First things first. The mystery bird featured in last week’s post was a Sabota Lark.
Now for this week. Rain. More of it. Thankfully almost all of the big rains we received over the last week were overnight, and for the most part we stayed nice and dry on game drive. Wet conditions on the ground still limited our off-roading, and drizzle here and there did unfortunately make me leave my camera snug and dry in its case, but the clouds broke occasionally to allow for some photographic opportunities.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
The dark-maned Majingilane roars his dominance over the Tsalala Pride. This was an unusual sighting in that he was roaring late in the morning, past 9 am, a time when – particularly in summer – most lions have settled in to snooze for the day.
One of the Tsalala cubs investigates the lower jaw of a hippo at Nyelethi Pan. The hippo in question may have been killed by a rival male. He was found being fed on by the Mhangeni pride.
A magnificent white rhino in the open areas. An impressive specimen, this is a large cow.
One of the Mhangeni cubs tires of playing with its siblings and approaches its mother for some affection.
A woodland kingfisher. The day is coming when we’ll be seeing the last of these beautiful birds for the months of winter.
The female cheetah and her two offspring on the remains of a steenbok kill they had just made right in front of us. Now that the sub-adults have separated from the adult female, it is doubtful we’ll be enjoying sightings like this of three cheetahs together anymore.
Kudu females out in the open. It is nice to get such a clear view of these beautiful animals, who spend a lot of their time in thicketed areas.
The Mashaba young female surveys what is technically the domain of her mother. An amazing leopard to spend time with, this young female, with all the exuberance of youth, spends a lot of her time playing in the branches of marula trees for the sheer delight of it.
The same photo in a black and white conversion.
This summer’s crop of young impalas are showing signs of their developing maturity, and the young males are already sprouting horns.
A rather bedraggled Majingilane after a heavy downpour.
Also the Mashaba young female, this time in the boughs of a dead knobthorn tree. Photo by Don Heyneke.
The Tsalala Cubs line up to quench their thirst from a rainwater puddle.
ANOTHER photo of the Mashaba young female. Leopards spend less time in trees than many people think, but a young leopard like this, with lots of energy and a much lighter frame to hoist up into the branches, is far more likely to be found in the treetops than bigger, older individuals.
Although not as prevalent in summer as in winter, the elephants are still here. We enjoyed a wonderful sighting of this herd, the highlight being this little calf trying to sneak a drink as his mother slowly grazed past the front of our vehicle.
Photographed by James Tyrrell and Don Heyneke
Like what you see? Tell us what you think of this week’s pictures.
Love your photo of the Mashaba young female in the tree Don!
Love love love! Such beautiful pictures. 🙂
Stunning photos as always. The black and white conversion are great, but my favourite this week had to be the elephants 🙂
Thank you for the stunning pictures of the Mashaba young female.
It is always a joy to see the photos of your little piece of paradise!
Thank you again. The young Mashaba female is a favorite of ours & we are so happy that she is doing just fine. And of course, my true wildlife love, the rhino, looks spectacular. In fact, all the pictures are.
I love what you’ve captured James and Don! I especially like the roaring dark-maned Majingilane…you can even see the roughness of his tongue! Every photograph is fantastic though.
Wow! Thank you for once again thrilling my weekend with these magnificent pictures! My absolute favourite is the colour pic of the Mashaba high in the tree, it shows the colour of the sky with the leopard. All the others are just as stunning. The best thing I ever did was log onto the Blogs of Londolozi & my first was your Month in pictures in April ’13, your pictures then were superb. Keep it up Mike
Great pics James, especially the bedraggled male lion, his face says it all. Hope your well, Just bought a new camera and upgraded lenses, so hoping to gain top tips from you in August, to make my pics as good as yours….
Thanks Sue, I am sure James will be happy to share some tips! We look forward to your visit in August.
Lovely photos of a variety of animals!Loved the Woodland Kingfisher – he is very special indeed
The Mashaba pics were great! I wonder if that cut on Scar Nose Majingilane was from there recent fight with the Selati?
Great pics and thanks for sharing. I noticed you had the Sparta pride for the last couple of days on your property. It would be great to get some pics of the cubs. Have not seen any good pics of this pride in ages. They should be getting quite big now. THanks again and appreciate it.
Awesome photos…thanks for sharing !