First leopard of the season
May 27, 2009
He was a shy young male that I found this morning hiding under a bush and watching his kill being devoured by a hyaena. I sat and watched for nearly an hour while the hyaena polished off a huge amount of the kill – a large puku ram. Eventually the hyaena sloped off with a large chunk of meat and it’s belly dragging on the ground! The leopard quickly came out of hiding, grabbed what was left and with incredible strength pulled it about a hundred metres into some very thick combretum bushes.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
African Spoonbills
May 25, 2009
On a drive this morning I came across half a dozen spoonbills fishing in a small lagoon near here. As the lagoons dry out at this time of year parties of these birds travel from one to the other and systematically clear out all the stranded fish. They were so engrossed in their fishing that they didn’t seem to notice me lying on the ground only a few feet away from them. They are pretty cool looking birds with their red faces and bright blue eyes.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Back in the Valley at last..
May 24, 2009
My apologies for the blog being so dead recently but I have been away for a months break before our safari season begins. I am home again now and it is very good to be back. I have been out on a few drives around the park already and it’s always incredible to see how much it all changes as soon as the rainy season ends. Everything is quickly drying out and turning brown again – the huge baobab in the photograph was covered in leaves when I left but has now shed them all. There is a fair amount of wildlife about with some nice big herds of elephant hanging out near camp. There are lions around as well as I heard them roaring last night but haven’t seen them yet. I’ve got a feeling that it is going to be a good season…
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
