The Great Ruaha Trickle - Jongomero

At the moment the great Ruaha river is not worthy of its name.  Deep in the dry season now, its waters have dropped and slowed resembling more of a stream than a mighty river.  A month from now the flow will stop completely.  Thankfull there are many permanant pools which last the dry season keeping our Hippos and Crocodiles happy and maintaning a population of fish.  However our water bird and wader numbers seem to increase at this time.  This sounds contradicting but makes sense when you think that the less water there is, the smaller a refuge the fish and frogs have to hide or escape.  Fishing and finding food is easier at this time as all the river fish and amphibians are confined in a much smaller area and are now more concentrated.  The waders and water birds swarm in to reap the benefits.  Some of the greatest aggregations of birds will be found when the river finally stops.  The water looses its oxygen and many of the fish simply sufforcate, die and float belly up to the surface providing an easy opportunistic meal.  At this time literally thousands of pelicans can be seen gathering to scour the water for the hapless catfish.  Not quite at that stage at the moment but the bird numbers are steadily increasing.  Here a lovely Yellow-Billed Stork tries its luck along the rivers edge providing wonderful photographic opportunities.