This post is a continuation of my review of some images from a trip to the Masai Mara a year ago. I am reviewing these images to see where I can improve my techniques and look for new ways to see my subjects – a preparation for my trip to the Serengeti in March. These are very special places with wonderful photographic opportunities and good preparation is a must!

“Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.”
~Henry Ford

The cubs keep their distance from their fathers. These two large males showed tolerance but not affection. The cubs were with the males while the lionesses were trying to take down a buffalo, but with no success on this occasion. There was no drama or interaction but the image showed the relational space.

Early in the morning while it was still cool, the youngsters had a great time mock fighting and chasing each other around. This type of interaction can provide wonderful photographic opportunities, but watch the shutter speed.

With a mother or aunt like this I would get out of the way too. This cub must have been another lioness’ offspring because she would not let it near the warthog piglet she had just killed.

“Even the brave are scared by a lion three times: first by its tracks, again by its roar, and one last time face to face.”
~Somali Proverb

This looks like a sub-adult male with that gangly teenager look about him where he hasn’t fully grown into his is paws yet and they look over sized. The shot is reasonable but there is no interesting behaviour and the white balance is slightly off.

“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”
~Helen Keller

After a mating session these two were relaxing in the grass. I liked the spreadeagled posture of the large male, well as spreadeagled as  a large male lion can be. These two were right next to the road otherwise we would not have seen them, even in the short grass.

The next shot was about trying to catch the intimacy between a lioness and her cub. It was late afternoon down near Figtree bend and we found this lioness and her cub about ten metres away from two large males who were feeding on a kill in the bushes nearby. This lioness was very gently cleaning her cub in the dappled shade – I was captured by the gentleness of the scene.

Timing is very important in these situations. The essence is to try to wait for mother and cub to open their eyes. Whenever the lioness licked her cub she did so with her eyes closed. This was the only time I could get both of them with their eyes open. Again, I loved the serenity of the  scene.

We were quite close so I needed a reasonable depth of field hence the narrow aperture of F16. Again my shutter speeds were lower than I wanted but I also did not want to push up my ISO too much and mother and cub were not moving much.

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.”
~Richard Bach

Out on the plain in front of the Kitchwa Tembo camp, the pride was relaxing in the early morning sun. This young male seemed to really love his mother. Again patience was required to wait for them to get into a position which showed their bond.

Head rubbing is a greeting and social affirmation and probably has a scent transfer role too. The females are remarkably tolerant for such a powerful animal which can also be so aggressive.

This lioness did not want a sub-adult to steal the warthog piglet from her two cubs. There was no biting but the message was clear. The lions seem hard-wired to go for any available prey even from their siblings. The warthog piglet was being savagely hauled around and unfortunately was still alive and squealing. This lioness was obviously trying to teach her youngsters how to tackle and subdue their prey. This is wonderful interaction but shutter speed is critical –  the higher the better as their legs are moving much faster than their bodies.

“Competition has been shown to be useful
up to a certain point and no further,
but cooperation, which is the thing
we must strive for today,
begins where competition leaves off.”

~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

This young male looks like a “mummy’s boy”. I guess he should enjoy the closeness while he can, because all too soon he will be kicked out to become a nomad or will need to form a coalition with his brothers.

This young male was enjoying the closeness with his mother who was very accommodating. No other cub came up to the two of them lying there while we were watching. It is really astounding how gentle they can be with each other at times. At other times they can be brutally savage.

“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”
~ Susan Sontag

Out walking with his big brother. The cubs were following the adults around who were catching warthog piglets.

The need to play was irresistible. You can see that this sort of play begins to develop the necessary skills to take down large prey when they are older.

The older cub decided that it had enough back-biting from its younger brother. A problem easily solved with a little wrestling. The younger cub was up for the rough and tumble. Again shutter speed was critical.

The wrestling became increasingly boisterous. It was great fun to watch and no one got hurt.

—————–Shooting data—————————
1/800, f7.1, iso800, 600mm

Subdued mischief! Just make sure you get the eyes and face pin sharp.

It is fascinating to watch how there is some form of communication between the lionesses and their cubs where the latter are told to stay put while two lionesses were trying to catch warthog piglets. The cubs know not to get in the way. I used a F16 aperture to get the necessary depth of field to get all the cubs in focus. Shutter speed was not such an issue because they were lying quietly among the rocks.

“When was ever honey made with one bee in a hive?”
~Thomas Hood

A lioness and two sub-adult cubs lying on top of an earth mound. The perspective was great but I could have used a shallower depth of field with a wider aperture to achieve a more blurred background. Presence of mind is required to keep adjusting.

