Showing posts with label Maasai Mara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maasai Mara. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Tree Frog (Hyperoliidae?)

Saw this little guy (most likely a tree frog - Hyperollidae - someone correct me if I am wrong) climbing over some signs at a viewing spot in the park - first amphibian.

Such a pleasant contrast to view something on this scale after hippos and elephants!

Frogs hold a special place in my heart - short post on fixing up some enamel ones later...

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Dik-dik (Madoqua)

The dik-dik (Madoqua) is the smallest of the antelope species living on the Savannah and in the brush - roughly the weight of a house cat.

The name is apparently onomatopoeic - the females repeatedly whistling the sound when threatened. 

We caught glimpses on several occasion, though they were very difficult to photograph - hiding in thicker vegetation - coupled up and protecting their little plots. They are hunted by more or less anything that is capable of hunting - including eagles and even baboons!

They have great eyesight - defend a known, well defined territory and with their tiny size and narrow snouts are able to pick at leaves on the very spiny branches of the acacia trees.







And the small "forests" that they inhabit - never managed to catch one in the open.



Monday, January 13, 2020

Grey crowned crane

We spotted plenty of these - usually in pairs - more or less everywhere we went in Kenya.

The grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) is the national bird of Uganda and features on their flag and coat of arms (and on their money which is oddly not on Wikipedia...).

Around a meter tall though weigh almost nothing - their feathers make them look significantly larger than their typical 3.5kg.

Only saw adults - paired up and wandering around feeding together.

When the sun catches their crown just right it almost looks like a halo.

Beautiful birds.