This week we have found ourselves concentrating around the scarce bodies of water in amongst a dry, tawny-brown landscape. This in conjunction with the dust and haze in the atmosphere creates a deep contrasting golden light with a flush of greenery near to the water – a photographer’s heaven. Elephant herds have been plenteous, particularly near the water as they attempt to quench their thirst that is spurred on by the copious amounts of dry vegetation they need to consume. The demise of the Othawa Male and the lack of the roars of a dominant male in the western regions of Londolozi has resulted in a number of young males moving through in the hopes of claiming the unanswered for territory. I am sure this will continue for quite some time until a new dominant male moves in to claim it.
The Styx and Nkuhuma Males along with the Plains Camp Males are probably a little too young to be dominant yet. But in time they will have their chance if the patch remains unclaimed. Birding has been spectacular along with the aloes beginning to flower attracting an array of sunbirds. Leopards feature less this week, but by no means is that an indication of a lack of sightings but rather as there is an abundance of other great sightings. Although we are on our way towards summer having passed the winter solstice, the coldest months are still yet to come and the prospects of some amazing photographic opportunities are endless with the misty mornings, the backlit breath of a lions roar at first light, dew on the tips of the grass’ inflorescence or the bright golden light on the iridescent starling’s feathers.
But for now, enjoy this Week in Pictures…
A magpie shrike, with its distinctive long tail feathers, is silhouetted against the golden sky at sunset. Typically long tail feathers are associated with male birds during the summer breeding season but these shrikes in fact carry the extra feathers all year round; both male and female.
A number of giraffe have spent the last few days near the airstrip which always provides allows for clean simple backgrounds.
Being the tallest land animal, giraffes often make for great subjects when you are able to get low and have something to help give a sense of scale. The Londolozi airstrip is perfect for this as a herd of impala run past the female giraffe.
A group of four female ostriches roams the open grasslands being closely trailed by a dominant male. As we enter ostrich mating season, the male’s efforts will intensify, and before we know it we may come across another ostrich nest.
A large strangler fig tree in amongst a wide open sky, there are many stunning trees of this nature throughout the reserve. This iconic example is in the deep south. I have always wanted to take a photo of it.
Although a relatively common bird, the three-banded plover is a striking bird when viewed up close. Moving around on the water’s edge in the search of any small insects within the mud a perfect opportunity presented itself for an uninterrupted reflection.
Zebra herds or dazzles as they are better known, are congregating in the masses as food resources becoming more scarce with the annual winter desiccation. The dry grass requires the zebra to drink twice daily in order to aid digestion.
A young female leads the dazzle towards the water pausing for a moment to ensure there are no predators lying in ambush at the water’s edge.
Shingilana dam is one of the larger waterholes on the property and is becoming a frequent spot to find elephants drinking. They certainly have a preference for this exact spot as I have sent them drink here numerous times in the last few weeks.
Speaking of drinking, this is always an amazing time to capture animals in the act of quenching their thirst. Elephants are particularly entertaining to watch drink.
With the Othawa Male no longer controlling the western section of Londolozi and his distinctive roars but a mere memory, a number of young males have taken this opportunity to chance their luck at claiming the territory. The Nkuhuma Young Male was found moving around by himself this particular morning. Normally being found alongside the Styx Young Male these two had been separated temporarily. They have been found often along the edge of the Birmingham Males’ territory in what used to be to the Othawa Male. Interesting times lay ahead of us with the lion dynamics.
A large hippo bull yawns at sunset, highlighting his impressive set of canines, designed for battling with other males in order to assert their dominance and claim a waterbody and in turn the females that may accompany it.
Ruffling up their feathers to keep warm through the cool winter nights, this Burchell’s coucal looked a bit shell-shocked as we drove past him near the Sand River, where it gets significantly colder.
With the winter season comes the bloom of aloes throughout the Londolozi Camps. This attracted several species of birds who come and gorge themselves on the fresh nectar provided by the flowers. This juvenile scarlet-chested sunbird was clearly enjoying himself as can be seen by the light dusting of orange pollen on the base of his bill.
The Xinzele Female had been found with a hoisted duiker in the northern parts of the reserve the previous afternoon. We went up first thing in the morning to see if she was still around and found her resting in an open match of ground at the base of the tree as the sun was rising. In the past six months we have seen this female expand her territory to now dominate a rather large area north of the river; in the process shifting the Makovsava Female beyond our boundary for the most part.
