I could have gone two ways with a topic of Beloved for the photo challenge of the week. And since I try my best not to post photos of my dog all the time, I went with my most beloved animal of the African bush, the elephant. Now, anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows that I love elephants, so this should come as no surprise. They are my favourite animal to spend time with (besides my dog, of course!).
I selected the images below because they represent all ages and a variety of different habitats that elephants make their homes in. I hope you enjoy.
A herd of desert adapted elephants in the Hoanib River in Namibia. April, 2017.A bachelor herd of elephants in the Boteti River in Botswana, May 2017.Mama, Auntie and a precocious little baby seen in the Khwai concession of the Okavango Delta. May, 2017A couple of youngsters wrestling alongside a waterhole at Phinda in South Africa, May 2017.A moment that I will treasure in my heart forever. Being inspected by a baby elephant whilst on a morning game drive. Londolozi, May 2017.
You never know what you are going to find when you are out on safari. It gets said time and time again, along with the concept of heading out without expectations of specific things that you want to see. Just being out in the bush is heaven for me, and anything I see is a bonus, so it is pretty easy to stay in that mindset.
While staying at Londolozi, we were on our morning game drive, and our ranger Dave heard about leopard cubs being spotted fairly close to where we were, so we headed off in that direction. We ended up doing a lot of 4 x 4’ing through the bush, and ended up stopping the vehicle at a rather severe downhill angle, to be able to view the cubs at the bottom of a ravine area. Soon enough, they decided that napping next to Mom was boring, and began playing with each other, running around fallen logs, chasing each other and generally acting like rambunctious little kids. The late morning light may have been a bit harsh, but the moment was absolutely epic to experience.
This week’s photo challenge topic, Variations on a Theme, seemed a great opportunity to share a few shots from this wonderful sighting. I hope you enjoy them; editing them has certainly brought back many happy memories for me.
Effortlessly moving amongst the tangled roots and branches of a fallen tree.Stalking and ready to pounce!
Heading back down to check on Mom.I think that look says “Don’t you dare!”
I posted a few other photos from this sighting, as well as other images from my last visit to Londolozi. You can find that post here if you missed it before.
An oryx seamlessly blending in to the surrounding vegetation. If he hadn’t lifted his head, we would have driven past without ever noticing him (which would be a shame, because they truly are a stunning animal that I love watching and photographing).
A oryx spotted on a game drive along the Boteti River in Botswana, while staying at the wonderful Leroo La Tau Camp. May, 2017.
I spent time with this cheetah family on the Phinda Game Reserve in South Africa last year. Mother and daughter are pictured here, the two boys were off to the side trying to catch a quick nap. We found them on a very blustery afternoon, and they were all on edge. For us watching, having them on edge was a bit of a blessing, because instead of just snoozing away the afternoon, they were moving around and on the lookout, allowing for more interesting images.
And another week begins! I don’t know about all of you, but the weekend flew by in a flash for me (which is the exact opposite of how this leopard sighting turned out). We came across this gorgeous male leopard early into our afternoon game drive, and tracked him for a short while along with another vehicle. He went into a thicket and the other vehicle gave up, but our guide Albert predicted where he would come out of the bush, and we reconnected with him and then got to spend time with him when he climbed this tree and the sun set. That other vehicle certainly missed out on a great sighting!
For this week, I decided to focus my Frozen World post on the animals that visit my yard during the winter time. Once the cold temperatures set in, and the risk of bears diminishes, I begin to fill up the bird feeders. Once the snow falls, I add in a bowl of food for the deer as well. There is plenty of wildlife to be seen all year round, but with the feeders out in winter, there is activity all day long, just outside my office window. Deer visit frequently, along with chickadees, hairy woodpeckers and nuthatches. This year, the pine grosbeaks and common redpolls are back, along with occasional visits from the magpies, ruffed grouse and northern flicker.
Tracks along the road and through the yard show just how much activity there is. Although I haven’t seen any this winter, I have come across the occasional moose tracks through the snow, along with hare, fox and coyote. I was lucky enough to look up from my lunch a few days ago to find a pair of coyotes in the yard, sniffing around the various feeders. Even though he is always on leash, I was extra cautious letting Spencer out later on that afternoon.
While it is not ideal, all of these photos were taken through my window. When the temperature is hovering between -20C and -30C, the animals would likely be gone by the time I bundled myself up enough to get outside and capture a photo or two. And trying to do anything with a camera while wearing mittens is an exercise in both patience and frustration!
I hope you enjoy seeing what I see when I look through my office window out into the frozen landcape.
This image was from before Christmas, but it is not often that I see the male deer around, especially this guy with his impressive antlers.Incredibly skittish, this coyote was constantly running back and forth to this spot. I’d left some peanuts for the birds and squirrels under a few of the trees the previous week; perhaps she found a couple that were missed.The big source of her skittishness seemed to be all the birds swarming around her. There had to be two dozen or more redpolls flitting about, and every time they took off for the trees as a group, she would run around and then stop and gaze into the sky.This one stayed further from the house and didn’t seem to be as skittish or bothered by all the birds flitting around in the area.This morning the whole gang showed up for Sunday breakfast. There were two Mom’s nibbling at the trees in the yard; here the four youngsters enjoy some tasty grains.
The first WordPress photo challenge topic of the year is growth. There are lots of directions that this can be taken, but I’ve decided to use it as an opportunity to show off some of the younger generation of animals that I saw on my last safari. The wild is a dangerous place for youngsters, with so many species having mortality rates above 50%. I hope all of these animals have been able to grow strong and healthy.
A rhino cow and calf seen during a late afternoon game drive on the Ongava Reserve near Etosha National Park in Namibia. We were very fortunate to have several rhino sightings during our trip. Namibia, April 2017.This lion pride was very busy, with 6 small cubs, all of whom were suffering with mange. I am hopeful they all made it through the winter months. South Africa, May 2017.I have few photos of this sighting, as the light was falling rapidly and the cubs were deep in a thicket. But their antics were too adorable not to try and capture. So while their Mom fed on a giraffe kill, these two scampered around, wrestled, and attempted to climb the tree behind them. They even had a few moments of playing with the food. South Africa, May 2017. (1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 25,600)We came across these elephants just after setting out from camp early one morning. They had discovered an underground water pipe and had pulled it up to get to the water. Elephants of all sizes were enjoying a drink as the sun came up. Being amongst the elephants is definitely one of my favourite things; I could have happily spent the whole day with them. South Africa, May 2017.Right after leaving the elephants seen above, we saw this. I don’t think it gets any better in terms of an amazing sighting; we were able to track this beautiful leopard all the way to her new den site, and then spend time watching the tiny cubs explore their new home (a hollow log). South Africa, May 2017.
