Image 1 of 1
It was thrilling enough to sit on the riverbank and photograph hippos. But it was an extra gift to be able to see the interaction of two different species. I sat on the riverbank with an eye for crocodiles in the water and watched as this egret hitched a ride on a (relatively) small hippo. Sitting on a riverbank was both incredibly boring as the hippos sluggishly wallowed in the shallow water, and exciting as you had to keep an eye out for crocodiles. But the longer we sat there, the more I noticed all the little bits of action . In this case, the hippo was far down the river and an egret was hunting the hippo’s back. This was a form of commensalism where the egret benefits with hunting advantages and the hippo is basically along for the ride.
The pair was out of range of my camera. Over time, the hippo moved smoothly and soundlessly through the water and I didn't notice how close it was until it was almost too late. At the last minute, I got my lens on the little drama playing out. The hippo must have felt its back getting too warm in the sun and rolled over to get a good coating of water and mud. That meant that the bird lost its perch but I captured both the alabaster translucency of the egret’s wings and the cute rounded nose of the hippo.
