(This post contains 28 images.) For many a trip to the Kruger Park is about the mammals, and yes, so it should be, I love them too! But for me the excitement is about the birds, because they could appear anywhere, even on the loneliest, dullest drive. It is like a treasure hunt – and all of a sudden there is a bird; on the tallest tree or deep in the bush on a branch, watching like a sentinel; sometimes I find them just walking on the ground. I often see birds of prey eating something. Without a doubt one can always see birds at the watering holes.
I am not always successful in photographing them. Getting the best vantage point from the confines of a vehicle (with a roof) can be difficult. Sometimes they are just too far away for my little camera, but all these difficulties also add to the challenge of getting a surprisingly good shot.
Beneath is my gallery of the birds of Kruger. I do not have a favorite bird, I love them all! The most useful bird (for me anyway), in the park is the vulture – the cleaners, but I will leave this for another day – another post.
Burchell’s Cougal 
A croc slowly moving past a Cormorant and a couple of Hamerkop birds. 
A sweet little Collared Sunbird. 
A Grey Heron hitching a ride on a hippo. 
Magpie Shrike 
African Jacana. Note the long toes for walking on floating vegetation. 
Saddle-Billed Storks. 
Yellow Billed Stork. 
Vultures feasting on a dead Impala. The paw of the buck can be seen in the foreground. 
Spurfowl. 
Southern Greyheaded Sparrow. 
Barn Owl. 
Blue Waxbill. 
Shrike. 
Lesser Masked Weavers. 
Hamerkop. 
Masked Weaver. (F) 
Vultures at a kill. 
Comb Duck 
African Green Pidgeon. 
A young Martial Eagle. 
Pied Kingfisher. 
Egyptian Goose. 
Yellowbilled Stork. 
Magpie Shrike. (Two pics here! In and out of focus. Note the Wildebeest behind the bird. ) 
Roller Bird. 
The good old Hadedah!
Copyright © Caroline Street. Art, Poetry and Photography. All rights reserved.
Caroline Street Blog 
That comb duck is a strange-looking bird.
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Sure is.
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Caroline, these are the amazing photos of fantastic birds. Some I could recognized, some I saw for the first time in my life. And a Barn Owl stole my heart 🙂
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Thank you Kaya. The Barn Owl is very sweet. This particular owl had two other companions, which have since disappeared. He sits there on his own now. He has a peculiar, one might say injury in the chest. I hope he survives.
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