A cold front has moved up from Cape Town and blanketed the Lowveld in icy conditions. Freezing mornings over the past few days have rendered the bushveld relatively quiet (in terms of activity). Still air at sunrise has been the perfect time to sit in silence and take in the dawn chorus of birds and animals before the sun warms everything up a little bit.
The usual suspects have still been here however, and despite the chilly conditions, it has been business as usual for Londolozi’s wildlife.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
Guineafowl peck around for some morsels in the evening light, before taking off to roost in the trees for the night.
A wildebeest cow and calf run across Winnis’ Clearing. A slow shutter speed (1/40th of a second) and a lot of luck blurred the motion yet kept the face of the young wildebeest relatively clear.
Blood on the neck of one of these waterbuck emphasises just how serious – and potentially deadly – their fight was. This was actually taken on foot when we had stopped for coffee one morning. The clash of horns alerted us to what was going on. Fortunately one of the Waterbuck backed down and ran off, with the other one in hot pursuit.
The Vomba Young male punches far out of his weight category as he feeds on a young waterbuck he had killed the night before. Big prey for what is still a relatively small leopard.
The Tu-Tones male is still waiting in the wings to inherit his father’s territory. The Camp Pan male (his father) is getting old, and this year may be his last.
A Tree Squirrel enjoys the last warmth of day on the Hobbit’s Hole leadwood.
The Tsalala Pride drink from a pool in the Manyelethi River far below us. They had been feeding on an impala kill in the thickets on the opposite bank but fortunately came out into the open to provide us with this view
Simon Smit and Lucky Shabangu attempt to get a vehicle closer to the pride, who are out of frame to the bottom left of the picture.
The Marthly male pauses as he crosses a small stream close to camp. He has been mating with the Mashaba female recently, so we could hopefully be seeing her give birth to a new litter to replace her lost one within a few months.
The Tutlwa Young female, a beautiful youngster who is relaxing more and more around vehicles, looks towards where the calls of another leopard had been emanating from.
It turned out to be her father, the Marthly male, but his presence was still enough to scare her into the top branches of the Jackalberry tree. Here she had partially descended after he had moved off, and she was staring in his direction to judge whether she could exit the tree safely.
The hip-scarred Majingilane backs off slightly as one of the Tsalala youngsters cowers in submission.
A hyena cub at the Hobbit’s Hole den-site objects to a bath from its mother.
Ranger Greg Pingo, Tracker Andrea Sithole and guests await the emergence of a pack of wild dogs from out of the mist and dust.
The young female cheetah feigns disinterest in a journey of giraffe nearby.
Photographed by James Tyrrell
Awesome pics. The wildebeest PIC is amazing. Tu Tones male is just as beautiful as his father. Love the PIC of the Tsalala pride drinking in the river
Awesome,James as usual-love the Tsalala pride drinking.
Wonderful as always! The Tsalala picture was wonderful – is there one of the females missing? I am assuming the two in the picture are the two older females. Just was wondering how the younger one who used to be unliked by the Majingalane is doing. Thanks
A beautiful Week in Pictures. Thank you James.
Amazing photos James, the Leopard in that light is absolutely spectacular. Did the Marthly Male every discover her?
Hoping the Camp Pan Male hangs around for a few more months so I can say good-bye & thank you for some fantastic pictures that are hanging on my bedroom wall.
Thanks James for once again giving us a glimpse of your wilderness. I love the one of Greg & Andrea waiting for the dogs, there is a ghostly look about it! Leopard pictures, as always are awesome. Have a great weekend
Beautiful photos James! I love the close-up of the Tutlwa Young Female, she is such a beautiful Leopard and I always love to see any Cheetah photos…they are just incredible to watch. Thanks for all the great photos James!!
Fabulous photos James, love the sightings!