It was another stellar day here in Namibia, and my sister joined me this morning on my search for wildlife near the mouth of the Swakop River, as Anne enjoyed herself a little down time.
This first bird looks sort of like the young great blue herons we often see in Estabrook Park and the grey herons I used to show you in South Holland, but its color scheme is more rufous than blue or grey. Well, that’s because this is the very first purple heron (Ardea purpurea) I’ve ever laid eyes on, and believe me when I say that’s not for lack of trying. Ever since I learned that I could see one in South Holland, I’ve been searching for them, but always came up empty, until today. The whipped cream on top is that I got a few pictures that are not bad, despite it doing its best to stay between me and the sun. The cherry on top is that it is considered “rare” for this location and date. Ha!
As Deb and I strolled back to our lodging in town, I noticed something flitting around a flower on the grounds of some other hotel. If this little cutie looks familiar, that’s because it’s another white-eye, like the one we just saw in Joburg, but this one has “peach-colored underparts”, instead of “gray or green underparts”, and so is an Orange River white-eye (Zosterops pallidus). Sweet!
Now for a little more catching up on the wildlife we got to see in Etosha National Park. This little darling is a yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata) that we saw on our first day there.
Here it is again getting a good look around.
Finally, our big activity for today was hiking up Dune 7, which is supposed to be the highest Dune in Namibia and one of the top 10 highest dunes in the world. In any case, the view from the top was fantastic, and it included this little rascal, a shovel-snouted lizard (Meroles anchietae) “also known commonly as Anchieta’s desert lizard, Anchieta’s dune lizard and the Namib sand-diver.” Here it is holding its tail and tootsie toes off the hot sand for a moment.
Lastly, we start our journey back towards Joburg tomorrow, but it’s gonna take us a couple of days, so we expect the amazing new sights to continue for a while.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 