Hi to all of you who love looking at wildiife photographs!

As part of my effort to deepen the widen and gallery. I have added two new categories to widen the choice of categories and add new shots to existing categories to deepen the categories.

Thank you to those of you who have responded. Your comments are much appreciated and fire me up to do more.

I have added one sub-category- Hills and Mountains – to the Scenes Category.

A scene near Cathedral Peak in the Drakensberg.

The Drakensberg in KwaZulu Natal offers wonderful opportunities for landscape photography. The weather changes quickly so this can add to the drama to not only the shot but also taking the shot. The backdrops are massive, majestic and often moody.

Looking down on a sacred hill from Rhodes Baobab in Mashatu.

The rugged terrain in Mashatu/Tuli Block area is quite different to the Drakensberg, but in places just as dramatic and of course there is much more wildlife.

The second addition is Hornbills – a sub-category  introduced into the Birds category.

Just close your eyes and think of being in the lowveld in mid-summer when it is as hot as hades. What can you hear – yes the cackling of either the Red or Yellow-Billed Hornbills.

They are certainly unusual looking birds with unusual nesting behaviour.

Close up of the Ground Hornbill. The deep red colour is seen in the adult birds.

The Southern Ground Hornbill is a large bird which spends much of its time marching through the bush looking for insects, rats, squirrels, frogs and snakes. Males have blue patches in their red throat skin which can be puffed up. These Hornbills have a deep booming call nothing like their smaller cousins. This species is considered vulnerable and is usually only found in Kruger Park environs and in eastern Botswana and Zimbs.

This Yellow-billed Hornbill was feasting on a this large grasshopper. It was quite a job to subdue the grasshopper and get it the right way round to swallow. A wonderful sighting at Leeupan beyond Skukuza in Kruger Park.

I always associate Hornbills with hot areas  like the lowveld in SA or the dry hot areas of Botswana. I am still trying to get decent shots of the Trumpeter Hornbill which we often hear and fleetingly see along the Chobe River.

There are more categories to come in the following weeks.

I hope you enjoy the additions and the shots make you daydream about being back in the bush.

Have fun

Mike