… are skin-covered bone structures on the heads of Giraffes and male Okapi. They are distinguished from the similar structures of horns and antlers by a permanent covering of skin and fur.
Similar to animals with horns or antlers, male giraffes use their ossicones as weapons during combat, using their heads as clubs.
In early development, they are not bony and are not fused to skull. Ossicones usually fuse to the skull at sexual maturity.
Females and young Giraffes (male and female) have hair on top of their ossicones while adult males are bald.
Technical Data: Canon R6 with RF lens f/11, 800mm | ISO 1600 | 1/500 sec | EV +/-0 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 45% of original image
All the common ‘rule books’ for Lions talk about well-formed prides ruled by single males or coalitions of males.
Our Thanda Safari Lions have not read these books. The dominant male roams between multiple prides and often chooses to have quiet time by himself.
And our pride structures are quite loose, especially when various females have litters of cubs of different ages.
Females give birth secluded and then, on many occasions, choose not to join their original pride again but to raise the young ones by themselves.
So keeping track of all groups of Lions is not an easy task, but a very interesting one.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 25600 | 1/20sec | f6.3 | ev-3 | 240mm | WB 6500K-edited | AV Mode | Crop to 30% of original image | Note: This picture was taken last night using the light provided by a spotlight from another vehicle. Side-light works very well for night portraits | Limited image quality did to distance and low light
Normally, Cape buffalo are very calm creatures in their herd structure.
The males occasionally engage in fighting to establish their ranking order, and if any predators are in the vicinity, the herd groups together and chases them away.
However, if a female goes into estrous, all the dominant males (top-ranking) start chasing her around, and the fastest and strongest will mate with her.
On occasion, the males get it wrong and mount one of the younger bulls instead, obviously to no avail!
I took this picture of such an occasion on the Thanda savanna this afternoon.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 1000 | 1/2000sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 5% of the original image | Please note: The picture quality is marginal due to cropping, but I thought the scene worth showing
Two days ago, I spent the late afternoon at one of my favorite Thanda Safari water holes.
And just as the sun started to set, four giraffes arrived to have an evening drink.
When most mammals want to have a drink, they simply lower their heads to the water. Their necks are long enough and their legs are short enough to make this a very simple process.
Not so for adult giraffes. They either have to spread their front legs extra wide or do a funny half-kneel to reach the water to drink.
So the giraffes either have legs that are too long or necks that are too short!
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 2000 | 1/2000sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 220mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 60% of the original image.
On my way home last night, I encountered two Lionesses. They were inspecting all the various game on a open savanna with great interest. From their appearance, I could tell that their stomachs were quite empty, so I concluded that they were actually hunting.
From their shaded position upwind, they must have been quite invisible to the Giraffes, Zebras, Wildebeest, Nyalas, and Impalas. On occasion, some of them looked straight towards the two cats but did not see them.
I stayed with them for about ninety minutes until the sun had set.
Unfortunately, their patience was not rewarded that evening. As they approached a Zebra very carefully, a nearby Nyala bull spotted them and gave an alarm call. All the prey animals immediately retreated to a safe distance, and the Lionesses moved on to try somewhere else.
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 800 | 1/500sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 240mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 60% of original image
If you want to read more of my stories and see more of my pictures, you should visit my blog at https://sperka.info/blog/
I took a few days off to celebrate father’s 85th birthday with my family and meet with a few friends in Germany and Switzerland.
This is a travel journal with a few iPhone pictures and descriptions of some of the excellent meals I enjoyed during my visit.
Unfortunately, I only recovered slowly from a very bad flu I caught a week before I left South Africa, and I had to cancel quite a few of my planned excursions and lunches/dinners with friends as I was not fit enough to adhere to my original schedule. But when I wrote this text, I realized it still looks like a very enjoyable eating marathon, which it was!
I am now back at Thanda Safari to resume my regular wildlife posts.
28 May
After a very early morning arrival by plane from South Africa in Switzerland, I traveled by train to the German border to meet my brother and had a quiet day at my parents’ home with my family.
