Ndutu VI - vultures, hartebeest, elephants, jackals, lions
A lovely morning on the savannah
10.02.2020 - 10.02.2020
View
Baby Boomers - Tanzania 2020
on Grete Howard's travel map.
Zebra
Looks like we have us some zebra love here.
It's pretty obvious that this liaison isn't going to result in any zebra babies!
It looks like a kinky threesome to me.
Cattle Egret
Wildebeest Buffet
Marabou Stork and a variety of Vultures feast on a wildebeest carcass left behind by a much larger predator. These scavenging raptors are the hyenas of the skies, playing a vital ecological clean-up role by disposing of decomposing carcasses.
There is always a strict pecking order at such buffets, with the Lapped Faced Vulture being the first, as with their powerful hooked beaks they are the only raptor able to open up the carcass to allow other, smaller vultures to access the innards.
These huge and aggressive birds stand more than a metre tall with wingspans of around three metres. They are also, however, known for being particularly affectionate and mate for life, which in the wild can be up to thirty years.
I have to say that he doesn't look very 'affectionate'.
Their heads are free of feathers to avoid blood clinging to it as they bury themselves deep into the carcass to get at the sinew, their preferred food. Potent stomach acids help them deal with the most putrid carcass.
Vultures can store up to one kilo of consumed flesh in the distensible section of their oesophagus, called a crop. They have been known to eat so much that they become too heavy to physically take off; although should they sense danger, they are able to empty the crop for a quick get-away.
Different species of vultures have different shaped beaks, which means they eat different parts of a carcass, hence they should - theoretically - all be able to eat peacefully at the 'dinner table'.
Hartebeest
A large antelope, standing at around 1 metre at the shoulders (3 feet), hartebeest are gregarious animals that are usually found in herds, such as here.
Now let's go back to what I said about the size of the Lapped Faced Vulture: should the bird be standing next to the Hartebeest, this is what it would look like.
Giraffe
A lonesome giraffe eats his way across the savannah.
Golden Jackal
She is sniffing around, looking for something, maybe food or a scent.
She finds a hole and disappears into it.
Elephants
It's interesting to see the different lengths and angles of the tusks of these two elephants.
Kori Bustard
Eurasian Avocet
Common Pratincole
Lions
At first the only evidence of the lions sleeping under this tree, is a paw sticking up.
Later we a head appears, then drops down again.
We let sleeping lions be, and carry on exploring.
Another Lion
A young male lion is surveying the landscape from a hillock overlooking Big Marsh.
We can tell he is young – less than seven years old – from the fact that his nose is still pink. As they get older, their nose becomes black all over.
He gets up and walks down onto the flat area.
We move down to the flats too, and at one stage he comes up and lies under our car for the shade!
Eventually he seems to settle down and go to sleep – in the middle of the sun – so we drive off to find somewhere to have our lunch.
Picnic at Big Marsh
Malisa finds a great lunch spot overlooking a sea of wildebeest on Big Marsh.
There is something really special about getting the picnic chairs out, in the company of wild animals.
There are literally thousands of wildebeest down on the marsh.
Judging by the number of Superb Starlings who join us, I would guess this is a popular picnic spot.
"Got any food for me?"
I might just accidentally drop a piece of cake on the ground while I was eating; it is so easily done.
Just as we are packing up, we hear a commotion down on the marsh, with thousands of hooves beating the ground as the whole herd – or confusion as a group of wildebeest are known as – make a run for it. Soon there are none.
Just a couple of minutes ago, this was heaving with animals
I have no idea what spooked them, so we pop down to find out.
This safari was arranged by Calabash Adventures, the best safari operators by far.
Posted by Grete Howard 07:10 Archived in Tanzania Tagged animals wildlife elephants bird africa safari tanzania zebra birding african picnic start lions giraffe egret vultures avocet starlings wildebeest jackal kori_bustard bustard ndutu calabash_adventures hartebeest marabou_stork pratincole golden_jackal picnic_lunch picnic_box wildlife_photography big_marsh wildebeest_carcass feeding_the_birds superb-starling Comments (2)
