This Week In Pictures takes us to all four corners of Londolozi. The southwestern parts of the reserve brought us much excitement this week, as it was home to the already very well-known white zebra foal. The open grasslands in this area allowed for some awesome sunset photography to take place. A zebra foal posed elegantly for us, and one sundowner presented an orange haze that would have been immoral to not take a photo of.
The birdlife has never been better this summer. This week, a Whiskered Tern decided to make an appearance, normally seen more frequently in the southeastern parts of Mozambique and along the coastline into the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The causeway produced a beautiful opportunity to photograph a Giant Kingfisher as well as a Cape Clawless Otter (my first ever here at Londolozi) and a Swainson’s Spurfowl perched on a dead branch, posed perfectly in some contrasting light.
On the lion front, we had a long-lost friend return looking stronger than when I last saw him, the Southern Black Dam Male. He spent a little bit of time around our airstrip before the roars of the Gijima Males sent him back north. The Msuthlu Pride have been ever so successful on their nightly hunts. Also hanging around relatively close to camp, often seen either very full or finishing the remains of a kill. The Plains Camp Males were back in the northern parts of the reserve, and they too had a run-in with the Southern Black Dam Male; no actual harm was done to any parties before the Southern Black Dam Male thought it was best to run.
But yet again the leopards took centre stage this week. Numerous sightings of the Xinkhova Female have resulted in some great opportunities to get some amazing pictures of her. The Tinxiya Female, daughter of the Three Rivers Female, has firmly grounded herself on the western side of her mother’s territory. The fact that we have seen her scent marking tells us she is here to stay. The Shingi Male has finally shown signs that he is moving on from his mother, the Nkoveni Female. He is now being seen scattered across the southeastern parts of Londolozi, venturing further and further away from his mother’s territory but still confining himself to his father’s territory, the Maxims Male. The Ngungwe Female and her female cub are doing well. Two kills this week have meant they have both been well fed, and for a first-time mother, Ngungwe Female can be proud of herself.
To top it all off, the pack of two wild dogs has called Lonodlozi their home this week. Popping up all over the southern parts of the reserve, and a quick visit to our airstrip allowed me to get probably my favourite photo of the week.
Let me know in the comments which one is your favourite.
Enjoy This Week In Pictures…
The Tinxiya Female takes a rest high up in a marula tree. Accompanied with some amazing light, her green eyes stand out perfectly. Certainly one of my favourite pictures from the week.
A confident and curious young leopard, that is nearing independence after a remarkable start to life alongside her resilient mother.
A zebra foal looks back over its shoulder as the sun starts to set over the horizon.
The recent heavy rains we experienced at the start of January brought in many bird species we do not often see in this region. One of those species was the Whiskered Tern. A special one for many birders to tick off.
The Xinkhova Female has been a hot commodity this week. With some exciting news on the horizon for this fierce female leopard, the prospect of seeing her a lot more often is thrilling.
Born 2021, daughter of Nkoveni. Young dynamo actively claiming territory near camps, showing promise as next generation's dominant female.
Hard to say this is not my favourite photo of the week because it is undoubtedly a special one. While watching the pack of two wild dogs on a hunt, the smaller female decided to split the airstrip in two and take a stroll right down the middle, creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grab this shot.
As mentioned before, the Xinkhova Female has been a common dominator on the leopard front this week. In this case, she had killed an impala lamb relatively close to camp, and it was nothing short of amazing. Driving out of camp and within the first five minutes, we stumbled upon her, high up in this Jackalberry tree, with her kill.
The Swainsons Spurfowl, getting its name from the prominent spurs you can see on its legs. This often overlooked bird species can sometimes be a photographer’s dream, regularly perching itself on termite mounds and fallen trees at dawn and dusk to announce their presence before they bed down for the night or starts its day foraging.
The ever more impressive Shingi Male. Now completely independent, he is starting to roam further and further from his mother’s territory, the Nkoveni Female. Although his future is uncertain, he sure has a good start to life. It is now up to him to state his name and build on his legacy.
The last surviving cub of a litter of three, he is on the cusp of independence.
A sunset in the south-western parts of the reserve is nearly unbeatable. Open grasslands and some dead trees create an incredible environment for some amazing sunset shots.
This was a very special moment for me. My first ever cape-clawless otter at Londolozi. Nearly three years down the line, and finally. Watching this otter move around between the reed beds, looking for small crustaceans and freshwater mussels, was a highlight of my week. Here, it found a small crab and called it breakfast. What a moment.
The Southern Black Dam male has made his return to Londolozi. As mentioned, he has been seen frequently with a few of the younger male lions at Londolozi. Is he looking for a partner in crime? Time will tell but for now he has been hanging around and looking better than ever.
The wink of death. The Shingi Male has always loved resting on a fallen-over marula tree, but he doesn’t normally wink at you while posing at the same time.
The two Plains Camp Males returned to our northern parts of the reserve recently. They show no signs of weakness. Still, probably the biggest pair of lions in the Sabi Sands, they hold strong to their territory.
A hard-earned photo. After a whole morning of tracking and chasing, we finally found this pack of wild dogs, resting in the Manyelethi River in the north.
Another leopard that is not shy of a big jackalberry tree. The Ngungwe female.
Born 2020 during lockdown to Piccadilly Female. Once skittish, now confident mother denning her first litter in Marthly's rocky terrain.
