Tag: christian sperka

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THE MORNING POST – WINTER TIME AND 118 BIRDS

This week I hosted two very serious birders from Pretoria, Annelize and Gerhard, who have currently 608 birds on their life list. Gerhard also enjoys his bird photography very much.

They stayed for four nights at the Thanda Safari Lodge and had booked the Green Mamba 1, my Photographic Safari Vehicle, for their stay.

Having a private safari vehicle gave them the freedom to shape their own schedule which included all morning birding drives, a night safari and 2-hour sessions at various Thanda Safari birding-hotspots. We even added an excursion to the kuMasinga hide at Mkuze Game Reserve, which is one of the most productive bird hides in the country.

Annelize and Gerhard were very happy with the 118 bird sightings which they were able to note on the Thanda Safari bird cecklist. This was especially impressive as most of the Summer birds have not arrived yet back on Thanda.

The beautiful and comfortable surroundings of the Thanda Safari Lodge, the excellent cuisine and the great dangerous game and general game sightings made this the perfect place for their first getaway after the long lockdown period.

These are five collages illustrating the various facets of their highly enjoyable stay.

They will be back, soon!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

#GreenMamba1

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THE MORNING POST – WATERBUCK

Despite their name, Waterbucks are actually not aquatic. Rather, they are frequently found in the vicinity of water sources. They will often venture into the water to escape predators 😊

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

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THE MORNING POST – LIGHT

An impressive Lion in beautiful light 😊

PS: Yesterday’s bird: I took this picture of a Dark Chanting Goshawk on Tuesday at 12:36 on Thanda (Sgweva Main). He went a bit too far South according to Roberts 😊

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

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THE MORNING POST – SCHADENFREUDE!

Just after the sun had set Bheki had a bit of a laugh when a herd of Cape Buffalo walked into two Cheetah males resting next to the water. As soon as one of the Buffalos got a whiff of the cats he went into attack mode. Buffalos hate cats!

The Cheetah ran off but the commotion scared the other Buffalos and they quickly retreated in the opposite direction until the dust had settled. Eventually they came back and had their drinks.

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari #bhekiknows

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THE EVENING POST – BIRDERS’ CHEETAH SIGHTING

Serious birders see the world slightly different from regular safari guests. This picture taken during today’s Cheetah sighting demonstrates this special mindset.

Most people will hardly recognize the Yellow-throated Longclaw passing in front of the Cheetah cub. A true birder will thoroughly enjoy the Longclaw while ignoring the Cheetah in the background 😊

Have a good night!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography

#Thandasafari @thandasafari

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THE MORNING POST – COLORS AND CONTRAST

I took this interesting picture this morning. A combination of textures and colors.

A Weeping Boerbean Tree, a Giraffe and a Vervet Monkey 😊

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

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THE EVENING POST – ROUGH PLAY

This morning I saw from my office window that a group of Elephants made their way to the Thanda House waterhole. I joined them at the water just in time to record this – rather noisy – video.

Two young bulls played a bit rough in the water with a young calf. It called out loudly and various females reacted immediately trumpeting and running to its aid. Elephant females are not for nothing considered some of the best mums on earth.

Have a good week 😊

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography

#Thandasafari @thandasafari

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