I’ll probably still be going through pictures from Africa all year at this rate, if not for the rest of my life (or, as they say in legalese, “whichever first occurs”). I have two shorter trips coming up very soon and I am looking forward to them! But it’s still nice to go back in time…especially when I have not been able to venture out much through our arctic blast. (It’s official now, this is our coldest winter in 30 years.) I tried to visit the Chicago Portage today but it was closed. Enough said.

Back to the Serengeti.

Leopards are never easy to spot, often sleeping in trees during the day, but we got very lucky with this one.

And then after our quest for this exceptional predator, not far away we found two great land-bound birds, Kori and White-Bellied Bustards.

Kori Bustards

The long, soft feathery necks of the Kori Bustards must blend in perfectly with the tall dried grasses (click on the photo below to get a better view of the neck feathers). They hunt insects and small vertebrates.

Kori Bustard

The White-Bellied Bustard is considerably smaller.

White-Bellied Bustard

This bird appears to be an immature male.

More pictures await me from that day in the Serengeti, but none will be more emblematic than those of the Leopard.