More of the youngsters gathered on the mound and one of the adults seemed a bit irritated by the pushing in and tried to nip the newcomer.

Living dangerously! This cub is trying to play with its father. Shortly after this shot the male snarled at the cub and it backed away to a respectful distance. We needed to wait for the unusual interactions. You can spend half an hour with nothing happening then out of the blue a cub will get up and walk over to the male and it all starts happening. This is why you have to keep focused on your subject as the action is usually over in a few seconds.

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others…for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of people, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received and am still receiving.”
~ Albert Einstein

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

I am fortunate enough to be going to Grumeti in the Serengeti in early March. Part of my preparation is to look back on some of my images from the Masai Mara a year ago. The idea behind the “look back” is to identify mistakes such as incorrect exposures and shutter speeds which were too low and also to critically assess how effective I was in portraying the dynamics of a pride of lions and the supreme power of the big males. It is also to look critically at the way I was taking the images with respect to timing and artistic intent.

“Photography is a love affair with life.”

~Burk Uzzle

At that time, the Marsh pride coalition of four large males dominated the area. The four males were named Scar, Hunter, Morani and Sikio. Most of the images of the males we saw were of Hunter and Sikio, as Scar and Morani were with the other half of the Marsh pride on the east side of the Mara river.

All the images of Lions were taken in the 10,000 hectare conservancy in front of Kitchwa Tembo on the north-east corner of Masai Mara. The light was peculiar. It rained each night and was overcast every morning and it looked like there was smoke in the atmosphere. The result was strongly filtered light. One of the key challenges in this strongly filtered light using long lenses was to achieve enough shutter speed without having to push up my ISO too much so as to minimise “noise”. Another challenge was creative, and it was to portray this male as a majestic animal.

As you can see from the shooting data my shutter speeds were too low. Our rule of thumb is that, at a minimum, your shutter speed needs to be three times the focal length of the lens. The F9 aperture was aimed at getting enough depth of field because this male was lying diagonally to us. One of the adaptations I need to make is to be more dynamic and open up  my apertures when an animal moves parallel to me as I do not need the same depth of field and in this case did need the additional shutter speed.

This male had been constantly surveying the plain in front of him and saw that a female had caught a Warthog piglet some way off. His regal pose quickly turned into that of a thief. One aspect I want to capture better next time is the flowing mane when this lion runs.

One of the tricky aspects of shooting in the Mara in the strange kind of light, is to get the white balance right. One of the editing dangers was, because the light was so diffused, it was tempting to put too much contrast in the image creating artificial looking colours.

—————–Shooting data—————————
1/500, f7.1, iso1000, 600mm

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”

~Ansel Adams

Out on the conservancy there was no place to hide. The ground was uneven so a lion could remain hidden for a while but would be exposed close up. Another key part of the photography was to try to capture the dynamics of the wildlife interaction on the Mara. This Buffalo took no nonsense.

The light might not have been right but there were pheromones in the air. This male was using his Jacobson’s organ to test the scent on the wind and grass. Some scent in that area definitely caught his attention. This male was stationary so no additional shutter speed was required beyond the three times focal length.

One of the key elements required in wildlife photography which creates more compelling images, is to see the eyes, preferably both eyes. Human beings seem to need to be able recognise and interpret intention through the eyes. Although this image shows the shape and power of this male that key element of eye contact was missing. Often it is just a question of being patient and choosing to shoot at just the right time rather than just firing away. The trick is to shoot at just the right moment when he opens his eyes, looks up, has one paw up and is flicking his tail.

One of the beguiling aspects of wildlife photography is that there are occasions when you just like the “feel” of a shot. The problem is that it is very contextual and for anyone looking at the image without having been there they would not have that same feeling and the image would probably look very ordinary to a casual observer. It is therefore important to look for compositional elements which hold and tie the image together and provide some compelling context. The bushes acted a modest frame to this male. The rule must be to do most of the work in camera. This can be tough sometimes as your excitement overtakes and you lose your compositional composure.

Part of the reason for looking back through some of these images is to see what works and what is just OK. The very low shutter speed is a killer if there is any real movement in the image. This magnificent male was just lying in the grass watching the goings on all around him – supreme confidence in his own size and strength.

This male stole this Warthog piglet from the lioness who had caught it. The buffalo close by did not appreciate the neighbour’s antics and decided to give the big guy  a “rev”. Again here depth of field was an issue with the buffalo and Lion both facing us.