29 May
Today was my dad’s 85th birthday. Together with my mum, my brother, nephews, nieces, and their boyfriends/girlfriends, we celebrated at ‘NOIDUE im Schlössle’, a very nice restaurant in Laufenburg, a town on both sides of the river Rhine (Germany/Switzerland).
Lunch: Beef Carpaccio, Saffron Risotto, Birthday Cake made by my nephews and nieces.
30 May
Another quiet day. I had lunch with a very good friend who I have known since my school days. We took a short walk in Bad Säckingen, the town I grew up in (and had some delicious Yogurt Ice Cream).
Bad Säckingen Münster (Church)
Lunch: Asparagus Soup, Veal Schnitzel with Spätzle (Restaurant Schützengarten, Bad Säckingen, Germany).
31 May
With my oldest nephew and his girlfriend, I visited my youngest niece, who is finishing her apprenticeship as a nurse in Titisee-Neustadt, a beautiful town located at a mountain lake in the Black Forest. We had an early dinner together.
These were the wettest days of all the rainy days during my stay. Many areas in Germany experienced very bad floods. The area I stayed in was not much affected, but the Rhine flooded the river promenade for a few days. And I had another enjoyable Chinese dinner at a friend’s home.
3 June
A fabulous lunch at a very good friend’s place in Switzerland.
Lunch: White and Green Asparagus with Dried Tomatoes, Veal Steak with Saffron Risotto, Strawberries on a Special Cream, and a Linzer Torte.
4 June
The Federal is a superb restaurant very close to the house I lived in for 8 years in Zofingen, Switzerland. Long-time friends of mine invited me to an outstanding dinner.
Another rest day at my parents’ home and a quiet dinner with a friend and ex-work colleague at The Fuchshöhle in Bad Säckingen, Germany.
Dinner: Asparagus Soup, Beef Steak with Spätzle and Mushroom/Cream Sauce with a Mixed Salad.
6 June
More time spent with my parents and a lunch with an old friend from school.
Lunch: Greek Gyros Plate (Akropolis Greek Restaurant, Bad Säckingen, Germany).
7 June
Today I had a ‘traditional’ dinner with my two brothers at my favorite restaurant in my hometown, The Fuchshöhle (see above/similar menu).
8 June
Another family lunch at a local Chinese restaurant which specializes in its superb duck dishes.
Lunch: Vegetable Soup, Crispy Duck with Eight Different Vegetables, and Fried Rice (Konfuzius Chinese Restaurant, Murg, Germany).
9 June
We celebrated my older brother’s birthday with another ‘Brothers’ Dinner’!
Dinner: Flädle-Soup, Beef-Steak with Spätzle and Salad, Vanilla Ice Cream with Bananas and Whipped Cream. (Restaurant Zur Eiche, Binzgen, Germany)
10 June
My last full day in Europe, and we celebrated my younger nephew’s 27th birthday. This was a real birthday trip celebrating with three generations!
11 June
My stay ended with a train ride back to the airport in Zürich, Switzerland, and an uneventful flight back to South Africa.
Last Dinner in Switzerland: Bruschetta, Swiss Sausage Salad, Bircher Müsli Dessert (Mövenpick Marché, Zürich Airport, Switzerland).
I arrived back in Johannesburg on the 12th, drove to Durban on the 13th, and returned to Thanda via Richards Bay on the 15th. All shopping done and ready for work!
I took aerial pictures of staff members forming a heart to celebrate twenty years of Thanda Safari.
I have been working at Thanda for almost twelve years now, and I am proud to call it my home Let’s hope I will make it to my 20-year anniversary at Thanda 🙂
On the weekend we found this very young Cape Buffalo calf and its mum. The little one stayed very close to its mother, who still showed all the signs of a recent birth.
It is very important for the calf to get licked and nuzzled by mum and lick and nuzzle mum. It creates a bond that is important for them to identify one another within a herd.
We observed them for a while and I was fascinated by the big eyes in the small head 🙂
Technical data: Canon R6 with RF lens f4-6.3/24-240mm | ISO 2000 | 1/500sec | f6.3 | ev+0 | 150mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode
Have a good week 🙂
PS: I will be on a trip to Europe from end of this week until mid of June. My wildlife blogs/posts will resume on 17 June.
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 