We set off in the afternoon on a birding mission into the southwestern grasslands, following up on reports of two unique and uncommon birds at one of the waterholes. Two birds that would be lifers for me. But over and above that, our goal was to deliberately try and not see any of the Big Five.
Upon arriving at the waterhole where these birds were last seen, our hopes of finding them diminished immediately thanks to a herd of buffalo all frolicking around in the water attempting to cool off on a steamy afternoon. We chose to drive past some other waterholes close by to see if maybe they hadn’t flown across there. Before we knew it we had ticked off three of the big five without even trying.
No signs of these unique birds, but a very close relative got me doubting the ranger’s birding ability, but I think let’s give them the benefit of the doubt for now. We moved on towards Shingi Dam and where we knew we were going to spend 12 hours the next day and spent some time with the Shingi Male in a gorgeous sighting of him rolling around in the soft river sand of the Maxabane.
It was right outside camp that we completed the Big Five in one drive, not a regular occurrence and even more special that we didn’t have any intention of seeing any of them.
Enjoy this Virtual Safari…
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The last surviving cub of a litter of three, he is on the cusp of independence.
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on Big 5 Drive- Without Even Trying | Virtual Safari #302