White-headed Vulture - Trigonoceps occipitalis
I am not making this one up am I. A vulture with a white head. Baraka our guide at Olakira (added a link because someone has just put up some amazing shots on Trip Advisor of cheetahs and river crossings etc - they had a blast just in the last 4 weeks !) hadn't seen one close to camp before. They are solitary birds and the least common of the large vultures in Africa. So a good find ! Check out the red and blue bill.
It was good to see Baraka get excited about a bird but I was excited about every bird. In fact I was just exicted and relaxed all at the same time. Trundling around in a safari vehicle just inhaling nature has to be one of the greatest things to do of an afternoon on the planet.
I am wondering how many more pictures of birds I have as I think I might run out of things to say ! I know I saw close to 100 species in Tanzania but I am not sure how many seperate shots I got.
Olakira is heaven. The Mara river is heaven on earth. The camp moves but when its right by the river you can literally sit with a beer and watch the elephants pottering along next to the river. The wildebeest teeming over the crest of a hill. Giraffe running, loping across the plain. Its almost too much and I already know I have to go back to that exact spot several times to get it out of my system.
I am definately getting out there with a camera tomorrow early and getting some shots of good old UAE birds - I am turning into a pale man, brooding in my villa about the African bush when I have the Hajar mountains and the Empty Quarter a couple of hours drive from my front door - and a perfectly decent 4 x 4 to go there in. I promise a change back to some desert birding very soon - or a trip up to the turf growing site that is Dubai's mecca. What I might do is a little bird race and see how many species I can get in a day and photograph, irrespective of whether I have seen them before. A little trip to the UAE bird forum is always a good way to prod yourself out of the door. Look at these guys getting pumped about missing a bird for their UAE list ! There are some hard core birders out there daily - and what I am doing - wasting away fretting about the one that got away - Secretary bird. I have some clear targets and the clock is ticking. Life goes on. Oh I wish it didn't though. A bit like your wedding day - you have to pinch yourself and remind yourself to take it all in.
What a gift we have though these days to win back some space - time, money, jet travel, the net, books, decent binoculars, affordable cameras. Just a little bit more of an idea of what to do with our time. We've never had it so good - birders that is. You could get a flight for 250 quid from Stansted, a 2 star hotel for 40 a night and get yourself up into the Atlas mountains looking for a Lammageier. I'm off on one again.
I think I am going to pump up this site by a few hundred birds next year - one way or another it would be good to head off for a thousand because if I commit to that then I am commiting to happiness and interest and heathy air and adventure. Thats what it is - its adventure. Its so missing from our lives. I see pictures on the web of an old friend doing these races where he crawls on ice under an electrified wire. I get it - I couldnt do that now but I get it.
I have tried other ways to get my kicks - thats me on the floor with the bald patch and the dotty red scarf at 40. A repeat visit as well. There has to be a better way !!!
I think its the birds for me now. I've done the adrenalin thing - expectation and wonderment - thats enough adventure now.
Mara River, Tanzania, Serengeti
July 2012
I am not making this one up am I. A vulture with a white head. Baraka our guide at Olakira (added a link because someone has just put up some amazing shots on Trip Advisor of cheetahs and river crossings etc - they had a blast just in the last 4 weeks !) hadn't seen one close to camp before. They are solitary birds and the least common of the large vultures in Africa. So a good find ! Check out the red and blue bill.
It was good to see Baraka get excited about a bird but I was excited about every bird. In fact I was just exicted and relaxed all at the same time. Trundling around in a safari vehicle just inhaling nature has to be one of the greatest things to do of an afternoon on the planet.
I am wondering how many more pictures of birds I have as I think I might run out of things to say ! I know I saw close to 100 species in Tanzania but I am not sure how many seperate shots I got.
Olakira is heaven. The Mara river is heaven on earth. The camp moves but when its right by the river you can literally sit with a beer and watch the elephants pottering along next to the river. The wildebeest teeming over the crest of a hill. Giraffe running, loping across the plain. Its almost too much and I already know I have to go back to that exact spot several times to get it out of my system.
I am definately getting out there with a camera tomorrow early and getting some shots of good old UAE birds - I am turning into a pale man, brooding in my villa about the African bush when I have the Hajar mountains and the Empty Quarter a couple of hours drive from my front door - and a perfectly decent 4 x 4 to go there in. I promise a change back to some desert birding very soon - or a trip up to the turf growing site that is Dubai's mecca. What I might do is a little bird race and see how many species I can get in a day and photograph, irrespective of whether I have seen them before. A little trip to the UAE bird forum is always a good way to prod yourself out of the door. Look at these guys getting pumped about missing a bird for their UAE list ! There are some hard core birders out there daily - and what I am doing - wasting away fretting about the one that got away - Secretary bird. I have some clear targets and the clock is ticking. Life goes on. Oh I wish it didn't though. A bit like your wedding day - you have to pinch yourself and remind yourself to take it all in.
What a gift we have though these days to win back some space - time, money, jet travel, the net, books, decent binoculars, affordable cameras. Just a little bit more of an idea of what to do with our time. We've never had it so good - birders that is. You could get a flight for 250 quid from Stansted, a 2 star hotel for 40 a night and get yourself up into the Atlas mountains looking for a Lammageier. I'm off on one again.
I think I am going to pump up this site by a few hundred birds next year - one way or another it would be good to head off for a thousand because if I commit to that then I am commiting to happiness and interest and heathy air and adventure. Thats what it is - its adventure. Its so missing from our lives. I see pictures on the web of an old friend doing these races where he crawls on ice under an electrified wire. I get it - I couldnt do that now but I get it.
I have tried other ways to get my kicks - thats me on the floor with the bald patch and the dotty red scarf at 40. A repeat visit as well. There has to be a better way !!!
I think its the birds for me now. I've done the adrenalin thing - expectation and wonderment - thats enough adventure now.
Mara River, Tanzania, Serengeti
July 2012
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