Wildlife images from Tanzania safari

Here are some images from our late-January trip to northern Tanzania.
We are pretty happy with the lion, cheetah, elephant and bird shots in
particular. Hope you enjoy them.

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_2006/

Bill

Bill & Carolyn -

I have just come across your pictures here of Africa, and I then found a
number of other galleries of photos by the two of you. Simply stunning
pictures! I'm in awe...

I see you like to travel for your photography, so I wanted to make a
recommendation to you, if you haven't already considered it: Antarctica. I
just took a trip to there in December, from Ushuaia in the southern tip of
South America to the Palmer Peninsula of Antarctica. It was an *incredibly*
beautiful and pristine place, with abundant opportunities for gorgeous
photography.

I would almost *pay* just to see what kind of pictures you would take there,
given the quality of your other pictures that I have seen on the web.
Consider a trip there - I guarantee you won't be disappointed. There are a
number of tour operators that offer trips in all sorts of comfort levels -
just google "Antarctica travel" for a start.


"Bill Hilton" wrote in message
ups.com...
Here are some images from our late-January trip to northern Tanzania.
We are pretty happy with the lion, cheetah, elephant and bird shots in
particular. Hope you enjoy them.

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_2006/

Bill

In message . com
"Bill Hilton" wrote:

Here are some images from our late-January trip to northern Tanzania.
We are pretty happy with the lion, cheetah, elephant and bird shots in
particular. Hope you enjoy them.

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_2006/

Great pix, Bill.
Please post your link over on rec.travel.africa too, as the regulars
there will enjoy your trip account as well as the photos.
Great light: I think I must travel with my own dark cloud. :-(
(Yes, obviously, we're always the first at the gate in the morning and
begging to be let back in just as they've closed at night!)

Your eagle is, as you suggested, a Long-crested Eagle, Lophaetus
occipitalis, fka Long-crested Hawk-eagle.
The Thick-knee is almost certainly a Water Thick-knee, Burhinus
vermiculatus, fka Water Dikkop
The Spurfowl is very puzzling - did you get any other pix of it?
however, apparently they hybridise, so yours could be a juvenile or
hybrid. Is Grey-breasted recorded for Manyara? Of course, there's
always a first time.

Slainte

Liz

In message
Liz wrote:


Please post your link over on rec.travel.africa too, as the regulars
there will enjoy your trip account as well as the photos.

Ah, you beat me to it.
Tx

Slainte

Liz

"Bill Hilton" wrote in message
ups.com...
Here are some images from our late-January trip to northern Tanzania.
We are pretty happy with the lion, cheetah, elephant and bird shots in
particular. Hope you enjoy them.

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_2006/

Bill


Impressive images Bill. Very impressive.

Liz writes ...

Your eagle is, as you suggested, a Long-crested Eagle
The Thick-knee is almost certainly a Water Thick-knee

Thanks for your help Liz, I'll update the web pages today or tomorrow
....

The Spurfowl is very puzzling - did you get any other pix of it?

The driver seemed to know what it was but I didn't write it down ...
here's another angle showing a bit more of the breast ... from the EXIF
data this guy was only on the log for 22 seconds or 9 frames and never
turned directly towards us so this is all I have to go on ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta...fowl_T1509.jpg

Have you ever been to the Serengeti in the rainy season? I have a
chance to go back relatively cheaply in April to the Seronera area and
maybe the crater, but I'm not sure how bad it gets during the "long
rains". Could be great, could be a disaster

Bill

In message
Liz wrote:


I'll post your pic to our local RSPB reserve manager, who's a
Tanzanian, and see if he can shed any light on it. Might take a wee
while for him to get back to me.
Much longer than I thought -
His auto-reply came straight back to say he's away until 24th Feb.
Maybe someone will have given you a definite ID by then!

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz: http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
Photo blog of Make Povery History rally in Edinburgh 2 July 2005:
http://www.v-liz.com/g8rally/protest.htm

Liz writes ...

I'll post your pic to our local RSPB reserve manager, who's a
Tanzanian, and see if he can shed any light on it.

I found a pdf that is supposedly a complete list of all the Tanzanian
birds and there are only 3 spur-fowl on it, "Yellow-necked",
"Red-necked" (both of which we photographed, and which are distinctly
different from this guy) and "Grey-breasted", which is what I thought
the driver called out when we photographed the bird in question, so
I'll go with that ...

Some people have said it only rains for four hours a day ...

We have to cross some non-culverted drainages on the way down the
backside of Ngorongoro crater to get to the Serengeti and if these are
high we'll be delayed I guess ... I'm sure four hours of rain would
cause problems with some of these washes ... I think once we get there
we'll be OK though.

Bill

In message . com
"Bill Hilton" wrote:

Liz writes ...

I'll post your pic to our local RSPB reserve manager, who's a
Tanzanian, and see if he can shed any light on it.

I found a pdf that is supposedly a complete list of all the Tanzanian
birds and there are only 3 spur-fowl on it, "Yellow-necked",
"Red-necked" (both of which we photographed, and which are distinctly
different from this guy)
Yes, they're pretty distinctivd.

and "Grey-breasted", which is what I thought the driver called out
when we photographed the bird in question, so I'll go with that ...
Fair enough.
The Tx guides are trained in bird recognition: they were actually
having a class when we were there!

Some people have said it only rains for four hours a day ...
We have to cross some non-culverted drainages on the way down the
backside of Ngorongoro crater to get to the Serengeti and if these are
high we'll be delayed I guess ... I'm sure four hours of rain would
cause problems with some of these washes ... I think once we get there
we'll be OK though.
:-)))

Safari njema

Liz

In article . com,
"Bill Hilton" wrote:

Here are some images from our late-January trip to northern Tanzania.
We are pretty happy with the lion, cheetah, elephant and bird shots in
particular. Hope you enjoy them.

http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/tanzania_2006/


Wow, Bill, looks like a great trip! Certainly brings back the memories.

Do make a visit to the Sonoita Basin while your memories of E. Africa
are fresh. Amazingly similar. Even to the acacias!

Sure beats hunting for non-existent wildflowers in the desert thin
spring...

Cheers -- Pete Tillman, who saw a blooming brittlebush in Black Cyn City
TOD.