—————–Shooting data—————————
1/640, f9, iso2000, 155mm

I could not get the composition right but I liked the idea of the Buffalo giving this big male lion a “rev” with the Hyaena looking on in the background.

The Buffalo soon co-ordinated their aggression against this male lion. Even if you cannot get a great image it is still a privilege seeing the battle of the titans playing out in the wild.

—————–Shooting data—————————
1/500, f9, iso2000, 165mm

This must be a wildlife classic. You manage to find a magnificent male lion in an open area with a relatively clean background and he lies down next to a pile of buffalo dung!!! Rather self-centredly, I assume he was pushing out his tongue at us.

“… we are there with our cameras to record reality. Once we start modifying that which exists, we are robbing photography of its most valuable attribute.”

~ Philip Jones Griffiths

With parts of the background unwanted, I had to crop the image closer. Perhaps I could have opened up my aperture and reduced my iso as low as possible to reduce the image grain. Somehow in the excitement it takes a real presence of mind to realise that you will have to do a closeup and your shooting parameters need to change. The level of consciousness required in photography is often underestimated. Without trying to sound funny,this is why you do not find many photographers having too many beers or glasses of wine the night before.

Sometimes you have to wait to try to get something different it could be a look or a pose or a yawn.

With so much wildlife on the plains there is always something going on. Again the compositional aspects become important to get a decent image. One Giraffe cannot be looking into the edge of the photograph. They need visual space.

In the same area we found a pride with a few lionesses and many youngsters. This pride had trapped a leopard cub on the ground and killed it while forcing the mother leopard up the tree. We had been shooting with long lenses. They would not work in this scene as a shorter lens was needed somewhere around a 70 to 200mm focal length. It was a very sad scene and is upsetting to see the ruthlessness of mother nature in the raw. The lionesses killed the leopard cub and just left it and did not try to eat it.

“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.”
~ Destin Sparks

One of the young males picked up the lifeless Leopard cub and ran off with it. The lionesses let him run off with the dead leopard cub. These kind of scenes are so unique in the wild and photographically is takes some doing to keep calm and remain very much in the present trying to capture the most poignant images you can.

The young male carried the leopard cub about ten to 15 metres away from the kill point and the rest of the pride followed. Suddenly they were spooked by something, but I was not sure what. One of the key aspects about good wildlife photography is to understand the behaviour of your subject so that you can be ready with the right lens/camera combination and settings. Nothing I have ever seen in the bush prepared me for this.

The young male lion was very protective over his “capture”. The sudden and erratic movements of these lions meant that you needed high shutter speeds to ensure pin sharp images of this unique interaction.

Sometimes things happen fast in the wild. The brilliant aspect of photography is that you are trying to capture fractions of a second which portray the movement or look.  You can spend hours in the sun when nothing happens and all of a sudden in a second or two all the action takes place – you have to be alert all the time – anticipation!

The lions killed six warthog piglets that morning alone. The lionesses managed to get most of them and the males only stole two that we saw. Remember the light is constantly changing especially if it is a variable and cloudy day which changes not only the exposure but the white balance too. Editing in Lightroom helps correct exposure and white balance as long as you are shooting in the raw format.

—————–Shooting data—————————
1/250, f9, iso1000, 400mm

“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.”
— Anonymous

With buffalo dung next to his right paw, a closeup of his face was preferable. A little more contrast makes quite an impression.

Again to make the image more interesting, it is worth waiting for your subject to do something a little more unusual.

This lioness got to keep her kill. The warthog families took a beating that day. We were very fortunate to see all the activity as the warthogs could not be decimated at that rate every day

Another piglet caught. The lionesses were much faster than the warthog piglets in the open. This lioness was not going to let this cub have a look in. It probably was not her cub. This kind of interaction was all some distance off so a long lens was needed and with it high shutter speeds. If there was anything I learnt from this trip was to make sure I kept my shutter speeds up above three times the focal length of my lens.

“Essentially what photography is, is life lit up.”
— Sam Abell

Again presence of mind is needed. There were three animals, the lioness and two cubs fighting over the still alive piglet and they were running fast. I needed depth of field for the three lions and shutter speed because they were running fast, and of course their feet were moving much faster than their bodies.

This young female cub was pure tenacity. She was not about to give up her prize without a real fight. She was being dragged along by the larger lion cub and trying to slow it up by putting her paw in its eye, but to no avail. At times like this you need shutter speed and no grass in front of the subjects. We are not fussy, we want it all!!

