30th June 2008 : A Glorious Morning...
Monday, June 30, 2008 at 04:55PM
Even though it’s already a couple of weeks ago, I have to tell you about the hour we spent down on the beach between seven thirty and eight thirty on the morning of June 17th. It was one of those perfect mornings, preceding the only clear warm day we’ve had in ages. The light was gorgeous, the colours clear and crisp and life was truly buzzing all around us…
A Hadada Ibis arrives at the river
As the first rays of sunlight peeked over the Yatta Plateau to the east, the butterflies stirred and before long, there was a frenzy of orange activity around the white flowered plants near the river’s edge. There were two different types of orange butterfly, one of which I have never seen before.
Some of the butterflies have seen better days…this one looks like it’s been through the wars…how does it still fly with its wings in tatters?
With a whirring flurry of wings, the doves came down together to drink and bathe in their dozens, perfectly reflected in the still waters of the river.
I sat still and quiet on a rock quite and just observing them and clicking happily away…
Then the Black-faced Sandgrouse, the most consummate of flyers, arrived right on cue for their early morning drink. They took no heed of us or the doves.
It’s amazing how tame the Sandgrouse were, allowing us to walk up close to them – I guess they come from way inside the National Park, where they rarely (or never) see any human beings and as a result they have never inherited that fear of man which, sadly, so many animals have? It was quite extraordinary. They are such beautiful birds, with their fawn, black and white colouring, their intricately patterned feathers which from afar might look “just brown” but in fact are most delicately patterned. The Sandgrouse spent some time foraging in the newly green grass around the Spur-winged Plovers’ nest but neither seemed bothered by the fact.
Egyptian Geese pair en route back to their nest, somewhere on the Mtito River
And the male returns alone, landing over the top of a plover and a pair of doves
I tried the same thing again the next morning (June 18th – yes, I know, it’s taken me an age to get this posted), but after just ten minutes of sunshine, the sky clouded over and the light turned so dull and grey that I walked back to the house in disgust!
But I did manage to get some interesting shots of these water-walking bugs…can you believe it? There are several different types of insects and spiders which actually walk across the surface of the water. I love the way the water surface curves but does not quite give way beneath their weight…
These two Water Dikkops (aka Thick-knees) also provided a nice photo opportunity, as they dozed at the water’s edge and caught the first (and only) rays of sun for the day…
Back to the plovers for a moment: As of that morning (18th June), the three plover eggs were still there and still all intact…
Reader Comments (4)
Just one word : WAUW !!
And, yet again, some amazing photos. Excellent.
Must speak to you about buying some prints... can you email me?
Fabulous photos, especially the one of the Egyptian geese in flight - all angles and shapes. Love those insects walking on water - fascinating.
I'm so glad those plover eggs are surviving.
Enjoyed the babboons in the post below too.
Thanks for all your compliments! Imogen, I'm "on the road" at the moment, but will email you as soon as I get back to my desk...Lots more news to post soon too...I never seem to be able to catch up these days - I'm always a couple of weeks behind!