The bush has really come alive over the last week. Generally speaking, we only experience two seasons here—rainy summers and dry winters; but this year has felt different, in that spring has truly made a statement for itself. Never before have I seen trees flower the way they have this month, with gorgeous hues of yellow, purple, and red scattered across the hills. The birdlife has been amazing, too, both in sight and, more so, in sound as the dawn chorus echoes through the riverbeds. A few light rains have also brought a flush of green to the grassy slopes, pleasing the grazers and bringing some much-needed colour into this week’s collection of photographs.
The wild dog den continues to steal the show for us as we watch these five young pups find their feet. Alongside that, it was a fantastic leopard week, with the Shingi Male featuring prominently, having had two different hoisted kills. A well-overdue sighting of the Xinkhova Female was a real highlight for me, having personally not seen her for a few weeks now. The Nkoveni Female was also seen a few times, occasionally with her one young cub in tow, although I didn’t manage to capture any standout images of them. On the lion front, we continue to see more of the Mhangeni pride as they shift their movements deeper into western Londolozi, while the Ntsevu pride has also been found most days this past week.
In addition to the above, several antelope and a mother warthog were rather obliging in having their portraits taken, along with a few birds, monkeys, and even a beautiful tree agama.
Let me know in the comments which ones you like the most.
Enjoy This Week in Pictures…
Two stallions rise to their back legs in a fight for dominance. These duels can be quite aggressive with lethal blows delivered by their sharp canine teeth and heavy kicks.
The bush is alive with flowers at the moment, more than ever seen in my time here. These Weeping Boerbeans are glowing in red and alive with activity from bees to birds and even Vervet Monkeys feeding on the flowers.
The Shingi Male has featured a lot over the last few weeks, exploring all corners of the south eastern regions of the reserve. Now entering a testing nomadic phase, it will be interesting to follow his story over the next year or so.
The young male from the Mhangeni pride scans the opens plains of the south west. With the Nkomati Males now having taken over the Mhangeni pride, this lion (who is fathered by the Plains Camp Males) has been forced to spend less time with his pride.
A mother warthog and one of her young rest at the entrance to their burrow. It’s not often you get a good, close-up view of a warthog like this, which gives us a chance to study some of the finer details of the animal. Take note of the tusks; the large upper ones are predominantly used for digging roots and feeding, while the small lower tusks are razor sharp and great defensive weapons.
A striking Blue-headed Tree Agama rests on lower trunk of a Weeping Boerbean. We had parked next to one of the hyena den sites and were waiting to see if any of the cubs would reveal themselves but ended up watching this beautiful reptile go about his business, feeding on ants and displaying for a nearby female that was higher in the tree.
A beautiful Nyala bull slowly browses on a White Berry Bush. The late afternoon light along with the lush, vibrant green vegetation made for a great bokeh, not to mention the regal profile of the Nyala.
The viewing around the Wild Dog den has been nothing short of phenomenal. Five strong and healthy pups are being raised by a hardworking group of four adults. Now reaching around 7 weeks old, the youngsters are getting more adventurous and curious every day.
One of the older lionesses of the Ntsevu pride crosses through the Sand River with an incredible backdrop of boulders and riverine trees. This was the closing moment of an action packed morning where this lioness had attacked a hyena after being drawn into the commotion of wild dogs being robbed by the same hyena!
A buffalo carcass was found one morning, largely still intact, indicating that it must have died of natural causes – possibly an injury sustained from another bull. The hyeans and vultures were quick to find it and devoured it in less than a day.
A Saddle Billed Stork, backlit from the rising sun. The yellow ‘saddle’ on the top of the base of the bill is where the bird gets its name from.
A recent guest I had was interested in photographing impala one afternoon which wasn’t something I had done for ages. Despite them being rather abundant, this isn’t an easy task given how much they move around. That being said, I was quite happy with this comical expression I captured from this ram as he was giving a rutting call.
A photographers dream sighting unfolded for us last week when the Shingi Male decided to use this dead Leadwood tree as a vantage point. Cloudy skies lent itself to a high-key edit and the end result is a nice clean finish that accentuates the textures of the tree and marking of the leopard.
A different edit of the same sighting where I decided to keep the moody skies a feature of the background.
A Grey Heron silhouetted against the golden evening sky.
A Kudu bull, the largest antelope species we see at Londolozi, stares us down.
The Shingi Male finishes up the last bits of an Impala ram that he caught a few days before. We had quite a few days of wind and dark cloud cover that made for great hunting conditions for the predators.
Four of the five wild dog pups gather for a moment at the entrance to their den. These pups are full of energy and always darting around making them rather difficult to capture.
Can you spot the Nkoveni Female here? A leopard’s camouflage is tough to beat – this photo is not edited at all and purely shows how easily these creatures blend into their environment.
Sometimes the best moments simply fall on to your lap. After a fantastic afternoon spent at the wild dog den, we were slowly making our way back to camp when tracker Ray Mabilane spotted the Xinkhova Female resting on a fallen Marula tree. Simply magical…
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on The Week in Pictures #772