Ben Wilhelmi

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

A different way to see wildlife...a colleague on landing.

Birds in Tanzania, feeding d'Arnaud's barbet.

 

 

When one spends so many days in various camps or lodges one might as well develop a liking for birds. 1388 species in east Africa, 900 in Tanzania...birding activity can keep someone busy.

With the rains there has been a renewed activity, for instance in our Ruaha River Lodge, Ruaha national park. One of those many days meandering between the hills, nose up, binoculars and big lens handy, I spotted this d'Arnaud's barbet. I had initially thought he would eat its "olive" on the spot but no, it landed next to a narrow deep hole and climbed it down.

 

It reappeared quickly, see the tail over the hole, flew off and soon after it was back... this time with a big praying mantis in its beak. Quite a feat.

 

...this time with a big praying mantis in its beak. Quite a feat.

Back to that hole, again it climbed it down instead of dropping the prize.

 

 

Eyeing me briefly, I was standing in the shade of a tree.

 

 

Sadly I missed the take off picture... Quite a bright colorful bird nevertheless

Aerial photography of wildlife, Tanzania

 

In this era of drones let me precise that I take these aerials while flying the plane myself. The challenge is quite different.

All the animals below come from the Selous reserve in southern Tanzania along the Luhego (Luwegu) river and the Rufiji river. There are many airstrips in that huge reserve which we have good reasons to fly low and slow, that is while taking off and landing.

Hippos gathering and a fish eagle on take

 

2 ground hornbills (bucorves en français) land near a fish eagle at lunch

 

Egyptian geese.

 

 

Saddle-billed storks (jabiru d'Afrique)

 

Egyptian geese, a few yellow-billed storks and hippos.

 

 

Waterbucks (cobes)

 

Buffaloes.

 

Wildebeests (gnous)

Aerial photography, Tanzania

Tanzania is such a big country gifted with many beautiful landscapes. Not only that, those landscapes vary tremendously come the rain seasons.

 

Salt lakes are perfect examples of ever changing colors and patterns. Here is a detail of lake Eyasi.

I guess pelicans visiting Tanzania.

 

The Ruaha river after the rain season.

 

The famous wildebeest migration near the Mara river, here on the Serengeti side.

 

Lake Natron, another salt lake.

 

The Rufiji river in the Selous reserve.

 

Lake Natron again.

 

A typical homestead like millions in the country.

 

Tarangire national park. Quite famous for its elephants.

 

Lake balangida, a lesser known salt lake. Those white dots are salt extraction activities. I would guess operated by local people only.

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

 

I love those signs, here in our camp in the Selous reserve, Rufiji River camp.

 

Pied kingfischer hovering before a decent plunge in the hope to catch a fish

 

 

 

Some skin disease I guess...

Lake Siwandu, Selous reserve.

 

A swift coming out of the Ruaha river. The idea seems to skim the water with beak only and catch a prey. It seems they are a bit clumsy, they hit the water quite often. 

 

A speck of color, a lilac-breasted roller.

 

Along the Ruaha river, dry season

Wildlife, aerial photography, Tanzania

 

So many parks in Tanzania and so many airstrips which help to come lower for landings and take offs and snap away. Without passengers that is. So many people seem to travel with a bee in the bonnet... And Shit Advisor is their ultimate weapon. I miss the good old days when a phone call or a fax to a boss was like a 13th herculean task, when internet still looked like science-fiction...I know, I sound like an old fart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife aerials, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

Peaceful lunch for this crocodile, the hippos don’t eat fish.

 

I miss those guys in the Mahale nat’l park, the best place to access and observe the chimpanzees.

 

 

 

Ngorongoro crater, the only place I ever witnessed this feat and only once.

 

 

The pussyfoot baboon…

 

 

 

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

That leopard came under the car and eyed us for 2 seconds, like “What? You’ve never seen a leopard?”

 

 

 

 

Bad picture but this little dude lives in the garden in Dar es Salaam! A brown-hooded bee-eater.

 

 

A lilac-breasted roller flies in my field while I was busy on the elephant during one of those walking trips away from camp that I cherish so much.

 

An ox-pecker zig zags between buffaloes.

Aerial photography, Tanzania

 

low sea bottom near Pemba island.

 

Hippos in a lake, Selous.

 

Buffaloes.

 

Ruaha river one early morning

 

Stonetown by the sea.

 

Sisal plantation, Pangani region.

 

Elephants by a drying pond, Selous.

 

Along the Rufiji river, Selous

 

A flock of storks, Rufiji river bank

Aerials, wildlife, Tanzania

 

Hippos in the southern Selous

 

Redunca gazelle and elephants in the Tarangire.

 

 

Basking crocs, Rufiji river.

 

Look carefully but there are giraffes in this picture. Rufiji river, Selous.

 

In the Ruaha park

 

The airplane I fly these days, a Caravan 208, which has here the company of a black-backed jackal.

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

Ox-pecker flying low level between buffaloes.

