Leopard

 

Another one of the more incredible experiences was not only observing this Leopard and watching it hunt but also watching it gracefully climb the tree.

Leopards are powerful big cats that live in sub-Saharan Africa, northeast Africa, Central Asia, India, and China.

However, many of their populations are endangered, especially outside of Africa.

You can identify most leopards by their light color and distinctive dark spots. Those spots are called rosettes, because they resemble the shape of a rose. These patterns camouflage their bodies as they move through the grass and trees.

Unlike lions, leopards are solitary creatures. Males are almost entirely solitary and females only break their solitude when they are raising cubs.

Male leopards defend their territory by roaring and scent marking, while females use their roar to attract mates and call their cubs. A leopard roar is a rough rasp, like a handsaw cutting wood.

Kori Bustard

 

The Kori Bustard is a massive, long-legged, terrestrial bustard with a black-and-white checkered pattern on the wing bend.

It is conspicuous and encountered regularly in semi-arid shrubland, grassland, and savanna.

Singles and pairs march slowly and purposefully, feeding on plant matter, large insects, and small vertebrates.

Three Banded Plover

 One of the prettiest plovers we seen was the Three Banded Plover.

The Three Banded Plover is a small, dark plover of freshwater and brackish wetlands with one white and two black breast-bands and a broad white forehead.

It moves busily along wetland edges, foraging for insects by pecking in the mud and on the water’s surface.

Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater

 

The Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater is a colorful, medium-sized bee-eater with rich rufous underparts.

Found in forest, gardens, and lush woodland at middle and high elevations. Usually in small groups that perch high, often in conspicuous places.

Rufous-tailed Weaver

 

The Rufous-tailed Weaver is a large, unusual and distinctive weaver with scaly plumage, rufous tail and wing panels, a white-edged shoulder, and pale eyes.

Found in moderately moist savanna and woodland at middle elevations, often in small flocks and nests in colonies.

White-bellied Bustard

 

The White-bellied Bustard is a small, tawny-backed bustard with a reddish base to the bill and a strongly demarcated white belly. The male has a blue-gray neck and dark facial markings.

Black-bellied Bustard

 

The Black-bellied Bustard is a medium-sized bustard with black daubs on a mostly tan-colored back. The male has a black belly, neck stripe, throat, and face patch.

The female is uniform buff-brown from the belly to the head. In flight, both sexes have white windows in the wings. Singles and pairs inhabit tall grassland and grassy savanna. eBird

White-tailed Mongoose

 

White-Tailed Mongoose are found in the dry areas of sub-Saharan Africa and the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula.

White-Tailed Mongoose mainly feed on insects but they also consume rodents, lizards, snakes, small birds, eggs, fruit and berries. They are the largest species of mongoose.

I was particularly proud of finding this mongoose for us and getting a shot away. Our guide was very impressed considering they are mostly very nocturnal.

Caracal

Truly a treasure find was the chance to observe a Caracal hunt and devour it's prey.

Caracals are very striking cats that have short, reddish-brown fur on their back and flanks, which is set off by the white fur on the chin, throat and belly.

Most notably, long tufts of black fur top the caracal's ears, which are long and slender.

Caracals, sometimes called desert lynx, are not actually members of the lynx family though many people confuse them with lynx because of their ear tufts.

From head to tail, the Caracal measures 33-48 inches including their tail. They are the heaviest of the small African cats weighing from 25-40 pounds. Males are generally larger than females.

Caracals are found in most regions of Africa. Caracals are at home in a number of habitats. They live in woodlands, savannahs and in scrub forests, but avoid sandy deserts.

Caracals are strictly carnivorous. They prey primarily on birds, rodents and small antelopes. Like most cats, caracals stalk their prey before pouncing on it. In areas of human settlement, these cats sometimes eat poultry. Smithsonian National Zoo

Grey Crowned Crane

 

The Grey Crowned Crane is a spectacular, mostly blue-gray crane with a black-and-white face and a crown of golden-yellow plumes.

They prefer wetlands, flooded grasslands, and man-made water bodies, but they can range widely through other open habitats when foraging.

Martial Eagle

Before we travel anywhere I absolutely love doing as much research as I can not only about the wildlife we hope to observe but also the history, customs and culture of the country The Martial Eagle was definitely on our list of hope to see.

The Martial Eagle is a massive eagle with a short but prominent crest. The adult is uniformly brown on the head, back, and chest, with a pale belly covered in brown blotches.

Either solitary or in pairs, it inhabits woodland, plains, and semi-desert, where it hunts for vertebrates.

