Tanzania XI. Birds from Ngorongoro Crater Area.

These are some of the birds we saw at the crater area. The floor of the crater is grassland, dotted with water holes and also with some forested spots. There were other birds whose pix were marginal that I am not showing now. ID's are negotiable, anyone has a better idea. Tomorrow - Lake Manyara birds.

African spoonbill.

Red-wing starling.

Cinnamon-breasted bee eater.

Mosque swallows.

Secretarybird.

Augur buzzard.

Common fiscal.

Black-winged lapwing.

Black-bellied buzzard, female.

Blacksmith lapwing.

White stork.

Grey crested crane.

White-eyed slaty flycatcher.

Egyptian goose.

White backed vulture.

Kori bustard.

African fish-eagle.

Helmeted guinea fowl.

Yellow-billed intermediate egret.

Great white pelican.

Rufous-tailed weaver.

Abdim's white-bellied stork.

African sacred ibis.

Yellow-billed stork.

Male Ostrich.

Tanzania X. Grazers.

Everyone recognizes the big cats, elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes. Zebras and Wildebeests are also distinctive, but the rest of the grazers tend to blend together. I decided to do a post of all these animals. The coat markings, coat color, size of the animal and horn size and shape are the distinguishing differences.

The diversity of animals there is so much greater than we have here, and the numbers of animals are way higher. For us it's just white-tailed deer and moose, and the moose are rarely seen.

Birds tomorrow.


Bushbuck ewe. This one we saw at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge before our first game drive.

Zebras, on the crater rim.

Wildebeest, one of many, many, many.

Eland, some were more grey in color.

Grant's gazelle.

Thomson's gazelle, the black racing stripe is the distinguishing feature.

Cape buffalo. [With red-billed ox peckers on his back.]

Hartebeest. Less frequently seen where we were.

Impala, male keeps a herd of as many females as he can.

Impala buck with ewe.

Waterbuck, one of only two we saw.

Klipspringer, the rock hopper.

Dik-dik, disappear into the brush.

Tanzania IX.

12-29-14 SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK, TANZANIA: Our last day started with the usual breakfast then a game drive. We saw about thirty vultures clustered around a wildebeest, or the skeleton of a wildebeest, but they were squabbling among themselves and eating while many others looked on from treetops.

The leopard that we saw yesterday was up a different tree this morning, drawing the usual crush of 4x4’s filled with camera toters like me. After some gazelles and giraffes, we found another leopard in a tree, a female that we had seen elsewhere a few days ago. Before heading back for lunch we happened upon a pride of sixteen lions.

After lunch, we got packed up and checked out and set off for Ndutu Airport, the dirt strip with a windsock and wildebeests on the runway. On the way we did a mini-game drive and saw gazelles, lions, vultures, black-backed jackals, giraffes, elephants, vervet monkeys and a crested eagle. A pretty good hurry-up trip to the planes.

The two small single engine planes from Tanganyika Flying Company each took seven of us to Kilimanjaro Airport in Arusha for our KLM flight to Amsterdam.

Below are Judy's favorite pix....


Male lion, about three years old.

Common Fiscal.

Zebra mom and foal.

Vervet Monkey.

Hippo.

Maasai fire maker.

Game drive 4x4 at Lake Manyara.

Red-and-Yellow Barbet.

Black Bishop.

Giraffe.

Elephant.

Klipspringer.

Zazu played by Von Der Decken's Hornbill, female.

Cheetah.

Leopard.

Picture picker.