 

Broad-billed roller sipping water (rolle violet en français)

 

Paradise flycatcher (tchitrec d’Afrique)

 

A perfect sighting of a leopard.

 

That ox-pecker just left its feeding station, the giraffe’s head.

 

 

 

I wish it had been a lion or a leopard but a jackal will do.

Widlife, Tanzania

 

Lost baby kudu…sadly a good meal for somebody prowling by.

 

 

Broad-billed roller (rolle violet en fr.)

 

An ox-pecker zig-zaguing between buffalo butts (pique-boeuf en fr.)

 

Another ox-pecker at work…

 

Our swimming pools in camps are multipurpose. Here a swallow enjoys a fresh drink. Why don’t they stop and drink from the edge of the basin 2 m away remains a mystery, they prefer to fly and drink.

 

Does it require balls to pick insects from a placid crocodile?

 

Pied kingfisher roaming around another croc (martin-pêcheur pie)

 

Banded mongoose mother at work (mangouste rayée)

 

Yellow-billed stork just caught a fish (tantale ibis)

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

Ox-peckers on hippos. Notice the numerous scars.

 

Broad-billed roller on take off (rolle violet en français). Seasonal bird.

 

Another ox-pecker zigzags between buffalo.

 

A swallow (hirondelle) catching bugs or drinking.

 

While on a walk around our camp…

 

 

Another walk…I was glad that rock separated us.

 

Swallow on take off.

 

A lilac-breasted roller (rollier à brins fins)

Aerial photography, wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife in Tanzania, aerial photography

 

Crocodiles in the Rufiji river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife in Tanzania, aerials in 6 minutes

 

Yes sir, 6 minutes of flight just after take off between the first and last picture! What a thrill! One of the many reasons I couldn’t fly on airliners…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial photography, wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife in Tanzania, aerial photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife, Amboseli, park

 

This hyena got a  lunch and a bath later.

 

Mount Kilimanjaro lies in Tanzania, not in Kenya, but one gets a perfect view from Amboseli park.

 

 

 

A grey-crowned crane.

 

 

These elephants got so close to the car in perfect marching orders and didn’t touch it.

 

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

A baby giraffe which is less than 10 days old. The wrinkles on the long neck show the muscles are still too weak to support it fully upward.

 

A greater kudu.

 

 

 

Ox-peckers on the run. Notice the lump on the giraffe’s neck.

 

Aerial shot along the Ruaha river.

 

The same in detail.

 

Chasing unwelcome visitors off the airstrip.

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

Just before landing in the Katavi park, I was lucky enough to spot those splashing buffaloes.

 

2 baby giraffes, less than 10 days old. 2 sure signs: a umbilical codon that is still hanging down and a neck that is still weak. the neck is thus not straight yet and the skin on the neck shows wrinkles.

 

A rare location along the Rufiji river in the Selous, those white-fronted bee-eaters (guêpier à front blanc )dig nest in the sand banks. Fast and maneuverable birds when they prey on insects.

 

A cousin, the northern carmine bee-eater (guêpier écarlate)

 

Detail of a baby lion’s claws

Wildlife, aerials in Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tanzania, wildlife aerials

 

As usual, no drone was used! Just me and the aircraft. And no passengers. this was just before landing in Msembe, Ruaha NP.

 

Whereas in the Katavi NP, I got those buffalos splashing in the flooded Katasunga plain.

 

 

and further these zebras and topis (damalisques en français)

 

Finally some hippos in a colorful pond.

 

In the Mikumi NP, a giraffe was unfazed by my take off.

 

Elephants and hippos in the Great Ruaha river, Ruaha NP. When that river is fully flowing, the sand banks will disappear.

 

Msembe airstrip again, some visitors….

 

Wildebeest (gnous en français) somewhere in the Serengeti one early morning.

Wildlife, aerials, Tanzania

 

Hippos are probably the easiest and most common animals to spot from the air, in Katavi in a drying pool (above) or recently enjoying the new rains in the Selous (below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buffalos below.

 

 

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

Traffic jam on an airstrip.

 

 

 

Catching a fish next to a placid hippo.

 

Chimpanzee in Mahale NP.

 

 

An African jacana, a bird with probably the biggest legs in comparison to its body.

 

 

Wildlife, Amboseli, Kenya

 

A small national park in Kenya north of the Tanzanian border. But the mount Kilimanjaro towers over that little park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tanzania, wildlife

 

A pied kingfisher (martin-pêcheur pie) dives in the Ruaha river to fish, not afraid to compete with a (placid) crocodile.

 

But the same crocodile got successful too later.

 

 

Tough meat out there…

 

A cute resident in my garden, a brown-hooded kingfisher (martin-chasseur à tête brune)

 

A lesser-striped swallow (hirondelle striée).

 

A lilac-breasted roller (rollier à brins fins) flying amongst elephants.

 

 

A little swift (martinet des maisons) fishes too in the Ruaha river but instead of diving, it comes flat and normally only skims the water with its beak. They misjudge quite often and get wet.

