A tree squirrel pokes its head out of a shallow cavity. They use these holes, known as ‘dreys’ to sleep in and nest. This one happened to join us while we were sitting with a sleeping Birmingham male lion. Needless to say, it thought twice before scurrying down the trunk of the tree.

The Finfoot female was found with an impala lamb hoisted in a Marula tree. Soon after we arrived she decided to take the kill down and proceeded to drag it under a bush. With the vegetation being so thick after the recent rains, it seems as though the leopards are quite content to leave their kills hidden in the thick undergrowth for a while, as it is harder for hyaenas to find them and steal the kill.

A summer scene. Despite not actually feeding on fish, this woodland kingfisher was perched on a dead branch that overhung a waterhole. Interestingly, kingfishers can’t perch on the ground and therefore dive from perches like this one in order to get a drink.

A giraffe bull crosses an open crest allowing us appreciate his true size.

The Senegal Bush male has been making clear advances further north, into what has been the Flat Rock male’s territory for quite some time. However, the Maxim’s male has now also been seen moving into the area. This behaviour could be as a result of the Flat Rock male being stuck on the northern side of the flooded Sand River for the better part of two weeks, leaving the southern stretches of his domain unattended.

Sunny afternoons provide a great opportunity to work on some other forms of photography, such as landscape photography. As we were setting up our shot this inquisitive hyaena came to investigate what we were up to – turning a landscape shot back into a wildlife one.

This one got the team quite excited! One of the very few times an African crake has been seen at Londolozi in recent years. These rare birds favour marshy areas and long grass which makes finding them rather difficult. Given all the rain we have had one can only hope that we see a few more in the coming weeks.

The recent rains turned many of the roads at Londolozi into temporary miniature rivers. Once the flow of water subsided the thick mud was the perfect canvas to capture the tracks left behind by a young male leopard.

This large elephant bull had one of the thickest tusks I have ever seen. But just one. He was missing his left tusk and so I felt it would only do him justice to frame the portrait of him to reflect his ‘good side’.

A massive cumulonimbus cloud towers over the grasslands. The name for the cloud is derived from the Latin words; Cumulus meaning heaped and nimbus meaning rainstorm.

We get two species of terrapin at Londolozi; the serrated-hinged and marsh terrapins. The latter is known for making cross country voyages from one body of water to the next, meaning that we often encounter them on game trails and dirt tracks – out of their preferred aquatic environment. I decided to hop out the vehicle and get eye-level with one. He was completely relaxed with my presence and seemed to feel the same way towards the fly that landed on his head as I took this photo.

One of the Birmingham males scans the plains. We found him in an open clearing, following the scent of two lionesses. Upon finding the females he scanned the surroundings and when satisfied with the lay of the land, he promptly fell asleep.

A quartet of beautiful violet-backed starlings. The distinction between male and female can easily be made here with the males possessing the glossy purple plumage. They are a migratory species that breed here in the summer, making use of small cavities in dead trees like the one they’re on.

One of the Birmingham males licks his lip as he narrowly escapes a slap from an Ntsevu lioness. The pair had been seen mating a few days prior to this particular morning and the signs of mating fatigue were clearly evident. At the peak of their mating exchanges, lions will mate every fifteen minutes throughout the day and the repetitive nature of this form of mating becomes painful over time, especially for the female.

An elephant bull give a large Marula tree an almighty shake. We are coming to the end of the Marula fruiting season and this elephant had to give this Marula a decent push before the tasty fruit started dropping from the tree.

A western cattle egret in breeding plumage. The bird life around the freshly filled water sources has been nothing short of spectacular over the last while.

This young male lion was one of two that were found by Nick and tracker Jerry Sibiya late one morning in the far south eastern corner of Londolozi. It created a bit of debate as to who the pair were. The only young males we are aware of in the area at the moment are the Styx and Nkahuma males but it was suggested that these males could be from the Sand River pride. We’re still not sure but its great to have young lions roaming around.

The Tavangumi Male gazes into the tree canopy above him. This young male leopard is in the nomadic phase of his life and is constantly on the search for a place where he can put down some roots and stake out a territory of his own.