To me this Week In Pictures represents just a snippet of the diversity of wildlife, big and small, that all live in a harmonious equilibrium at Londolozi.
We’ve recently had amazing sightings of the Nkoveni Young Male and Three Rivers Young Female. They’re beginning to show playful, mischievous, but mostly promising signs of growing up. It’s an exciting time for our team as we now see them more as subadults rather than cubs. The Kambula Pride and Ndzhenga Males continue to frequent parts of their Londolozi territory.
The Makhatini Family of cheetahs spent an intermittent period roaming the central crests of Londolozi blessing us with a succession of unbelievable sightings, including a morning with them I will never forget (stay tuned for a separate blog on this). We’ve also had both the Toulon Pack of wild dogs as well as the Pack of Two pop up repeatedly across our reserve.
In my opinion, summer brings out the most interesting parts of the bush. It’s a time to focus on the smallest of creatures, sit at waterholes as there is bound to be some sort of activity, observe the natural bouquets of grass inflorescences and watch life unfold in abundance all backdropped by the lush and rich summer hues.
As always, let us know your favourites in the comments section below.
Enjoy This Week in Pictures…
The Nkoveni Young Male stares with intent at a herd of impalas in the distance. With his growing independence, he has been spotted on his own being a lot more adventurous, and self-sufficient and putting into practice the many lessons learned by observing his mother.
Londolozi's most viewed leopard and prolific mother. This gorgeous female has raised multiple cubs to independence.
Nothing beats driving out of camp to find wild dogs on the airstrip! Determined to get closer to a herd of impala on the opposite side of the airstrip, this pack of two wild dogs could not seem to get past a barrier of zebra successfully forcing them to retreat further and further away.
One of the Kambula Sub-adult Males lifts his head and looks toward the camera, showing off his promising youthful mane and amber eyes.
“Lachryphagy”. A new word and phenomenon for me. Lachryphagy is the practice of consuming tears. It is observed in certain insects (in this image we can see a tick, flies and a moth) that feed on the tears of mammals, birds, or reptiles to obtain essential nutrients like sodium and proteins. Lachryphagy is a form of commensalism, where the insect benefits without directly harming the host.
A common resident during our summer months, a Walhbergs Eagle perches in the morning golden light. It’s a distinctively smaller eagle than other resident brown eagles in the area, with a long straight-edged tail and yellow legs.
Iconically summer. The Causeway always presents a hive of activity in the summer months, whether it be restless hippos, crocodiles or countless different bird species.
The Three Rivers Young Female, in the safety of a big tamboti tree, watches with curiosity as two wild dogs lurk at the base of another nearby tree sniffing out an impala kill that the Three Rivers Female had successfully hoisted earlier that afternoon.
Forced into early independence at 11 months. Despite her small size, she's proven resilient, currently raising a cub in SE Londolozi.
Feeling confident the wild dogs had moved off, the Three Rivers Young Female descended the safety of the tamboti tree in an attempt to regain possession of their meal that was waiting in a nearby larger jackalberry tree.
Basking in the afternoon sun, a flock of Village and Lesser Masked Weavers perched on a dead knobthorn. The pop of contrasting colours of yellow against a bright blue sky created a beautiful scene.
One of the Kambula Lionesses walks across a clearing after finishing up an impala lamb kill she fed on with another lioness. In this image, you can see her saggy milk pouch, indicative that she has recently given birth. As a team, we proceeded to stay with her for the rest of the day in an attempt to hopefully find out where she was keeping her newborn cubs. Stay tuned for more exciting news on this…
Trying to get a little more creative with my shots, I got the opportunity to capture a more eye-level image of this formidable creature. To me, this image of her represents motherhood, unequivocal strength, and quiet determination.
Being able to watch a sighting unfold from start to finish is a great privilege in a place like Londolozi. Following the cheetah feeding on the impala, the vultures were quick and first to the scene trying to scavenge any remnants of the meal.
Right place, right time. One morning of recent, we bore witness to the Makhatini Family of cheetah hunting in the central parts of Londolozi. What was incredible to witness (but equally harsh showing the raw side of nature) was how the Mother Cheetah only stunned an impala lamb and allowed her three cheetah cubs to do the rest and take it down themselves in a great lesson of testing their development and ability to hunt. More on this in a separate incoming blog!
Plume Chloris (Chloris Roxburghiana) glistens in the morning light, shimmering with water droplets from overnight rainfall. One of the many grass inflorescences that flourish in summer.
The breakaway of two Kambula Lionesses (one of them has recently given birth) approaches a mud wallow to quench their thirst following a successful meal.
