Another week passes by. This week we have an action-packed time with the mother cheetah and her young male successfully bringing down an impala in plain sight. A Ndzhenga Male roams around in search of his coalition partners or the Ntsevu Females and walks along the edge of a waterhole.
The large herd of buffalo has graced the southern grasslands a number of times with a few impressive large males leading the way. We have a brief period where the wild dogs were seen before moving off again. Everything else from the tallest, giraffe, through to the smallest, Mongoose make it into this week.
On the leopard front, the Ximungwe Female and Nkoveni Female are found as they relax in various places. But the Nkoveni Young Female A rewards us with a spectacular sighting as she walks through a clearing in front of a large herd of elephants.
Let us know your favourite image in the comments section below.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
One of the Ndzhenga Males sits with a regal posture, while he takes a brief rest before continuing his search for either his coalition partners or a few females.
The Ximungwe Female lies on top of a termite mound as a swarm of flies gathers on her nose. With the remains of her kill safely in a nearby tree she digested her food from the comfort of the ground below.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
An impala ewe draws its last breath after being chased down by a female cheetah in the late afternoon.
While feasting on the impala, the cheetahs were very wary of everything going on around them. Rightfully so, the smell of the blood and flesh will attract a number of different predators.
The Nkoveni Female rests on a slim branch of a marula tree after feeding on a part of her impala kill hoisted just above her.
A gorgeous female who is found to the east of camp. Easily recognised by her 2:2 spot pattern she is often to be found in Marula trees.
A large buffalo bull is one of the first of more than a thousand individuals in the herd to approach a large waterhole in the late afternoon.
With this pack of wild dogs now moving enormous distances each day, we rarely see them. And so when they do come onto Londolozi there is huge excitement to get across and see them.
After seeing a number of vultures perched in a dead tree in the distance, we went to investigate. Upon getting closer, the largest vulture, the Lappet-faced Vulture took flight stretching its enormous wings.
The Nkhuma Male has returned to Londolozi with his father/uncle. Let’s hope they hang around and make this more permanent.
The smallest carnivore in Africa is the dwarf mongoose. Propped up on a log as a sentry, keeping an eye out for any danger while the rest of the business forages around it.
The Ximungwe Female moved through some thicker vegetation, as the light was softening and this little window allowed me to capture her against a dark background with a somewhat mystical feel to it.
A female giraffe pauses temporarily from feeding and takes a moment to gaze down at our vehicle
A Red-billed Oxpecker sits perfectly framed by a buffalo’s horns. If I’m honest, I didn’t actually plan this shot and was in fact just trying to capture the amazing length and curl in the buffalo’s horn. The next thing I knew, there was an oxpecker perched in the background.
One of the Nkoveni Young Females walks confidently past a large breeding herd of elephants on an open crest.
A stunning young female with a very similar spot pattern to her mother, the Nkoveni Female. Litter still completely intact March 2022.
A buffalo bull performs what’s known as a flehmen grimace. By inhaling the scent of another buffalo – likely a female in this case – he activates his Jacobson’s Organ on the palate of his mouth which allows him to register the pheromonal messages within the scent.
Not too long after finding him, he walked along the edge of this waterhole with a great reflection.
A Little Bee-eater takes off from its perch in an attempt to catch an unsuspecting insect down below.
There are fantastic photos this week Sean, making it impossible to choose a favorite, so I have a tie vote for Kirst and Robert’s cheetah images, followed by the framing of the buffalo’s horn around the red-billed oxpecker. The birds were also beautifully captured and it was terrific to see your dwarf mongoose. The lions and leopards continue to be standard sightings lately and I never tire tire of seeing them. Thank you for this TWIP.
My best picture – the Cheetah mum and subadult with their kill. A lovely photo where the mum’s head and marking patterns are perfectly in place above that of her offspring. The Ximungwe Female with the dark background is also a great photograph.
