I have found myself taking fewer photographs these days compared with my earlier guiding years. Despite still loving and having a deep interest in photography; I feel more and more drawn to purely watching animals and immersing myself in their presence. This however is a compilation that I have built up over the last couple weeks and the diversity of animals represents my interest in all the creatures of this beautiful wilderness, both large and small.
Enjoy The Week in Pictures!
One of the Tsalala lionesses laps up water from a small pool before glancing into the rising sun; creating the perfect opportunity to catch this glint of sunlight in her eyes.
A group of wildebeest gather in the morning light. With the shift of seasons, the difference in the light is one of the obvious changes we’re experiencing. Beautiful soft lit mornings and evenings are what we have to look forward to.
A close up of the Tamboti young female’s feet as she balances on the branch of a tree. Powerful muscles, sharpened claws that are kept retracted until necessary and a long tail for balancing help these animals to scale trees to extraordinary places.
An Emerald spotted wood dove drinks from a shallow pool. Notice the beautiful green iridescent spots on its wings which give it its name and which are so often missed when the bird is seen in flight.
The Kunyuma male looks towards the vehicle from the boughs of a marula tree.
A group of dwarf mongoose gather at the entrance to their burrow. They are typically rather skittish creatures and so we had to sit patiently before they became accustomed to our presence and allowed me to capture this photograph.
The Tsalala cubs now about 4 months old; boisterous and full of energy.
A yellow billed story perches above a waterhole. These birds eat predominantly fish, frogs, aquatic insects, worms and crustaceans.
The Tamboti Young Female watches a herd of impala from the fork of a marula tree. Leopards use trees as comfortable resting spots, to stash their kills but also because they provide fantastic vantage points to scan for prey.
One of the Matimba males captured when the coalition were feeding on a giraffe carcass trapped in a small pan. Despite their typical dislike for water, the wet nose and body of the lion show what lengths they will go to for a free meal.
A herd of buffalo rest in the open areas of Londolozi, inundated with flies. To avoid the irritation by these flies, buffalo will often wallow and cover their skin in mud.
The two new additions to the Tsalala pride scamper along the edge of a semi dry pan, attempting not to slip into the mud. Notice the spotting of their young coats which they will slowly lose with age.
A zebra captured in golden morning light. This soft light of winter allows for more opportunities like this to play with backlighting.
A Tsalala cub laps up mud from a drying pool.
A large herd of buffalo wake from an evening of rest. Normally these herds will move and feed during the day and rest together in tight groups at night for greater safety from predators.
A Matimba male finishes off a yawn. Despite popular belief, yawning is not necessarily a sign of tiredness for the cats and in fact, they tend to yawn and groom before they begin moving.
A capture of the full moon rising. Watching the shift in the moon cycle and the extraordinary night sky is one of my favourite things about living in the bush.
The Kunyuma male stares directly into the camera. It was a treat to see this particular male leopard as he is not one we see very often.
How is the Otter hunt coming along?
PS Loved the Tsalala cub drinking
Is that Karula’s boy Kunyuma? He is a handsome fellow. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. Beautiful.
Loved your “Weeks in Pictures,” Andrea. The mud-encrusted buffalos is a wonderful moment caught of these fascinating beasts! Brava!
Great images. I particularly like the leopard foot on the tree.
Andrea, great photos. I have been wondering if you managed to identify the male leopard in the Marula tree- great to know his name. His tail curl is fantastic.
Thanks for the week in pictures. It seems like in pictures that dwarf mongoose fur looks almost irridescent. Is there a reason for this and do they look like that in person? I have only seen them on the run.
Thanks
Beautiful pictures Andrea! I love seeing the little Tsalala cubs…they’re so sweet! Where did the Kunyuma male come from…Kruger, or one of the neighbouring Game Reserves?
Great pictures. I especially enjoyed the drawf mongoose. Reminds me of a late afternoon spent with Nick Kleer, Rob and Amanda watching a family of drawf mongoose shuttling their babies between dens.
Fabulous pictures!
Andrea Campbell, Thank you so much and many times for the beautiful photos of Kunyuma male. I’m so happy to see that He is safe.
This very special boy is one of the 2 males of Karula female 4th litter. They were born in December 2012. He was sired by Mvula male. So he is a younger half-brother to Torchwood male who spent some times on Londolozi in 2013, before heading West.
I love that boy!
Thank you for all these great pics! There are many familiar individuals…Kunyuma, Karula’s son and Quarantine male’s brother, has always been my favorite with his snarling attitude towards humans. He is a lonely rider (i think). He has grown a good looking and strong male. Hopefully he agrees to show up more often.
Thank you for sharing such beautiful photographs. Loved every one!