Go away

Saw quite a few birds in the last few days in Botswana, but the most amusing one was the Grey Go away bird. It is pretty big and not shy of humans but his amusing call is what catches the attention. (don't miss the moon)

The bird is named for its alarm call "Kuh-we" which sounds like "go-away" and is thought to alarm other species of approaching predators or other dangers such as hunters. You can hear the call at the start of the video.
I found these mouse birds eating (or rather destroying) the flowers of the Moringa tree (drumstick) Their activity was more of destructive nature as they were not eating them but just plucking it and spitting it

The sunbirds too come in flocks looking for the Moringa flowers

This Little Bee eater was sitting pretty, well protected by those thorny branches and pretty flowers

Talking of thorns, I was standing under a thorny tree when I saw this masked weaver bird flying in and out with green leaves busy weaving his nest. I got some bottom view of his activity where he was modelling his entrance door and spitting out the excess leaves.

While I was shooting the weaver, the Groundscrapper Thrush was eyeing me with some concern from the sidewalk.

The Crowned Plover got himself well camouflaged in the dry grass. His movements too were such that he used to stand still for a long time.

Towards the end of the video I managed to get a long shot of two Red-billed Buffalo Weavers up in the tree

These blue birds were pretty. I am assuming it is the blue waxbill finch

The next morning I was off again hoping to catch some early birds. I started off with the sunrise

Considering the array and variety of birds in Africa, there is a possibility of part 2 for this blog.

Seventeen million years

Wifey: “How come you have written so many blogs about our trip but no mention about the Grand Canyon?”

Me: “Well I am coming to that. Actually there are so many photographs of the Canyon that I am still sorting them”

Wifey: “So you will post my pictures too? I mean the pictures that I clicked?” 

Me: “Why not. If they are good it will definitely find a place”

Wifey:“They are good, there is no doubt about it, after all, I clicked them with my I-pad. You should see how beautiful they looked on the screen. Put up the one I clicked of you when you were fiddling with the camera. When you post them, make sure you put the water mark with my name in a nice and decent way at a corner, and not sprawled all over the picture”

Wifey “I know you liked that one with the setting sun hitting the side of the cliff “

Me “Wasn’t it a good idea that we covered the sunset too the previous day. I remember the first glimpse we had of the Canyon”

Wifey “oh that was just something out of the world, just unbelievable”

The drive from the Hoover dam to the Grand Canyon was a long one and it was just like how I had seen in the movies.  A straight road with arid desert on both sides.

The A/C in the car kept us cool and did not give any inkling as to what the temperature was outside.

As we neared the Canyon the surroundings got more and more green.

I could see some tourists pulling up to get some good close up pictures of the elk that they spotted.

Our aim was to check in to a hotel close to the Grand Canyon so that the next morning we could be at the Canyon to catch the sunrise.

As we reached the vicinity well in advance, we thought why not see the sunset too. Were we glad that we did that.

The lady at the counter was efficient and fast in dispensing the tickets.

The first view of the Canyon:

It is really awesome when you see this wonderful creation of nature for the first time.

What we saw was a minuscule part of it considering the fact that it is 277 mile long, 18 miles wide, with a depth of one mile.

The Colorado river started flowing through this about 17 million years ago where it continued to erode the rocks and form the canyon to its present day configuration.

We went on a clicking spree and just could not stop.

Some just sat at the edge of the cliff taking in the magnificent view.

Was wondering how the rock got eaten up like this:

As the sun went down it become more and more colourful:

These pictures of the sky painted by the setting sun is directly from the camera with no photoshop enhancement (except cropping and watermark)

Some of the tourists came well prepared with tripods and high end cameras.

Finally we headed back to the Lodge (Red Feather Lodge) to spend the night.

Dinner at the Hotel next to our Lodge was a tame affair but I was impressed by the colourful ambiance.

This was at Plaza Bonita Hotel (next to our Lodge)

The next day we went to a different location to catch the sunrise.

Unfortunately the clouds were playing spoiled sport. We waited for a long time to have a glimpse of the sun on that horizon.

The disappointed look on the tourists’ face. You can see that some were sleeping right there the previous night.

While we waited for the sun, I clicked this, showing the variations of rock at different levels (with different colours)

Finally the sun made its presence felt (even though it was for a short time)

Somehow we did not enjoy the sunrise as much as the sun set.

Managed to get some pics later as the sun progressed on its way up:

A dash of welcome green with the sun reflecting off the leaves:

There were many tourists. Some hired those vehicles which were so designed that you had maximum visibility

Some came solo on motorbikes with sleeping mats

The only elk picture that I could get (I am assuming they are elks)

There are buses that run as shuttles from point to point (they run on batteries)

As the sun moved up we clicked more pics 

Some silhouettes : 

Some with backlight:

We did a small trek along the rim (Rim trail of 8.2 kms)

There were some colourful birds around. I could hear them chirping but it was difficult to locate them in the thicket:

At one point we located the flowing river:

I never knew about the blink of a geological eye till I read this:

A moment of rest before we moved on:

There is this problem of people throwing coins into the canyon. I did not see anyone doing it but this board says so.

The ancient inhabitants had a special reverence for this place.

On the way back, I managed to capture the driver and his rear view mirror – or so I thought.