Pelican Pete - Hwange

I have been touched by a tale of survival recently! The name of our hero is "Pelican Pete"
Pelican Pete arrived at a waterhole in Hwange several months ago, along with literally hundreds of others according to Hwange's own Santa....Mr B!

Pelican Pete not so much flying as plummeting!

To Mr B's surprise, the next day they had all flown away....well all but one! Pelican Pete had suffered an injury in the night and couldn't fly.

Well water was plentiful and "old Pete" was quite content until the dry season matured and his little pan was muddied up by hundreds of thirsty mammals. He was visited on several occasions by passing pelicans but they never stayed longer than a day or two before heading to some distant horizon!

Poor Pete has been seen running full-tap into gale-force winds with wings open in the hope that he too can head for the horizon but gravity has other ideas!

I spent a few days in that area and watched with dismay as his little pan dwindled!

His neighbours all want him too! but watch this space for news on
Pelican Pete!

Pelican Pete and his neighbours

                                                              The Hwange Birder

Hwange update:

A flight of Caspian plovers shoot over nyamandhlovu pan and past a drinking kudu!

Hwange is in its wet season now and it really has not been a good one. We had almost non-stop rain in December and then apart from some really violent storms.....we have had almost nothing since.
I have not seen the termite alate events as I have come to expect, neither the numbers of predatoy raptors here to feed on them!

But there is still some water about and at certain pans you are still seeing good birds. Just yesterday I saw the Caspian Plovers (shown in the image above) as well as Black-winged Pratincole, Ruff, Wood sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and Egyptian goose at Nyamandhlovu pan.

We are expecting a hard dry season now as we can only really look forward to rain in about November. I will keep you posted

                                                                      The Hwange Birder