wildlife – Page 132 – Christian Sperka Photography

2014-12-262014-12-26

A relaxing day!

For some people a relaxing day means sitting comfortably at home and reading a book or watching a movie. For some it means to go window-shopping at a large mall. Others would like nothing better than to go to a pub or working out at a gym.

Well, my idea of a relaxing day is to pack a cooler box with drinks and food, fetch all my camera equipment, my binoculars and my bird book (=iPad) and install myself at a hide on a waterhole at a game reserve.

That is what I did on Christmas day.

While listening to a good audio book I took images of many different animals coming to the water. For most of the day 11! Rhinos kept me company. While other nature enthusiasts where coming and going I stayed for the whole day at the hide.

And these are sixteen of the pictures I took during this most relaxing day!

Eleven | White Rhinos having a “cool” day a the waterhole

Danger | A Wildebeest calf getting kicked by Zebras as it mingled with the wrong crowd

Bathing | Pygmy Kingfisher having a bath

2014-12-232014-12-23

Morning drinks!

Thanda’s North Pride of Lions having a drink at a waterhole last Sunday morning. One of my favorite images of 2014!

2014-12-20

Buzzing!

This Red-billed Oxpecker – while sitting on a Cape Buffalo – was indulging himself on ticks with hundreds of Flies buzzing around its head. I like this image, which I shot this morning on my way back from the Thanda Tented Camp to Thanda House.

2014-12-15

Rosettes, Horns and a Gorgeous Bird!

Two amazing days at Thanda! Even our most frequent safari guests were very impressed when we had Leopard and Black Rhino sightings two days in a row.

After last night’s exciting encounters with a young Leopard and three relaxed Black Rhinos (a bit of a contradiction in terms :-)), we spotted a big Leopard male early this morning and then found a quite nervous Black Rhino bull (being nervous is more standard Black Rhino behavior).

But the most exciting sighting for our guests was a Gorgeous Bush Shrike. This very colorful bird is often heard, but seldom seen (especially in good photographic condition). So after six years in which our guests were tracking this species in many different places around South Africa, yesterday Bheki and I were able to show them this beautiful creature (and we even got some decent pictures).

PS: I should mention that during their two-nights stay our guests also saw Lions, Elephants, White Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Cheetah, Black-Backed Jackal, Giraffe, Zebra, Kudu, Nyala, Impala, Wildebeest, Warthog and many different bird species.

Young Male Leopard

Nervous Black Rhino Bull

2014-11-28

Afternoon Guests

This week, when sitting in my office, I had two repeat guests at Thanda house. On various occasions the breeding herd of Elephants came to drink at the waterhole and Thulani, one of our two large and old Elephants bulls, made his way from the water along the the fence around our garden. And a pair of Striped Kingfishers made their home in our garden. Both birds get very excited about their reflection in my office windows and they knock at them regularly. These good looking little birds are very territorial and obviously not too bright 🙂

2014-11-25

The Horse Photographer :-)

I love Wildlife Photography but I also enjoy taking pictures of horses in action (with riders or without).

The picture above is of …
… me and Kara, a pure Arabian mare, looking at one another after a photo shoot.
… Isabella Stepski – Pakamisa’s owner – holding Kara.
… Mark – a Pakamisa guest – on Zulu (a Boerperd) smiling at the unusual scene with me posing in front of the camera :-).

Thanks to Daan for taking the picture!

Below are a few more images from my last stay at Pakamisa. Enjoy the variety!

Tina on El Dorado “speeding”

Two geldings on the way to dinner

Excitement at the stables

A Wildebeest with war paint 🙂

New arrivals – Impala fawns appearing all over the place

Another picture of me on Badger – having a good time!

Sunset at Pakamisa

2014-11-202014-11-19

Little Bee-Eater

… and one for all the birders. A Little Bee-Eater today on Pakamisa

2014-11-19

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!

2014-11-15

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

2014-11-072014-11-23

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.