The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 39: Hiding Again, sans Elephants

     I'm getting better at photographing the frogs in the "Elephant Hide."   Again, there are no elephants here to entertain us.   

    However, the days have been getting warmer as the perpetual overcast of the sky thins, so there's a good chance something will show up besides doves.

    While we wait, there are bugs to photograph, too.

These small white butterflies are called Pioneer White.

    Regarding the heat:  I was already quite warm when we arrived at the hide, but after I climbed through the top hatch and down the steep steps, sweat started running off my face.    

    Looking at the exterior of the hide, it appears to be a re-purposed shipping container--we call them connexes--so you might say I was in a steel oven and that's exactly what it felt like.

    The large panel on top is the hatch door.  On the left side near the ground are rectangular openings for the photographers.   Some have already been closed up with wood flaps to keep the large critters out.   The frogs were on the narrow strip of dirt between the hide and the water.

    Just when I was about roasted to medium-well done, a herd of impala approached, and I forgot all about the temperature.

    One brave doe made the first approach.   After that, it was free-for-all.   I had a hard time trying to decide where to aim my lens, so I began looking for opportunities to photograph individuals or a few individuals.

A nice stag in the center.

    Here's a stag with a broken horn.   Their horns are permanent and will not regrow, unlike deer, whose antlers are shed and regrown every year.

A cell phone video:

Love the water droplets.

Note how the impala has spread its front legs.   They re very vulnerable to predators at this point.   

    And then they were finished.   They disappeared into the brush.

    But wait!  Isn't there more?

    Why, yes, indeed.   What's a hide without a dove?

Then, a treat.   A red-billed oxpecker or two.   These birds are usually seen on mammals, checking them for parasites, etc., in a symbiotic relationship.

Then, we top it off with the beautiful Lilac-breasted rollers.

    As we leave the hide for the last time on this safari, I spot a male ostrich in the shade of the tree.   The bird is hot and has its mouth open in an effort to cool off.   Those luxurious black feathers don't help much in this kind of heat.

Botswana Journals Intermission

 Yes, this is the day I should have posted the next chapter in the 2025 Botswana Journals.    Unfortunately, life interrupted quite rudely.

As soon as I pull myself out of nostalgia and reverie, I will get back to the journals.   It won't be long.

Meanwhile, here's a photo from a few years back that proves I don't spend all my time taking photos of birds while on safari.

The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 38 , The Weavers

    The busiest place at Mashatu Lodge in Botswana isn't the lodge.    Nor is it the front lawn, even if it is your birthday and the staff comes out with a cake and sings to you.

    It isn't the water station where guests can fill their water bottles before going out on a game drive.

    Not the museum, or the gift shop, or the swimming pool.

    Nope.   The busiest, most frenzied place from early morning until into the evening was a tree in the courtyard where dozens of small yellow birds called weavers were building nests that hung from branches.

The weavers were in the tree in the center.

    Sometimes, hanging from other nests.   

    This is the kind of busy, and this is a small part of the tree in question.

    The Lesser masked weavers are differentiated from the several species with face masks by the extent of the mask, eye, and leg colors.

    The photos below are all Lesser masked weavers.

    Males, such as the one shown here, build the nests.  The females inspect them.   If the females don't approve, the male will build another nest, often deconstructing the old nest to begin again.

 If the female likes the nest, she will line it with soft materials and lay eggs.     Then the male builds more nests for more females.

   

    And so it begins, with a loop of grass attached to a slender limb or another nest.

The nest begins to take shape. with each blade of grass.

    Notice the thin blade of grass in its bill.

    Then, the nursery chamber begins to take shape.

    More material is needed.

    A female shows an interest.   She is the ultimate building inspector.

    The entrance tunnel is at the bottom 

    Once completed, the male hangs from the bottom of the tunnel and flutters its wings to attract females.

The advertising begins.....

...continues with a flutter....

...and a look to see if any gal is interested.

 

    A male with a completed nest awaits the building inspector.   Lesser masked weavers are colony nesters.  Instead of building a solitary nest far from others, they build many nests in the same tree.

    I'm sure you can imagine that with all those birds, one must avoid standing under the tree, and especially with one's mouth open.  That is why, when walking to my cottage room, I walk against the building where I am protected by the overhanging roof eave, as there is another tree over the walk with lots of weavers in it.

Other weavers we saw on this trip.

Cape Weaver. LIFER

Southern Masked Weaver

Southern Masked Weaver, female.

Red-billed Buffalo weaver.  LIFER

Village Weaver LIFER

White-browed sparrow weaver.