Friday 19 June 2009

Long necked mammals and Pristine Prinias

Continuing our journey around Northern Cameroon and Waza NP, the birds were falling thick and fast, tick after tick, avian and Ixodes. One of the real highlights of a trip abroad is seeing a good old prinia of which some are in particular very smart, in fact very non- Prinia like, with plumage colour other than brown, but in keeping with true Prinia fashion, River Prinia did not disappoint. An absolute belter brimming with brown tones and a super long tail, this restricted species showed iself to it's small group of admirers, overcome with excitement and in awe of it's true beauty, a species one will never forgot and worthy of a another addition to the World List. Study the picture above and weep at this fantastic avian creation, and with an excellent call as well.Always good to see a few Owls on a trip and every morning and evening we heard the distinctive snoring of the resident pair of Barn owls in one of the chalets that posed nicely one evening for a photo session in the flashguns.
A stunning male Pallid Harrier one of many seen at Waza patrolling the park, always a good bird to see, almost as good as seeing one at Elmley RSPB in Kent.
Malachite Kingfisher, a common species though not on the Elmley species list, one of the easier open country Kingfishers to see.
Namaqua Dove, scarce in Israel but abundant in Waza, seen in the hundreds.
White-bellied Bustard a territorial bird that we saw several mornings in exactly the same spot whilst looking for Arabian Bustards


Giraffes, and illustrating how they go about having a drink!

1 comment:

Josh Jenkins Shaw said...

Fantastic stuff Barry