While out on game drive at the moment, it is difficult to not find yourself in a photographic setting where you can capture some magic. The weather, winter colours, and subjects are making our lives rather easy. The birdlife has been great allowing us to capture some fairly common birds but in unique and stunning ways. The Aloe flowers are the main drawcard for the sunbirds and bees this week adding a gorgeous array of colour to a somewhat dulling backdrop.
We took this opportunity to whip out a macro lens and get an up-close look at a few bees and the activity that the aloes bring. It was incredible to see how laden they were with a deep orange pollen from the aloe flowers.
On the predator front, we mostly enjoy leopards this week with the Three Rivers Young Male popping up every now and then. The Nkoveni Young Females are up to their antics again and always provide some quality viewing. And of course what is a week that goes by without the Ximungwe Young Male featuring?
Let us know your favourite image in the comments section below.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
A portrait of the beautiful Three Rivers Young Male. His inquisitive nature urges him to pause and get a better look at us, before continuing onward and upward into the canopy of the tree.
A young zebra foal stays glued to its mother’s side.
Bees are the most magnificent creature and for all the good they do within the pollination world, I couldn’t resist but spend some time trying to photograph these incredibly hard-working little drones.
Dark-capped Bulbul
The Three Rivers Young Male gives a big yawn after a good few hours of resting through the hotter part of the day.
As the bees move from one flower to the next their bodies become covered in pollen, she then pushes the gathered pollen down toward her lower legs, where she mixes the pollen with a little nectar and then packs it into her pollen basket from the bottom up. The hairs in the pollen basket hold it in place. When the pollen sac is full, it can hold more than one million grains of pollen.
The ostrich population continues to thrive in the Southwestern section of the reserve.
A lioness from the Ntsevu Pride. Covered in flies this lioness kept her gaze fixated on a herd of impala in the distance.
Yellow-billed oxpeckers congregate in their masses on the back of a female buffalo. Normally these birds would be classified as quite rare to see, where one would only really see them in association with a large herd of buffalo but not this many together.
The cheetah viewing at Londolozi has been phenomenal recently. For an area that doesn’t boast a very high population of these cats, they have been putting on quite a show. Here, a youngster perches on a mound while her mother rests behind her. She had just returned from a long chase after a herd of impala. What a sight it was to see a cheetah in full stride!
A beautiful female Collared Sunbird pauses briefly within the branches of a Natal Guarri tree, to scan the surrounding leaves for any small spiders and insects.
We found the Flat Rock Male inspecting the area where the Picadilly young female had just finished feeding on a kill. Here, pausing to analyse a rustle in the thicket ahead, which turned out to be a hyena finishing off the remainder of the kill which must have fallen earlier.
With the flowers of the aloes in full bloom, there has been a hive of activity around them over the last little while. A White-bellied Sunbird lifts its head from probing its beak into the flowers below. The naturally darkened backdrop made this bird stand out even more.
A large tailless female giraffe walks across an open crest in the early morning light. We enjoyed the clean atmosphere of such a minimalistic scene, with 360-degree views as far as the eye could see.
One of the Nkoveni Young Females glances up as a nuber of vultures begin circling overhead as the morning begins to warm up.
A gorgeous array of colours are revealed after the Sun has set. The silhouette of this dead knob-thorn tree created the perfect subject for such a scene.
July’s TWIP Photographer Winner…
Thank you to all of you who voted for your favourite images throughout the month of July 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 are thrilled to keep sharing some amazing photographic content with you every week. Make sure to vote every week for your favourite picture.
Now onto the winner for July – Congratulations to Kyle Gordon.
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Favorite is the portrait beautiful Three Rivers Young Male
Thank you so much, Sandra.
I love macro photography so the two bee photos talk to me and also the white bellied sunbird. well done.
Thank you so much, Kirstin.
Thanks for the photos of this week.
I especially love the one of the young leopards and of the sunbirds as well as the bees.
However, all of the other are so amazing as well
Thank you so much, Christa.
Sean, It’s great to hear that Cheetah are so prevalent right now! That’s a big change from some of our early visits. We are also excited to see Mashaba’s granddaughter (and Vomba’s great-granddaughter!) doing so well! We really loved all the macro and close-ups – the Collared Sunbird image is our favorite!
Thank you so much, Michael and Terri. It is great to see so many cheetahs at the moment. There definitely are a few more around now.
Hands down, the best image for me is the Ntsevu female and that stare.
Thank you so much, Jeff. It is an intense stare indeed.
I can’t pick up one this week. They all left me speechless , a concert of colours and life explosion!
Thank you so much, Francesca.
my favorite is the mom zebra with her young one. i have some really nice pics of zebras from my last trip to longolozi!
Thank you so much, Christine.
Difficult choice again, but this week I’m voting for Chris’ photo of the cheetah cub and mother. How incredible to have seen the mother running at full pelt – I’m guessing that’s something only a few rangers have ever seen. The cub looks quite large now, at what age do they start to assist with hunting?
And thank you Sean for the info about the bee, as shamefully I wasn’t aware of the full process in gathering pollen. If a few of you are doing macro photography there should be a prize for whoever can get a shot of a bee filling her pollen basket!
Thank you so much, Suzanne. There are only a handful of rangers that have seen a cheetah at full speed. Young cheetahs will probably start getting involved with a hunt at about 12-18 months. But most of the time, like lions, they get too excited and end up ruining the mother’s chances.
We should probably look at trying to capture a bee filling her pollen basket.
These are spectacular photos. Close favorites from the color with the bees, the bird shots and of course the cats, each photo was something to marvel at. It is the colors that stood out the most. Truly beautiful ☺️
Thank you so much, Johanna.
I really liked your selection of images for TWIP, as there’s a nice variety. My choice this week is your first bee photo, as I find the details really sharp, especially the wings. I know how difficult it is to photograph bees due to their speed and apparent randomness, although I’ve learned after spending hours watching them, their flight pattern isn’t random at all. Photographing bees is a good exercise in preparation for shooting other species I believe…… wonderful photos by all who contributed.
Thank you so much, Denise.
My vote: Sean’s first bee macro photo. Almost had to go with the oxpeckers…..tough decision. Hamba kahle.
Thank you so much, Judith.
Ah, the flora and smaller fauna , as well as some cracking leopard photos. So glad the ostrich population is gradually expanding . It seems the Southern Section is becoming more interesting
The sunbird on the aloe did it for me this week. 👍🏼
Thank you so much, Chelsea.
My favoured is no 3 the bee. Such beautiful colors!
Thank you so much, Ulrike.
Sean the young Zebra foal is my favorite this week. So very cute and staying close to mom. The sugar birds are beautiful and show off such magical colour. Nkoveni female cub looking up to the sky is a magnificent cat.
Thank you so much, Valmai.
Congratulations Kyle your foto graph of the Cheetah is amazing.
Sean, TWIP is beautiful. My favorite is the Collard Sunbird followed be the two shots of the bees which are hard to capture. Congrats on great pics this week.
Thank you so much, William.
Some beautiful pics Sean. Some of the cat pics could be featured on August 8 which is International Cat Day/ Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much, Leonie.
Hi guys,
My vote this week goes to the close up shot of the incredible little bee. Second would have to be the collared sunbird.
Thank you so much, Carly.
I can recall nearly every moment of my first cheetah sighting as it stalked and tracked an impala. Incredible burst of speed.
That is something super special to see.
My favourite is the oxpeckers on the female buffalo. But of course, I loved all the photos!
I don’t think that there is anything prettier than a leopard’s eyes gazing upward…….divinely beautiful!
Thank you so much, Lisa.