It was quite an exciting week for photos this week! Given the continued icy conditions on my road, I’ve been driving a short distance away to one of the main roads to walk Spencer. Tuesday morning, there were a huge group of ravens and magpies surrounding a ravine, so I stopped the car to see what had happened. During the night, the local coyote pack took down a deer, and the birds were tucking into the leftovers (evening at 9am, maybe only 1/4 of the deer remained.
We set off again at lunch for another walk, and this time the ravens and magpies were absent; while walking I figured out why – a beautiful bald eagle was watching over the area. I grabbed a few shots and he or she flew off through the field, and I carried on with my walk. On the drive home, I spotted the eagle again and grabbed a few more shots through the open window of the car, before realizing that there were two eagles in the area. I followed one to the end of the cul de sac, and was lucky enough to be able to get a few more shots in before it was time to get home and get back to work.
Fingers crossed this coming week brings more wonderful photo opportunities.
Have a great week!
On Monday afternoon I spent a bit more time with the northern hawk owl. It was late afternoon and snowing lightly, and he chose the top of the tallest tree possible to perch. This was the best of the few shots I got.First spot of the eagle; this was only the second time I have seen eagles in my neighbourhood. The first time was a fleeting glimpse far too quick for me to capture.The deer carcass was at the base of this hill. The previous day, the snow was untouched; there certainly was a large amount of activity that went on in the night.I stopped the car, put on the four way flashers, and took a few photos (I live in a really quiet area so it’s not a safety issue).This is the second of the eagles I saw. I don’t know of the distinguishing features between sexes, so I don’t know if I saw two males, two females or one of each.I couldn’t have asked for better light. Midday sun up north in the winter comes in at a pretty gentle angle.The branch shadows are a bit unfortunately, but at least the body positioning leaves the stunning yellow eye exposed.Up and away. I did briefly see the pair when I returned home, circling high up, reminding me of the vultures in southern Africa.What more could you ask for on a Tuesday lunch break?I always love the opportunity to capture birds in flight. 1/1600sec, f5.6, ISO 180
I wanted to do something a bit different for this monochrome Monday, so I edited this photo in a very stylized manner, hoping to be reminiscent of a painting.
I was driving home from a morning trip into town, thinking that I would have nothing to post for this week, as it had been a slow week for both bird and animal sightings, and I already posted the lone landscape photo I liked for my monochrome Monday shot… and about the lack of a Wordless Wednesday post… I kinda forgot what day it was – oops.
Just as I was about to turn onto my street, I noticed something perched on a fence post at the end of the road; I couldn’t quite believe my eyes as it was an owl (at noon no less). I stopped in the middle of the road to watch for a moment, and then hurried home to grab my camera and the dog. I drove back up hoping I might be lucky enough for it to still be there, and it was. I managed to get the car into a great position without causing and ruffled feathers, and sat for about 10 minutes snapping photos before I decided to head off, as the dog needed a walk. It was rainy and miserable though and other than doing what was necessary, Spencer wasn’t too keen to stay out long, so I decided to take another drive and see if the owl was still there. This time I stayed longer, and managed to see a couple failed hunting attempts before I headed back home.
I’m really happy with how well the photos turned out despite the weather, but even more, I’m very grateful to have had such a cool, and unexpected, afternoon with wildlife.
I hope you enjoy the photos!
My first sighting of a great grey owl.Such an intense gaze.The way owls heads rotate amazes me.She showed off all angles while I happily snapped away.Watching the ground for mice and other critters. Based on the leftovers I have been seeing on the road the last few days, she is fairly successful.
I love the angle on this photo, and the streaking raindrops in the background. 1/400sec, f5.6, ISO 800If you look closely, you will see that there are remnants of another bird stuck in the fencing.After watching the grass along the roadside intently, she launched off, but sadly did not make a catch. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1000I included this only to show the beautiful variation in the feathers. Unfortunately the photo is blurry, a combination of too slow a shutter speed (due to the light) and user focusing issues!Coming back in to land after an unsuccessful hunt.A bit of post flight grooming and fluffing of feathers.With this, she was off again and we left her in peace. By the way, look at those talons!!! 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO1000
Should you wish to have a copy of any of these to call your own, click here.