Although lions are incredibly social cats and show a lot of affection to each other, when it comes to feeding time, you could swear the world was about to end. One of the smaller Msuthlu cubs catches the claws of his older cousin while feeding on a wildebeest they caught mid-morning.
Another favourite image of the week. A Giant Kingfisher up close and focused. The causeway is always a great spot to capture some birds on film, but seldom do they pose so close that you can get a portrait where every detail of each feather can be seen.
As you can see, birds have been a common focus for me lately. Here, two Brown-Headed Parrots sit on the trunk of a dead marula tree.
A ghost amongst the herd. As many of you know the birth of a zebra without stripes has taken over the attention of many at Londolozi. I could not help myself but include one photo of this rare phenomenon.
Hi LGR. Thank you so much for putting up some very good and well taken photos of the lions and leopards there during the course of the week. They’re so very interesting indeed. I know you said that the prospect of seeing the feirce looking Xinkhova female leopard is thrilling, but whilst you haven’t said or mentioned why it is thrilling but I can tell you something about her that sure is thrilling – about a week ago when I was bust reading the MalaMala February monthly game reports ans when I hot to the Xinkhova female’s place on the female leopard list, it said that she was looking very heavily pregnant with her own first ever litter of cubs. So that is a very good and exciting thing for her and all the rest of us. Not only will it be very interesting to see how many cubs she’ll have in her very first litter, but I hope that she will be successful in raising them all the way from scratch to very hard independence successfully.
I know someone there said they were going to find out for me where the Tsalala lioness has got her cubs and where she is thought to be denning them. If she’s still lactating heavily, then I bet she’ll have at least three or four cubs in her new litter.
I know the Tsalala lioness hasn’t had any luck in raising any cubs to independence and adulthood there yet, but hopefully she will be third time lucky. I, like you, will be interested to see and know how many cubs she’s got altogether there.
If she just gave birth to her new unseen cubs in early February, then I’d think it’s almost time for her to bring them out of their densite and reveal them to everyone who have been eagerly waiting for that day to arrive. At 7 years old, it will be interesting to see her raise her new family successfully and also see if she can get the entire brood past the very vulnerable stage of cubhood. I know all to well that we would all love to see her rebuild her clinging on birth pride, and get their former numbers back up a fair bit to what they once were. It’ll be so nice to see the pride be restored to their old former glory after such a long time.
When she does reveal her cubs in the end eventually, I’d be keen to know what gender the unseen tiny cubs are when you get the chance to get a good, clear and close enough look at their rear ends under their tails when the opportunity presents itself for long enough. I think one ofvthe rangers there said to me that she is thought to have moved her cubs to your neighbours at Singita where she has denned previous cubs in the past. If someone there could confirm that for me then let me know as soon as possible, it’ll be such a great help. I want to know how many cubs she’s got altogether in total.
It is so good to see and know that the large young Shingi male is starting to move away from and cut himself loose from his mother’s apron strings at long last, at 26 months old. Though he might well have inherited his father, the huge Maxim’s male’s size and build, he ideally should have been well and truly independent fully from some stage last year really. I bet his mum will be able to enjoy some peace and quiet without him trying to deprive her access to any kills she has made so that he can commondeer it all for himself. I know she loves him, but she’ll feel mighty relieved when her large, greedy and scrounging son finally leaves her alone for good, so that she can find the Maxim’s male and start mating with him again for what might well be the final time in her long lifetime. It will be nice to see her with a new litter of cubs again towards the end of the year. I don’t think age will stop her from mating and having a possible final attempt at raising some cubs to independence before it is to late and she’s infertile totally.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 27.3.26
Lovely variety—I love the kingfisher shot!
Bryce should really be congratulated on the pictures of the lions – superb
Hi Bryce, all pictures are marvellous, I thought of picking up the zebra foal and the Xinkova female, she’s gorgeous, but then I must say you got four portraits: the Shingi male, the cape -clawless otter which I find so exciting! ,the Swainson spurlfowl and the giant kingfishers. Without overlooking all gorgeous leopards and lions and the too cute zebra foals, your portraits do deserve a mention!
Bryce, your photos are all so wonderful! hard to say which I like best. The colouring of the one of the Black Dam Male is really beautiful.
And I also love all your bird photos, of course, and the wonderful leopards. I wonder whether the Xinkhova Female might be pregnant? Would be nice to see her with cubs one day.
I also love the photos of the wild dogs, the lonely one and the pack.
Thanks for another great TWIP, Bryce. While I love all the photos, your fantastic close-up image of the giant kingfisher is my favourite this week.
Oh, and your shot of Xinkhova with the caption “with some exciting news on the horizon ” – is she (finally) pregnant?
You have posted several great pictures, but if I had to pick one I would go with the closeup of the Giant Kingfisher.
Great week! I like the Ngungwe female looking down on you and the super close up of the Kingfisher! The all attention on you from the wild dogs is pretty spectacular as well 🙂
Dear Bryce, thanks for that TWIP. Love the albino zebra, very rare , but most impressive foto is the giant king fisher- really fantastic shot.
Hi Bryce, all your images are stunning. The leopards are off course my favorites and this week the Shingi male winking is my favorite. Xinkhova female is such a beauty. So glad to see the Plain Camps male lions again. The little white Zebra foal is so cute and very rare. Hope it gets to adulthood.
I LOVE the giant kingfisher. Too bad that your camera focused on the top of the beak and the eyes rather than the feathers. Regarding the otter, (also a great picture) is it wearing a collar?