Safari: Tanzania - Tarangire Part 2, Saturday 2022 November 12

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After lunch we went to the Silale Swamp, where the river moved through green marsh grasses. Thousands of birds picked through the plentiful waters. A pair of African Fish Eagles surveyed the scene from tree tops; the juvenile birds perched at a little distance. Catfish swam in the river. Pelicans flew in like twinkling lights, so graceful in the air. Egrets shone white in the murky green of the plants. Saddle-billed storks strutted about, while Marabou Storks stood tall and still – both waiting for opportunities. All along the edge of the river, like a living fringe, Whistling Ducks moved in slight waves. Farther out, white flamingos held sentinel. Even a few hippos were humped like rocks in the distance, not coming up for air while I was watching. A Secretary Bird made a big noise, strutting back and forth with what looked like a dung ball in its beak. Sometimes it dropped the dung ball to pick up (or maybe pick at) other dung deposits, but it kept picking up the first one again, like a great trophy.

Having arrived at the end of the swamp, we turned around and continued to look at the ever-changing scene. On the land side of the road, Lucas caught sight of a Monitor lizard digesting a big meal under a small tree. Across the landscape Eland strode, turning their backs on us whenever we stopped to take photos. A couple of times, we stopped near giraffes, letting me take some close-ups; they never revealed that long grey tongue I touched on the first day at the Giraffe Centre near Nairobi. A colony of Banded Mongooses poured out of a hole in the ground, scattering and running in all directions

Slowly, but too quickly, the time ran out on our last game drive. One final encounter with a family of elephants crossing the road symbolized our time in Tarangire, which is famed for its elephants. The large family shuffled right in front of our truck. Their feet made a scuffing sound in the dust, in the characteristic rhythm of an animal unhurriedly going about its own life. As we watched, small elephants moved around their mothers in the grass, while three larger young ones followed the herd to cross the road. They waved their ears, either to cool themselves (veins close to the surface) or to warn us to back off. They crossed, and we departed.

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Photos

African Fish Eagle
Keeping an eye out

Eland on the move
... with mud socks

Zebras dust bathing
Coated in red dust

Tarangire riverbed
Dry season effects

Yellow-billed Stork and Egyptian Goose
Quiet moment

African Fish Eagles
Lots of fish in the swamp

Juvenile African Fish Eagle
Variegated plumage

African Fish Eagle juveniles
Kept away by the adults

Comments

[Roy Umbach]

Trip
Looks amazing, excellent pictures, thanks.

[Isabel Gibson]

What an amazing "last drive." It's interesting to see 3 roughly similar yet completely distinct body types in the zebras, wildebeest, and gazelles. And of course, the birds! That secretary bird looks ferocious (and e-Bird more or less confirms my reaction: It prefers open rangeland and savanna, where it strides about hunting for reptiles, small mammals, and insects, which it bludgeons with its powerful legs.) That eagle head on crane legs is quite a combination.

[beentouring]

Secretary Birds
From inside the vehicle, they look comical. But, so do some leopards.