wildlife – Page 139 – Christian Sperka Photography

Thanda hosts hundreds of bird species. Many of them are seen regularly on game drive, other are rare guests, and some of them are only here during the summer.

Bheki Ngubane – one of Thanda’s expert trackers – is also a very experienced birding guide. His ability to identify birds by their call impresses many guests greatly. And he is able to call many of them by imitating their call. With his help I was able to assemble the THANDA BIRDS photo gallery on the new Thanda website. It contains images of over ninety different species – with more to come …

Have a look at http://www.thanda.com/photos.htm#176105

2014-02-01

Follow me!

Warthogs look funny when they run. And small Warthog are even more hilarious.

“Follow me signs up, and off they go!”

Enjoy the image – Have a good weekend!

2014-01-29

Walk to water …

Imagine you are a two month old Thanda Baby Elephant …

“A hot day today. Mum is walking very fast. Grandma wants to find water. So we walk and walk and walk. I wish I had longer legs.

That grass is too high – Being the smallest is no fun 😦

I can’t see a thing – mum wait!!!

OK – That’s better!

Oh, I got an itch! Mummy, don’t move, I am gonna use your legs as a rubbing post.

Yes, yees, yeees – much better!

I am thirsty – let’s go!

Mummy come on – I see the water, I see the water!

Give me a bit of space, pleeeease!

That’s better!

Nice family – what do you think? :-)”

This is a “record” of a walk to water, enjoyed by many Thanda guests on sunny morning.

2014-01-21

Cleanup and Memories!

South Africa 100

Before I left the USA in 2012 I created a slide show with 100 of my favorite images. It was for the last “Art Crawl” at my Gallery in Nashville. I found the material during “cleanup operations” on my graphics system. And I liked it so much that I turned it into a YouTube video slide show.

I hope you enjoy the four and a half minutes of South African Wildlife!

The music is an interpretation of the South African National Anthem. Arranged for me by Don Johnson and performed by the Happy Turkey Farm Band.

Let me know if you would be interested in a version with comments on the images. If there is enough interest I will create a series of videos with audio comments (on wildlife and photography aspects of the images).

2014-01-182014-01-18

Well done, Philip!

Philip G. – a Dutch boy living with his family in Poland – one of our recent guests at Thanda – took my photography lesson during his stay at the Lodge.

He, his two brothers and his parents enjoyed the stay very much and Philip sent me two of his pictures. I am very proud to feature in one of them (even if it is with a bit of a funny face looking at a scorpion – but do not worry this one is quite harmless :-)).

Philip especially liked the macro image of the little caterpillar. The collage also shows Philip with his camera – busy shooting in the bush!

Well done and thanks for letting me publish two of your works!

Christian Sperka – Specialist Photography Guide and Resident Wildlife Photographer – Thanda Private Game Reserve

More about Christian’s photography lessons at Thanda:
Any guest at Thanda Private Game Reserve may request a complementary 90 minute photography session (based on availability/between game drives). In these sessions Christian will teach how to set up your camera for wildlife photography, what do adjust during shooting on game drive (motto:keep it simple) and he will show you what makes a good wildlife image. It does not matter if you stay at the Safari Lodge, the Tented Camp or the Villa iZulu. When you are booking your stay at Thanda you can also request Christian as your field guide (based on availability) during your stay to spend additional photography time with him and his tracker Bheki in the bush.

2014-01-17

And the answer is …

The picture shows a juvenile Red-billed Oxpecker looking for ticks inside of a White Rhino’s nose. The Oxpecker’s bill is black because he is not an adult yet.

Lisa W. (commented on my blog) got closest to the correct answer – Well done!

More about …

Oxpeckers are endemic to the savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Their name arises from their habit of perching on large mammals, eating ticks and other parasites. Oxpeckers feed exclusively on the backs of large mammals. The smallest regularly used species is the Impala. Some potential Oxpecker hosts are intolerant of their presence. Elephants and Waterbuck will actively dislodge the Oxpeckers when they land.

This blog message contains the answer to https://sperka.info/2014/01/16/what-is-that/

2014-01-16

What is that?

A question for wildlife enthusiasts.

This is a detail of a larger image. Do you know what bird this is and what it is doing?

I will post the answer tomorrow!

2014-01-14

Mother and Daughter!

This young Cheetah female stays very close to mum, whose tail provides comforting contact. A beautiful Thanda Cheetah sighting!

2014-01-122014-01-12

Stalking!

This young Lioness was stalking prey – using one of the game viewing vehicles as cover. An exciting and unforgettable moment for the Thanda guests on the Land Rover!

2014-01-10

Finally!

During my December visit at Pakamisa Game Reserve the weather did not cooperate and I was not able to go for a horse ride. But this time everything worked well and I was able to ride a horse for the first time in my life.

Yesterday and today “two portly gentlemen”, Badger – a sturdy Shire Horse – and I, went for two rides around Pakamisa. I enjoyed it very much, even if my “back side” still has to get used to the process 🙂

Two of Pakamisa’s horse trails guides, Fabio on El Dorado (a Boerperd) and Alexandra on Bolina (a Pure Arab Mare) were instructing me well on my first horse-riding attempt. I certainly will be back for more safaris on horseback.

I am spending four days of my work-off-time at Pakamisa. I get a bit of rest at this beautiful spot in the Zulu hills, enjoying the excellent food, sub-merging myself in a cool pool in the hot weather and getting close to wildlife on horseback. What a life!

Click here of more information about Pakamisa Private Game Reserve.

Thanks to Isabella Stepski for taking these pictures.

Tag: wildlife

Birds, Birds, Birds!