Martial Eagles have extremely keen eyesight and can locate prey from six kilometers away. They hunt mostly on the wing and surprise prey from above.

Ngorongoro Crater

 

After spending a few days in the Serengeti we moved along to Ngorongoro Crater where we stayed at the Ngorongoro Farm House Lodge. Ngorongoro is referred to as Africa’s Eden.

It a massive extinct volcano with sheer walls that drop thousands of feet.

It is the world’s largest inactive, intact, and unfilled caldera created when an extremely large volcanic explosion caused the volcano to collapse on itself.

At 20km wide and 2000 feet deep in is home to over 20,000 mammals.

A couple of Ngorongoro road blocks.

Spotted Hyena

 

These interesting carnivores live in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. They are able to survive in savannas and swamps, as well as semi-arid regions, and even mountainous forest areas. Rather than resting in dens, adult spotted hyenas sleep in holes or shallow pools or under bushes or scrubs—anywhere they can find shade during the heat of the day.

Lions and hyenas compete over the same food in overlapping territories. Sometimes the hyenas do the work of organizing, chasing down, and killing prey only to have lions steal it. Lions often injure or kill hyenas as they fight over a carcass.

In a large group, spotted hyenas are able to chase lions away from a kill. But during a hunt, the hyena's impressive hunting skills come into play.

They are able to chase down prey over long distances while running at up to 37 miles per hour (60 kilometers per hour).

Spotted Hyena

 

Although it may look like a dog, the Spotted Hyena is more closely related to cats, civets, and genets. Also called the Laughing Hyena, the Spotted Hyena is a strong, capable hunter. It is the largest member of the hyena family (other members are the striped hyena, brown hyena, and aardwolf).

The spotted hyena may look unusual, at first sight. It has a large head with a long, thick, muscular neck and powerful jaws that give the hyena the strongest bite of any mammal.

Its front legs are longer than its back legs, giving the hyena a profile somewhat like that of a wildebeest or bison. The spotted hyena's paws have four toes with non-retractable claws. The short, coarse fur has a yellow or gray tint covered in spots, which differ among individuals. A short mane of hair along its back stands upright. Its only true predators are lions and humans.

Black Faced Vervet Monkey

 

Although we observed many Black Faced Vervet Monkeys on our trip, and they could certainly be a nuisance at meal time, it was pretty cool to see them transport their young around under their bodies as opposed to backside like baboons.

White-backed Vulture

 

The White-backed Vulture is a large, buff-brown vulture with pale underwing patches and a diagnostic pale rump patch that is best seen in flight.

They prefer open savanna and plains, where it breeds in loose colonies in tall trees.

It remains Africa’s commonest vulture but is declining rapidly as it is highly susceptible to poisoning.

Dark Chanting Goshawk

 

The Dark Chanting Goshawk is a medium-sized bird of prey belonging to the family Accipitridae. It occurs across much of southern Arabia and sub-Saharan.

It is a slaty-gray bird of prey, with pink-orange legs and bill-base, standing out on its subtle plumage. Pairs thrive in densely-wooded savannas and well-leaved woodlands.

A Dark Chanting Goshawks’ diet revolves mainly on reptiles, lizards, chameleons, and snakes. They may also feed on insects, small birds, and rodents.

Crowned Plover

 

The Crowned Plover is a large, alert-looking, white-bellied, brown lapwing with a distinct white “halo” around the dark crown.

The immature is duller, but it retains the distinctive crown pattern.

Small groups occupy open dry country, preferring cropped and recently burnt grasslands, where they forage for termites, ants, and other invertebrates.

Wattled Plover

 

The Wattled Plover, also regarded as the African Wattled Lapwing, is a large-sized lapwing. It is a resident bird found outside the rainforests of sub-Saharan countries, though it may also have seasonal movements.

It is a large, brownish bird with a distinct yellow wattle, accentuated by a red base.

Pair or small groups are often seen in wet grasslands and marshes, though they can also be found in cropped or burnt grasslands, and cultivated fields.

Slender Mongoose

 

The Slender Mongoose is one of three types of mongooses that we observed on our safari. It is a very common species of mongoose of sub-Saharan Africa.

The color of their fur varies widely between subspecies, from a dark reddish-brown to an orange-red, grey, or even yellow. They have silkier fur than the other African members of their family.

Serengeti National Park Tanzania

 From the Masai Mara in Kenya we moved south into the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania.  

Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s oldest and most popular park covering 14,763 sq km.

Here we stayed at the Mbalageti Tented Camp in the Grumeti Game Reserve.

Prides of Lions were everywhere and always a joy to observe. Tomorrow we will start looking at some of the different wildlife we observed travelling the Serengeti.