Category: Animals

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2015-12-28_Monochrome Monday

One of my dream wildlife sightings / photo opportunity was to see a leopard in a tree.  I’m sure I mentioned it before, but it happened in what I felt was an unlikely place, the Okavango Delta.

I was looking through photos with my Mom yesterday and came across these after not having seen them for awhile, and I thought they would be great to edit in black and white.  I still have a lot more shots to get through 🙂

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If these are the type of photos you’d like to own, you can find them here:

Jennifer Sawicky Smugmug Site

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2015-12-24: Gathering

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A group of zebra and tsessbe hang around a termite mound. Okavango Delta, April 2015
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A group of bronze mannequins enjoy splash baths at the edge of the pool. Phinda Game Reserve, May 2015
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A group of female impala bunched together, ready to bolt at a moments notice. Okavango Delta, April 2015

 

The Daily Post: Gathering

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2015-12-20: What I’ve seen this week

I managed to take a lot of photos this week; the skies cleared after a large snowfall, and I spent some time shovelling a pathway out to the bird feeders, and then hung around with my camera to see who would show up.

It’s been a full weekend and I almost bailed on putting together this post, but since going through my photos and editing is one of my happy places, it seemed wrong to deny myself that joy just because I’m a bit fatigued.

I hope you enjoy my selections for the week.

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A beautiful grey jay. These were taken while standing on tip toe in my office through the window; I couldn’t risk trying to go outside as these guys are very shy.
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The other grey jay of the pair, dropping the suet chunk tat it was trying to eat. I like how it is using its tail for counterbalance.
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A chickadee pauses long enough for me to get a decent photo 🙂 I have some seriously chunky chickadees that visit my feeder, some of them, I wonder how they manage to get airborne!
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I was so excited when I saw the first common redpoll earlier in the week; now there is a fair sized group of them joining the chickadees for some sunflower seeds.
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A male common redpoll perched on a snowy branch. I’ve only seen these starting this week; they are winter migrants to my area from locations even further north!
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A female common redpoll.
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Redpolls and a chickadee sharing the seeds (and the granola too – this was before the big visitors!)
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Not the best photo, but it is the first time I have seen a brown creeper, so I am including it anyways!
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Definitely the largest guests at the bird feeders!
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I recently bought some organic granola from the bulk store, and it was horribly stale. I put it out when I refilled the feeders, thinking something might pick away at the oats and nuts. This was definitely not the visitor I had in mind!
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The little deer has the most comical eyebrows. To me, she looks like a cartoon character drawn to be grumpy!
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2015-12-13: What I’ve seen this week

I’m posting this quite a bit later than I originally anticipated, so I’ll keep the chatter to a minimum and get right to the pictures.  I hope everyone has had a wonderful week, and best wishes for a great week ahead 🙂

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Spencer all suited up for his morning walk. I always swore I wouldn’t make him wear boots, but with the miles we put on every day, they really help.
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Frosty branches, snowy ground, leaden sky… feeling chilly yet?
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Early morning + fog = not great (wildlife & bird) photos. But very cool to see this coyote a few mornings ago.
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A large and very fluffy coyote watching me, watching him.
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Not the most inspired landscape composition, but the sky this afternoon reminded me of a watercolour painting.
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The young one isn’t so young – almost the size of mama.
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Mama deer hanging out in the yard today.
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Mama having a nibble of the feed we have out in the yard (a winter treat only, just like the bird feeders).
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Good thing there isn’t a flag pole nearby!!!
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The young deer got spooked by the dog as we were heading out on our afternoon walk. It was fun watching her hop away through the snow (it reminded me of the springbok in Botswana). I managed these three shots and put them together as a pano. I thought it was a great way to show the height and distance travelled in a single bounce.
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2015-12-06: What I’ve seen this week

This week, let’s great straight to the pictures!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend 🙂

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A pine grosbeak working on a pinecone. I’m getting closer to getting a decent photo of the brightly coloured male. 1/640sec, f8.0, ISO 400
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Getting even closer, but still not the type of shot I’m hoping for. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO 2200
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I love the shape of this crow flying overhead. 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO 400
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Such an epic sunrise. At the time I was thinking it’s a shame to have the road and the wires visible, but I probably wouldn’t have had this view anywhere else. 1/640sec, f8.0, ISO 400
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It was so beautiful I had to include two photos it. A brilliantly foggy sunrise.
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A young deer grazing on my lawn. The early morning and dull day certainly didn’t do me any favours for photography; I was just happy to watch this little one and her Mom relax and graze around the yard. 1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 6400
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Trying to capture a decent shot before sunrise on a dull day… not happening. But I was walking along thinking about white bunnies and hoping I’d see one soon that I could capture a photo of, and then I spotted this one 🙂 1/500sec, f5.6, ISO6400
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My lunchtime walk brought another sighting of the bunny, in better light. I snapped a quick photo, and started to slowly move closer, hoping to get something better than this. 1/400sec, f5.6, ISO2800
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I tried to move closer to take a better photo of the bunny, but it got spooked by a passing car, and all that was left was this tiny clump of fur caught on a branch. There was a tiny sunbeam coming through there; perhaps it was enjoying the warmth of the day.
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Silhouetted trees and heart shaped clouds at sunrise. 1/400sec, f8.0, ISO 400
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2015-12-04: International Cheetah Day

I wouldn’t have known that it was International Cheetah Day if I hadn’t come across a post about it on a blog I follow (de Wets Wild, which I would highly recommend if you are interested in South African wildlife).

I’ve been fortunate to spend a fair bit of time with cheetahs now, both during my time with Wildlife Act last year, and this past holiday.  I’ve seen a somewhat half-hearted (and unsuccessful) hunt, but I have never seen them going at full speed, except on the wildlife documentaries I’ve seen on TV.  Perhaps my time will come to see that in person 🙂

I hope you enjoy my selection of cheetah photos today.  TGIF, and have a great day everyone!

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An unknown male cheetah was spotted our first evening at Londolozi. 1/320sec, 55.6, ISO4500 May, 2015
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On the second night at Londolozi, some time with the resident male cheetah. 1/250sec, f6.3, ISO 5000 Londolozi Private Game Reserve, May, 2015
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Late afternoon grooming time with one of the little ones. 1/250sec, f8.0, ISO 3600 Phinda Private Game Reserve, May 2015
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One of the cheetah brothers at Phinda, heading for a shady spot as the day warms up. 1/640sec, f8.0, ISO 320 Phinda Private Game Reserve May, 2015
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No rest for the weary! This mama had her paws full with 3 rambunctious cubs. 1/1000sec, f6.3, ISO 1250

 

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