: Trees play a vital role in the way of life here, for the people and for the wildlife. We've spent some time trying to learn some of the common trees of the region, and we'd come to recognize and admire a few of them, like the Baobab and the Mopane. But today, our appreciation for the trees was taken to a whole new level, as they provided the backdrop for some of the most sensational discoveries of the trip. During a stop at one of the camps to stretch, and replenish our water supply, we discovered a small group of Epauletted Fruit-bats roosting in a large tree! I love bats, and have spent a great deal of time watching Little Brown and Big Brown Bats at home in Ohio. It was wonderful to see larger bats, roosting in a spot that allowed for great observation, and I even got some photos! A close up up one of the Epauletted Fruit-bat reveals a  cute, dog-like face! How could anyone not love bats?! You don't drive through Kruger expecting t...

Kimberly Writes:  During this trip, we've been blessed to spend time with some of the most spectacular mammals on the planet. But birds will always be at the heart of my interest in nature. They sparkle and shine, they flit and they soar, and they sing and dance in ways that I find endlessly captivating. Birds are a doorway to the natural world that introduces people to the diversity that exists - if you simply go out and look for it. So today's post highlights just a few of the wonderful birds we were fortunate enough to see and photograph!  We've seen Crested Barbet in every camp in Kruger National Park.  And that's just fine by me, because they're just so totally cool! Our fourth roller species of the trip, the European Roller!  (We've also had Lilac-breasted, Purple, and Broad-billed.) This dapper Mocking Cliff Chat was a life bird for me AND for Kenn  (something that doesn't happen all that often!). And, another v...

Kenn Writes:  Random sketchbook: Goliath Heron  This huge bird, the largest heron in the world, lives only in Africa. It was one of the species that I particularly wanted to study on this trip for a future painting, but the few we'd seen had been very distant. Today Kimberly spotted one along the river near Oliphants, and we were able to watch it through the scope for a long time. The Goliath Heron can be up to 50 percent larger than the Great Blue Heron of North America, and I was trying to capture those elements of shape that create its ponderous and massive appearance.

Kimberly Writes:  I am thankful each and every day for the love of family and friends, for my health, for my job and the amazing people I work with, and for the blessing of spending my life with the man of my dreams.  Today, I am particularly thankful for the renewal of life. It touches my heart to see these fresh new faces, and it fills me with a deepened sense of commitment to conserving the natural world and its bountiful gifts. Yes, these are baby giraffes. And, yes, I cried my eyes out when I first laid eyes on them!  There's nothing much sweeter than a tiny baby elephant! It stayed very close to mama and was always hidden  in the tall grass, but this little baby Rhinoceros was utterly delightful! Even baby Warthogs are adorable! A tiny newborn Impala. They seem so fragile and vulnerable at this stage. A very young, very precious Chacma Baboon with a  little treasure that  ...

Kimberly Writes:  After three fabulous days, we said a fond farewell to Punda Maria and headed south for Olifants Camp. Since this was the longest driving distance between any two stops of the trip, the drive south today was supposed to be simply getting from Point A to Point B. But Kruger had other things in mind!  First came the lions. We spotted an adult male standing over a freshly killed buffalo,  looking every bit like a scene from Wild Kingdom.  We hadn't been watching for more than a few minutes when he abruptly left the carcass and started walking towards us! He walked right past our car, across the road, and into a little grove of trees near the edge of the road, where the rest of the pride - two females and another male - were resting in the shade. All were panting heavily, not from the heat (today was much cooler), but from having full bellies, an interesting tidbit we learned earlier in the trip. Here are t wo of the three females in...

Kimberly Writes:  We rose before the sun this morning and passed through the camp gate just after 4:30 AM. Once out of the camp, a wonderful mix of paved and dirt roads took us 2 1/2 hours north to the Pafuri Picnic Area, widely considered one of the best areas for birding in all of Kruger NP. For a day focused mostly on birds, it started out on a high note when we encountered five Southern Ground-Hornbills. One of my favorite birds of the whole trip, the Southern Ground-Hornbill!  Southern Ground-Hornbills are the largest of Hornbill species. They spend most of their time walking slowly along the ground, searching for food. They're considered carnivorous, feeding mainly on small animals and insects.   The male's throat pouch is red, but check out the extra color  on the female's throat pouch!  Roughly the size of a turkey, they are the largest of all hornbills. Southern Ground-Hornbills are very social, and are usually seen in pairs o...

Kimberly Writes:  Up until this evening, Kenn and I have not had a guide at all; it's just been the two of us. Kruger is so easy to navigate and the wildlife so abundant, that it's easy to travel here on your own without the luxury of hiring a guide. However, all of the camps in the park are surrounded by large, electric fences. The fences protect visitors from dangerous animals (and the animals from dangerous humans),  and they are closed and locked up tight from sunset to sunrise. The only way to explore the park after hours is by signing up for an excursion led by one of the park guides, something we hadn't done at any of the other camps. But at Punda Maria, there was a bird Kenn wanted to see, and since it was a nightjar, the only real hope of seeing it was to sign up for one of the "Sunset Drives."   During the weeks and months leading up to our trip, I spent hours pouring over the field guides, trying to absorb as much as I could. But I will admit t...