Great Horned Owl

Posted on by Ian C.

We’ve not seen any Herons in the nest behind our home, this winter (example from last year), but at lunchtime I noticed “something” there so got my high zoom camera out to take a closer look.
Here’s a photo of the general view with the Heron nest in the distance; it’s hard to spot that there’s something there, but take the camera to maximum zoom, and we find a Great Horned Owl!

Distant nest in Independence
Great Horned Owl on the nest
Great Horned Owl on the nest
Great Horned Owl on the nest

 

UPDATE: I videoed the Owl for a while – turns out they are really quite inactive! But when it stands and looks around under itself near the end, I wonder if it’s checking eggs …

Manyara National Park

Posted on by Ian C.

Our last full day in Tanzania had us being driven the few hours from Ngorongoro Crater back to Arusha for a second overnight at the Arusha Coffee Lodge before our early morning flight.
On the way we spent a few hours at the Manyara National Park for a last chance to see Elephants, Zebra, Monkeys – and loads of Pelicans! We had a nice picnic lunch there, too. And so, here’s the last safari video:

Grumeti Balloon Flight

Posted on by Ian C.

One early morning during our stay at Singita Faru Faru in the (private) Grumeti reserve, we experienced the incredible views of a balloon flight over the reserve. Mostly the views were of the open plains, occasional trees and streams, and distant hills; but the most amazing views came at the end when we drifted over a herd of more than 100 Elephants! They were clearly bothered by us up in the sky above them – you’ll see a few turn to look and then begin moving away in the opposite direction …

YouTube has the full resolution version.