"But the most impressive thing so far has been the copious amounts of large birds. Storks, cranes, vultures, eagles, and more. Hundreds of them. Everywhere. This place is a birder's paradise!"
Picking tasty insects from the mud, a group of blacksmith plovers and little stints keep a trio of crowned cranes company at the beginning of the wet season.
The wattled crane stands in at just over five and a half feet tall, the second largest crane in the world. It's estimated that roughly half of the world's wattled cranes are found in Zambia, including these two picking their way through the grasslands on an early Liuwa morning.
A revered bird in Africa, the secretary bird repositioning itself to better hunting grounds. Secretary birds are birds of prey, and they primarily hunt by foot (contrary to most birds of prey who hunt from the air). The birds are revered in Africa for their ability to kill snakes, of which there are plenty in Zambia! The feathers behind the eagles head protrude out the back much like a pencil behind a secretary's ear when sitting at their typewriter, hence the name.
Hunters and scavengers at the dinner table. This pack of wild dogs killed a wildebeest calf and its mother at the edge of a rich, wet pan in the heat of mid afternoon. The scavengers, including lappet-faced vultures, white-headed vultures, and a single marabou stork join the dinner party. Marabou storks are often called "the undertaker," as their presence generally indicates the freshly deceased, not to mention their spooky, 19th century undertaker appearance... The undertaker is another enormous bird, as it can reach heights of five feet with a wingspan over ten (the largest wingspan of any bird in the world, a title shared with the Andean condor).
The undertaker out for an evening stroll in northern Liuwa Plain. The night this photograph was taken, Jassiel and I got trapped by the high waters of the Matemanene River. November is the beginning of the wet season, and when the rains come, they come like you've never seen. After a big rain, the flood plain floods and the rivers swell, making navigation less than an easy task (especially at night). We were roughly 30 minutes from camp when hanging out with this undertaker, but because of the flooding and lack of daylight, it took us over two hours to find a way back into camp without sending our vehicle deep into the drink...
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