Smith's bush squirrel

March 2011 Audi Camp (Near Maun), Botswana

Smith's bush squirrel (Paraxerus cepapi), also known as yellow-footed squirrel and in South Africa as the tree Squirrel. I saw these a few times whilst out in the Delta but my best sightings were in Audi Camp where I watched a female and her juvenile foraging and playing around my tent area and a couple of males around other parts of the camp. They were very cute and inquisitive. Obviously more used to human presence they took hardly any notice of me. In the Delta the ones I saw were a lot more cautious and wary of my movements when I saw them.

Artists & Illustrators magazine article

A little while ago I posted that I had been approached by the editor of Artists & Illustrators magazine to do a little article on my elephant calf studies. I am very pleased to post that the article is now published and can be seen in the February issue, which is out now, and as they say...  'is in a shop near you'.

Black-collared barbet

I thought it was high time I started posting photo's from my trip, so I will aim to do this regularly. There are some I am keen to share as they illustrate some of the experiences that I had. Some are just an appreciation of what I saw.

I start with this little chappie... a black-collared barbet - Lybius torquatus

Before heading off to Seba Camp in the Delta, I spent a few days at Audi Camp. I spotted this striking bird as it flew away at my approach. I waited and saw eventually that there was a nest in the tree, one bird was inside and this handsome fella was outside. I'm assuming the female was the one in the tree, but as hey are not sexually dimorphic I really have no idea who was who. They were nervous birds and would fly away or dart into the nest hole whenever someone approached. I was determined to see them so I sat and waited nearby and was eventually rewarded - being able to watch their comings and goings for a while. I was pleased to be able to get some decent photo's of at least one of them.