Kruger finale

The impala lilies (Adenia multiflorum) certainly live up to their Latin moniker at this time of year.  As they are found in virtually every garden in Phalaborwa but nowhere in the reserve, I assume they are pushed by the nurseries but are only found naturally further north, a bit pedantic of me I suppose  - they really are beautiful.

When first sighted I couldn't figure out what this was but with pickings getting scarce this resourceful little tree squirrel was stripping and eating combretum seeds. 

This golden-breasted bunting was singing his heart out but was on the wrong side for the light, so cheated and played the call to which he responded by flying across the road, not very PC but just look at that picture.

Have been having problems with the fridge so managed to find Eddie to come and sort them.  Access to the back of the fridge is limited to two small air vents and in one of them we discovered this minute hitch-hiker - a grey tree or foam nest frog hibernating.  In the rainy season the females find a branch over a pool, secrete a fluid which is then whipped into a white foam glob about the size of a tennis ball and lays eggs therein.  If mom has got the timing right when the tadpoles hatch they drop into the pool.

Spring must be sprung as all the knob thorns (Acacia nigrescens) are flowering, their white catkins giving off a subtle perfume that is nowhere near as powerful as some members of the family.

Seems the baboons really appreciate the bonanza too.............

..............try as I might I just could not get this green wood-hoopoe to pose, a quite spectacular bird anyway.

As mentioned the dry season is beginning to bite, this grey duiker resorted to dead leaves.

Sorry but there are just so many of them in the park, always nice to bump into a tusker though.

It appears that oxpeckers are a mixed blessing, this impala just wanted to get down to some serious cud chewing but the cheeky blighter just wouldn't leave well alone, so the hind leg did a lot of waving around trying to discourage it.

Mom brown-headed parrot feeding a pair of chicks, odd time of year for breeding.

Virtually all the camps in the park have resident bush buck that act as lawn mowers in exchange for protection from scary, hairy beasts.

Have talked about red-crested korhaan before but this is the first time I've ever seen the crest.  It's used as a final lure, so only comes out when a female is interested but this guy had forgotten to pack it away completely.  It is far more spectacular when fully raised but this is the best I could manage.

Yellow-billed oxpeckers are generally only found on buffalo and are far rarer, but this one seemed to be doing a fair job on the festering sore on the back of this beast.  These oxpeckers are extinct in most parts of the country as when the buffalo disappeared they transferred their allegiance to cows and then along came dips.  An intensive captive breeding program has seen their return to a lot of parks.

This baobab near Shimuwini looks spectacular...........

............until you get up close and see the damage dome by elephants. They are actually not a tree but a a dirty great succulent, so there is no hardwood and the pulpy fibre the trunks consist of is obviously coveted.  In Zimbabwe the locals do the same to make mats to sell on the side of the road.

Kruger is still chockers so could only get four nights at Punda Maria which was fortuitous as a report came through about orange-winged pytillias frequenting a swimming pool water feature.  An hour after I arrived bingo, the males showing a lot more red on the face than the green-winged version, but ............

                            

...........only managed to get a picture of the female actually showing the orange primaries. Lifer one.


                                

Lifer two proved a bit more difficult and required an early start to drive to the Luvuhu River bridge near Parfuri.

On arrival I was greeted by a boatload of flame creeper (Combretum paniculatum) the most unique of the family as it's not a tree.  Certainly acted like a magnet for the birds.

This is another one of those places where you may alight from your vehicle and stay within the yellow lines. Mentioned the leopard in the last blog but this ellie had obviously received the memo about not crossing them.
                               

 There's always interesting stuff around this area such as white-crowned lapwing............                           

                           

..........a really cute wire-tailed swallow, but I was after the grand prize.  After a couple of hours hanging around atlassing the target put in an all too brief appearance but it is so unique as to be unmistakable.

Determined to get a better view, I was back the next day and after another couple of hours had just about persuaded myself that I'd made it all up, so took a drive past Parfuri to a rocky ridge that was well populated with baobabs and there they were a pair of what has to be a real avian oddity - Bohm's spinetail.

It's a swift that prefers nesting and roosting in hollow baobabs which are not exactly dime a dozen and on 12 or so previous visits here I've never had the honour, so was very well pleased.  I hasten to add the photo was lifted from the internet as my camera is not good enough to get action shots.  Another species that is found in association with baobabs in this country is the Mosque swallow, which must prefer something different in other parts of Africa.

 The Punda Maria area is really the only part of the park where nyala are found and they are nearly as prolific as impala.  Not too sure what the raised tail was all about as it wasn't defecating, perhaps showing the warthog that he's not the only one who can get it up.

Parfuri is also home to the starling which sports the longest tail, Meve's.  They spend a lot of time on the ground and chatter away to one another with an odd mewling call

Driving towards Crook's Corner came across this ellie ramp and was surprised to see how carefully they negotiated it.  That large hole in the bank............

........was created by them using it as a wallow, this chap was stirring things up to get the right consistency.

The name Crooks Corner is given to the place where three countries meet, RSA, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.  It was a useful hangout for some dubious characters who popped over one border or another to dodge the long arm of the law.

Something else not often seen are Indigobirds and one of the village persuasion I've not had in at least 20 years.

                           

Though their lilac-breasted cousins are plentiful, I only saw two purple rollers in over two months in and around the park.

 On my last morning I drove around the Mahoni loop and was delighted to find a small group of grey-headed parrots feeding seeds high in a tree, and no he's not suffering from a late night out, there was a breeze blowing.

Driving up to Parfuri Gate, met up with this old daggerboy who really did look like he'd had a night out on the tiles as he wombled along the road oblivious to the car behind trying to get past.