Stay tuned….
Puppies!!!!! Omw they are soooo cute!!!
Great photos Sean, love all the negative space this week.
Sean, the pictures are so clear around your subjects. Great photography. Lots of background space fading in and out. Well done this week.
Thanks so much William.
Great photos, Sean. Particularly the elephant drinking and the hippo yawning.
Good tease with the pups!
Thanks Vin. Just a little teaser.
Hi, will you loose the Makomsava female then… will shw likely disappear? Have you got news on the Mashaba and the Tsalala s? Do many interesting animals this week, many birds first of all ostrich. The once -lone female is still around?
Thank you for another wonderful of pictures! Every day we say to ourselves January 2023 is closer. Victoria
you’ve saved the best to last
🤞🤞🤞
Simply envious! As an ex-Tour guide, I miss all the visits to our amazing Game reserves with overseas guests.
Beautiful foto’s Sean, the Xinzele female is so majestic and making her territory bigger. Loved the foto of the elephant drinking, the hippo showing off his huge canines. Are these the wild dog puppies, too gorgeous for words. The sugar bird is so pretty. We have two different pairs of sugar birds by us, which I feed with sugar water in a bottle by my front door. The animals seem to love the area by the airstrip.
Thank you Valmai, yes they are wild dog pups.
That is exciting about the sugarbirds. The sunbirds are stunning at this time of year here, loving the nectar from the aloes that are in full flower.
Great group of photos this week. Elephant and hippo are stand outs for me. And hope to see more of the ostriches in the future!
Thank you Marcia.
OMG!! Wild dog pups, how many?
Hi David, we are not certain yet, definitely eight but quite possibly ten.
Great photos. I love the wonderful light on the animals, e.g. the elephants drinking, the birds, the leopardess…
Oh, those Wild Dog puppies are adorable. I hope you were able to get video of the parents delivering food to them. It will definitely be interesting to find out which lions will take up that area. I would think the Avocas, because like you, I don’t the young Nkuhuma Male and Styx Young Male are up for the fight just yet. Thanks for sharing your pics.
Stay tuned for the wild dog story coming soon.
It seems most likely that the Avoca Males will move across, however, male lions are not necessarily focused on the spatial territory but rather the prides of females that are found within a territory. Will they potentially try to cover both the Nkuhuma Pride as well as the Mhangeni Pride? We will have to wait and see.
Sean, Chris and Nick a big shout out to you all👌🏻❤️ Having heard what it takes to get these photos that we all get to enjoy every week, I’m in awe at the length you all go to to capture these wonderful shots. Particularly love the lone Eli drinking. Are the female ostriches from THE family that featured last year ? Can’t wait too to hear more of the new Wild dog pups. Thanks guys 🙏🏻
Thank you Cally. We are spoilt with the opportunities that allow us to go to those lengths in order to get the shot, and, it is a lot of fun doing it.
With ostriches, it is such a challenge to know which are which, but there is every likelihood that they are the same ones. We are so fortunate to have a healthy ostrich population, I think I have seen about 13 different individuals.
Absolutely beautiful pics this week guys!!
Thanks Carly.
Hi guys, great selection of photos! Not sure if you are aware, but the Nanga Female has been seen further north than she normally is as she’s been seen on Djuma Private Game Reserve a few times and has been spending time properties like Hoffman’s as well. The younger females including Xinzele Female and Makhomsava seem to be pushing her by the sounds of things
Hi Michael, thank you so much for the update on the Nanga Female. She has been spending a lot more of her time off of Londolozi. I agree, it is probably a result of her daughter, the Makomsava Female. Mothers will often surrender a portion of their territory to their daughters as they become independent. Helping them establish themselves.
Nice blog, Sean. I especially love the hippo shot!
I was wondering about the Xinzele Female – is she offspring of one of the older Londolozi females or did she arrive from off-property?
Hi Mary Beth, Thank you. The Xinzele Female is the daughter of the Ingrid Dam Female that we would seldomly see in the northwestern parts of Marthly.
What a fantastic array of photos this week! I enjoyed seeing a change up in composition via the use of negative space-loved this images! The diversity of subjects was especially interesting this week, from the little pollen-dusted sunbird to the mighty jaws of the bull hippo…. and then, you end with the teaser – those four, wide-eyed adorable puppies! You’re on the hook now for some heart warming and entertaining video!
Sean and team, Brilliant, creative and inspiring images! Great work!
Thanks Michael and Terri.