Zimbabwe & The 'Big 5'

Another African nation joined our readership yesterday as Zimbabwe checked in. A warm welcome to our new readers and hope that you will pass the 'link' on to your friends and family, Thank You!

There are fond memories of this fine country from 1997 when I embarked on a 4 countries (Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana & Zimbabwe) trek to view the Victoria Falls and try for the 'Big 5'. However, the people of these regions were the most memorable part of the trip followed by the Falls, but only 3 out of the 5 mammals were seen on that occasion. All of this inspired me to dig these photos out of the album on a day when rain has prevented any 'birding'.

The phrase 'Big Five' was coined by white hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris, with the collection consisting of Lion, African Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Leopard and Rhinoceros. The members of the big five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size.

Starting at Kilimanjaro, Tanzania I remember adding 25 species to my World List before even leaving the airport.

Just one aspect of Victoria Falls as the Zambezi River

continues its course through the gorge of the same name.

From this view of the river and gorge the bridge (top left) that forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia can be seen.

A closer view, where even watching the 'bungee jumping' into the gorge was frightening. At the time this was the highest jump in the world.

Crossing the bridge into Zambia was the gateway to the Livingstone national Park.

Doctor Livingstone I presume?

The final destination of the trip was Chobe National Park in Botswana

where we encountered this bull Elephant in full 'musk'. As it started to charge our vehicle stalled causing more that a moment of concern!

The first 3 of the Big 5 were seen on this trip including

African Lion,

African Elephant and

White Rhinoceros, all 3 photos were taken in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

The final 2

Cape Buffalo and

Leopard (which had to be 'digi-scoped') were eventually recorded on later trips.

Bearing in mind I have only been away a few days, all hell seems to have broken out in Weymouth during my absence. Firstly, there has been an armed robbery at our local Post Office, then this link, sent to me by my dear friend Roy Henderson, highlights another felony in the town.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1364620/Twitchers-stunned-suspected-thief-makes-escape-bid-nature-reserve-lake.html

Also among quite a number of e-mails was this amazing picture from the Daily Express, sent by Andy Lindsay which may need a 'right click' to magnify it to make the text readable.

There were other friends who have sent photographs, but I will save them until tomorrow -
Watch This Space!

Home By The Sea - Genesis

With the last vestiges of Spain disappearing before us, we neared Alicante Airport for John & Marion's 17-25 flight to East Midlands and mine, 3 hours later to Bournemouth. The final image was of the symbolic Spanish bull on a hillside, once wide spread across the country as an advertisement for brandy, but in recent years much reduced in numbers by the government. It is true that the local ladies were less than happy with the male charms of these magnificent creatures, and asserted enough pressure to get them castrated - Ouch!

Before moving on I have to extend a massive Thank You to my hosts and their friends for making my stay in Spain one that will long be remembered -
Asta la Vista!

Perusing the airport bar menu it was noticed they are still doing Breaded Coat, which I would have chosen except was undecided as to whether I should have double or single breasted. Despite a short delay the flight was pleasant enough, made even more so by the charming couple from Upton who shared some excellent conversation all the way back - I hope they have tuned in. My mate Janet was waiting for me at the airport and quickly whisked me to their house where Hugh had the New Zealand 'Neudorf' Pinot Noir a chambré and with the addition of a plate of smoked salmon and fresh baked bread I could almost have been at home - yeah!

After a good nights sleep its always a great pleasure to wake up at Harbins Farm House to the sound of chickens clucking in the garden and the smell of coffee percolating up the stairs.

Even before daylight this Pheasant was foraging below the bird tables,

with another patrolling the daffodil lined roadway.

A Common Buzzard flushed from a fence post before me, scattering several dozen

Redwing and a few Fieldfare in the process. There are always hundreds of birds on the farm, and although usually of a 'common' nature always good to see like this

Pied Wagtail,

just 2 of 7 Mute Swans in flight,

plus a Grey Heron at the rivers edge. Two ways to view the River Stour,

'upstream' and

'down stream'. Along this 'beat' there were already a few anglers pursuing their sport as I returned to

Harbins (viewed from the 5th golf course fairway) for breakfast.

There I took a look at some of Janet's equestrian trophies and got re-acquainted with my real pals

Minnie, recently recovered from a bout of something,

Shuffty, waiting for a postman to bite, and

Bomber indulging in his, and my, favourite pursuit lounging around doing nothing.

On the bird feeders there were Goldfinch,

Blue Tit and a host of others including Blackbird, Dunnock, Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chaffinch and Nuthatch.

My taxi was now approaching, with Hugh and I off once again to search for Little Owl (which we didn't find) and have a drive around the rest of the property.

In a distant paddock there were c8 Roe Deer but this one just ambled out of the wood close to us, and a few Lapwings looked every bit in display.

Viewing Parley Manor House across the turf fields, we next turn into

the Equestrian Centre where budding Olympians are practicing,

while the golf driving range and

the golf course were equally busy. There was time to call into the restaurant for a cup of coffee with the lovely Joy before heading for the duck pond

where just c3 of these farmyard Geese survive out of an original 'gaggle' of c9.

Black-headed Gulls, many now in breeding plumage, were feeding at the edge of the pond, while

the second of 2 Little Grebes was also seen. All too soon it was time for me to get going, with Hugh giving me a lift to Poole to catch the X53 Weymouth service. On the way there was just enough time to call into

which of late has featured on the bird report page of the Dorset Bird Club website. It was no surprise to me when the Water Bailiff recognised Hugh as he occasionally visit his 'shoot' and gave us some information as to how a car parking permit night be acquired. I will certainly come here to discover the Lakes on my next visit.

So, here I am back at the Home By the Sea and looking forward to dinner with Joy next door a little later on, and finally I found this clip rather amusing but didn't notice any goal being scored.

doesthisgoalcount1.wmv (video/x-ms-wmv), 1714 K

The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On The Plain

A magical end to another fantastic day, hence the late post yesterday, as we wandered up the road to Steve and Linda's house for tapas, beer and more Spanish wine. One thing I have learnt here about the latter is that the classification system (Grand Reserve, Crianza and Reserva) doesn't simply relate to Rioja but ALL wines from the country.

We all fly back to England today so little time for furtheringour enjoyment. However, this morning the weather had broken and in addition to a blustery wind there was some rain in the air most of the time. Hope to be reporting from Weymouth tomorrow evening.

Just a couple of 'points' on the compass difference from John's patio view, here we were looking along the course of the river to the road bridge which was covered by flood water in 1982.

The first drink with our hosts Steve, an ex-engineer and something of a Jack of all Trades nowadays. Linda was a journeyman with the Foreign Correspondence Agency operating in several countries throughout the world.

Good food, wine and company is a sure fire way of promoting relaxation, "I'm not in love so don't forget it, it's just a silly phase I'm going through" - 10 CC

Steve doing his impersonation of me!

On arrival back at John & Marion's we were met by a Hummingbird Hawk-moth buzzing around the room, which despite my efforts to release it flew directly into a lamp shade.

The only 'down side?' to all these proceedings was the continuous arrival of

Spotless Starlings on the patio, plus

Black Wheatear just over the wall

where the male bird was displaying.

Finally, I'm overjoyed to report that the Spanish readership of the Blog has increased from 78 to 114 since my arrival. I'll take the opportunity to thank and welcome all new readers, and ask that you pass on the link to your friends and family.