Monday 14 June 2010

Livingston's footsteps - travels along the Zambezi river

Work took me to Zambia for 10 days in early June. The trip was part of a joint project between Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities in the UK and various Zambian conservation agencies. The aim is to assess the ecological integrity of Zambian rivers and develop a rapid appraisal sampling framework that can be used in future monitoring. Thus, we spent our time sampling invertebrates, macrophytes and collecting water samples for chemical analysis. These are some of my photos from the trip; all were taken in the Zambezi catchment in and around Lower Zambezi National Park. Above is a sunrise over the Zambezi.
One of our sampling sites - a fantastic sand bed river on the edge of the National Park

Crocodiles limited sampling in some areas!

African Open-billed Stork
Hippos were numerous along the mainstem of the Zambezi.

Bateleur Eagle

Waterbuck
These wonderful animals need no introduction



Southern Boubou

White-fronted Bee-eater.

Another White-fronted Bee-eater; these nested commonly along the river banks.

Little work has been done on Odonates in Zambia; this is probably Trithemis annulata (Violet Dropwing)



Unidentified, but possibly Palpopleura lucia or a related species.