365 Project, Day 111
Here is my day 111 submission to my 365Project:
After a nice break of over two months (and a wonderful time at home visiting friends, family and taking in autumn!) I am on my way back to work. I left home November 7th and finally arrived at Camp Malongo in Cabinda Province, Angola yesterday afternoon. I still have to get over my jet lag so I'm slightly relieved we are not going to the ship for a few days yet; I should be mostly over it by the time I have to officially start my watches. Of course, I woke very early today so I took advantage of the wee hours of the morning to get a good breakfast (they serve it from 4 am to 6 am here!) and check out the bats and other wildlife around the camp.
Today my focus was to look at the Straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) inhabiting the trees around camp. It was very entertaining watching their antics as they clambered around in the trees, clustered together, pushed each other around and occasionally appeared to be snuggling together. One thing I quickly learned...don't hang out underneath these guys too long or you might get bat pee or poop on you!!
The following series of pictures are of, what I believe, is a juvenile Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)...looking pretty soggy!
After a nice break of over two months (and a wonderful time at home visiting friends, family and taking in autumn!) I am on my way back to work. I left home November 7th and finally arrived at Camp Malongo in Cabinda Province, Angola yesterday afternoon. I still have to get over my jet lag so I'm slightly relieved we are not going to the ship for a few days yet; I should be mostly over it by the time I have to officially start my watches. Of course, I woke very early today so I took advantage of the wee hours of the morning to get a good breakfast (they serve it from 4 am to 6 am here!) and check out the bats and other wildlife around the camp.
Today my focus was to look at the Straw-coloured fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) inhabiting the trees around camp. It was very entertaining watching their antics as they clambered around in the trees, clustered together, pushed each other around and occasionally appeared to be snuggling together. One thing I quickly learned...don't hang out underneath these guys too long or you might get bat pee or poop on you!!
Fun fact of the day:
Straw-coloured fruit bats, like other megabats, prefer to eat various fruits and have been known to eat blossoms and the young shoots of silk-cotton trees. They also have an unusual habit of chewing into soft wood to obtain moisture.
To read more about straw-coloured fruit bats check out these webpages:
- Afribats - Ecology of the straw-coloured fruit bat in Nigeria
- Lubee Bat Conservancy webpage - African straw-coloured fruit bat
- BBC Nature - Nature wildlife webpage on African straw-coloured fruit bat
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| Northern grey-headed sparrow (Passer griseus) |
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| Straw-coloured fruit bats...keeping a close watch |
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| Coming in for a landing!! |
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| Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) in flight |
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| Stretch...a very interesting look at a bat wing :) |
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| One of the many camp cats |
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| Blue breasted cordon-bleu waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis) |
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| Rufous-tailed palm thrush (Cichladusa ruficauda) |
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| A female Sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii, you can tell she's female by the stripes), a type of antelope I saw in a grassy field near the forest edge |
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| Speckled Mousebird (Colius striata) |
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| Blue breasted cordon-bleu waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis) |
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| Village (dark headed) weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) |
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| Bronze Mannikin (Lonchura cuculluta) |
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| I spotted this guy keeping an eye on me while I was photographing the mannikins |
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