My first trip to Africa, I was lucky enough to see a pack of wild dogs, and we spent a short amount of time with them while they lazed away a hot afternoon under the trees. This trip, I spent a great deal of time with the pack, as we tried to monitor them twice a day; first thing in the morning as they were settling in for their days rest, and then in the late afternoon as they set out on the move. This much time in close proximity of the dogs gave me ample opportunity to witness a variety of pack dynamics and behaviours. Watching them play was definitely one of my favourite moments with them.
One of the dogs rolled in the dirt for ages, kicking up quite the dust storm. 1/1250 sec, f7.1, ISO 1600Time for a headlock! 1/1250sec, f7.1, ISO 1600A pair of dogs wrestle on the road, while another member tries to catch up on sleep. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO 1600
I’ll get this out of the way, right away. The following are no where near the best photographs I captured of kingfishers on my recent trip to South Africa. But, as anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows, I am always happy to share what I found to be an interesting capture, regardless of whether the photos end up great or not. It’s about the experience.
While at Zimanga Private Game Reserve, I had the opportunity to photograph the Pied, Giant, Pygmy and Brown Headed kingfishers. Some I even captured from the comfort of a hide, resulting in some fantastic images which I look forward to going through and sharing. The one I only saw in glimpses, and never managed to photograph, was the Malachite kingfisher.
After Zimanga, I spent two fabulous days at Thonga Beach Lodge (which I can honestly say I wish had been two weeks). I went on a sundowner drive along Lake Sibaya, and while most of the guests were hoping to see hippos and crocs, I looked forward to what shore birds I might see. On my last night, I was having a glass of wine along the shore enjoying the herons, egrets and a pied kingfisher hovering above the water. The skies were dull and grey, night was fast approaching, and it was raining. Another guest asked if the kingfisher I was watching had landed in the reeds next to the lake, which I replied no as I was still watching the pied kingfisher hovering. Our guide Thulani then answered that yes indeed that was a kingfisher, the Malachite. Once they directed me to its location, I captured the best photos I was able given the quality of light and my distance away from the bird (I didn’t want to go too close to the edge of the water, given the possibility of crocs and the fact I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking as much as what I was shooting).
I watched as the kingfisher went on several fishing expeditions, and managed to capture her success, with what appears to be a tadpole in her mouth. I gave in to the growing dark after that and watched until she took off further down the lake. It was great to watch, but of course I do hope the next time I see one, the sun will be out to really show off the beauty of the feathers.
While we were out looking for the cheetah on our afternoon drive, Graeme came across a leopard tortoise that was dangerously close to getting stuck in the electric fencing at the property perimeter. Thankfully he managed to free it without giving himself a shock, and I managed to snap a couple photos as the tortoise headed off on its way.
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
