Tag: CHRISTIAN SPERKA PHOTOGRAPHY

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Pride Rock!

Yesterday morning Thanda Safari’s dominant male Lion appeared on top of a hill and settled down on a rocky – recently burned- area. He had a full belly and did not move away from this location for the remainder of the day.

Contrary to most people’s beliefs a dominant male is usually not part of only one pride (family). He is the master of a territory in which there can be multiple prides. A large part of his time this very powerful cat is spending patrolling his area and vocalizing (roaring) to announce his presence to the neighboring males and any possible intruders into his territory. Each roar also serves as ‘a locator’ in case a female Lion requires his services and wants to find him.

And as they are often spending a lot of time away from their ladies, adults males are quite capable of hunting for their own meals. But if they are with a pride then the females provide the dinners.

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f4.0/500mm | ISO 500 | 1/500sec | f4 | ev-0.5 | 500mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 15% of original image | shot taken using a beanbag from a vehicle across a valley

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Sharp!

As most cats, African Lions have very sharp and retractable claws (Five on each front paw and four on each back paw). These 18 most formidable weapons are up to 38mm (1.5″) in length.

And as most other cats they are very at good climbing up trees but they are rather bad getting down again. Their sharp claws support their ascent, but they are facing the wrong direction when descending head first. Unfortunately the Lions have never learned how come down backwards!

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 1000 | 1/2000sec | f2.8 | ev+0 | 165mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 20% of original image | handheld on eye-level

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Beauty and the Beast!

This image, taken yesterday at Thanda Safari, depicts the difference between male and female Giraffes very well (apart from the obvious difference in genitals).

Males are considerably larger, are bold on told of their ossicones (often called horns), and have knobbly and rather ugly calluses on their forehead (from fighting with other males).

The females have a beautiful smooth face, long eyelashes, and a tuft of hair on top of their ossicones,

Their ‘courtship procedures’ are rather long-winded. Once the male has identified a female in estrus he will follow her patiently for days. Until the female deems the time right she will move away from him as soon as he tries to make advances. When she thinks she is ready, she will start circling him and rub her neck on his flanks until he is willing to mount her.

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f4.0/500mm | ISO 100 | 1/1000sec | f4 | ev+/-0 | 500mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 70% of original image | bean bag shot

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Sleeping Beauty!

Disney’s cartoon character slept 24 hours a days. Our Lions manage almost as much. If they have a full belly from a good meal they can easily sleep up to 20 hours per day.

Like most carnivores (meat eaters) they are able to ingest huge amounts of meat very quickly. A male Lion can eat around 40kg (~90lbs) of meat from one kill. With such a full stomach they rest and only get up to drink lots of water and urinate/dedicate as needed.

But one should not be fooled. Their sleep is not deep and if anything disturbs them they are up in seconds, ready to defend themselves, run away, or kill a prey animal if it ventures too close to them.

This picture shows a young Thanda Safari male Lion resting on a recently burned area with the new grass sprouting after the recent rains.

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 800 | 1/500sec | f2.8 | ev+0 | 150mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 80% of original image | hand-held on eye level

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Common, but very beautiful!

Butterflies are some of the most difficult creatures to photograph from a game drive vehicle. Constantly on the move, they are very hard to capture with a camera.

I love this image of a Citrus Swallowtail (or Christmas Butterfly | Scientific name: _

Papilio demodocus_) which I was able to take a few days ago.

Three times per year they go through four development stages (metamorphosis) from egg, to larva (or caterpillar), to pupa (or chrysalis) before they turn into this very beautiful butterfly (adult form). The adult female lives normally just under seven days, the males just under four days.

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/300mm | ISO 200 | 1/2000sec | f2.8 | ev-0.5 | 300mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 20% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Sisyphus!

Often, as I am watching a Dung Beetle trying to roll its ball up a steep bank, I am reminded of the story of Sisyphus, a character in Greek mythology whose eternal task it was to roll a large ball up a hill – almost to the top – from where it rolled down again and Sisyphus had to do his task all over again.

These incredibly strong beetles can roll many times their own body weight. When doing so they actually walk backwards. The ball is food store and breeding chamber at the same time. It gets buried in soft soil and the female beetle lays her egg in the ball. Once the off-spring hatches it feeds on the dung before emerging into the light as one of the next generation of Dung Beetles.

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 1600 | 1/2000sec | f2.8 | ev+0.5 | 150mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 70% of original image | hand-held

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Just browsing!

Greater Kudu are the largest antelope on Thanda Safari. A average adult male weighs around 250kg (~550lbs). They are predominantly browsers, which means they eat mainly tree material.

Kudu are rather shy and tend to run away as soon as one stops the safari vehicle in their vicinity. That is why I like to observe them from a large distance, which means that I am remaining in their comfort zone, not disrupting their natural behavior.

Kudu are are a spiral horned antelope and have two closely related ‘cousins’ in our area. Nyala and Bushbuck are much smaller, but are often found in the same habitat as Kudu and they are also mainly browsers.

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f4.0/500mm | ISO 400 | 1/500sec | f4 | ev+0.5 | 500mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 50% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Wanna play?

Baby Rhinos are very playful little creatures. It is a joy to watch them running up and down while their mums are steadily feeding on plant material (Grass for White Rhinos and tree material for Black Rhinos).

And if the mother is relaxed about game drive vehicles then her offspring has usually no problem being close to the car either. This little boy was a real poser in the low afternoon sun. This is my favorite picture taken during last night’s drive!

Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/70-200mm | ISO 200 | 1/500sec | f2.8 | ev+0 .5| 200mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 90% of original image

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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Let’s reproduce!

… is the motto for Termites when the conditions are right. Just after the first rains, when the humidity and temperature are just so, Termite colonies send out flying alates (or winged Termites) to reproduce and set up new colonies.

Termites live in cast societies where most of the members are non-reproductive (sex-less) workers or warriors. But from time to time the queen’s off-spring are born as large, winged males and females (future kings and queens). They swarm from their termite hill assisted by the workers and fly out to find a mate from another colony. When two such ‘termite lovers’ meet they loose their wings and become sexually active.

Then the females back body segment (termites have two segments) swells up into a large ‘egg-laying-machine’ and a new colony has its queen!

In this picture you can see three flying alates and hundreds of worker termites on a swarming day.

_ Technical data: Canon R6 with EF lens f2.8/300mm | ISO 100 | 1/750sec | f2.8 | ev-0.5 | 300mm | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Crop to 40% of original image_

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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On the money!

Did you know that the Big Five feature on the recently re-designed South African Rand banknotes?

White Rhinos or Imikhombe (in isiZulu) decorate the green R10 bill, African Elephants or Izindlovu the brown R20 bill, African Lions or Amabhubesi the red R50 bill, Cape Buffalos or Izinyathi the blue R100 bill, and Leopards or Izingwe the orange R200 bill.

But if you are a ‘Big Five purist’ then the creators of the new money made a slight mistake. White Rhinos, strictly speaking, are not part of the Big Five. It is the Black Rhinos (as in my collage) that should be on the Ten Rand note.

The term Big Five is an old hunting term, which defined the five most dangerous creatures in the African wilderness (to hunt on foot). The Black Rhinos (=Hooked-lipped Rhinoceros) and not the White Rhinos (=Square-lipped Rhinoceros) are part of that exclusive club!

But nowadays the Big Five are very important for African tourism marketing and all Rhinos (white or black) are now included!

… and all of them live around my home at Thanda Safari.

#amazingwildlife #africansafari #safarigetaway #christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari #big5 #gamereserve #wildlifephotography #learnphotography

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