Wildlife – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

November 17, 2024November 17, 2024

2024-11-17: Predatory Birds

Last week I focused on land predators, and this week, it is a few predators of the air.

A Pel’s Fishing Owl. As the name suggests, this owl primarily feeds on fish. I’ve highlighted this owl in a previous post, with more images of this owl and her chick, which can be found here. Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

It would have been nice if this dark chanting goshawk had turned its head slightly, but at least it stayed still so I could get a shot. I saw lots of dark chanting goshawks on this trip, and had previously only seen the pale chanting goshawk, so it was nice to add a new bird to my list (which I really should start keeping somewhere, other than in my head). These birds have a varied diet of small mammals, birds and reptiles. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

This is the tawny eagle mentioned in my post from last week, that lead our group to a hyena sighting. I believe our guide thought that the tawny eagle was feeding on the liver of the impala that the hyena caught, but wasn’t 100% certain. It was definitely a very fresh piece of meat. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

I’ve been fortunate to see many African fish eagles during my travels, as they are widespread and common, but this was the first time that I saw one having a drink at the river. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.

Another eagle I have been fortunate to see on several different trips; this is a brown snake eagle. As the name suggests, its primary diet is snakes. This sighting was one of the times where there actually was a bird on the tree, rather than just a piece of broken branch fooling us. Chobe National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.

I was so excited to finally see an adult bateleur eagle during this trip, as previously I’d seen many juveniles, who don’t have near the impressive colours as this adult. We were very fortunate that this individual chose to stay on this branch for a long time, allowing all of our group the chance for good views and photographs. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

November 10, 2024November 10, 2024

I chose to highlight some of the predators that I saw on my last safari. Of course, there is more to predators than just animals; there are reptiles and birds that also fall under this category, but today I am sticking with the four-legged variety.

Predators are what a lot of people aim to see while on safari, but a game drive is so much more than seeing a glimpse of a lion or leopard. It always bears repeating, that the best game drives are the ones that you go on without a strong agenda, and allow the beauty of Mother Nature to unfold before you, and experience all that is on offer.

A mother leopard and her cub grooming each other. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

A lion cub very relaxed in the shade on a very hot afternoon in Savute. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

A rare sighting of an African wild cat, which is slightly larger than an average house cat. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

A hyena that approached our vehicle with a pack of wild dogs nearby. At the time we saw this individual, we only had two of the dogs in our sight, but they soon took us to where the rest of the pack was. The hyena didn’t follow. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

A wild dog relaxing in the shade. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

Some lion cubs playing in the cool of an early morning with one of the mothers watching from the sidelines. This was a small part of the pride that was in the area, and all the youngsters were having fun before it got too hot to do anything but lie under a bush. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

You can’t ask for much better than a leopard posing on a termite mound. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

A young lion in the tall grass, being kissed by the late afternoon light. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

A pair of hyena with an impala ram submerged in a small pond. We were incredibly fortunate to come across this sighting. We were lead to it by seeing a tawny eagle with a piece of very fresh meat, and our guide knew there had to be a very fresh kill nearby. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

October 20, 2024October 20, 2024

2024-10-20: Elephants

I was drawn to elephants when I sat down to work through some photos today, but when I came online to create my post, I realized I did the same thing only a month ago (which you can find here). As I rebuild my habits for photo editing and posting, checking what I have done recently is probably a smart thing to add early in the process.

Throughout the years of this blog I’ve said time and again how much I love spending time with elephants; and if I could only pick one animal to see one safari, it would be elephants, as they are almost always active and on the move doing something: feeding, drinking or interacting with one another, which makes them very interesting to spend time with.

A group of male elephants greeting each other with some trunk touching. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April 2024.

This elephant had only a partial trunk, likely from a snare injury. Despite this disability, he was able to drink and feed himself. He was traveling with a larger herd that had already moved on down the riverbed to feed. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

A perfect reflection of an elephant in this small watering hole. He was very accommodating and we spent a good deal of time just relaxing a watching him go about his morning. Tombavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.

An elephant leaving the watering hole to return to grazing. Savute national Park, Botswana. April, 2024.

A trio of youngsters drinking from a watering hole in Savuti. Their mothers were all very close by and watching over them, but seeing these three together like this was quite a treat. Baby elephants are just too cute for words. Savute National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.

A group of elephants drinking from the Chobe River in the afternoon, watched by a nearby hippo. Choose National Park, Botswana. April, 2024.

Another perfect reflection, this time from the hide at Leroo La Tau camp in Botswana. Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, 2024.

October 13, 2024October 13, 2024

2024-10-13: Wild Dogs

If you search my blog, you will find many posts dedicated to wild dogs. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have so many sightings of these amazing animals, and of course, I certainly hope I will get to see more of them in the future (especially wild dogs puppies, as that would be a new one for me).

This past adventure had our guides finding a couple wild dogs, who then lead us to the rest of the pack. Watching their greetings is always so special.

Wild dog in Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.

Following a pair of wild dogs, who lead us right to the rest of the family.

A portion of the rest of the pack; they were too spread apart to get all of them in one shot.

September 30, 2024September 30, 2024

2024-09-30: Owls

I find owls fascinating and love having the opportunity to see them (or hear them) at home or while away. I was fortunate to see several different species of owl during my trip to South Africa and Botswana, including one very, very rare owl that was likely my once in a lifetime viewing opportunity.

While I saw many Verreaux’s eagle owls on this trip, the sightings were either at night or early evening leaving me with less than inspiring images to share. But including them, we had 5 different owl species on the trip, which I think is fantastic.

An African barred owlet seen on a game drive in Botswana from Leroo La Tau camp. Botswana, April, 2024.

