Ndutu - Looking for Wildebeest

Verreaux's Eagle-owl

White Stork

The next day, we headed out for a full day drive taking us to the main herd of wildebeest. Instead of heading directly to their staging area, we made a couple of stops. First, we stopped by one of the lakes for a look at a large flock of flamingos. The muddy beach meant we could only look for a distance, but we were able to see a few hundred of these striking pink birds. Not the thousands we hoped for, but still a fun view.

A bit later we happened on a lion kill. Two females were still working on the dead wildebeest, but they soon had their fill and took off leaving the vultures. This time a couple of jackals were lurking. Eventually, one of them found an opening to sneak in and take off with a chunk. A few minutes later, was saw a couple of small hooded vultures finally make their way into the melee. Their size precludes them from being aggressive at any feeding site, but usually there will be enough meat for them to get some for themselves.

We made one more stop at a waterhole with a few shorebirds before heading again for wildebeest valley.

This time we were interrupted by a pair of cheetahs stalking another long line of wildebeest. Felix got us into a good spot where we patiently watched the two boys sneak their way closer and closer to the wildebeest. Several times it looked like a young one was isolated enough for them to attack, but they still waited and waited. Finally, as the end of the line approached, one of the young ones ventured way off to the side. In spite of Mom’s efforts to keep the child in line, this willful young one refused to return to the safety of the mass. In the blink of an eye, he paid the price. Mom made an attempt to save him, but was quickly chased off by one of the cheetahs. The whole thing happened so quickly, I almost completely missed the picture.

The most amazing part of watching the kill was our neighbor Land Rovers. While we were waiting, we had been joined by at least 20 other vehicles. We were all lined up waiting for the action. As soon as the kill was competed, the race was on. We weren’t part of the race, but most of the others sped over to watch as the cheetahs took their fill. We drove up to take a look, but the grass was really too high to see much so we took off once again for wildebeest valley.