Seeing a Giraffe out in the open without being obscured by any trees or vegetation and with a beautiful blue sky as a backdrop is always a magnificent sight. 1/1600 at f/8,0; ISO 320. Photograph by James Souchon

A first for me! I was ecstatic when the spotlight fell on this African Wild Cat one night. For a relatively shy, small, nocturnal predator it was quite relaxed with the presence of the vehicle and we watched it move through the grass for about 10 minutes before it disappeared. 1/250 at f/5,0; ISO 2500. Photograph by James Souchon

The coalition of two male cheetahs that were briefly seen a few weeks back made a very welcome return and were seen moving through the central parts of the reserves over a two period this week. The great thing about photographing cheetah is that they will often look for elevated vantage points to scan the area as can be seen here. 1/8000 at f/4,5; ISO 1600. Photograph by James Souchon

A Bearded Woodpecker, very distinguishable by its black malar stripes seen on the throat, trying to pluck out insect larvae from the bark and cracks in this fallen branch. It uses its long barbed tongue to do so. 1/2000 at f/5,6; ISO 800. Photograph by James Souchon

This is a bit of a strange photo and my guests had a good chuckle at me getting onto my stomach to try and photograph it. These are processionally caterpillars crossing a road. The long line is made up of lots of caterpillars following each ‘tip to toe’ in order to give the illusion that they are something a lot bigger than they actually are. The hope is that this will deter predators, such as birds, that may get fooled into thinking that this long line is something out of their catching capabilities. 1/2500 at f/5,0; ISO 800. Photograph by James Souchon

Two Mhangeni lionesses walk through Finfoot Crossing. This pride has been encroaching steadily into the northern parts of Londolozi, and with only a single Tsalala lioness standing in their way, it seems inevitable that they will end up controlling a significant chunk of territory in that area. f5.6, 1/800s, ISO 1000. Photograph by Nick Kleer

With eyes that cast one’s mind back to Kaa from The Jungle Book, an African Rock Python suns itself on a fallen tree. The blue eyes are a likely indication that the snake is preparing to shed its skin. The colour change usually happens about a day into the shedding process, and is a sign that liquid is building up between the eye and the eye cap, which is part of the snake’s skin. The fluid helps separate the eye and eye cap so it can release easily. f4, 1/800s, ISO 640. Photograph by Alex Jordan

Sometimes the cliched shots are popular simply because they work well. With rhinos being relatively sedentary most of the time, it’s tough to try and create an artistic angle of one, so the old close-up-to-make-the-animal-more-imposing is a reliable go-to. f9, 1/500s, ISO 1600. Photograph by James Tyrrell

A rare shot of the ever-elusive Anderson male in the open. After drinking in plain sight, allowing some of the best photographic opportunities of him anyone who was there is likely to get, he simply melted back into the wild date palms along the Manyelethi Riverbed and disappeared once more. f3.5, 1/500s, ISO 1000. Photograph by James Tyrrell

Urticating setae. Those are two words you don’t hear often. But they are the technical name for the stinging bristles that hairy caterpillars – like the ones pictured here – possess. The caterpillar stages of many moth and butterfly species are stingers, with their hollow bristles attached to venom glands in their epidermis. Young caterpillars are often found in groups like this, and walking into them while tracking can be a particularly unplaesant experience, with the itching lasting a good while. f3.5, 1/3200s, ISO 400. Photograph by James Tyrrell

One of the Nhlanguleni female’s cubs comes closer to investigate the Land Rover. The relaxed nature of her current litter is in marked contrast to her previous cubs, who at the age of over a year were still very skittish and very difficult to get a sighting of. f3.2, 1/640s, ISO 500. Photograph by James Tyrrell

The fact that the bird out of the frame detracts from the picture a little, but it was still nice to get this Verraux’s Eagle Owl sitting under the (almost) full moon. f2.8, 1/60s, ISO 2500. Photograph by James Tyrrell

The Mashaba female on the move. Slowly. A dramatically reduced shutter speed gives the illusion that the animal is moving fast, when the leopard in this case wasn’t even at a brisk walk. f32, 1/3s, ISO 640. Photograph by James Tyrrell

The inflorescences of a Phragmites reed take on a ghostly look when backlit by the full moon. f4.5, 1/100s, ISO 2500. Photograph by James Tyrrell

A dazzle of zebras clump together on a windy today. Windy days severely impact prey species’ abilities to detect predators; it’s noisy, smells are swirled around and confused, and every waving bush could potentially conceal a threat. As a result, lots of herbivores will be found in tightly bunched groups when the wind is blowing. f3.5, 1/2500s, ISO 400. Photograph by James Tyrrell

Following on from the previous photo, the absence of wind in turn makes everything far easier to hear, and in winter when conditions are generally still, alarm calls can be heard from a great distance. The alarm snorts of impalas alerted us to the presence of a predator on this morning from well over a kilometre, and rushing into the area, we came across the Tamboti female and her cub, in an area in which she has been stashing it regularly. The pair were in a very playful mood, despite the female’s empty belly, evidence of her failure to secure a meal for the two of them. f3.2, 1/3200s, ISO 640. Photograph by James Tyrrell