The cub interaction was brilliant photographic material. The trick was to keep up the shutter speed.

I am not sure whether this was Hunter or Sikio. The predator experts would know immediately from telltale marks and scars. The images do not give you a good idea of just how big these male lions were. One of the key elements in wildlife photography was to try to  capture images at eye level. With lions this size close  by, eye level was not a smart idea.

“Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask ‘how’, while others of a more curious nature will ask ‘why’. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.”

~Man Ray

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-c0nnectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

Helen and I went off to Marievale on 27 December to have a look to see whether the little bit of rain over Christmas had made a difference to the wetland bird sanctuary. This part of the world has had very little rain this summer season. I have never seen the Marievale wetlands this dry. Many of the waterways had become mud flats with large areas of dead reeds. There still seemed to be as many wetland and grassland birds but that is a casual passerby’s observation. I am sure there are many more subtle changes in the bird population and behaviours as a result of the drought.

“Nature, it seems, has a way of returning things to how they should be.”
― Fennel Hudson

Adult Black Crake skulking around in among the reeds looking for food. Like other members of the Rail family these birds are secretive.

I had to “shoot” as this adult Black Crake walked between reed clusters, as it would not come out into the open.These birds are diurnal and feed on  invertebrates, small fish, frogs and seeds. They are even known to eat the eggs of other birds.

Female Ruff looking for food in the mud flats, exposed by the lack of rain.

Upon reflection, these Ruffs are truly amazing having flown from Europe and Russia for our summer.

A lone Black Shouldered Kite perched on a dead tree looking for mice and any small reptiles it could find.

The piercing ruby eyes of a Black Shouldered Kite.

There I was minding my own business enjoying the early morning sun when a flock of Greater Flamingoes suddenly flew overhead in formation.

We drove to the northern part of the bird sanctuary hoping that the Flamingoes had landed in some of the remaining shallow pools of water in that part of the wetland and sure enough there they were!!

These Greater Flamingoes were a fair distance away, so a long prime lens was needed. Unfortunately, I could not find any group with a decent background. The dry reeds behind them back made the background very busy.

We saw many seed eating birds. The Widowbirds and Bishops were feeding together in great numbers. This is a female southern Red Bishop.

You will find Grey, Purple and Black Headed Herons in Marievale Bird Sanctuary. I captured this shot as this Black Headed Heron was flying past us. 

Something must have been wrong with one of this Black Headed Heron’s legs, as they usually  have both legs equally extended in flight with their heads tucked in for longitudinal balance.

On this particular trip we saw more Grassbirds than I have ever seen before.

A Grassbird doing gymnastics in the dry Statice stems.

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A male Pin-tailed Wydah. I waited for quite a while, without luck to get him with a less busy background. This was the spot that he felt was best for catching the eye of the passing females.

Pied Avocet about to take off.

I did not manage to get a Pied Avocet in flight but the pied colouring on the top side of its wings is striking.

  

Juvenile Three banded Plover striding around the mud flat exposed in the wetland by the lack of rain. The adults have more definitively coloured eye rings and neck bands.

Cape Longclaw also known as the Orange Throated Longclaw. It has cryptic colouring on its back but is very beautiful from the front with a black throat ring emphasising its orange throat.

“As the natural world grows smaller, so too does its intensity and the size of the window through which it may be viewed.”
― Fennel Hudson

A small group within the thirty to forty Greater Flamingoes which were sieving the very shallow water for algae.

 

These Flamingoes seemed to be too busy feeding to undertake any displays or even to fight. It got close at times but nothing extravagant transpired.

A male Southern Red Bishop in full breeding colours.

The Southern Red Bishop should not be confused with the Fire-crowned Bishop who has an entirely red head but for a black mask. They Fore-crowned Bishops are usually only found in northern Mozambique and along the souther Zambezi river.

Golden Crowned Bishop with his distinctive golden crown. Most bishop birds seem comfortable holding onto vertical reed stems.The male Golden-crowned Bishop should not be confused with the male Yellow Bishop in his breeding plumage which is black apart from his bright yellow lower back, rump, and shoulder patches, and brown edging to the wing feathers.

The Southern Red and Golden-crowned Bishops are seed eaters and they were abundant and thriving in the current conditions. Perhaps the late and light rains have helped over produce grass seed.

Greater Egret fishing at the edge of the reeds.

A lone Spoonbill having a good scratch.

Red-collared Widow bird. All male Widowbirds are dressed in black during the breeding season whereas Whydahs are not. Also Widowbirds are not brood parasites like Whydahs.

