A return trip to one of Africa's best parks for raptors. The Kgalagadi has got to be the best value park in Africa!

Bateleur Eagles


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Black chested Snake eagle




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Lanner Falcon


Pale chanting Goshawk

A very nice set of images! I particularly like the Bateleur eagles and the Black chested snake eagles since I've never seen those before.

Very nice !
How was the sightings overall? Please post more.

Last year there were more Queleas and red headed Finches than I have ever seen in my life - it was almost scary. Which meant the raptors were plentiful too.

Winston Churchill (Sir) said:

Very nice !
How was the sightings overall? Please post more.

Last year there were more Queleas and red headed Finches than I have ever seen in my life - it was almost scary. Which meant the raptors were plentiful too.

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Hi Elsa, the general sightings were really good. I spent more time in the Nossob area this time, where the Lions showed well. The cool mornings were good for predators, on the morning I drove from Mata Mata to Nossob, I had 4 separate Cheetah sightings.
The weather was quite strange. I woke on my first morning ready with all my cold gear and it was 19 degrees C at 6am!! On the last morning as I left it was minus 6 degrees!!
The day before was my last full day and I drove from Nossob to Twee Rivieren. The day was bright sunshine but never got above 13 degrees in the middle of the day. This had an amazing effect upon the animals. In the space of two hours, I photographed and videoed 9 different Honey Badgers. Every time there was a Pale Chanting Goshawk at a low level, it guaranteed a Honey Badger to be with it. I'm not sure the exact reason for this but it was definitely the weather. I have a hunch it may have had an effect upon scorpions coming out, as I saw at least 3 being eaten. I need some expert input on that.
What place it is!!

The honey bager pictures are wonderful. This is from a study of honey badger associations.

Thanks Dave - I agree with Art - the Honey Badgers are exceptional. Especially since I have battled for 5 years to get a single shot of a full Badger. Half Badgers - a couple. But sightings of those have always been rare. I have heard from others though that they have been sighted much more now. The lion photos are great too.
Regards the weather - yes that is really weird. I am booked for may 2024 - and expecting to freeze a bit.

BTW - if you havent seen the 4 minute video on Stoffel the Badger - it is worth watching.

Hi Elsa / Art. Thanks for the comments .
Honey Badgers have always been a big favourite of mine but this was incredible, they were everywhere! At all 9 sightings, including 2 that were pairs, I first saw a Pale Chanting Goshawk at lower than normal level and then there was a Badger every time. At every sighting there was also a Jackal a few meters away. I have seen the Honey Badger PCG relationship before and this is well known, it was just the frequency! I am sure I could have found a lot more.
The Jackal population in the Kgalagadi is huge, I have never seen such a density. Particularly as prey and predators are quite spread out in the Kgalagadi. I think the Jackals here do more hunting than scavenging. At both Polentswa and Cubitje Quap, there were Jackals catching Doves and Sandgrouse, every day.

You are right about those Jackals. Everywhere. All the time

Fantastic trip that you had Dave,
Such an amazing variety of sightings,
Always special to visit Kgalagadi,
Thanks for sharing,
Gavin

Gaduf said:

Fantastic trip that you had Dave,
Such an amazing variety of sightings,
Always special to visit Kgalagadi,
Thanks for sharing,
Gavin

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Thanks Gavin.

I am not very experienced with video but I did record a few of the Honey Badgers. I have just put the videos together on a single clip.