 

Mud mask for this elephant.

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

Hippos resting in the southern Selous.

 

Disease or burn mark, I haven’t got a clear answer yet.

 

 

The ugly marabou stork keeping distance with the lioness.

 

Late afternoon, a hamerkop (une ombrette) caught a fish.

 

That was a perfect way to start the year, well maybe not on a railing… the picture is a bit blurry because it is taken though a mosquito net. The pair wouldn’t like to be interrupted (the act is already short enough, safe sex in the wild means not being eaten)

 

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

My best leopard sighting!

 

Another great sighting, a first even, a palm tree and a lion. I can’t help linking a palm tree to the seaside, not to the far away savannah.

 

 

A gerenuk (gazelle de Waller)

 

 

A male greater kudu ( un grand koudou)

 

Egyptian geese and gosling. Just in front of our Ruaha camp, a troup of baboons attacked another goose family and ate up all goslings in front of the helpless parents. Sad.

 

 

I was standing under a tree looking for birds when a small noise made me jump. it turned out that black-backed jackal hadn’t seen me either till late, like 20m from me. I think it was our regular resident because he didn’t show any sign of nervousness… still quite a sighting that close when you’re on foot.

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

An African skimmer offered its incredible show barely 20m away which is quite a feat…

and caught something.

 

The same skimmer later passing by a crocodile, which I hadn’t noticed while shooting, and an egret.

 

A female waterbuck is teasing the male. She never ran away, just walked a bit, seemed to wait a little bit, then just at the crucial moment, walked again. And so on…damn, where did I see this pattern before? (cobe en français)

 

Big boy in the mud.

 

Stealthy hippo looking for coolness in the river. That’s all there was to see, the nostrils. I wonder if I couldn’t be spotted through the murky water…

 

This giraffe seemed to perform semaphore with its ears. It also looks like a toothless old man.

 

There was some water a bit further but it might have been too brackish so these elephants typically dug holes in the sandbank and drank from the fresher water coming up.

 

A Verreaux’s eagle-owl. I swear I didn’t add that trashy make up on the eyelids. It reminds me the glorious disco years of the 70’s. (grand-duc de Verreaux)

Tanzanian wildlife

 

The voice of Africa for its melodious tweet, the fish eagle (pygargue à tête blanche)

 

Wildebeests during the migrations, Serengeti (gnous)

 

A pied king fisher comes out the water after a vertical dive, notice the eye membrane is closed for protection (martin-pêcheur pie)

 

 

A tree hyrax in the sunset (daman)

 

The joy of bush flying…

 

Hippos congregate in a shrinking mud pool.

 

 

Some skin disease…?

 

Purple-banded sunbird (souimanga bifascié)

 

Stealthy hippo in the murky waters, only showing his nostrils.

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

Rare rhinos, Serengeti

 

The legendary Mara river crossing, Serengeti side.

 

Lions hiding, Ngorongoro crater

 

Goliath heron, the tallest flying bird in Africa, Mahale park.

 

Colobus monkey, Arusha park.

 

Pussyfoot baboon, lake Manyara.

 

Lake Magadi, Ngorongoro crater.

 

How does a pelican manage to land on an acacia thorny branch and get wounded….

 

 

An African jacana, massive feet for mud walking. When one spots the footprint alone, one can’t help wondering if a dinosaur has been walking by.

Wildlife in Tanzania

 

A fish eagle chasing a young bird of prey.

 

The fabulous chimpanzees in Mahale park.

 

In the Ngorongoro, a young zebra still in his brown stripes.

 

Menu is a bit boring, wildebeests, but plenty for this cheetah… Serengeti plains near the Mara river.

 

The Mara river.

 

 

 

There was some red mud somewhere.

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

 

Ground hornbill.

 

 

Sykes monkey, also called blue monkey, lake Manyara

 

 

Pelicans delaying my take off… lake Manyara. Every year they pass by in Tanzania. They’ve just reached the Ruaha park.

 

Buffalo in a lake, Selous.

 

Wildebeests near the Mara river.

 

Mother cheetah and cubs, Serengeti.

 

Hippos rolling in the mud, Katavi

Wildlife, Tanzania

 

Greater kudu.

 

A lilac-breasted roller.

 

Red-billed oxpeckers on a hippo, wound cleaners.

 

Egyptian geese with gosling. A 1st sighting for me! This year! After so many years in Africa.

 

 

 

A black-backed jackal.

 

A hippo pool in Katavi park. The dry season is at its full, water is scarce and they stick together is smelly mud waiting for the next rains.

Wildlife on film, Tanzania

 

I used a film camera this week, that got me fishing some old pictures B.D. (that is before Digital)

 

 

Scarface…

 

 

 

A lion got a rare roan antelope. I think that was one of my 2 sightings of that beautiful animal, Katavi park

 

2 young lions with a plain agenda but they had eyes bigger than their skills and got chased away by the buffaloes.