Fish Eagle - Take Away Dinner

Done in split seconds! Here we have the Fish Eagle - high priest of the Okavango River, getting his lunch. At this time of year, September-October, the water is so clear and it is hard to see a missed catch.

Notice the way it corrects its flight pattern after catching the fish. Then it goes back to a favourite tree or nest and has lunch. Fish Eagles can fly away with fish up to 4 pounds. If it can't fly, it will drag the fish along the surface of the river until it reaches the far shore. I have yet to see that happen.

Pelicans Cover Maun Skies

Pelicans In Formation Over Maun

Late afternoon the banks of the Thamalakane River can be covered with hundreds of Pelicans coming together for a night of rest. During the days you can now often look up and see squadrons of Pelicans circling over Maun. On good days, with plenty of wind, they are up in the sky playing with the thermals - dipping and diving, regrouping and doing the process over and over again.

With the new flood about to arrive in Maun, it can only be hoped they will stay with us for a while longer. It remind's me again of the old ditty Kelly would recite when we were on safari together:

"A funny old bird is the pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week,
And I don't know how in the world he manages to do it!"

On days like this, it makes you wonder - should the Pelican be the National Bird of Botswana. For another perspective of the Pelicans in Maun - click here.

Okavango Delta Flooding

Okavango Delta - Wetlands Getting Wetter

Travellers from around the world are following, with growing interest, the strong floods pouring into the Okavango Delta. A post in the Maun, Botswana Blog about the flow rates at Mohembo is creating worldwide interest. Click on the above link to follow the developing story.

What has started as a strong annual flood with flow rates of over 400 cubic metres per second, has spike over 200 cubes in just 10 days. Kasane is experiencing wide ranging flooding as we speak and it is very possible a similiar situation is developing in the Okavango Delta. A new flow rate chart will be out after April 10th.