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 Touch Down in 5,4,3,... (32) sburel
(335) | These flamingoes were taking off and landing non-stop. They were fearful of a Kite flighting nearby.
Here's some additional commentary from one of my previous post:
http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Africa/Tanzania/photo41541.htm
The Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor is the smallest of the world's six flamingo species. It occurs primarily on the alkaline lakes of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, but also in small populations in other African countries and in northwest India/eastern Pakistan.
The alkaline lakes of the Rift Valley are the primary feeding areas for the East African population. During non-breeding periods, these lakes often hold almost the entire population, estimated to be between two and four million birds. Huge feeding flocks of up to one million birds regularly gather on lakes Bogoria and Nakuru, one of the world's most stunning wildlife spectacles.
In East Africa, Lesser Flamingos eat the microscopic cyanobacteria (sometimes called a blue-green algae) Spirulina platensis almost exclusively. In the Great Rift Valley, Spirulina platensis live only in alkaline lakes - Bogoria, Nakuru, Elmenteita and Magadi in Kenya and lake Natron in Tanzania - as well as others in Ethiopia. The Lesser Flamingos filter this microscopic food near the surface of the water with a very specialised bill that contains up to 10,000 microscopic platelets called lamellae. The flamingos swing their bills back and forth through the water while their tongues move in and out 20 times per second like pistons, filtering up to 20 litres per day through the lamellae to net 60 g of Spirulina, their daily requirement.
Although it is the most numerous of the five flamingo species, the Lesser Flamingo is classified as "near threatened" due primarily to its dependence on a limited number of breeding sites. During the past 30 years, the East African population is known to have bred successfully only at Lake Natron in Tanzania, while the southern African population is known to have bred successfully only at the Makgadikgadi salt pans in Botswana and the Etosha Pan in Namibia.
Historically, it was thought that the two populations are separate and that no regular interchange takes place. However, circumstantial evidence has been assembled that indicates East African Lesser Flamingos may fly to Botswana to breed during periods when the Lake Makgadikgadi saltpans are flooded. However, this has not been shown definitively and their flight paths, flight speed and stopover places are still unknown.
Normally, the Lesser Flamingo is not migratory in the accepted sense but is highly nomadic, moving daily in large numbers from lake to lake within the Rift Valley and amongst the saltpans of southern Africa. The reasons for these frequent movements are not understood. |
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 sburel
(335) Straighten, blur Edited by:mbasil
(3304) |
Great shot. But I thought you could get the bacground to disappear a bit if you rotated it. And I though you could reduce the "cut off" birds by using a selective blur. Anyway, those are my two cents!
Best,
Mike |
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