wildlife – Page 136 – Christian Sperka Photography

2014-05-15

“Two Years in the Wild” and “Keepers of the Wild” – Presentations in Tennessee

I am looking forward to my visit to the USA in June. After another year in the bush it will be great to see my Tennessee friends again. During my stay I will be giving two different presentations about my work in South Africa. All presentations are open to the public and no reservations are required.

I hope to see many of you on either of these occasions 🙂

“Two Years in the Wild” is the first presentation about my experiences in South Africa and my methods to get good wildlife images. This presentation is open to the public. I will be giving this talk in Nashville and in Cookeville.

When: Tuesday – June 3, 2014 – 6:30pm
Where: Brentwood Photography Group Meeting @ Otter Creek Church of Christ, Franklin Road, Brentwood, Tennessee – http://www.brentwoodphotographygroup.org/

When: Wednesday – June 11, 2014 – 7:00pm
Where: Cookeville Camera Club Meeting @ First Presbyterian Church, 20N Dixie, Cookeville, Tennessee – http://www.cookevillecameraclub.com/

“Keepers of the Wild” is the second presentation about the conservation efforts and challenges for a private game reserve in South Africa and about the rising threat to Africa’s Rhino population.

When: Thursday – June 5, 2014 – 6:00pm
Where: Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, Nolensville Road, Nashville, Tennessee – http://www.nashvillezoo.org/events/lecture

See you in Nashville or Cookeville!

2014-05-142014-05-15

Clean-up Crew!

Hyena are one of the most fascinating mammal species to observe . They are an important part of the bush clean-up crew and play a vital role in the circle of life.

With their grinning smiles and their awkward walking style (their very strong front legs are longer than the back legs) they are often disliked by many people.

But in this picture one of Thanda’s Spotted Hyenas shows itself from its “cute side” 🙂

2014-05-08

28mm

Sometimes pictures tell an exciting story. So do these!

They were taken with a 28mm (wide-angle) lens and not cropped.

Our oldest North Pride Lioness had decided to walk up to our vehicle and she had first a good look at me (picture below) and then at the guests behind me (picture above). My instruction to hold still and not move was followed without any discussion :-).

As she was in touching distance I took the picture above without moving the camera and without looking through the viewfinder (hence the funny composition). Nevertheless I thought many of you might enjoy this awesome predator’s look.

If you are interested why we were not in danger during the encounter with this dangerous cat go to https://sperka.info/why/.

2014-05-01

Not only milk!

Our little Lion cubs have graduated to meat dishes 🙂

Their mum – Thanda North Pride’s oldest Lioness – had caught a Warthog for dinner. As the sun set she moved the kill into a thicket not far from one of Thanda’s main roads. And as the light fated she fetched her little ones for dinner.

The image above shows one of the youngsters with a red nose from enjoying one of its first meat meals.

The collage below shows a small Lions’ feeding frenzy, a watchful mum and another on of the cubs showing some interest in my clicking camera.

What a sighting!

And this last collage shows the young Lions two weeks ago venturing very close to the game viewer before their mum led them away into the bush.

Pictures (1-4) by Christian Sperka

Pictures (5-9) by Bheki Ngubane – Senior Tracker – Thanda Private Game Reserve

2014-04-24

The Ugly Five :-)

The Big Five are very famous. But there are also the Ugly Five!

For guests it is a bit of harmless fun to guess which of the many animal species on Thanda qualify for that very special honour. The Blue Wildebeest (or Brindled Gnu) is one of the Ugly Five. In most human eyes they would certainly not qualify for a beauty contest :-). Blue Wildebeest are a very common antelope on Thanda. They are also one of the major menu items for our Lions.

Stay tuned over the next few days to meet the other four!

2014-04-20

Happy Easter!

Frohe Ostern Feliz Pascua Joyeuses Pâques Vrolijk Pasen Buona Pasqua Felix Pascha God påske Wesołych Świąt Happy Easter Glad Påsk Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay hyvää pääsiäistä 复活节快乐復活節快樂 부활절 축복 받으세요 สุขสันต์วันอีสเตอร์ イースター、おめでとう Phasika elithokozayo Geseënde Paasfees

From me and my special Thanda Easter Bunny 🙂

… which is actually a young Scrub Hare.

2014-04-172014-04-17

Let’s keep going!

After the fighting break (see yesterday’s blog message) the two Thanda Giraffes bulls continued their fight. We left them at it after observing the slow but intense quarrel for quite a while.

This collage shows the flexibility of their necks and the strategic positioning needed to strike a significant blow.

2014-04-16

A fighting break!

These two adult Giraffe bulls took a short break from their rather serious fighting and stared for a while across the beautiful Thanda landscape.

As for most male animals the reason for this fight was a lady in oestrous. These two were both possible mating candidates.

When Giraffes fight they will stand very close facing the same direction. In a strategic opportune moment they will try to swing their necks like long clubs at one another’s neck. If a blow is properly targeted the ossicones (the horn-like skull-extensions on top of the head) will impact with a loud thump. Adult male giraffe are actually bold on top of ossiconses from all the sparring and fighting.

If one of them has enough of the rather vicious blows, he will move off and leave the winner to claim his price.

Tomorrow’s blog message will show some images of the fight itself. Stay tuned!

2014-04-13

Posing!

This Water Monitor Lizard was enjoying the sun at Thanda’s largest waterhole. These intelligent reptiles are very shy and usually disappear quickly into water or high grass as soon as one approaches.

This specimen had a “trusting day” and stuck around for a lengthily photo session 🙂

2014-04-09

New Arrivals!

What a morning.

Leaving the lodge for a drive a bit later than usual we were first looking for our dominant male Lion. He had been sighted not far away from the Thanda Safari Lodge so we thought this would make a perfect first encounter of the day.

After we had a good look at this large cat, Bheki, one of Thanda’s expert trackers, suggested to have a closer look into a nearby drainage line. He had spotted some movement as I was turning the vehicle to leave the sighting.

And trough the thick bush we saw not only one of Thanda’s North Pride females but also her very small new cubs.

Keeping a respectful distance we made our way slowly around the location where the Lioness was resting, to an open area on the opposite side. After about ten minutes of patience the Lioness decided to present her new cubs to the world.

She brought them right into the open, lay down in the middle of the small pan (facing away from us, which showed how comfortable she was with our presence).

The three youngster, which we estimate to be 1.5 month old, watched us very critically as their mother was proceeding with the morning bath for the little ones.

After they had a good look at this “huge green animal with the round legs and the many eyes” they disappeared back into the shaded shelter of the thicket.

Mum kept enjoying the morning sun as we left the scene. My guests, Bheki and I were very happy. We were the first humans to set eyes on these beautiful little cats – the three newest members of the Thanda Lion family.