White fronted Bee-eater
February 25, 2008
It is definitely all about birds at this time of year. There are loads of mammals around as well but we don’t see them much as we are restricted to the river (unless you have a microlight!) and the grass is so tall that they are very well hidden.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
More Weavers
February 19, 2008
Village Weavers are such active and interesting birds that they are always a pleasure to photograph. I have been spending a lot of time at the various colonies near here and have been rewarded with some great images. A couple shots:
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Buffalo mud spa
February 18, 2008
Yesterday afternoon I had a fantastic microlight flight with John Coppinger, owner of Remote Africa Safaris.
I was amazed by the amount of wildlife that we saw from the air – loads of elephant, impala, puku etc and this massive herd of buffalo, spread out over an open plain and wallowing in the muddy lagoons. It was an incredible experience and has convinced me that I now need to buy a microlight!….
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Village Weavers
February 12, 2008
The river has gradually begun to go down now and things are starting to return to normal. The Village Weavers are well into their breeding season with the males (black masks) madly building their nests and trying to entice the females to mate with them. The females are very fussy though and inspect their new homes thoroughly before accepting the males advances.
They often nest in thorn trees over the water and this way are safe from many predators. I saw a Lizard Buzzard kill one the other day but unfortunately it happened so quickly I missed the shot.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
underwater – again!
February 6, 2008
It has been a stressful week for us as for the second year running the Luangwa river has burst its banks and the whole area is flooding. At least half of the camp is now underwater and most of the nearby camps are submerged. We are lucky here at Lion Camp that the majority of our buildings are up on stilts with walkways between them. The workshop area isn’t though and it is completely submerged with crocs swimming around it!
Despite the chaos of moving things around in camp I have still been able to get around and do some photography from the boat. The Village Weavers are building their nests furiously at the moment and I will post some images of them in the next day or two.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