Londolozi is well known for having amazing leopard sightings, and I certainly had one during my stay, but you’ll have to stay tuned to a future post to hear all about it and see the photos, as that encounter definitely deserves to be a post on its own (as does the Pangolin sighting!!!) 🙂
We had an absolutely fabulous time during our two night stay, and a lot of laughs with our ranger Dave and tracker Judas. I’d be back there tomorrow if I could (I think in fact I asked Phil the camp manager more than once if I could hide myself away somewhere just so I could stay longer).
The following are just a few of the moments that made me smile during my time there; I took over 1500 photos during my stay, so you can be certain you’ll see many more in the coming days and weeks.
This very blog was started after my first trip to Londolozi in 2013. In case you missed those first posts, you can find some of them here (or use the search function at the bottom of my home page to find them all!)
A small group of wildebeest gather around a tree, on a perfect autumn afternoon. 1/1000sec, f10, ISO360A saddle billed stork on one of the sandy bars in the river. 1/1000 sec, f9, ISO 560This photo brings me close to tears; I think it shows what I love best about being out in the bush, just bearing witness to the day to day lives of animals. I absolutely love elephants, and capturing this tender moment when the youngster had a chance to suckle was one of the benefits of parking ourselves in the river and hanging out with this small family. 1/1000sec, f8, ISO 360We parked in the river to watch this small family group drinking and crossing the river. What came next??? 1/1000sec, f8.0, ISO 400We got well and truly stuck! Our position in the river gave us brilliant viewing and photographic opportunities, but unfortunately left the land rover with tires at least half buried in the sand. Dave was so worried that we would be upset at waiting for rescue and being late for breakfast, but we all had an absolute blast; just another part of the safari adventure! 1/1250sec, f16, ISO900The tractor arrived to remove our stuck vehicle from the river; I’m not sure if Dave has lived that one down yet. 1/1250sec, f10, ISO500The result of having to call for rescue, Dave ended up with the dreaded pink ammo pouch. I think it may be good luck though, as we had some amazing sightings after he took possession of it!Even after getting dragged out of the river, Dave still stopped in the sand along the river so I could photograph this beautiful white fronted bee-eater. 1/1250 sec, f10, ISO 1000The morning sky was like a painting, and I was happy just to sit and watch that; stumbling across this herd of elephants made it all the better. 1/640sec, f5, ISO 3600My first attempt at photographing lightning; I set up my camera on the tree camp deck under a patio umbrella, and let the camera do it’s thing on a timer function while I enjoyed wine and dinner. We were out on drive and returned just before the rain started, but watched the most intense part of the lightning from the vehicle on the way back to camp. I’m pleased with the results for my first attempt; it was basically focusing and aiming at nothing and hoping for the best! 25sec, f11, ISO 800A slightly different editing technique, but from the same storm as the other lightning photo (one of only a few periods of rain I had on holiday). 25 sec, f11, ISO800I asked both my Dave’s to find me owls, and they both succeeded 🙂 The light was not in my favour for photographing this southern white faced owl, but I really like this black and white conversion. 1/1250sec, f6.3, ISO 900A couple of iconic African shapes – elephants and cheetah. 1/250sec, f7.1, ISO 3600
I spent an amazing few days at Phinda recently, and was lucky enough to not only have a fabulous ranger and tracker team to work with, but also got along brilliantly with the other guests on the vehicle. I have so many photos to go though when I get home; some of the highlights included some of the tiniest babies I have had the pleasure of seeing in the bush (elephant and rhino), spending time with two families of lions, a mother with 3 cheetah cubs, 3 older cheetah brothers, and some really cool eagle sightings. I’d still rather be outside than on the computer, so here are just a few of the special moments from Phinda.
I asked Dave to find me an owl if possible during my stay – he said give me 15 minutes (at 4 in the afternoon). About 20 minutes later he and Thoks found this adorable sleeping southern white faced owl.3 cheetah brothers lounging on a termite mound.Look between the leader’s front legs, and you will see a tiny elephant calf 🙂 Quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen.I had two opportunities to photograph lions at night with red filters. I am looking forward to the black and white conversions when I get home.We spotted Mom and the cubs late one evening, and came back in the morning to view. Sadly, in the night the mom had lost one of the cubs, leaving her with the 3 seen here.The young lions were far more interested in getting up than the adults.The resident genet at Phinda, hanging around the dining area at night, hoping someone will drop something tasty. They call her Genet Jackson.