Red-winged Widowbird looks similar to the long-tailed in terms of body shape and size but lacks the long tail and its shouldering colouring is just red.

Long-tailed Widow bird in flight. Unfortunately, I did not see the males displaying to the females which can be really impressive. The male flies slowly and almost fans out those ceremonial long tail feathers and he seems to hop in the sky.

Long-tailed Widowbird taking off from a dried old Statice stem. The purple flowers in the foreground are the new season’s Statice.

This male Long-tailed Widow bird dressed in his full breeding regalia. They tend to congregate in flocks of a few males and many females.

There were many Long-tailed Widow birds and I was waiting for them to fly and display but they were too busy eating the grass seed.

Black-winged Stilt. These birds have proportionately the longest legs in the bird world. That slim long bill is loaded with tactile sensors enabling it to forage on insects and small aquatic vertebrates.

“A wise old owl sat upon an oak,

The more he saw the less he spoke,

The less he spoke the more he heard,

Why aren’t we like that wise old bird.”
– Edward Hersey Richards

Black Heron, previous called a Black Egret. It has bright yellow feet which makes it look as if it had walked in a pool of yellow road marking paint. It was standing in shallow water so you could not see its fancy feet.

 

A pair of Hottentot Teal foraging. All teal have a wing speculum, a panel on their secondary wing feathers which are a different colour.

This Hottentot Teal stopped to preen itself in the warmth of the sunny morning. Teal are the smallest in the duck family.

A female Brimstone Canary singing its heart out from a dead Statice stem.

Whiskered Tern scouting the remain pools of water for small fish and reptiles.

These Whiskered Terns are highly agile fliers, and seem to be the most prevalent inland terns. They have long pointed wings which enable them to glide over the water surface and you will notice they do not have deep slotted wing tips which are prevalent in soaring birds.

I am not sure but I think this is a Little Stint. Common in these parts though I have never stopped to have a good look before.

Purple Gallenule striding through an exposed dead reed bed.

There were not many green bushes in the dead reed beds but this Purple Gallinule was very interested in this one.

It is interesting to see how often these wetland birds look at the sky, presumably they are very wary of Marsh Harriers and the like.

A pair of Red-billed Teal sunning themselves on this Sunday morning.

You are likely to see many Yellow-billed Duck at Marievale and they don’t seem to be as skittish as the Teal.

African Hoopoe scouting for grubs and insects in the road. Hoopoe is an onomatopoeic name – its name sounds like its call. 

This character was quite relaxed. If they are alarmed they normally spread that crest into an impressive fan shape on their head. Its long beak is used to probe the ground when searching for insects.

We have been to Marievale many times but in the last two occasions we have seen more Avocets than in all the previous visits combined. As a visitor it is not obvious what conditions have changed to attract more than usual numbers of Avocets. I am sure it is not the drought. The most distinctive feature on the body of Avocet is its long, upward curled beak. Unusual beak is specific adaptation to the life in swampy areas. When searching for food, Avocet relies on the eyesight. As soon as the prey is located, the Avocet will sweep its long beak through the water to grab it.

They are good swimmers and very busy feeders.

Their pied colouring makes them particularly attractive birds.

Marievale is a fascinating place to visit if you are a birder and or a photographer. The diversity of birds is quite amazing.

We are experiencing a devastating drought in South Africa. So many songbirds rely on insects such as flies and other bugs for food. Less water in the environment means lower hatching levels for these insects. This drop in insects can be due to less standing water or a reduction in flowering trees. The fact of a severe drought can have a long tail meaning that it can take a few years to really see the impact of drought. In most cases, birds don’t just visibly die. Instead, they just don’t reproduce, and you’ll see the population levels decline for several year.

Birds must replenish body water lost to respiration, evaporation and defecation on a daily basis. With an absence of sufficient water, a bird’s body raids its own cells of water, and the cells begin drying up and dying. Blood volume plummets, and the heart, liver and kidneys become inefficient.
Adult birds must leave the nest daily to obtain fresh water and food. If they have to travel greater distances to find these resources, the nestlings are exposed to sun and predators for longer periods increasing their risk of mortality.

