In the tree tops

Birds abound in Kruger National Park. Fascinating to us were the large birds we saw walking in the grass along the road, eagles and vultures soaring in the air and colorful birds perched on the tops of bushes and trees.

This first bird in a Southern ground hornbill. Similar to it we saw a bounty of smaller Southern yellow-billed hornbills, Red-billed hornbills and African grey hornbills so that we could identify each by their distinctive coloring.

We viewed unique birds almost half the size of ostriches--Kori bustard, Secretarybird, Goliath heron, Saddle-billed stork, Marabou stork and Yellow-billed stork. Just larger than Egyptian geese are the Great white pelican, African spoonbill, Hadedah ibis and Helmeted guineafowl.

Our guide was adept at spotting and identifying various eagles and vultures, many with names new to us.



Beautifully colored birds greeted us throughout the day. This second picture captures a Lilac-breasted roller with 27 different colors of feathers. We felt fortunate to get a good photo with our compact point and shoot camera. Many visitors come to Kruger as birders with long camera lens to capture birds in flight and perched in tree tops.



A delight to watch are gentle giraffes grazing in the tree tops. They prefer the leaves of thorny Acacia trees and are adept with their manipulating lips at stripping long branch strands of tender shoots.