Many questions have been flying around the Rangers’ Room this week… Where is the Ntomi Male? Where will the young male cheetah be next? What is happening with the females in the Talamati pride?
This week the Ntomi Male has been seen with two different kills. Unfortunately for him, both had been robbed, but not only by hyena! One of his kills was robbed by the Tsalala Female. Nevertheless, he is still looking healthy and has been sticking close to his parent’s territories.
After one of the Talamati Females was seen mating with Ndzenga Male on our airstrip, we found two of the Talamati lionesses roaming nearby. The question still remains – where are the rest?
Elephants have started to migrate in their numbers towards the Sand River making for some spectacular photographic opportunities. Elephants are not the only animal drawn to the river of late…
The clouds have been floating in and out of Londolozi but when they do disappear, there is a spot along the river that every photographer must be patient enough to capture. When the sun sets in the evening there is a flush of colour and squeaks from the White-fronted bee-eater’s nesting site creating an aerial display that is magical to capture.
Without rambling on too much, here are This Week In Pictures…
Lately, we have been fortunate enough to watch this young male cheetah grow as we have been seeing him quite frequently. His hunting skills and dominance have developed significantly, in almost all the hunts we have watched he has been successful. Here we found him lying up on a termite mound and just before he started to move he stretched and looked straight at us, luckily we had time to capture that moment.
I took this opportunity to capture a profile shot of this young male cheetah while he was watching a herd of impala from the vantage of a termite mound. I really like to convert profiles into black and white if it works. I find that the black and white in this shot makes the spots and tear marks stand proud.
Just another shot of the young male cheetah on the same termite mound but this time I captured more of a portrait scenery. I love how his honey-colored eyes came out in this lighting.
The Nkoveni Female and one of her cubs. She had an impala stashed up in the canopy of this Marula tree. In this photo, she is joined by her young male cub at the fork of the tree to scan the surroundings for any potential danger.
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 full-cropped White-backed Vulture perched in a dead Leadwood tree ingesting its recent meal. Vultures can feed extremely quickly on the ground around the carcass, not yet ingesting the food but rather storing the meal in their crop so they can fly away and ingest it elsewhere in a much safer position away from any potential danger.
The Ntsevu cubs cuddle in the cold. Watching the bonds develop between these cubs reminds me of the bonds their mothers had as cubs, resulting in the powerful pride they are today.
White-fronted bee-eaters soar in the sunset. After sitting all afternoon with the clan of White-fronted bee-eaters flocking into their nesting holes, we were treated to one last aerial display as the sun started to disappear.
Sitting in a spot along the Sand River patiently waiting for the family or so-called clan of White-fronted bee-eaters to arrive back to their roosting site after a day full of catching insects. We managed to capture a few shots of their evening dance back to their nesting holes on the banks of the river.
A male giraffe stares at us as he moves from one tree to the next. With smoke in the air from controlled burns, I managed to capture a belt of smoke creating an extra layer in this photo.
The herd of buffalo grazing as the sun drops below the horizon. What a scene. Spending a couple of minutes with a large herd of buffalo and watching a beautiful sunset is one of the best experiences in my opinion.
The Talamati lioness drinks from a small puddle of water after walking a distance in search of the rest of her pride. We found just two of the 5 females, where were the rest of the pride? Were they looking for the rest of their pride or in search of males?
I always take the opportunity to get a close-up of the eyes of the Ntomi Male (although here you can not see the brown spot in his iris). The untouched face of a young male leopard must always be captured before he begins his journey into fighting for dominance, scarring his face with scratches from rivalries.
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 Ntomi Male quickly escapes to the safety of a Marula tree as a hyena runs in to see if he has any scraps left over from his kill.
The Senegal Bush Male walks Londolozi’s western boundary on his territorial patrol.
Initially seen as a young male in 2016, this leopard only properly established territory on Londolozi in mid-2019
The Senegal Bush Male stops briefly as he hears something up ahead of him. At that moment the sun came through the clouds and made his eyes glisten.
The foot of a young elephant on a boulder. We spotted a young elephant bull climbing on a boulder to reach the top branches of a tree growing on top of the boulder. I just like this image as it is a different perspective of an elephant’s foot.
A large bull followed by a small breeding herd of elephants crosses the Sand River. It’s amazing that mid-way through July there is still so much water in the Sand River. It makes for some amazing sightings, where we can just switch the vehicle off and watch the magic unroll in front of us…
Jess and Dan, what a great week it must have been! Our favorite is the b&w one of the elephants crossing the Sand River – it’s a classic!
Great week in pictures team! Always love seeing photos of the Ntomi Male and the Senegal Bush Male (who looks more like his father Mvula as he gets older!)
Cracking photos -as always .
wow. great photos this week. Cheetah shots are great but Nkoveni and one of her cubs in a three is so special!!!!
Thank you for such captivating selection – some of the different types of light you captured is just beautiful. I really enjoyed the images of the cheetah. In spite of the great efforts of our tracking and guiding team, we were unable to catch a siting of him when we were at Londolozi recently, so your pictures are very appreciated! Even though we didn’t see the cheetah, we had an awe-inspiring time – to you Jess and all the trackers, guides, everyone that makes Londolozi so special – I am deeply grateful for the experience – and I cannot wait until I am back there! For now, TWIP and the blog are my link to what is happening!
Jess the image of the young elephant is quite unique. Loved the Ntomi images, such a stunning leopard. Nkoveni female up in the tree with her male cub is so beautiful. Buffaloes grazing and the sunsetting makes such an amazing backdrop.
Fantastic photos! The first one Jess took of the cheetah is amazing! And of course the close up of my fave boy Ntomi! But then the Ntsevu cubs and the branches full of bee-eaters also so great!
Great TWIP, thanks. My favourite again this week is Nkoveni with 1 of her cubs, this time perfectly framed in the fork of the tree. I also love the tip of a tail peeping out from behind the trunk! There’s also a wonderful contrast between the beautiful unmarked face of Ntomi and the much older and battle-scarred Senegal Bush male.
A great collection of photos this week, Jess. The cheetah, the Senegal Bush male, the sunsets, Nkoveni and her cub – all special! Thanks!
Jess and Dan great pictures this week. I think my favorite is the elephants foot on the boulder. While not a picture one would normally choose it is unique and very well focused. Thank you for sharing.
Fantastic week of photos Jess and Dan. The portraits are especially lovely to see, but I really like the detail shot of the elephant’s foot because of its unique aspect. The Ntomi male is so handsome at this stage of his life but as you stated, once he begins to roam he’ll acquire a few scars.
Terrific images this week Jess and Dan!! The you male cheetah continues be at the top of favorites list, quickly followed by the vulture and the a Senegal Bush male!!!
Love the vulture! The black and white really emphasizes all the contrast in shape and texture. I also really appreciate the different perspective of the elephant’s foot. One can’t help but wonder, what exactly is going on outside of the frame?
I love all these week’s amazing photos. There are still some favorites: the young elephant’s foot on the boulders, the buffalos in front of the evening sky and the expression on the cheetah’s face looking into the camera.
Thanks for the beautiful photos.
Another great week… and for some reason the photo of the White-backed Vulture drew my eye.
In the eeriest way it is quite beautiful and of course how could you not love the lion cubs
Thanks for sharing♥️
The first time I was privileged to stay at Londolozi, I wrote in the guest book, “Came for the leopards; stayed for the birds.” I have that feeling again seeing the white-fronted bee eaters. Wow!!!
The cheetah pics are beautiful 😻
Jess, nice meeting you and Dan last week. Your compositions are great! Really like the cheetah & leopards!!!