It is mostly a challenge to choose 1 favourite, but the daggaboy photos is incredible! Thank you for the photos
For me, it’s a tie between Robert’s bee-eater and his image of the young Nkoveni walking past the ellies. 2 questions for you Sean – are the Nkoveni sisters spending more time on their own now? It’s time they gave their mother a break, she must be exhausted having to keep feeding all 3 of them. Secondly, the ellies don’t look remotely bothered by her…I know they’ll chase off lions when they have a breeding herd, but I guess a solitary leopard poses no threat.
dwarf mongoose is my favorite
It was a hard choice today. All the photos were terrific. I loved the Wild Dog. But, it seemed that he/she was posing for the camera.
Witnessing a cheetah stalk and kill was the most exciting of many adventures we’ve had at Londolozi.
Great shot by Patrick of the Ximungwe Female
Sean, What great images! It almost looks like the wild dog is cross-eyed! Right? The bee-eater is beautiful, but our favorite this week is Chris’s “lucky” Buffalo shot with the Oxpecker!
The leopard photos are as always superb, for sheer power and brutality the cheetah and impala ewe, and for grace the little bee eater photo. As I have said before bird pictures are ten times harder than big animal pictures
I loved the Buffalo horn curled around the oxpecker, even if it was an accident, and I loved the male lion and his reflection (I would crop out than log and greenery if possible or use a Photoshop eraser on it because it detracts from the photo), but my favorite is the mama cheetah and the impala kill. The lighting is beautiful, as is the cheetah! Wonderful TWIP again! Thanks for sharing!
I particularly liked the composition of the buffalo bull horn being photobombed by the oxpecker.
All fantastic photos, but for me the Ndzhenga male sitting whit such a regal posture one can almost see a crown on its head !!
Thank you for this TWIP.
The cheetah take undoubtedly the first place, the image is perfect. The Ximungwe female in mystical light is a favourite for me, the buffalo horn is striking and I personally love the female giraffe… but all images are top quality
TWIP best picture is a hard one for me to choose. The Ximungwe female I late afternoon by Patrick is wonderful. The shot of the buffalo’s horn with the Oxpecker inside is amazing. Lastly the little bee eater taking flight is a phenomenal picture as well. Picking one is difficult. I will select the little bee eater this week. Sean you and the Londolozi staff and rangers are making this hard.
Always hard to choose but I’ll vote for the Buffalo with the horn framing the Oxpecker…very unusual!
Wow what a week in photos! I can barely choose favorites. But if I have to I would say the Buffalo and the oxpecker in the background was a phenomenal by chance photo! Also the Ximungwe female leopard with a dark and background and the bee-eater!
Hi Sean, it is difficult this week to choose a foto, as they are all stunning foto’s. But I think the Buffalo with red billed oxpecker is an extra ordinary foto.
For me the loveliest photo is certainly the one of the little bee-eater. The one of the buffalo whose horn kind of frames the oxpecker is great, and so is the one of the lion with the reflection in the water.
However, all the other photos are just as great and fascinating. Thanks for this week’ s pictures.
Terrific photos this week Sean! It seems that I am in complete agreement with Denise Vouri; the cheetah shots, closely followed by the brilliant buffalo horn-framing of the red-billed oxpecker!! And diverting slightly, I’m always partial to any photo of an African wild dog, or dogs as the case may be! Cheers!!
Great pics guys! My fave is the wild dog followed by the oxpecker surrounded by that buffalo horn! Great pic!
Maybe a little macabre, but the cheetah with its impala was my favorite, together with the bee eater. Thanks.
What a week of photos! Love the buffalo with the oxpecker and the leopards (of course!). But the cheetah photos are my favorite this week…..the color of the mama’s eyes!
My sister ‘s favourite is the giraffe and the lion
Lovely selection of photos. Must say. Really like the , buffalo,oxpecker combo. Closely followed by,the cheetahs and , leopard in front of elephants. But. Great selection,all together. Thanks!!