Living Luangwa – Patrick Bentley's Blog

A couple shots of nocturnal birds from a recent night drive. The first is a Verreaux’s Eagle-owl and the second a Water Thick-knee (Dikkop).

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This impressive looking bird is a female Saddle-billed stork. The sexes are nearly identical except that the female has a yellow eye whereas the male has a black eye. The male is also larger than the female. It is a huge bird with a wingspan of nearly 9 feet.

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The mornings are quite cold at this time of year which makes it easier to approach birds fairly closely as they sit sunning themselves. This is an extreme close-up of one of my favourite birds, the little bee-eater. Check out the blue eyeshadow – very eighties!

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Early this morning I came across a Blacksmith lapwing (plover) crouched down on an open piece of ground quite close to the road. On closer inspection I noticed that she had a few extra legs!

After a few minutes she stood up and revealed two tiny chicks that had been nestled underneath her wings. They had the most incredibly long legs and were very well camouflaged. They also moved about at great speed making them quite difficult to photograph.

She allowed them to forage about in the open for a little while and then ushered them off into some thick grass where they would be safer from predators..

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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.

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This handsome bird is a Water thick-knee or Dikkop. Although it is primarily a nocturnal bird (see the large eye) it is often found standing around on river banks and is very easy to approach and photograph. It has an interesting call which slows down toward the end giving the impression that it is being played on a tape deck with flat batteries..

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With their bright blue eyes and golden Mohawks, crowned cranes must be one of the most striking looking birds in the Luangwa. They are quite shy though and can be difficult to approach. These two were caught up in what seemed to be a mating dance although it is the wrong time of year – they were running around each other, bobbing their heads and jumping into the air and so didn’t take much notice of me. Unfortunately it then began to pour with rain and so I had to leave them to it. We have had a huge amount of rain recently which is a little late for this time of year…

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