This week has brought some really variable weather, and with that, some dramatic skies. Birds have provided some frustration this week. My elusive local northern flicker made an appearance today, but at such a distance the photo isn’t even worth posting. I saw a new bird this week as well, of course the time I left my camera at home 🙁 I managed a snap with my cell (absolutely not worth posting!) but through the blur, I think I can identify it as a northern shrike, which are winter residents of my area. I also could be 100% wrong on that; I’ve not been lucky enough to see it again and get some decent photos to do a proper ID. I don’t have any great photos to share, but it has been lovely now that most of the leaf cover is gone to watch the chickadees flittering about. They are such sweet birds and really make me smile (I also enjoy calling to them “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” while out walking and having a bit of a conversation… I guess that’s a slight admission of being crazy!
I had one other interesting sighting yesterday; you’ll have to scroll to the end to see. The pictures aren’t the best, but I was walking two little dogs at the time (I’m currently looking after my brother’s mini schnauzer Dylan) and didn’t want to risk wandering any closer; we were already under some rather intense scrutiny.
I hope you enjoy, have a lovely day, and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians.
Evergreens silhouetted against a colourful morning sky.Such beautiful, saturated colours this week.An awkward shot, as I was aiming above a roof, but the light on the trees was too amazing not to try to capture something.Stunning skies this week almost every morning.Dramatic skies on our morning walk.Dylan posing in the sunshine.We spotted a coyote at the end of the road yesterday morning.Watching me watching him.The big, bushiest tail I’ve seen.
The experience on my last game drive of my previous holiday is something I have wanted to post about since I got home. I am glad I have finally had a chance to go through the photos, select my favourites, and relive the experience.
We spent the last two nights of our trip at Londolozi, where we had the pleasure of having the team of Dave and Judas guiding us through the bush. For anyone that missed it, I posted a few highlights from this trip previously: http://jennifersawicky.com/2015/06/29/londolozi-highlights/
On our last game drive, we had yet to see a leopard at Londolozi; and being that the property is known for amazing leopard sightings, our ranger was hoping we would see one before we set off for home. We started a leisurely morning drive with a group of three rhinos, and then moved on to a herd of elephants in the most gorgeous morning light. If that was all we saw that morning, I would have come home happy (me and elephants, everyone knows my love of them by now). Dave took a call about a leopard sighting quite some distance away, but a very unique one, a leopard that had been treed by a pride of lions. Dave put us on the sighting wait list, and we continued on with our drive. During a drive through a dry riverbed, we spotted an owl; while the light wasn’t favourable for photographs, I was still thrilled.
Still waiting our turn, we stopped for a coffee and watched a pair of giraffes grazing on acacia leaves. A hare hopped by and paused long enough for me to take a few photos before carrying on its way. Coffee finished, we took the call that our turn was coming up, and we made our way over to the area. As we drove into the area, two impala rams were facing off, rutting season being in full swing, and the noise they were making was absolutely incredible.
When we arrived, a female leopard called Mashaba was high in a tree, with the Tsalala lion pride lazing around near the base.
A full grown leopard in a very scrawny tree!The group of lions waiting below.Her eyes were on either on the lions, or scanning the distance for other threats.One of the young males of the Tsalala pride.
We weren’t there long though when the lions picked up the sounds of the nearby impala, and one by one, they slowly moved off.
Lions on the move.
As soon as the last lion was out of sight, Mashaba quickly made her way down the tree and disappeared, so we went to find out what had happened to the lions.
By this point, she had been in the tree for several hours. She must have been tired of that perch.Getting ready to begin her descent.Stopping to scan again.In the tree tops.Such amazing agility.Pausing to scan for further threats.Heading for lower branches.On the move.Checking again that the coast is clear.Leaping to safety.
Viewer discretion is advised…
We found the lions a short distance away, and the impala rams were no longer. The pride of seven took down two impala at the same time, and devoured them in less than a quarter hour. I was concentrating more on still shots, but I did take a few video clips, which I have included more for the sound than anything. Mostly the lions fed relatively peacefully, without coming to blows with each other over the choice pieces.
Family dining.The group made short work of two adult male impala.Tug of war!Trying to grab a chunk to take away (at least one of the lions moved off with a large chunk of impala to enjoy in peace under the bushes).Such intensity while eating.This was how we left the group; not much left to their meal at this point.
I’m going to start with the most recent pictures and work my way backwards. Yesterday, I started the day reading a post on Facebook by Cheryl Richardson that said “Stop trying to make sanity out of an insane situation. If your schedule is crazy busy, you don’t need time management, you need space.” Lately I have definitely been feeling that is something needed in my life; but looking back at the compositions I made yesterday morning, I guess it was also something I also desired in my photos.
