Now fully in the swing of winter, the colours are truly standing out making many of the sightings stunning photographic opportunities. Although a somewhat predator-heavy week was perfectly punctuated with a variety of other gorgeous subjects to snap away at. From cheetahs and elephants to fighting wildebeest, peeping mongooses, buffalo and birdlife. This week was fantastic.
On the leopard front, of course, the Ximungwe Young Male makes an appearance, as does the Three Rivers Young Male as they both roam around occupying time while their mothers are out hunting and essentially sourcing their next meal. The Piccadilly Female also popped up having made an impala kill which she had hoisted into a tree, eventually after a long wait she descends. But to start it off we have a large male cheetah utilising a fallen marula to gain ground and scan for prey.
Let us know your favourite image in the comments section below.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
Gaining the high ground. This cheetah struck an absolutely stunning pose as he climbed this fallen Marula to scan the open grassland ahead.
The climb. The Ximungwe Young Male makes use of a small marula tree to gain a bit of a vantage point to scan around for any potential predators and prey.
A single cub of the Ximungwe Female's second litter. Initially rather skittish but is very relaxed now. Birth mark in his left eye.
The Ndzhenga Male mid roar on a cool morning.
The Marico Sunbirds seem to rule patches of flowers and often react aggressively toward other sunbird species that try to feed from them.
Illuminated by the golden light of the rising sun, the Ximungwe Young Male lays claim to his mother’s impala kill, of which you can see one limb sticking out from underneath his arm.
The Young Males are providing such great viewing at the moment.
Two wildebeest bulls face to face, one already on its knees ready to engage as they challenge each other for territorial rights.
Some things are left unseen. This female buffalo’s milky blue eye was quite striking.
A business of dwarf mongoose sunbathing to warm up their little bodies before they begin their daily rituals.
perched
The Ximungwe Young Male is almost independent but still has the curiosity of a cub! Here, popping up onto his hind legs to paw at a Community spider web nest had a communal gasp resonate through our vehicle. Leopards balancing on their hind legs like this is a pretty rare sight and only the second time in be ever seen it!
Yellow-billed Hornbill scurrying around on the ground feeding on many different small insects within the grass.
Collared Sunbird blending in perfectly in amongst the orange glow of the aloe flowers.
With the flowers laden with pollen the bees are taking full advantage.
We waited a long time for this gorgeous female to climb down from the Saffron tree that she had hoisted an impala lamb kill into. Here, she makes sure of no approaching danger before hopping down and disappearing from view.
Golden-coated of Sunsetbend lineage, this female is gradually expanding her presence south of the Sand River into Londolozi.
Butterflies even blend into the bright colours of the flowers.
A large elephant bull reaches high into the boughs of a Marula tree. These trees only fruit in January but the branches and leaves seem to be almost as attractive to these giants.
A curious zebra peeks at us over the back of her herd-mates.
One of the most beautiful resident birds in the area, the White-fronted bee-eater, perches neatly on a thin branch to scan below for any unsuspecting insects.
A young hippo calf catches one of the first rays of sunlight early in the morning and gazes directly towards our vehicle with one of the adults from the same pod nearby.
On our way back to camp, late in the morning, we spotted one of the Nkoveni Young Females sleeping in a large Apple Leaf tree on top of a crest.
Also young and playful but rather with a spot pattern of 3:2. She is slightly bigger than her sister.
Once again, a great collection to make up TWIP, but this week I feel the “less is more” photo of the cheetah has to be my favourite.
Thank you so much, Daryl. The cheetah shot is spectacular.
All wonderful but the Ximungwe young male in the golden light is my favourite
Thank you so much, Francesca. The Ximungwe Young Male always providing amazing photographic opportunities.
Megan Kane-Berman’s photos are very refreshing!!! So colorful capturing the smaller species in the Bushveld!
I have to agree, Megan’s images are so stunning.
Terrific week! I especially loved the first photo of the male cheetah on the fallen marula tree. A ‘high key’ look! Mesmerizing! Thanks for sharing all of these beautiful photos.
Thank you so much, Darlene. Kyle’s shot of the cheetah is mesmerising.
Beautiful, as always!!
Thank you so much, Lisa.
All of the photos are my favorites. They are just great again.
Thank you so much, Christa.
Absolutely stunning photos once again which makes it near impossible to choose a favourite. My love for the gentle giants has swayed me this week so my vote goes to the elephant bull reaching into the Marula tree. His trunk could easily be mistaken for another branch!
Elephants are indeed gentle giants. It is a great shot of Kyle’s.
The little bee eaters and sunbirds are like precious jewels. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Doug. The bee-eaters and sunbirds bring so much colour and life to the bush.
A leoprad on its hind legs! There have been some inbelievable sightings this winter!
There really have been some incredible sightings over the last couple of months.
Sean my favorite foto this week is the Ximungwe young male on his hind legs, something you hardly ever see the leopards do. This foto needs to be frame forsure. Lovely foto’s of the sugar birds, their colours are absolutely stunning.
It is a great sighting of the Ximungwe Young Male. It is not often that you get to see a leopard on its back legs.
Wonderfully varied set of images this week! Always hard to pick a favorite, but that opening shot of the cheetah is stunning!!
Thank you so much, Paul. The cheetah shot is stunning.
Oh wow!! You have seriously outdone yourselves this week!! How do you choose a favourite from all of those?! 😀 There are so many beautiful shots there! My favourite a are – that exquisite pic of the cheetah, the beautiful bee eater and both of the sunbirds. But, it I had to pick – my vote is for the bee!
Thank you so much, Carly. Those are some great choices. The shot of the bee is gorgeous.
I’m still entertained by the kid-like behavior of the Ximungwe male and so my vote goes to Kyle, with a second vote for Kelsey’s dwarf mongoose. You all are submitting amazing photos but then you’ve fantastic subjects to shoot! Seeing these just fuels my desire to return and hopefully my trip for next year will be locked in place.
Thank you so much, Denise. The subjects have been exceptional of late. Hopefully we see you here again soon.
I loved Megan’s images of the sunbird and insects. The butterfly especially reminded me of another almost alien world, similar to Avatar. It’s wonderful how a subtle perspective shift can make you feel so small, as if standing next to a giant butterfly.
Sean, Wow, what an incredible set of images! The colors really caught our attention. The butterfly, bee and sunbird images from Megan (well done!) are fabulous!
Besides the Ximungwe young male I particularly love the insects both bee and butterfly with flowers it is not a usual picture and they have both lot of summer colours although it’s wintertime
That is the unusual part is that they present colours you would expect to see in summertime, but the aloes are in full bloom at the moment punctuating the landscape with amazing bursts of colour.
Loved your shot of the leopard in the tree. Also the Xmungwe male on his hind legs. Ximungwe has raised two very curios and beautiful sons❤️ By the way- the virtual safari with the mother and cubs — priceless!
Thank you so much, Kay. The Ximungwe Female has done a superb job as a mother.
TWIP is again spectacular , the cheetah high on the fallen tree overlooking the territory is really the shot for me. Thanks Sean.
Thank you so much, William.
Absolutely love!