06h45 as the sun sneaks through the gap in the surrounding mountains and begins to light the waterhole.
And I did not have to leave the deck of suite 16, pun intended, to get this emotive image.
Before the sun has fully risen, this trio of African Spoonbills was already feeding in the waterhole.
I did some research to find a collective name for the African variety and all I could find was ‘flock’. However, there is an American cousin named the Roseate Spoonbill, and their collective noun is a ‘bowl’.
How many species can you see? 3? Look again…
From L to R: African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Stork and Spur-winged Goose…but if you look REALLY carefully, in the foreground is a foraging Common Moorhen! Fooled you did it?
The trees surrounding the waterhole are filled with abandoned Weaver nest, waiting for new occupants to arrive.
If you are at Tau when the Weavers are in residence, you will be enthralled by their courting and nest building capabilities. You, like me will marvel at how fast a male can put together a nest that will eventually, hopefully, please a prospective mate.
It turns out that the weavers do not leave the area, but change into non-mating plumage which is dull and makes them hard to see…like Ninjas.
Their breeding season is the South African Spring to mid summer.
African Spoonbill in flight. Luckily neither the Zebra in the background or the Warthog in the flight path are capable of levitation.
A Spur-winged Goose and even though it looks huge it is the fastest-flying species of goose. Native to wetlands throughout sub-Saharan Africa, this distinctive waterfowl has a maximum recorded speed of 142 km per hour.
It is the largest waterfowl in Africa and the largest species of goose in the world.
The tale of the tape: Adult geese can get to between 75–115 cm long and on average, weigh 4–6.8 kg with some individuals reaching 10 kg.
This is where it sat for most of the time I spent in camp.
And eventually it did move, just to prove that it had a need to seek sustenance slightly further away from where I saw it position itself for the daylight hours.
A Yellow-billed Stork…and before you ask your guide, this is NOT the species that allegedly delivers babies…that is the European Stork and there were none at this waterhole.
This is a Hammerkop, which, in case you did not know are the smallest African stork. They sometimes participate in group ceremonies where as many as 10 birds call loudly while running round each other in circles.
They are also known for their nests which are the biggest nests of any bird in Africa! Pairs build a nest together, using hundreds of twigs and other items. A finished nest may contain as many as 8,000 items and weigh over 22kg.
Early morning grooming time for this Grey Heron.
The strong legs of this male ostrich are unfeathered and show bare skin, with the lowest upright part of the leg being covered in scales.
Did you know? During the mating season (June- November) the male ostrich’s beak and legs turn red/pink to attract the female for mating.
Red-knobbed coot looking like it wants to be a sword swallower of some description. Turns out that this was a water plant that forms part of its diet and it was swallowed whole.
Landing gear down…coming in to land.
A Black-winged Stilt gave this Grey Heron cause to vacate this part of the dam as it arrival was not expected.
Their interaction made me think of the Monty Python sketch that included the line “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition”.
A group of White-Faced Whistling ducks that took up this same spot every day of our visit.
Did you know?
White-faced whistling ducks are named for their high-pitched whistling calls.
Unlike most waterfowl, this species often perch in branches and are known as tree ducks.
When alarmed, these ducks stand straight and freeze, which is a better strategy that taking off in the face of danger.
As the name implies…this is a Yellow-billed duck!
While watching the birdlife, I almost failed to notice this Nile croc, sunning itself on the bank.
How do you sex a crocodile? Very carefully!
Male and female crocodiles have internal sex organs, which may make it difficult to tell them apart unless you are conducting a close inspection. Both sexes have a “vent,” or a slit that houses the sex organs and unless mating occurs, male and female vents are indistinguishable.
Common Moorhen. I really dislike the use of the word ‘common’ with any species. There is nothing common about this moorhen as it goes about trying to be the best moorhen that it can be.
This bird is also called a swamp chicken since it is about the size of chicken and has a chicken-like body shape.
As this is a bird that symbolizes cunning, power, and strength, it is anything BUT common.
Not a water bird but a water buck getting herself loose from the mud. This species is one of the few that have a heart-shaped nose. Up to 95% of their diet is grass. Although they are called waterbuck, they are not aquatic, but use water to escape predators or to forage.
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