After quite a windy day earlier this week, colourful leaves in my neighbourhood are getting few and far between. 1/320sec, f11, ISO320A few leaves clinging on. 1.320sec, f11, ISO320Naked branches reaching into the blue. 1/320sec, F11, ISO320Half moon and about a half dozen leaves. 1/320sec, f11, ISO320Probably my favourite picture of the bunch; I can’t put my finger on why 🙂 1/320sec, f11, ISO320Hot and cold. I think this would have been a lot better with my macro lens, but that isn’t the best walking around lens, in case an interesting bird decides to fly by. 1/200sec, f5.0, ISO640
This week has been an interesting adjustment photographically, as I have put away my D610 and my Tamron 150mm-600mm, as both need to go in for some work. My first thought when primarily shooting with my D5100 again was how wonderfully light it is! It also doesn’t have the same warm colour cast when using auto white balance that I have found my D610 has. The downfall for taking it out walking early in the morning is it does not have an auto ISO option in manual mode, so there’s one more thing to remember to do. Hopefully this week I can get all the equipment shipped off (and hopefully get everything back working good as new). Here are the photos I selected from the earlier part of the week.
A young male deer at the top of my road. The light wasn’t very favourable, but that just made the photos less than stellar, not the moment. 1/1000sec, f7.1, ISO800This really isn’t a great photo, but it’s a bit of a family portrait of the three deer that were grazing. 1/1000sec, f7.1, ISO 800I’ve seen lots of bunnies around my area, but never when I have my camera. This little one was about 10 feet from my driveway, spotted on the way home from our morning walk. He was quite calm and I felt bad startling him when I got too close, but I had to get in and get on with work. 1/640sec, f7.1, ISO2000I’m glad I managed a picture of this guy (or girl) as the flock was too far away to ID without taking pictures. One of the photos taken before the Tamron got packed away. A juvenile red crossbill. 1/100sec, f7.1, ISO800
I didn’t want to post anything to graphic without being able to warn people first. This lioness is resting after a big feed; there were three lions with two full grown kudu bulls. I’m sure you can imagine that what the lions hadn’t yet eaten was leaving quite a smell in the mid-morning heat. 1/500sec, f8.0, ISO 800 Sabi Sands Game Reserve, May 2015
My interpretation of the weekly photo challenge – change. Thinking of change in terms of growth; from young to old, the exuberance of youth to the wisdom and maturity of older age. This group has it all.
Elephants of all sizes. Mom and kids, aunties and grannies. Sabi Sands, May 2015
You’d think it would be easy to edit a zebra in black and white.. but surprisingly it took me some time before I found the look I was seeing in my minds eye. Grazing in the Sabi Sands, May 2015 1/800sec, f5.6, ISO110
I was originally planning to hold off on this post, in the hopes of including some photos of the super blood moon eclipse… but it’s mostly overcast here at 4:45pm, and it seems pretty unlikely that it will clear in time to see anything. C’est la vie.
This week has seen me finally sort out the annoying camera spots (sensor dirt, so time for a trip to the service centre). I’ve also started having a somewhat annoying issue with my Tamron 150mm-600mm; it occasionally will register f0 and stop working. I need to turn the camera off, unmount and remount to get it back to normal. Sadly it seems like it is a common problem after doing some research; so that might end up taking a trip to a service centre too.
Hardware issues aside, I’ve managed to remember my camera on most of my walks this week, and was prepared to capture what I saw along my walks. I hope you enjoy!
A black billed magpie flying through the fog. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO 2000I like this shot because it shows off the beautiful wing tips. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO280The wire perch was to my advantage, as the fog wasn’t as much of an issue. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO 6400One wildflower clings on, it’s neighbour having already given in to the chill of autumn. 1/160sec, f6.3, ISO800Earlier this week, a Mom with a fairly large fawn spent some time in the front yard; again I saw them when heading out for our afternoon walk. These ones were far less comfortable with my presence and hopped off deeper into the bushes very quickly. 1/500sec, f6.3, ISO2800A couple days in a row, this ruffled grouse was in the long grasses at the roadside (I couldn’t see him at all) and when Spencer and I walked within about 20 feet, he shot off noisily deeper into the bushes. On this occasion, he flew straight towards us and passed within about 5 feet, but it allowed me to track him to his perch in a evergreen tree, and finally get a few better shots. Still not ideal with the low light and the fog, but an improvement nonetheless. 1/640sec, f6.3, ISO 6400Looks at the fluffy legs! 1/640sec, f6.3, ISO4000Cow-moo-flage. A pair of calves nearly disappear within the tall grass. 1/800sec, f7.1, ISO 6400Just as I was leaving to take Spencer for his afternoon walk, I noticed this young deer grazing in my back yard. He spent a few moments watching me watch him, before getting back to eating. 1/1000sec, f8, ISO 2200Nibbling on some select bushes. 1/1000sec, f8.0, ISO 1600This little chickadee was clinging quite precariously to a branch, almost upsidedown. I like how the autumn leaves create a frame for the bird. 1/800sec, f6.3, ISO1000
