The East African landscape is breathtaking by itself, and when an incredible creature penetrates the space, it’s beyond the imagination. At least that’s how I felt whenever I saw this dramatic-looking raptor, the Bateleur.

Bateleur

According to Wikipedia, Bateleur means “Street Performer” in French, its closest relatives are the snake-eagles, and it’s the national emblem of Zimbabwe. You can read more about it at the link.

We were fortunate to encounter members of this species daily when we were in Tanzania. Then, shortly before we left, during our afternoon exploration of Tarangire National Park, we were treated to close views of a juvenile and its parent.

They tolerated our inquisitive presence. But I’m sure they were far less enchanted with us than we were with them.

I imagine when we stopped photographing them they could get on with their business, probably one of those long lessons about looking for and catching prey.

It’s hard to look at these pictures and not want to go right back.

Between returning to work and not having replaced the laptop computer yet, it’s taking  longer than I’d like to go through the pictures, but I hope to accomplish more this weekend.

One more view of this very whimsical-looking bird.