16th December 2007

It’s amazing how the character of the river has changed since all the high water, bringing with it tons of silt and sand from upstream. We now have wide mudflats just below the house – if the grass grows on these, it’s going to be fabulous for game viewing.

Click to enlarge Three Bateleur Eagles were fighting and displaying today. I think the resident pair were trying to drive out an intruder. The eagles are behaving as if they have a nest over on the other side of the river from us. These birds are the ultimate aerial acrobats: clumsy and stout-looking when perched or on the ground, in the air they are the masters, swooping and diving at incredible speeds, linking feet in the air and tumbling…it’s quite something to watch them. Apart from this easily recognizable behaviour when they’re displaying, you can always tell a Bateleur in flight because of the distinctive shape of their upturned wings.

Click any image to enlarge...

I photographed a selection of new flowers today: from purple to yellow to white, from tiny shrubs and grasses to the tall riverine reeds and sturdy salt bush – blooms springing up everywhere across the property. The newly grassed-over Little Serengeti was looking stunning in the afternoon light, and I was lucky to get some good shots of a Dik-Dik pair, indignant at being disturbed there as we walked past.

Down in the Peaceful Place – also carpeted in green - we found what looked like the feathery remains of an Egyptian Goose. Was it one of “our” family? We haven’t seen them recently, and I have a horrible feeling that either one of the large goslings, or perhaps even one of the parents came to a sticky end here – more than likely in the claws of the resident Martial Eagle.

Click to enlarge...Hippo Munching-ground On a happier note, the hippos have been making the most of all the new grass. We could clearly see where the grass had been cropped under the trees in the Peaceful Place, by the steady munching of very large jaws!

We saw a couple of Waterbuck on the far sandbank this afternoon, with a tiny newborn baby – how wonderful to see… It seems like the Impala are also moving back towards the river now, as we are seeing them daily now, either out on the sandbanks, or browsing near the well. A couple of young males came down to the river just below the house – golden in the afternoon light.

Diederik Cuckoo (top) and Lesser Striped Swallow. (Click to enlarge) The Diederik Cuckoos seem to be here in record numbers this year, like we’ve never seen before. Everywhere we look (or every direction to which we turn our ears) we either see or hear one. The iridescence of their green wing feathers prompt me to photograph them again and again.

We keep seeing a Hyrax lying on a termite mound above the Little Serengeti – it always seems to be in the same place (and is very tame). We think it might have babies in the mound.

From the tiny to the enormous: this morning when my father was making his way up along the Mtito river, he almost bumped into an elephant. He didn’t see it, but he heard it (and my father is hard of hearing, so it must have been close!). He took some interesting photographs showing the elephant's recent footprints right next to a crocodile.

Browse my 'Lay of the Land' galleries, documenting in pictures how the character of the river and the land has changed with all the recent rain...
See more indigenous wild flower photographs from Kulafumbi...
View a wider selection of eagles as they soar over Kulafumbi and Tsavo...
More Antelope images, from the tiny dik-dik to the sturdy waterbuck...
Follow the whole story of "our" Egyptian Goose family...in pictures...

Comments

[Janet Upton]

Hi Tanya, what a fantastic day you seem to have had, makes city living seem rather mundane - cleaning carpets and tidying up the house!!! Look forward to reading more of your journal Love Ian & Janet

[Tanya]

Hi Janet and Ian - lovely to hear from you! We're hoping you'll visit us soon...after all, Ian needs to come and see the results of all his handiwork! Love to you all, Tanya (and my Ian!)

[Susan aka Kinsey Barnard]

Hi Tanya:

I am a friend of your father's from Montana. He's just sent me your blog. Fantastic! I shall look forward to reading it regularly. I have many wonderful memories of Kenya!

Belated congratulations on your marriage.

Best,
Kinsey

PS: I'm writing a little blog myself. You can check it out koty bear

[Tanya]

Hello Kinsey,
Lovely to hear from you...my father speaks of you often, recalling what a special time he had with you in Montana. I have also heard wonderful stories of your amazing dog...I look forward to taking a look at your blog tomorrow, when I'm fresh and alert so that I can really enjoy it - it's almost midnight here and I'm a bit bleary eyed!
Take care and enjoy your travels...Tanya