Beginning a new month we can’t help but continue the amazing photographic content captured by the Londolozi team. Undertones of the golden winter light are sneaking through as we enjoy one stunning sunset and sunrise after another. Although having had a bout of rain recently to help carry the greenery a little longer into autumn, temperatures are beginning to drop and we can feel winter approaching rapidly.
With the cooler mornings, we have had some great sightings of a number of different lions. From the Ntsevu Sub-adults as they are in a tricky situation as nomadic young lions surrounded by numerous other male lions to the Nkuhuma Sub-adults in the north who are also beginning the nomadic stage of their lives. The Ndhzenga Males have been seen this week too.
A determined Senegal Bush Male on a territorial patrol as he constantly attempts to expand his territory or defend it from his rivals. The Three Rivers Female is captured in a stunning Black and White image as she spends some time in a large marula tree.
The Mother Cheetah and her youngster have also been seen fairly regularly and have provided some great sightings each time.
We also give you a brief glimpse into an incredibly interesting relationship between two bird species, a Burchell’s Starling and a Great Spotted Cuckoo.
Let us know your favourite image in the comments section below.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
A stunning scene of the Three Rivers Female in the middle of a large marula tree. Beautifully framed by the branches and foliage. The rosettes and texture of the marula bark are brought to life in black and white.
Forced into early independence at 11 months. Despite her small size, she's proven resilient, currently raising a cub in SE Londolozi.
a large elephant bull had waded his way into the middle of a waterhole to feed on the lush green reeds that were growing there. This allowed for some amazing photographic opportunities with his reflection in the foreground.
Over the last few weeks, we have been fortunate enough to watch this young cheetah grow as our sightings of these two have become a lot more regular. Here the two had climbed upon a fallen marula tree to gain a vantage point in order to scan for any unwanted threats or possibly their next meal.
On our way to a sighting of the mother cheetah and her cub, we had to put that on hold as we came across such an interesting interaction and relationship between two different bird species, a Burchell’s Starling and a Great Spotted Cuckoo. More to come on this in next week’s Virtual Safari.
But in a nutshell, the relationship is known as brood parasitism and the cuckoo is being fed grasshoppers by the starling. Feeding this cuckoo chick numerous grasshoppers, the dedication towards raising another species’ chick is fascinating.
Once again another stunning sunset. As we approach winter, there is a lot of dust and moisture in the air creating the most spectacular colours as the sun dips below the horizon.
The Nkuhuma Pride spend most of their time north of the Sand River, on Marthly. After finding them resting in the Manyeleti Riverbed, one of the younger lions was a lot more alert and inquisitive than the rest and spent a while watching a column of vultures circling in the distance searching for thermals.
The Senegal Bush Male, the dominant male near to camp has been found frequently over the last few weeks, and on each occasion, he has been intensely focused on patrolling his territory. on a morning territorial patrol. Securing it and defending it against his rivals in every direction.
Initially seen as a young male in 2016, this leopard only properly established territory on Londolozi in mid-2019
As we turned the corner we immediately spotted the glowing eyes of this Southern White-faced Owl. We were amazed at how still it was while we watched him at eye level for a few minutes before eventually flying off.
Young elephants provide such great entertainment as they continue to learn how to operate their trunks and are overridden by an inquisitive nature. This youngster approached the vehicle extending its trunk out towards us in an attempt to work out exactly what we were.
The Ntsevu Sub-adults have been in a bit of disarray of late as the Ndzhenga Males have taken control of their natal pride and are unlikely to tolerate them being around anymore. Forcing the young lions into a nomadic lifestyle as they gain strength and size before being able to challenge for their own territory one day.
A grey tree frog, otherwise known as a foam nest frog, rests motionless in the branches of a dead tree. This frog species has evolved to become quite independent of water and can often be found rather far from any water source.
A large hippo bull opens his jaws wide, displaying the impressive set of teeth that he has. This particular bull is a resident in one of the waterholes in central Londolozi and has been a familiar feature in that area for nearly two years now.
A Ndzhenga Male lit up by the striking golden morning light.
We have been very fortunate with hyena dens in the past couple of months. This young cub watches as its mother approaches.
March’s TWIP Photographer Winner…
Thank you to all of you who voted for your favourite images on our blog and as well as Instagram – we have a winner… Our TWIP Photography competition happens over the course of every month and relies on your votes – our blog and social media followers. The winner of every month gets to draw a prize/voucher out of a hat for all the energy, patience, skill and passion they needed in order to get “the shot”. We have had such fun starting the competition this past month, during our photography campaign, and are thrilled with the beautiful imagery being submitted for TWIP every week. Make sure to vote every week for your favourite picture.
Now onto this last month’s winner – congratulations Robbie Ball!
March’s winning image… “The calm before the storm. 5 members of a wild dog pack scan their surroundings from an elevated area just as the sun is starting to dip towards the horizon.”
Congrats Robbie that was a stunning photograph. My favorite for this week is the Southern White-faced owl. Those eyes are so bright and shinny, such a beautiful owl and a fantastic photo. I also loved the photo of the Ndhzenga male lion with the light emphasis on his face.
Thank you so much, Valmai. Robbie’s image is amazing and deserved to win the month of March’s title. I also agree that the eyes of the owl are so bright and captivating.
Kelsey gets my vote this week for the cheetah and her cub – also love the owl.
I think I might have to agree with you in that those shot are amazing.
