Zebra stripes
January 29, 2009
There is a small herd of Zebra that hang out near our house. I think they like it there as it is sandy which is unusual for this area – mostly it is black cotton soil which turns very sticky when it rains and is the reason why we can’t drive in and out during the rainy season. That and all the rivers in between here and Mfuwe! Anyway, the Zebra are pretty used to seeing me and so allowed me to get really close to take these abstract shots.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
The weavers are back.
January 21, 2009
Well, the river is still very low and we are not able to use the boat at all. There has been some rain around though so hopefully it will come up soon.
There is a Natal Mahogany tree quite close to our house where the Village Weavers built their nests last year and they are hard at it again this year. Here a male is trying to tie two branches together as the foundation for his nest.
It took him a while but he got there in the end.
Unfortunately for him the female will inspect it once he is finished and if it is not up to her standards she’ll rip it down and he’ll have to start all over again!
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Grey Heron
January 16, 2009
This is a great time of year for birds and there are loads of different species around. This Grey Heron is a regular at the lagoon in front of camp although he seems to spend more time balancing on one leg than he does fishing..
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Home again..
January 8, 2009
I’m back in the Valley – at last! The whole landscape has changed completely and everywhere you look it is startlingly green. We haven’t had much rain and the river is very low so it is a little tricky using the boat with all the crocs and hippos about. Driving and sometimes even walking are not really options at this time of year as the black cotton soil turns into the most sticky mud you can imagine – you end up staggering around with huge clumps of it stuck to each foot!
There is still a lot of wildlife around though with some big herds of buffalo and elephant as well as a variety of new birds that only visit us in the rains. I’m looking forward to the river coming up so that I can get out and do some photography. I’ll definitely be posting here more often from now on.
It’s also a great time of year for photographing insects…
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
