tree Archives - Page 16 of 38

Curve

Yellow-Billed Hornbills are a distinctive bird that is widespread in South Africa, including in Kruger National Park. They are also called ‘flying bananas’ because of their huge bills that are yellow and look just like bananas! They are distinguished by their very large, downward curved yellow beaks. They feed mainly on the ground, foraging for seeds, insects, spiders and even scorpions. They may catch snakes, which they kill by bashing them on against a hard surface. They swallow their prey whole, letting indigestible parts pass through their digestive system. Yellow-Billed Hornbills are known to forage cooperatively with Dwarf Mongooses, catching prey items that the mongooses scratch up from the ground. In return, the hornbills alert the mongooses to danger from overhead raptors.

18 December 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife

Placid

Lake Panic is an earthen dam on the Mafunyana Creek (named after one of the nicknames of L B Steyn a Park Warden. Literally, the word means he who eats greedily. Lake Panic is close to Skukuza camp. Lake Panic is the name that was given shortly after construction was completed about 1975 when, during a major cloudburst, it was feared that the dam wall would give way. The hide is “L” shaped allowing a view east towards the bend in the dam and a view south across the short width of the dam close to the creek inlet. This section is heavily grown over with various aquatic plants including water lilies, reeds, and grasses of various sorts as well as trees. The far bank is heavily treed and slopes down to the dam edge. The hide is perfectly situated for close viewing of so many things with the Southern bank being about 100 meters from the hide itself.

17 December 2018Landscape, Picture of the day

Kaleidoscope

Rollers get their name from their impressive courtship flight, a fast, shallow dive from considerable elevation with a rolling or fast rocking motion, accompanied by loud raucous calls. All rollers appear to be monogamous and highly territorial. The Lilac Breasted Roller will perch on a dead tree, surveying the area for prey. One typical aspect of its behaviour is that it also preys on animals fleeing from bushfires. It is a swift flier, indulging in acrobatics during the breeding season. They actually breed ‘on the wing’. They live in pairs or small groups but are often seen alone. Their call is a loud harsh squawk, ‘zaaak’. They are partly migratory, but in some areas they are sedentary. To feed they swoop down from an elevated perch next to their prey and eat it on the ground or return to a perch where they batter it before swallowing it whole. They are territorial, also defending temporarily small feeding territories; hence individuals are regularly spaced along roads. They drive off many species from near their nest hole, even after breeding.

14 December 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife