Tuesday,
May 2nd.
Instead of a game drive this morning we had a workshop on the techniques and uses of macro photography. Then we had an hour to try our hand at taking pictures of little things, like bugs, butterflies and dragonflies. That’s challenging. Then Mads gave us a workshop on how to market yourself as a photographer if that’s a career you have in mind. She also presented a video of a Canadian wildlife photographer, Paul Nicklen, who shoots for National Geographic. The video showed him talking about his camera settings and how to photograph a black bear from a boat. We had a game drive in the afternoon with Daisy. One of the trucks has had its roof removed for easier photo taking and seemingly even closer views of the game. It was a very relaxed drive, with some cool sightings like dwarf mongoose, a giraffe with multiple oxpeckers on its head, an impala with one in its ear, a family of warthogs grazing and an elephant giving us the evil eye looking down a hill in the road towards us. Daisy is very knowledgeable and likes to share her information. She told us about the nesting habits of the southern yellow billed hornbills. The pair, which bonds for life, find a tree with a crevice in it large enough for the female to climb in and build a nest. Then the male seals her up inside, she lays her eggs and then molts all her feathers. The male feeds the female through a hole and when the chicks hatch, provides for them until the brood is ready to leave the nest. One of the people on our trip said, ‘that’s a lot of faith to have in a male’! But it does make you wonder what happens to the female if he is killed or dies. After dinner we had a music trivia game. We were divided into two teams and asked questions about music that I was mostly unaware of. However, our team won.
In all my years watching nature shows on TV, Joe, I have never heard about birds like the southern yellow hornbills nesting like this. Your question about what happens if the male is killed, is key and so tragic if/when it happens.
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