A great day at Leadwood

07 August 2022 - Leadwood; Day 3

This morning we were all up for a quick coffee before jumping on the Landy for an early morning drive. It wasn't too long before we came across the 3 male brothers - they have certainly grown a bit more since we last saw them. They were lying on the fence line all watching a female in the grass on the adjacent estate. No interaction between the males and female, but for sure there was interest from the males

Magnificent Male Lion (Panthera leo)

Meanwhile the female hardly seemed to show any interest

Nonchalant Lioness (Panthera leo)

We spent quite some time with these magnificent cats, before continuing the drive along the fence line where we found a collared Cheetah patrolling its territory

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Whilst driving, I heard Stierling's Wren Warbler calling, so we stopped and with a bit of coaxing it showed itself in the warm early morning sun a little too far away - but good enough for my first images of this species

Stierling's Wren-Warbler (Calamonastes stierlingi)

We made a stop for coffee and rusks with an Ashy Flycatcher flitting about in the trees next to us

Ashy Flycatcher (Muscicapa caerulescens)

We then had a slow drive back to the house where we chilled on the deck for lunch with a few glasses of wine. Again, there was quite a bit of activity around the deck, so we enjoyed watching a Brubru

Brubru (Nilaus afer)

A Blue Waxbill coming in to drink

Blue Waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis)

Along with Yellow-fronted Canary

Yellow-fronted Canary (Crithagra mozambica)

and a Yellow-throated Sparrow

Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow (Gymnoris superciliaris)

A pair of Chinspot Batis gleaning through one of the trees, this is the male

Chinspot Batis (Batis molitor)

A female Spectacled Weaver also stopped by

Spectacled Weaver (Ploceus ocularis)

In the garden, I found a White Pie

White Pie (Tuxentius calice)

Along with an unidentified Lizard

Lizard sp.

And this Bottletail

Bottletail (Olpogastra lugubris)

Later in the afternoon, we packed the coolers and headed out for another drive stopping for Black-headed Oriole

Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus larvatus)

A few Red-billed Buffalo Weaver's

Red-billed Buffalo Weaver (Bubalornis niger)

Crested Barbet on the top of dead tree stump

Crested Barbet (Trachyphonus vaillantii)

At one of the small dams, a Hamerkop stood motionless in the algae

Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta)

We had a few Southern White-crowned Shrike

Southern White-crowned Shrike (Eurocephalus anguitimens)

But the Tawny Eagle was a little more special

Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax)

While the White-backed Vultures waited patiently for the Lions to do their job

White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus)

As we made our way to the sundown spot, we came across the Lucky 5 on the way to the same spot to have a drink - but I had a little too much glass to capture the scene

White Rhinoceros (Chiromantis xerampelina)

As they were walking to their drinking spot, this Nile Crocodile slid into the water and tracked them all the way. I guess only when they came down to drink did it realise that they were more than it could handle

Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)

An added bonus was a big flock of Oxpecker's that suddenly flew in and got a lift down to the water on the top of the Rhino. I love the first image..

Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus)

We enjoyed a fiery sunset over drinks and snacks at the dame and on the drive back with the spotlight we found a single Fiery-necked Nightjar in the road. 

I wasn't able to get as low as I would have liked - but will try again tomorrow night

Fiery-necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus pectoralis)