Unlike most birds of prey, the Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is hunting its prey on foot, usually in pairs, stalking through the habitat with long strides.
Their prey consists of reptiles, insects, small mammals, birds and the occasional carrion.
They are well known for their ability to catch and kill snakes, even venomous ones!
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Some *Ants* hunt, some just scavenge, some feed of the nectar of other animals. When they do kill their prey they tear them apart with their sharp strong mandibles.
It has been estimated that over 22,000 species of different Ant species live on earth, over 13,000 have been classified. South Africa has over 500 different species.
I took this picture of an Ant attack in my front garden at Thanda House.
This pictures were taken after dark with my iPhone XS Max.
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Sleepy Sunday?
Take a leaf from the Lions’s book 😊
Male African Lions spend up to 20 hours a day snoozing, females get up to 18 hours of shuteye. That re-defines the word cat-nap!
Have a good week!
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A newborn South African Giraffe is ~1.8m (~6ft) tall. After a few hours of birth, the calf can run and is almost indistinguishable from a one-week-old.
Mothers with calves will often gather in nursery herds. In such a groups they may sometimes leave their calves with one female while they forage and drink elsewhere. This is known as a “calving pool”.
Have a pleasant weekend!
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Fish for lunch?
This *African Fish Eagle* caught his meal just in front of our boat.
For many people its distinctive and shrill cry represents the true spirit of Africa. This magnificent creature appears in the coat of arms of Namibia, Zambia, and South Sudan, as well as on the flags of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
And just in case you wondered: African Fish Eagles are related to the North American Bald Eagle and look quite alike, but they are two different species in the same genus.
They are both considered sea eagles not true eagles.
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Outside its native range it thrives in areas with mild climates. It can cause severe damage to agricultural crops and native plants. This snail is listed as one of the top invasive species in the world.
The African Giant Land Snail is also a simultaneous hermaphrodite (being male and female at the same time). Snails of similar size can transfer sperm both ways when mating (bilateral mating). If the the two mating partners are of different size then the larger specimen acts as female and the smaller as male (unilaterally mating).
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Have you ever wondered why Impalas usually look so immaculately groomed?
The answer is allogrooming (grooming one another with specially designed teeth). Impalas appear to be the only ungulates to display self-grooming as well as allogrooming.
I took this picture of a group of recently born and very cute Impala fawns during this afternoon game drive.
Have a good week!
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This young *Cheetah* female was very alert when I took this picture. She made a quick bark-like sound as we came a bit too close for her comfort. As we backed off she relaxed and stayed for a photo session.
Interesting Cheetah fact: Cheetahs cannot roar. Non-roaring cats like Cheetahs have a one-piece hyoid bone. Only four of the 38 wild cat species can roar: Lion, Tiger, Leopard and Jaguar.
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A few days ago I took this picture of a *Tawny Eagle* perched in the late afternoon, backlight by the sun. Tawny Eagles (Aquila rapax) are large, long-lived birds of prey. Like all eagles, they belong to the family Accipitridae. It is estimated that these beautiful birds can reach the age of 16.
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Getting up at 5:30 is a bit hard if one is not used to it. But if the weather is good, the luck on one’s side, going on an early game drive is very rewarding.
Day 2 of our safari experience could be called the Elephant Day! We had two excellent sightings with two different herds. But many other species were seen as well!
Feel free to ask any questions (as comments) or contact me at christian@sperka.com.
Major sightings:
⁃ Elephants
⁃ White Rhinos
⁃ Lionesses
⁃ Kudu
⁃ Cheetah female
⁃ Burchell’s Zebra
⁃ Red-billed Oxpecker
⁃ Scrub Hare
⁃ … and many more general game species and birds
This one of a series of posts to document all drives and excursions during a four day stay at Thanda Safari. I hosted two guests from Germany on a Private Photo Safari with me as the guide, Bheki as the tracker and the Green Mamba 1 as the Luxury Safari Vehicle.
See also the day 1 blog:
https://sperka.info/2019/09/11/imagine-four-nights-custom-luxury-safari-at-thanda-safari-day-1/
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 