Olive Toad escapes Hamerkop's clutches

Photos by Garth Thompson

African safari guide Garth Thompson, who was sitting in a hide waiting to photograph an elephant as it came down to drink at a waterhole, captured these photos at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.   The Hamerkop bird thought the Olive Toad would make a tasty meal, but was foiled by the gyrating escape tactics of the toad, which finally made its way into the water.   The toad, when telling its mates of the escape later on, could use any one of nine names for this waterbird: Hamerkop, Hammerkop, Hammerkopf, Hammerhead, Hammerhead Stork, Umbrette, Umber Bird, Tufted Umber and Anvilhead.   Or, it might just be simpler to call it by its scientific name: Scopus umbretta.

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