April 7, 2011
Pale Chanting Goshawk in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

Today we started our stay in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park which encompasses the former Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa. It's a true multi-country park shared by South Africa and Botswana located in the Kalahari Desert where South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia come together. We entered through the gate at Twee Rivieren, and we had reservations for two nights at the camp there for the first part of our stay in the park.

It was good to be back photographing plaines animals after the break photographing penguins, gannets, and trees. The park is one of my favorite parks in South Africa and has been especially good for cats in the past. We didn't see any cats on our first afternoon, but did see, and/or photograph, gemsbok, blue gnu, red hartebeest, springbok, swallow-tailed bee-eater, crimson-breasted boubou, kori bustard, brown snake eagle, tawney eagle, Namaqua dove, pale chanting goshawk, greater kestrel, ostrich, and crowned plover. My favorite image of the day is of a pale chanting goshawk trying to catch a small lizard.