Birds of the Addo bush

Cape Weaver. As with all weaver birds the males become very busy during the breeding season building their nests, with incredible skill and precision..




Fork Tailed Drongo. A very bold bird common throughout Africa. In my farming days they would often be seen following the tractor when we ploughed the fields, catching anything edible that was turned up.



Spotted-backed Weaver, not to be confused with the masked weaver.



Glossy Starling. Though common, these are usually very shy birds, so I was glad to capture this one.

More from Addo

In my zeal to post my elephant pics I left out all the other game I photographed and have decided to include some of my favorites.

Kudu's - especially the cows are my favorite antelope. That is probably because I reared one on a bottle, after her mother had been snared by poachers on our farm many years ago, in another life. Her name was Thumpy, because when we first started feeding her she would rush at us, give us a good few thumps and then start sucking her bottle. She soon became very tame and was an absolute delight. She was very affectionate and when I called her she would come running for a cuddle and to have her ears scratched.
Like all wild animals they are not meant to live in cages, so when she grew up we gave her to a friend who ran a private game park.

If I had not seen one elephant (See previous post) this little striped field mouse would have been worth the trip.


A family of warthogs - also favourites. They are so ugly they are beautiful. Real social animals.


We once had a weaver bird like this one drop dead in our yard from exhaustion, while building nests for his prospective wives. He was quite manic and would not stop. I don't think he ever mastered the art, because most of the nests were rejected.
This one was waiting for a hand out. He seemed quite unaware of the rules about not feeding the animals - more likely couldn't care less.
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