“There can be occasions when we suddenly and involuntarily find ourselves loving the natural world with a startling intensity, in a burst of emotion which we may not fully understand, and the only word that seems to me to be appropriate for this feeling is joy”
― Michael McCarthy

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike

This post shows a few of the images taken during a weekend in mid-December at Indlovu River Lodge. This Lodge is located on the banks of Kuvjenami river,  in the 9000 hectare Karongwe Private Game Reserve. This reserve forms part of an area called the greater Kruger National Park. Near Hoedspruit, Indlovu River lodge is one of only a handful of lodges in  Africa which have specially setup, sunken photographic hides looking out onto carefully structured waterholes. These hides enable photographers to capture close up images, with a  perspective of their subjects at water level.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul”

~ John Muir

It was very hot and had rained for a couple of days before we arrived so the animals and birds had dispersed somewhat and did not need to concentrate at the hide waterholes. We went to two different hides over the course of the three day trip, one a bird hide and other an animal hide next to a bigger waterhole.

Male Golden breasted Bunting at the animal hide.

Male Red-billed Quelea in his breeding plumage. He was  panting because it was very hot.

Male and female Village Weaver. They are slightly bigger than the Southern Masked Weavers and the male has a yellow crown, black mask and black stripe down his throat.

“No water, no life. No blue, no green”

~ Sylvia Earle

Male Cinnamon-breasted Bunting with its characteristic cinnamon coloured breast feathers and the defining black and white striped head.

A Yellow-fronted Canary with its bold facial markings and greyish crown and nape.

This Nyala bull wandered past the hide in the late afternoon.

“Our health relies entirely on the vitality of our fellow species on Earth”

~ Harrison Ford

We were all set up to photograph small birds, so when a bull Nyala walked past the best I do do was get a head shot. I am not sure how these antelope cope in the intense heat with their long hair.

Two male Village Weavers.

A pair of Laughing Doves looking very serious.

A small herd of plains Zebra approach the bird hide to drink but were very were of the “things” clicking away inside the hide. Eventually the caution got the better of them and they moved off to browse in the shade. They were probably waiting for us to leave.

“Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty, if only we have the eyes to see them.”

~ John Ruskin

When activity went quiet in the hide we looked for more abstract images.

This southern masked Weaver was enjoying his bath  and being able to cool down in the heat.

The “dip and shake” bathing technique – the no hands adaptation.

Male Red-billed Quelea with a female Village Weaver, both thirsty and looking to cool off in the water.

A pair of Blue Waxbills. There are not many southern African birds with this powder blue colouring.

A lone Blue Waxbill. These birds are small, only 12 cm, so you need a long lens ( minimum of 600mm) to get a decent image.

Group bath  – a pair of  Village weavers bathing together with a Blue Waxbill.

“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.”

~ Albert Einstein

A lone Red-billed Oxpecker. This character must have broken off from its cleaning chores on antelope and Buffalo to come and have a drink. Usually you will find them in a small flock rather than singly.

This lone young Cheetah had killed and, by the time we got there, had almost completely eaten an Impala fawn.

This Cheetah had a collar on so I had to wait to get an angle where the collar was hidden. The bush is dense in this area so finding the Cheetah would be almost impossible without a tracking collar. Unfortunately, three of the Cheetah on the reserve had been killed by lions in the past year.

This Cheetah had been habituated so we were able to walk through the bush to within about 15 metres of it while it was feeding without upsetting the animal. This seemed very strange to me and I did not like the idea. Good for photography but not the Cheetah.

“Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.”

~ Standing Bear

Having had its fill of Impala, this young Cheetah walked around the kill site taking in all the scents.

We found two Black-backed Jackal pups waiting in the sand road for their parents to return from their foraging with some food.

There was no noise, they just waited patiently. We never saw the parents.

It was very hot (around 40 degrees centigrade) in December in the hides in the Hoedspruit area, which was to be expected at that time of the year. The Cheetah and Jackal images were taken with flash as the weather closed in on the last day of our trip and thankfully cooled everything down. The photographic pickings were slim as there had recently been rains. With plenty of water around, the animals and birds did not need to congregate at the hide waterholes. Regardless of whether the hides were busy or quiet it was wonderful to be in the bush again. 

Many thanks to Derek and Norma Pearman for organising the trip. It was first time photographing from bird hides other than the Giant’s Castle one. Thanks also to Louis Swart, a photo buddy, for inviting me to join him on this trip. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people and going to a new place and of course all the stories that go with this sort of trip. We will try to get back there in winter when it is cooler and there is less water around. The hides are well set up and I think in the right conditions you will  get excellent close up opportunities.

“The conservation of nature, the proper care for the human environment and a general concern for the long-term future of the whole of our planet are absolutely vital if future generations are to have a chance to enjoy their existence on this earth.”
~ HRH Prince Philip

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its inter-connectedness and let it be.

Have fun,

Mike