Here is a selection from some of the hundreds of photos I have taken over the past couple days at Zimanga Game Reserve with Wildlife ACT. I’ve seen quite a bit of Kalahari, the beautiful cheetah over the last couple days. He will definitely need a few posts dedicated just to him! But right now, I must dash as time to head out and find the wild dogs!
My first afternoon spent with the cheetah called Kalahari. He’s such a beautiful creature, and so photogenic!A yellow billed hornbill calling.A mountain reedbuck coming in to land just outside the fence at the volunteer house at Zimanga.I took a morning boat trip on the Jozini Dam and was lucky enough to see a breeding herd of elephants 🙂 Happy happy Jen!!!The yard at the volunteer house at Zimanga Game Reserve is filled with birds 🙂 This yellow fronted canary was in the tall grasses outside the kitchen window.
Since Monday I have been at Zimanga Private Game Reserve as a photographic volunteer with Wildlife ACT. The primary focus on this reserve is monitoring and tracking wild dog and cheetah. While the cheetah has remained elusive thus far, I have had the opportunity to spend some time with the pack of six wild dogs. I’m having a brilliant time. As it is very soon time for the afternoon monitoring session, this post will be brief; I wanted the chance though to share a few photos from the past days, as a hint of what is to come.
A bull elephant heading straight towards us on the road, while we drove in reverse! He was completely cool with our presence, but was also on a mission along that road, so we had to get out of his way. 1/320sec, f8.0, ISO 200A juvenile brown snake eagle. 1/1000sec, f6.3, ISO 200A member of the wild dog pack eyes us; we woke them from their afternoon nap. 1/160sec, f9.0, ISO 200A pair of waterbuck, moments before they bolted for safety away from our gaze. 1/500sec, f8.0, ISO 1000A giraffe in front of a jacaranda tree. 1/640sec, f10, ISO 400
I recently had a request for some more wild dog photos, so I spent some time this evening going through the photos I took back in April 2013 when I was lucky enough to see them in Botswana. I had dismissed many of the photos when I originally took them, as the light was rather difficult, but what a difference a year makes. I have more skills in editing now, and am able to correct things that I wasn’t able to just a short time ago. I didn’t have time to go through all the photos I flagged this evening, so if you are a betting person, you can put money on the fact that you’ll see more of this group later in the week 🙂
Torn ears and a face full of flies. 1/400sec, f5.3, ISO1600A group of wild dogs rests in the shade, away from the mid afternoon heat, at Chobe Game Reserve in Botswana. 1/500sec, f5.3, ISO1600I have no idea what they might have saw, heard, or smelled, but it certainly captivated the attention of the group. 1/640sec, f4.8, ISO800A wild dog heads away from the pack. 1/1000sec, f4.5, ISO800
A young elephant drinks from the Chobe River in Botswana, under the protective shadow of her mother. This little one had already lost her tail; whether it was missing at birth, or lost in an attack by a predator, only she knows. It was amazing to spend time watching elephants; the antics of the little ones in the river brought us so much joy. 1/1000sec, f5.6, ISO560