Rueppell’s Glossy-Starling – immatures have dark eyes! It is named after Wilhelm Peter Eduard Simon Rüppell (20 November 1794 – 10 December 1884). He was a German naturalist and explorer. Rüppell is occasionally transliterated to “Rueppell” for the English alphabet.
There is something primordial about a croc lurking in the shade of trees in a placid river…
The binomial name for the Nile Crocodile; Crocodylus niloticus is derived from the Greek kroko (“pebble”), deilos (“worm”, or “man”), referring to its rough skin; and niloticus, meaning “from the Nile River”. The Nile crocodile is called Timsah al-Nil in Arabic, Mamba in Swahili, Garwe in Shona, Ngwenya in Ndebele, Ngwena in Venda, Kwena in Sotho and Tswana.
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The Nile crocodile is the top predator in its environment, and is responsible for checking the population of species like the barbel catfish, a predator that can overeat fish populations that other species, like birds, depend on. The Nile crocodile also consumes dead animals that would otherwise pollute the waters. The primary threat to Nile crocodiles, in turn, is humans. While illegal poaching is no longer a problem, they are threatened by pollution, hunting, and accidental entanglement in fishing nets.
Now that I am back from another wildlife photo tour in Botswana, Africa. It became imperative that I finish posting the pictures and experiences from the previous ones. Continue reading for GPS trail and mapped photos
With so many pictures from our Tanzania trip I wanted to something different than my usual wildlife photography style. I have tried to compile a series of five pictures which I call “Animal Portraits”. Each of these animals are from a group referred to as the African Big Five. Continue reading and grab the other 4 too!!
On the morning of our departure from Kirawira, western Serengeti it was cloudy and we had almost given up all hopes of seeing anything but then as it can happen with any jungle safari our luck changed. Just 20 meter form the road was sitting a part of a lion pride three lioness with two cubs. Initially the cubs were just content to suckle but then one of the lioness took upon herself that it was time to teach a few things about hunting to the young ones. So she cajoled them into play and what looked like a lot of fun for the cubs she proceeded to teach them some moves about how to hunt! I won’t bother with much verbal details and will let the pictures do the talking. Continue reading 9 photos after the link
As we drove towards the Central Serengeti plains a head bobbed up from behind a rising – I immediately exclaimed – Vulture!! But as the bird continued to come towards us it became apparent that the bird was taller than any vulture I know of, as the legs came into view they were more like that of a Stork or a Crane. This was my first encounter with the Secretary-bird. Continue reading has 2 more pictures…
Lake Manyara was our first game drive destination on our 9 day travails through Tanzania. After landing at Nairobi we traveled for nearly 7 hours before we could reach here. Even though we were very tired the abundance of birdlife and wildlife made up for everything. Continue reading there are 20 more pictures!!
And this last one is a general tip for travelers using Kenya Airways – board early. Kenya airways has a monopoly in the sector and treat passengers like shit. You may want to read what we went through while flying back
So you have been waiting for the first image from my trip to East Africa. I could have put in many other dramatic things like the Lion, Rhino, Cheetah or the Hippo but I felt that those mammals are rather cliched. So I decided to put a common but unique bird Read more about the Hammerkop