The Beagle, a 2008 Toyota LC on a drift across Africa, piloted by Jim (FitzRoy) and Ann Colleen.
The Beagle, a 2008 Toyota LC on a drift across Africa, piloted by Jim (FitzRoy) and Ann Colleen.
Retracing the route we took in 2008 when traveling my niece Renee, we stay at Wildlife Camp, just outside the South Luangwa entrance. We drive into the park on our own. The roads are good, the water level in the rivers is low and grasses have died off therefore game viewing should be excellent. But it isn’t. Now, we don’t expect to see the big cats on every drive, in fact as self-drivers we likely miss a lot. And we do spend two hours at a waterhole watching herd after herd of elephant come in to drink and socialize, a real treat. 
But the herds of zebra, antelope, buffalo; the hyenas and flocks of storks; the hippos, these populations are very low or non-existent at the moment. Other people we meet feel similarly, that Zambia’s game populations have shrunk. Moving on to Bengwelu Wetlands I am hopeful that at least the Black Lechwe and the birds will still be abundant.
Are those elephants saying hello, or doing something more complicated?
Good question. They were a bit standoffish with each other at first and they never did aggressive. So maybe they are pals now.
Really good to read more of your posts/stories! i have been getting in a number of projects and one of those projects is to sit and listen to the chorus of Great Plains Toads going off in my backyard/bird sanctuary. if you can imagine the sounds of bells wrapped around the hooves of this team of horses trotting on ice and snow (like to your Autumn Kitchen )~ its constant from about 8PM till about 2AM…anyways
A little pond with a fountain has been good to me this Summer in my backyard bird sanctuary and garden. The family of Yellow Warblers are pretty fun to watch…getting to the waters edge and slowly wading in… watching as they lose their olive drab fledgling back and the yellow begins to blush. They seem quite at ease frolicking in and out of the bath and they love to drink from the fountain as do the 6+ chickadees. }
I have an Apricot Tree that’s full of apricots, they’re soooo good; between me and the Bird-Bath-Fountain ~ i’m sitting under my umbrella with round picnic table in this perfect cool Summer evening/night/morning ~ Unfortunately i’ve had to put out a lot of time and money to keep these fabulous Apricots from being eaten by the damn birds ~ I planted peanut butter all around the sanctuary today and hope that this delightful decoy and the netting, i have laboriously put all over and around this Apricot Tree. i fear Epic Fail.
Watching a new comer/species join the fun over the last couple of week, as the Yellow Warbler family has been making families here since i put the pool in with Sophie’s help 6 years ago ~ This new species is a young Gray Catbird ~ and yesterday he took over the little pond with not one, but two bathing’s!
i’d rather have a snake fall next to me than an Earwig fall on me! I’ve had a plethora of earwigs growing by the thousands coming up in my dish drainer OMG! for last 5 years i have fought this infestation as if i were Linigin and these ants annoyed the fuck out of me…Now on a good note i have found a product that keeps them away from landing on me or crawling on me…gawd forbid… i believe i have found the solution after trying so many earwig suppressants.
In Viet Nam a snake slithered into this bunker, and i, sitting on the floor by the door whence this lovely green snake came slithering in reached out rapidly and grabbed it by the back of its little head ~ the lieutenant ask if i knew what i was holding, i said uhhh no sir why don’t you tell me~ he said a Banana Viiper! and i rapidly tossed it out the door towards the rice paddiess.
It’s been awhile since i’ve had time to ck in on you. I’m not sure i have an Email address that you can receive photos, like the pix of an Indigo Bunting we found down at the Riverfront Park area ~ But alas i’m fading.
i took pix of a hummingbird banding during our Vesper clinic ~ where my birding bud Mike and i enrolled the first clinic ever for this program to record Nocturnal Flight Calls as they migrate over us. Our YVAS club gave us a $2000 grant to make this happen; We have mechanisms attached to microphones and programs to ID the various calls, how many, developing stations, as we get into more and more Plans for more Plans.
You really write great stories Colleen, about where you are/have been and how you cope with it…
i’m laffing my asssoff to some degree with just these horrid earwigs ~ i’m sure you have to cope with a lot worse creepy crawly things.
Much Love and thinking of you in these journeys,
Will
Hi William – You are having a time of it this summer, I can see! That’s great about your grant. And the apricots. Sign me up for some jam. Yes the bugs we deal with are amazing, I was so happy to leave those loathsome crickets behind as we’ve moved north. I think of you often and will send you an email with a bird photo I need help identifying. Hugs!
Catherine Wiggins says: I am now an official bird lover !
Catherine Wiggins says: Love those elephants. So huge and so close. You really make me want to experience this adventure !
Great photos. Thanks so much. What do you NOT miss the most ?
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