March 24, 2017
Hamerkop, Lion Cub, and Three-Banded Plover in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Jan and I are on the final leg of our visit to South Africa which is Kruger National Park. We've spent the last four nights at Berg-En-Dal in the South-Central part of the park and rhino sightings have been good. Most have been White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), which are fairly common in the southern part of Kruger, but three have been Black Rhinoceros, or Hook-Lipped Rhinoceros, (Diceros bicornis) which are not very common. Unfortunately, the two shootable black rhino both had ugly scars on their throats.

We visited the Biyamity Dam several times. It's one of my favorite locations for photography in the park because the dam is low and there's a causeway immediately downstream so that the water level above the dam is less than a foot below a car's windowsill. This Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) was very cooperative, and in this image it's flipping some potential food.

We've only had one shootable cat encounter so far, but it was a very cooperative male Lion (Panthera leo) cub coming down the road.

Another favorite image is also from the Biyamity Dam, a Three-Banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris). Enjoy!