In the build-up to Christmas, we start our Advent Calendar series tomorrow and as a result, we have decided to move this Week in Pictures forward by one day.
Although proving to be difficult to find when she has been on Londolozi, we spent time with the Tsalala Female as she moves along the southern bank of the Sand River before settling down in the dry river sand to rest as the temperatures began to rise. It has been a huge sigh of relief to see that she is thriving and still looking in fantastic condition. Life will be challenging for her but, she is proving to us that she is capable of handling it.
A large elephant bull allows a close up look of the finer details on his trunk and tusk. Along with some amazing sightings of the Ximungwe Female and her Young Male Sub-adult as they venture through a few clearings before settling in for a drink at a waterhole.
A few birds find their way into this week’s selection including the amazing Long-Crested Eagle, a bird we do not see at Londolozi often.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
While this lone elephant bull was feeding on the new grass growth in a dried-up mud wallow, we took the chance of having a close-up view of the intricacies of his trunk and tusk.
The tuft of black fur on the tip of the Tsalala Female’s tail twitches in the heat as she attempts to chase away a few biting flies, nipping away at her rump.
A White Faced Whistling Duck casually bobs around in one of the waterholes near the Londolozi camps. The overcast conditions on this day, combined with the angle that we were viewing the duck from meant that the water reflected the white sky which contrasted well with the colours of the bird.
The stark contrast between these gorgeous plumbago flowers that stood out against the dark shaded background caught my eye, creating a stunning scene.
A waterbuck silhouetted against a golden sky at sunrise.
Dramatic skies dwarf this elephant bull as he wanders slowly through the open grasslands of southwestern Londolozi.
The Ndzandzeni Female turns back glancing towards the setting sun.
Royal descendant of Mother Leopard lineage. Remarkable single cub success story who overcame injury to continue the royal bloodline.
As the Ximungwe Female and her Young Male explore the reaches of the territory, the adventurous young male walks ahead through a clearing ahead of his mother.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
The Ximungwe Female and her youngster then share a drink. The cub is now almost a year old and is almost as big as his mother!
We don’t often see Long Crested Eagle at Londolozi. In fact, this was the first one I have seen here in nearly four years. With a light breeze blowing from behind the bird, it was rather easy to see how it got its name!
The Ximungwe Young Male, with his distinctive freckle on his iris, keeps an eye on us through the tamboti thicket in which he and his mother were resting.
A brief sighting of the now alone Tsalala Female as she moved through Londolozi along the Sand River. Looking very healthy and well-fed she is seeming to be adapting to a solitary life and managing perfectly well even though she is not yet three years old.
While resting in the shade she hears a herd of elephants in the river a little distance away and glances back over her shoulder towards them.
Love the Long Crested Eagle and the Ximungwe male photos!
Those are some great choices, Marcia.
Long live the Tsalala lioness Sean! Such lovely photos of her, including a great tail shot. Kudos to Chris for the Long crested eagle shot, certainly a rare sighting in your area. As always the Ximungwe mother/son duo images were super, in addition to the elephant detail shot- a favorite of mine to shoot and edit.
Looking forward to the Advent series….
Thank you so much, Denise. The Ximungwe duo has definitely provided some great sightings of late. Elephants are great to photograph and edit.
I wish there was a real nice full picture of the taslala lion for my phone profile love her. I hope she finds some lions that will take her in or even a male to travel with. It will break my heart if something happens to her
me too, me too! 🙂
I’m sooo glad to see that the Tsalala lady is fine! It must be so hard for her to live alone, it’s a lion’s nature. She learnt how to live alone from her mum… but she is to be a sort of second lady Lyuwa. All pictures are amazing, does the cub have that vivid green eye colour? Wish a healthy and long life to all those special creatures. Lovely plumbago flowers, something to look at really.
We all are thrilled to see that the Tsalala Female is still doing so well, I am sure she will be alright going forward.
Hi Sean, lovely to see the Tsalsla female and she is looking well. The leopards are always my special cats and cannot get enough of them. Woe just look at the elephant trunk all those muscles and lines. So wonderful to have TWIP one day earlier than usual. Thank you so much Sean.
Thank you so much, Valmai. It was so great to see the Tsalala Female again.
Pleased to see the young Tsalala female looking so well. And I’m thrilled to see the Ndzanzeni female, I haven’t heard anything about her for some time, and wasn’t fortunate enough to see her when I came last month. I heard she’d lost 1 of her cubs, but do you know if the other is still alive?
We are so happy to see that the Tsalala Female is doing well as well as the Ndzandzeni Female. We are not one hundred per cent sure, but sadly we think she may have lost both of her cubs. She hasn’t been seen all too often of late and so maybe every time we have seen her, her cubs have been elsewhere, but I have a feeling she may have lost both cubs.
Thanks for the beautiful photos,Sean and Chris. The like especially the one of the Crested Eagle because it is so rare.
Thank you so much, Christa. The Long-crested Eagle shot by Chris is amazing, and the fact that they are not common at Londolozi makes it that much greater.
Thank you for the wonderful blog. Happy to see the Tsalala Lioness doing well.
Thank you, MJ. It was great to see the Tsalala Lioness, giving us a chance to see how she is coping, and all appear very well. I think her biggest challenge will be avoiding the other lions on the property.
A great TWIP Sean. Lots of cats and love the tail. Nice to see some fine feathered friends also. I love the close up pf the ellie – a magnificent animal. Thanks for sharing – thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
Thank you so much, Leonie. Elephants are magnificent animals, so being that close and having a great look at the details is always enjoyable.
Are they ticks or moles or something else on the Tsalala lioness?
Sean, as always you find the wonderful and fun photos! I love the young leopard playing peek a boo in the brush. The crested eagle is very majestic, I don’t think I have ever seen one.It is good to see Londolozi doing so well! Thank you for the week in pictures, including the water buck! Have a safe and happy Christmas and the same to everyone at Londolozi! Victoria
Great selection of photos Sean! Any sign of the Ndzanzeni Female’s cub recently? Also so glad to see the Tsalala female doing so well on her own!
Wonderful week of pictures Sean! So happy to hear to Tsalala female is managing so well on her own 🙏🏻…the Ximungwe male is certainly looking so grown up and ready to move away ..yet another plus to end the year 2021!
Is was today that we were supposed to land on African soil but sadly we have been pipped at the post..yet again…but like the Tsalala female we will hang in there and hope that by early 2022 we might yet get to enjoy all that we have been pining for …for the last 6 years 🙏🏻💕
Thanks Sean, spectacular pictures in TWIP. I really enjoyed seeing the Long Crested Eagle, someone new at Londolozi.
I’m so glad that the survival skills her mother taught her are keeping the young Tsalala in good stead. Like her mother, she is amazing. My heart still aches for the Tsalala female. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that loss, especially when I think about the current plight of her daughter. She should be helping her mother to raise the next generation of cubs. It’s a hard knock. But I wish ‘Tsalala Daughter’ (as I call her) all the good fortune in the world. Be blessed!
Lovely seeing and hearing about the Tsalala female. I hope fate looks upon her kindly in the coming year. As always your photographs are fabulous and much appreciated
The plumbago photo reminds how attractive the flora can be as well as the fauna
Beautiful, I love the elephant pics and the beautiful flowers. Oh also the duck. So pretty!
So glad to see the young Tsalala Female doing well! Such a relief……and she should be mostly used to a solitary lifestyle, as she was essentially raised this way…..but I sure wish that her mama was still here to groom her face and get rid of all of the nasty ticks!