I found it very interesting that the spots on the back of the barred owlet’s head look like eyes. Botswana April, 2024.

This is a pearl spotted owlet, unfortunately seen in the early evening and deep in a tree, making it difficult to point out the subtle differences between this and the barred owlet. The marking on the head is spots rather than stripes, but beyond that they are very similar in size and appearance. The pearl spotted owlet apparently lacks the false eyes on the back of the head, but I didn’t get a look at that personally. Botswana, April, 2024.

A barred owlet that was discovered in a tree right off the path between cabins at Leroo La Tau camp. This little owl was very patient and allowed our entire group the chance to have a good look and some close up photos. Botswana April 2024.

Barn owls look the same the world over. This pair of chicks were roosting in the rafters above one of the entry points into Moremi Game Reserve. Botswana, April, 2024.

The very rare to see Pel’s fishing owl was a first for everyone in our group, and if memory serves, our guide, with over 25 years experience, had only one previous sighting. We were very fortunate to be staying next door to a camp that had a resident pair with a chick, nesting right above the deck, and they were gracious enough to allow our group to come over and see these rare and beautiful birds.

This is the mother owl; she was perched in a high tree perhaps 50 feet or so away from where the chick was. Botswana, April, 2024.

The Pel’s fishing owl chick perched in the fork of a tree. Going from memory the chick was around 12″ in height. Botswana, April, 2024.

A close up of the chick. Botswana, April, 2024.

September 22, 2024September 22, 2024

2024-09-22: Lion

I’m in a pretty similar situation to last week, where I have reached the end of the weekend without getting any editing done, so I have chosen a single image to share today. I selected this lion image because the colours are similar to the changing season I am seeing outside my door. Fall is arriving quickly, with bright green leaves being replaced with yellows and browns, with the occasional pop of red and orange.

We found a pride of lions in the late afternoon, just as they were beginning to get active. This young male was one of several young males that were just beginning to have their manes grow in. There was some nice interaction amongst the pride members, but those photos will have to wait for another day. This particular image was taken through some foliage, but that’s part of what I like about the image, because it reflects what many animal sightings are like; just brief glimpses through the vegetation.

September 15, 2024September 15, 2024

2024-09-15: Elephants

On the plus side, I managed to get an editing session completed this weekend. On the minus side, it’s nearly bedtime when I finished. I’m sure as the decent weather fades, it will be easier to schedule in computer time.

Elephants are always an easy choice for me for editing and posts, because I’m fascinated by them and enjoy watching them so much; I always come back with loads of photos to choose from. This selection is all bull elephants, seen throughout my last trip in South Africa and Botswana.

An elephant mid dust bath. Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.

An elephant passing next to one of the road markers in Savute, Botswana. April, 2024.

An elephant feeding in the Okavango Delta wetlands at sunset. Botswana, April, 2024.

We all knew who had right of way on this road, and it sure wasn’t our convoy of vehicles. Botswana, April, 2024.

A lone bull quenching his thirst at the waterhole outside of Leroo La Tau Lodge in Botswana. April, 2024.

September 8, 2024September 8, 2024

2024-09-08: Leopards

I hadn’t planned to take most of the summer off from editing photos and posting, but suddenly it is September and I haven’t done anything with my images since July. To be fair, there was golf to play, a yard to take care of and generally, a summer that is far too short and the desire to enjoy it as much as possible.

I chose a few images of my favourite cat, the leopard, to work on today. These are the first I have edited since getting a new computer and new monitor set up, as well as an updated version of Lightroom to use (my previous computer was so old, Lightroom hadn’t been able to update in close to a year, if not longer). It certainly is different working on a 2024 model compared to my old machine. It seems like there is still so much to do with program settings and the like, but I am happy to at least have had the chance to get back to my images.

A young leopard posing on a termite mound in the late afternoon. Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.

A big yawn to get on the move. Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.

This mother and son leopard were on their final time together, as soon after we viewed these animals, it would be time for the cub to make his own way in the world. It is so special getting to see such solitary animals interacting; we were treated to some lovely behaviour in this sighting, including a lot of grooming. Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.

July 28, 2024July 28, 2024

2024-07-28: Silhouetted Giraffes

I read the weekly newsletter of a photographer that I follow this morning, and one of the topics mentioned was about being overwhelmed with the process of editing photos. One of the comments he made really has me thinking, and may change the way I approach my catalogue in the future. The author mentioned that he doesn’t bother with a rating system anymore; it’s either yes or no. Do I want to work with the image, share it, etc, or not. Having only just finished my 2-star rating pass of my image catalogue from my trip, and finding it on the one hand enjoyable viewing images and reliving some of the moments, but on the other, incredibly time consuming, employing a new strategy might be necessary.

I’m hesitant because I worry I’ll miss something if I am ruthlessly flagging things yes or no. But flagging an image doesn’t mean I can’t look through them again later and see if my feelings have changed or not. It’s not like anything is getting deleted (well, except all the accidental shutter clicks of my pant leg, there’s no need for those).

In the spirit of looking for images I absolutely wanted to work with and share, here are a few giraffe images from my past trip. The instantly recognizable shape of the giraffe lends itself beautifully to a silhouette, and how nice of all these animals for cooperating.

Giraffes at sundown. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.

A giraffe at sunrise. Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024

Moving the vehicle allowed us to capture some of the friends of the lone giraffe above. Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024

July 7, 2024July 7, 2024

2024-07-07: General Game

When you are on safari and see lots of antelope, giraffe, zebra and the like, many guides will say it’s been a good day for general game. I enjoy all the wonderful animals on safari, so decided to use that as a selection process for a few photos to share today.