Easter Squirrel
March 25, 2008
We received a very special gift this easter in the form of a baby tree squirrel. He fell out of his nest which was in our roof (they frequently nest in the grass thatch). His mother didn’t come to retrieve him so we happily took him in. He really is incredibly cute and is growing bigger by the day. His teeth are also getting sharper and he is starting to chew on anything he can!
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Red winged Pratincoles
March 24, 2008
There is a huge flock of these birds hanging out on a sandbank near here and I have been trying to get some shots of them in flight. I slowed down the shutter speed on my camera to 1/60th of a second to get some blurring in their wings and give an impression of movement.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Canoeing the Luangwa
March 21, 2008
Our friends John and Carol Coppinger from Tafika set off on a ten day canoeing trip to the Luangwa/ Zambezi confluence this week. Sarah and I joined them for the first (65km) leg to Mfuwe. It was a wonderful day although a little hair raising at times as the crocodiles suddenly become very inquisitive when they see you floating past. John has actually had one bite through the front of his canoe before!
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Zebra Eye
March 20, 2008
The area around camp is slowly drying out now and we are able to drive around for short distances. I often find a herd of Zebra nearby and this curious youngster came right up to the car allowing me to get this close-up shot of his eye.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
More Microlighting
March 16, 2008
It has been a fun week for us as we took the opportunity to get away for a few days of socialising in Mfuwe before the river dries up and we are stranded here again. I also managed to wangle another flight out of John which was wonderful as usual.
We saw plenty wildlife from the air including two lionesses and a herd of eland but the highlight for me was a saddle-billed stork and four chicks sitting on a massive scraggly nest. We were careful not to get too close to her as we didn’t want to stress her but I managed to get a couple shots.
This is a flock of yellow-billed storks flying over the muddy Luangwa river. No matter how hard I try I can’t work out which shadow belongs to which bird!
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
White-crowned Lapwing
March 10, 2008
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Painterly skies
March 9, 2008
This storm blew in yesterday evening from the east but then blew away again without dropping much rain. It seems as though the rainy season is coming to an end early this year as we have had very little rain in the last couple of weeks. Soon the river will be too shallow for the boat and we will be marooned again until it is dry enough to build a road out of here. One thing I have learned though over this rainy season is that life here is extremely unpredictable and if the river flooded again tomorrow I wouldn’t be very surprised!
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
