Living Luangwa – Patrick Bentley's Blog

Egyptian geese are very common in this area and are great photographic subjects. They are extremely boisterous and noisy, making their presence felt all along the river. The males make a raspy hissing sound while the females produce a loud cackling noise. Some shots from the last few days…

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This time of year is great for photographing water birds in flight as they are constantly flying up and down the river. I just float down the river in the boat and wait for them to fly by. The first shot is of a pair of spurwing geese and the second a flock of great white egrets returning to their evening roost.

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The male red bishops are in full breeding plumage at the moment. Handsome fellows aren’t they?

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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!

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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..

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This striking bird is an immature Bateleur. It is sometimes known as the conifer eagle because it’s feathers resemble a conifer or pine cone when fluffed up like this. It takes seven years to attain the red legs and facial skin as well as the black and chestnut plumage of the even more striking adult Bateleur.

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I came across this pair of Saddle-billed storks fishing in a lagoon near here late yesterday evening. I thought their reflections looked quite interesting rotated to give a more abstract image. It is getting extremely hot here now but still not much evidence of rains apart from the odd rumble of thunder in the distance. This time of year is always exciting with the anticipation of the rainy season bringing cooler weather and transforming the valley to lush greenness again..

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