March 13, 2011
Water Monitor in Kruger National Park, South Africa

On our twelfth full day in Kruger National Park, South Africa, we moved from the Pretoriuskop Rest Camp to the Lower Sabie Rest Camp, and we spent a lot of time at the Bitamiti Dam along the way. I like to photograph there because there's a causeway immediately downstream of a low dam, and it possible to photograph from a vehicle practically at the water level upstream. Blacksmith plover, three-banded plover, and a hammerkop posed nicely on the sandy shore of the river for us, and a pied kingfisher posed again and again on the dam structure itself.

A highlight for me today was photographing a giant kingfisher for the first time, not once but twice. The first time it was perched on the curb on the bridge/dam across the Sabie River near the Lower Sabie Rest Camp. The second time it was perched on a rock downstream of the bridge/dam and it was trying to eat a large fish it had caught. I think the fish was too large because the kingfisher kept banging it on the rock and flipping it in the air before trying to swallow it. The kingfisher left with its prize when a heron flew in. My favorite image of the day is of a water monitor taken at the Biyamiti Dam. It was on part of the dam structure and posed nicely for us.