… and one for all the birders. A Little Bee-Eater today on Pakamisa
Ellis and Hippos :-)
Today I went the first time on a Lake Jozini morning cruise. This large lake is located in Northern KwaZulu Natal, between Mkuze and Pongola, along the N2.
Despite the overcast weather I got some great Elephant and Hippos shots.
This picture shows a large herd of Elephants (over sixty individuals) coming for a “lake-side” morning drink stop. We spend almost one hour observing the Elli family life.
After we left the Elephants we saw a herd of Cape Buffalo on the opposite side of the lake and we observed Nile Crocodile, Common Reedbuck, Juvenile African Fish Eagle, White-faced Whistling Duck, African Javana, Spur-winged Goose, Egyptian Goose, Grey Heron, Secretary Bird, Western Great Egret, Marabou Stork, African Jacana, African Spoonbill, Red-billed Oxpecker and a few pods of Hippo.
The second image shows one of the Hippos “mock-charging” our boat. This female let us know that she wanted us keep our distance, which we did 🙂
What a day!
Aggression!
Hippos are quite aggressive. To one another and to anyone who challenges their territory.
The picture above was taken yesterday during a “Hippo and Crocodile” tour on the estuary of Lake St.Lucia.
And so were the pictures below: Nile Crocodile, Yellow Weaver, Pied Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Great Egret, Swift Tern, Frey-headed Gull, Caspian Tern, African Fish Eagle and a Baby Hippo.
Pied Kingfisher
Great Egret
Yellow Weaver
Grey Heron
Swift Tern, Grey-headed Gull, Caspian Turn
African Fish Eagle
Baby Hippo
Nile Crocodile
Watch her!
It is not easy to get prey and predator into the same picture, unless on occasions when one is eating the other :-).
But on this evening a Thanda North Pride Lioness was resting on a waterhole wall as a Giraffe female kept an eye on her; both in the right position for a great photo opportunity. After a while the Lioness walked off in one direction and the Giraffe the opposite way.
Fight!
Hippo males fight a lot! These two were giving quite a performance. Another unpublished image I found during my “filing work”.
Have a good weekend 🙂
Spectrum
I am currently reviewing many of my older images as I am looking for more material for a new book.
And I came across this – so far unpublished – image of a Lilac-breasted Roller. One of my favorite birds with its many colors!
Diffusion
I do not really like to work at night with artificial light. But sometimes this sort of light creates a very special mood. Using a diffusing filter on Bheki’s strong spotlight I was able to take a portrait of this Lion cub. The soft widely spread light through the filter is not too hard on the young eyes and we only use it for a few moments during the photo shoot. The rest of the time we use a red-light filter.
This night photo-session was part of two game drives of wildlife photography lessons. At Thanda it is possible to book a “Photography Private Safari Vehicle” which includes me as the wildlife photography instructor. My student on this evening game drive enjoyed her night-light lesson very much!
When a camera meets a Hyena :-)
We had made up this little project to try and capture some small night creatures with my camera trap. We selected the location carefully and installed the camera high enough not to attract Hyenas.
At least that was what we thought 🙂
This collage shows the camera before its meeting with some Hyena teeth. Then the last pictures it ever took, and finally the electronic rubbish it is now after the Hyena had a go at it.
Lesson to be learned – no more camera traps without steel casing!
A Rainbow over the Lebombo Mountains, a Road Block and two Freezing Cheetah!
As it happens during this time of the year strong winds frequently follow heavy rains. On our afternoon game drive we first encountered a beautiful rainbow over the Lebombo mountains, then we met with Thanda’s breeding herd of Elephants.
One of our largest bulls gave an excellent demonstration on “how to create a perfect road block”, right in front of the vehicle.
Last but not least Bheki – one of Thanda’s most experienced Zulu tracker – found the two Cheetah brothers on the open savannah. They were huddling together in the freezing wind.
Not a bad drive for a very windy day!
No camera :-) :-(
What an evening.
As I drove up to the Lodge on Friday evening – for a meeting – a Leopard appeared around a corner in front of my vehicle and calmly walked up the road for about ten minutes, illuminated by my headlights, before settling down next to my car in the bushes.
On the way home an Aardvark crossed the road in front of me and stayed for about five minutes on the road, just sniffing around.
Now that was the good part of the evening, the bad part was that I had no camera with me. A beginner’s mistake!
But I will never forget these sightings, especially my first Aardvark on Thanda.
These two images are of similar sightings a few years ago (with camera :-))
Christian Sperka Photography | Custom Luxury Tours 