Wow! You guys and gals are coming up with some beauties, making it hard to pick! Congrats to Robert Ball for his winning image from last month. Today, I have to go with the photo of the cheetah and her cub. I dearly love the Three Rivers female and that photo was a very close runner up in my mind with the rosettes on the marula tree reflecting that of the leopard! But the cheetah won. Many wonderful photos here. We enjoyed every one! Thank you all!
The rangers are really turning out some unbelievable content, making it so difficult to choose one standalone image that is a winner. But I do agree that Kelsey’s image of the cheetah and her cub is stunning.
As always the pics are stunning but as I did last week I am going to go with the sunset on the landscape! When I see photos like these with those colors I can’t help but smile wide! Congrats to Robert for the win! I picked that photo as a winner, also!
Thank you so much, Debra. It was such a stunning scene and couldn’t help but capture it.
Sean, What an exciting week you all have had, and the images get better and better! We added Kelsey’s Cheetah image to our favorites – the top shot this week for us. It almost looks like a painting! The close up of the young elephant is special too! How do we vote for our favorites?
Thank you so much, Michael and Terri. It really has been an exciting week. The quality of the imagery of the rangers that are coming out now has been so good. Kelsey’s image of the cheetah is great. Just by simply commenting here on which is your favourite and then at the end of the month, we will feature the weekly favourites in an Instagram post and prompt the followers to vote there for their favourite.
So many great photos again. I must have missed that picking was a contest, but I so love Robbie Ball’s photo I agree!
My favorite this week is Kelsey Clark cheetah photo. 💗 all things cheetah and this pic is a stunnner.
Thank you so much, Marcia. Yes, we are running a bit of a competition within the TWIPs to see what the viewers’ favourites are.
Wonderful pictures as always it is impossible to pick up one, but the joy to see that the cheetah cub is still alive and kicking is great. Very interesting relationship and a a repetition lesson on brood parasitism. Starlings aren’t so lucky lately! Gorgeous birds.
Thank you so much, Francesca. it was such a great image of the cheetah and her cub. It is still doing so well.
How many Ntsevu sub-adults are there and what is the male to female ratio?
Hi Chris. It is rather tricky to keep track of the Ntsevu Sub-adults at the moment as they have split up and are moving around all over the reserve of late. There were initially 12 that were around (5 females and 7 males). We think that one male may have gone missing.
Whenever we have seen them they have been in all different computations of young males and females.
Sean, you and the team continue to make it almost impossible to pick a winner as it seems the competition to be the winner of the month grows more intense. They truely are fabulous. Really a very difficult choice this week but I have to say that perhaps the cheetah win, as they are such difficult subjects to capture. The Three Rivers female is so very close, as is the black and white baby elephant and the incredible photos of the starling and cuckoo quite extraordinary. I will never tire of the effort and dedication you all give to bring us these wonderful photos every week. A huge well done to you all 🙏🏻❤️
Thank you so much, Cally. We are honoured and privileged to be able to do what we do and so sharing it with the rest of the world is an amazing bi-product of what we do. The competition to get images into the TWIPs is growing rapidly and so the quality that is coming through is so high. THe cheetah image is stunning.
TWIP, wow! Wonderful pics, my favorite is the Cheetahs. Thanks
Thank you so much, William. The quality of the imagery at the moment is amazing. I do agree that the cheetah image is fantastic.
Loved the eye level elephant image, and the sunset is magnificent!
Thank you so much, Vin. Those are two stunning shots.
Can’t pick a favourite in this lot – all excellent. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much, Leonie. There are some great images this week that make it so difficult to choose a favourite.
TWIP is always one of the highlights of my week, but this week you have truly surpassed the goal line. What a magnificent group of stellar photos and stories. Thanks to all for the wonderful reminders week after week of just how glorious South Africa and Londolozi truly are…and how badly I want to return.
Karen, thank you for your warming remarks. The team is really pushing the TWIP and its incredible to hear feedback like this!
Thank you so much, Karen. It is only our pleasure to be able to share such amazing imagery and stories with everyone across the world, allowing us to showcase this magnificent part of the world. We desperately hope that you are able to return to Londolozi one day soon.
All of these are fantastic images this week Sean, but I’ve two favorites: the cheetah mom with her cub looking out from underneath her hind section and the Burchell Starling feeding the cricket to the owl. I chose these two because they are a bit different. But… the intensity in the eyes of the Senegal Bush male is powerful. Thanks for providing us with a great WIP !
Thank you so much, Denise. I have to agree with your choices this week although the image of the cheetah is stunning.
Congratulations on winning the competition, Robbie !
This weeks’ pictures are stunning again. The one of the starling feeding a young cuckoo is so fascinating. But also all the other pictures are great. The teeth of that hippo are impressive indeed; the photo of the leopard in the Marula tree is really beautiful. Each and everyone of them are special!
I love the lighting of the hippo bull this week. The cheetah’s and starling feeding the cuckoo also caught my attention.
Why is a hyena youngster called a cub instead of a pup? Isn’t it a canine?
Hyenas form their own family known as Hyaenidae and are in fact closer related to the cat family than the dog family, therefore their young are called cubs.
Great selection Londolozi team! How many hyena dens are active at the moment and do they belong to the same clan?
Thank you so much, Michael. It is difficult to say exactly how many hyena dens there are. I think currently there are four dens, I believe that some of them are from the same clan but I am sure you are aware it is a challenge to know this for sure.
My favorite photo this week is Senegal Bush. had to pick him as he is the only one left (that we see) of Karula’s cubs.