Always an exciting scene coming across a crocodile in action (but an equal reminder of the terrifying nature of these beasts)! Having missed the actual take-down, we came across this large crocodile that feeding on an adult wildebeest.
One of my favourite of the smaller mammals and creatures: is the dwarf mongoose. One afternoon, we came across a business of dwarf mongoose scurrying around one of their sleep sites at an old termite mound. We switched the vehicle off, and the mongoose relaxed to our presence and in this rare occasion, we managed to get some great close-up photographs of a species that is usually hasty and forever fleeting.
One of my favourite shots for the week. A mother dwarf mongoose and one of its pups!
Summer brings rain, filling water holes and mud wallows. This means plenty of mud baths, making the elephants very happy. What draws me to this image is the blur of mud spraying from this elephant’s trunk.
Mini me. The Three Rivers Female rests atop a termite mound eye-level to our vehicle, and her cub approached to position herself just like her mother, creating an interesting mirrored image of both leopards.
Forced into early independence at 11 months. Despite her small size, she's proven resilient, currently raising a cub in SE Londolozi.
One of my favourite birds, is the Helmeted Guineafowl. Usually always vocal and scurrying around the ground or perched in the canopy of trees, I was grateful I managed to capture a moment of stillness as it quenched its thirst.
Their weird yet wonderful beauty. The stark primary colours defining its facial features paired with the beautiful white and black spotty feathers makes them a unique bird.
We hope that this Week in Pictures took your breath away this Valentines Day, and here is a little extra treat to celebrate the month of Love.
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How’s the Tsalala lioness?
Love the Kambula Lion photos this week – Especially the Sub Adult looking at the camera like that
Love your dwarf mongoose photos, Kate! (and all the other images as well).
A question for you…..you refer to the 2 Kambula lionesses in your photo as a breakaway group. I recall 2 of them were both heavily pregnant, so has the other one given birth yet, as far as you can tell? Is the “breakaway” just a temporary thing until the cubs are old enough to join the pride?
A wonderful collection of photos again, this week, Kate. Especially love the ones with the zebras watching the wild dogs, the great photos of the Guinea Fowl, and of course, all those wonderful cats, the one of the causeways and, and.. I love that causeway because there is indeed so much going on there with birds and other animals to watch
Wonderful pictures this week. The picture of the Plume Chloris is beautiful and well focused. I also liked the closeup of the Guineafowl with all it’s beautiful colors.
Kate, thanks so much for this wonderful Valentine edition of TWIP. I enjoyed every one of your images with a special nod to your dwarf mongoose mom and pup, plus the guinea fowl close-up – one of my favorite birds. It’s terrific to see the sub-adults of Nkoveni and Three Rivers , both on their way to independence – not a given but I’m hopeful.
Hi Kate,your photography is outstanding and wish I could get more photos here on the reserve where we live. My favorite photo this week must be the Three Rivers female with her cub lying next to her. Secondly the Nkoveni’s male cub who is a stunning male. Keep us posted with the new lions cub please. How is the Tsalala female lioness
The closeup of the helmeted guineafowl – Yum!
Hi Kate, leopards always take my breath away! Mini me and the Three Rivers young female I am in love. Also the Nkoveni duo and the baby mongoose, but as a pure beauty and technical point I absolutely like the Plume Chloris (fantastic, they seem to be moving), the lioness symbol of motherhood and the guineafowl, they also are among my favourite birds, I watched a documentary on them that was incredibly intriguing, they are far from being limited animals, have a complex language and intelligence. Cheetah are so incredibly elegant and graceful, they also are “quick and clean ” killers but not in this case… poor lamb. Cubs must learn… it is necessary but hard to watch. Happy Valentine!
What a fun collection of TWIP, Kate! Your shots are stunning – the Nkoveni Young male at attention (he’s growing so fast!), the zebra and wild dogs on the airstrip, the lion and “insect eyes!” (new concept for me – Lachryphagy), the yellow weavers against the blue sky, the guinea fowl (how never captured one of these beings still enough and, finally my fav, the dwarf mongooses! Thanks for the Valentine images!
The Kambula Lionesses and the Dwarf Mongoose are my favorites.
Dear Kate, love the mongoes-a very nice TWIP with that different views-fantastic.
Great collection, Kate. I especially loved the butterfly on the lion’s eye, the eye-level shot of the lioness and the portrait of the helmeted guinea fowl. Can’t wait to heat more about the new lion cubs!
I so look forward to this blog on a Friday , the joy of a full frame camera is shown on the lion’s eye photos
Great pics! Can you make these blogs shareable on Bluesky? (Many of us are leaving Twitter and Meta.) Thanks!