Animals – Page 65 – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

April 16, 2015

Four nights in Cape Town

A quick panorama from the top of table mountain.

The old limestone quarry at Robben Island.

Rusted barbed wires around Robben Island are just one of the reminders of its very sad past.

A view of Table Mountain from Robben Island.

A couple of hungry African penguin chicks beg their parents for food at Boulders beach.

A baby baboon, no more than a few days old, scampered around the side of the road, seen on our way into Franschhoek.

An orange breasted sunbird on some flowers (which I didn't note the name of) at the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town. — An orange breasted sunbird on some flowers (which I didn’t note the name of) at the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town.

I am gratefully, happily, joyfully back in Southern Africa again, and spent the past few days in Cape Town. This time, I was lucky enough to get the cable car to the top of Table Mountain (the “tablecloth” covered it almost my entire stay last time, and high winds had the cable car closed). I took the journey to Robben Island, seeing where Nelson Mandela spent his imprisonment and heard a first-hand account about what life was like in the prison, and had a lovely day trip to Franschhoek, the Cape of Good Hope and Boulders Beach (penguins!).

Honestly though, the absolute highlights of my time in Cape Town was having the opportunity to meet up with a friend I met my first trip over, and finally meeting my fabulous SA based travel agent in person.

I’ve brought along a tablet/PC hybrid to back up photos, and the editing capacity is a bit on the sluggish side, but I will do my best to get a few highlight photos posted when I can, because I can honestly say I would much rather be outside enjoying the beautiful scenery than spending too much time inside on the computer.

I’ve finally had a chance to sit down to post this one day two of my time in Namibia, depending on internet connections, I might get a chance to post some photos of the desert and animals in the next couple of days.

March 23, 2015

Rhinos

Here are a few more photos of rhinos that I had flagged for posting.

Have a great evening!

This rhino came quite close to our vehicle while we were stopped taking notes. I took the photo through the grab bars of the truck. 1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 1000 — This rhino came quite close to our vehicle while we were stopped taking notes. I took the photo through the grab bars of the truck.
1/400 sec, f5.6, ISO 1000

Five oxpeckers perch on the back of the largest of this trio of rhinos.

A young rhino listens intently in our direction. 1/400 sec, f5.6 ISO 640 — A young rhino listens intently in our direction.
1/400 sec, f5.6 ISO 640

March 19, 2015

What a sad face

I'd look glum too if I had bird poop all over my forehead! 1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 900 — I’d look glum too if I had bird poop all over my forehead!
1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 900

March 17, 2015

Rhino Tracking

I had the privilege of experiencing tracking white rhino on foot. The original hope had been that it would provide us with some great photo opportunities, but the rhino were spending the day in fairly thick bush grazing. In order to remain downwind of them, we ended up in some thick bush as well.

While the photography aspect didn’t pan out as the organizers had hoped, it was a truly special adventure which I enjoyed immensely.

A de-horned rhino grazing in dense brush. 1/250 sec, f5.6, ISO 500 — A de-horned rhino grazing in dense brush.
1/250 sec, f5.6, ISO 500

February 27, 2015

Kalahari the cheetah

Here are the last few cheetah photos that I had flagged for editing from my October / November 2014 project with Wildlife ACT. It took a few days for our first sighting of Kalahari the cheetah, but I was very lucky to get to spend a fair bit of time in his presence, and learn a bit about his personality.

I’m not sure what will be up next, but I still have quite a few photos from that trip that I would like to share. Have a great day everyone!

On the move - look at those huge feet! — On the move – look at those huge feet!

I included this photo only to show how difficult it can be to spot a cat, even with very little ground cover. He looked up briefly, watching us watch him, but as soon as he put his head down, you could have walked past and missed him laying there. I'm pretty sure we drove back and forth a few times before finally catching sight of him. — I included this photo only to show how difficult it can be to spot a cat, even with very little ground cover. He looked up briefly, watching us watch him, but as soon as he put his head down, you could have walked past and missed him laying there. I’m pretty sure we drove back and forth a few times before finally catching sight of him.

This was taken around the same time as the black and white conversion I posted earlier in the week, but from a different vantage point. After watching him from below for some time, we drove up to the road at the top of the dam wall. To get home we had no choice but to drive past him fairly close; we went slowly and quietly, and it gave us some lovely views :) — This was taken around the same time as the black and white conversion I posted earlier in the week, but from a different vantage point. After watching him from below for some time, we drove up to the road at the top of the dam wall. To get home we had no choice but to drive past him fairly close; we went slowly and quietly, and it gave us some lovely views 🙂

February 26, 2015

A wander through the acacia

One day we caught up to Kalahari early on our morning tracking drive, but he soon disappeared into the trees heading down towards the river. 1/320sec, f8.-, ISO 800 — One day we caught up to Kalahari early on our morning tracking drive, but he soon disappeared into the trees heading down towards the river.
1/320sec, f8.-, ISO 800

February 25, 2015

Surveying his domain

Pausing at the top of the dam wall to survey his domain. We were parked about 20 to 30 feet below him, giving us interesting angles to shoot with. 1/320 sec, f7.1, ISO 220 — Pausing at the top of the dam wall to survey his domain. We were parked about 20 to 30 feet below him, giving us interesting angles to shoot with.
1/320 sec, f7.1, ISO 220

February 24, 2015

Occupational Hazards

There are sugar cane fields surrounding portions of Zimanga Private Game Reserve, and on some of our tracking outings, we would follow the cane field fence lines to get where we were going. After tracking the cheetah for some time, we finally spotted him, but I am sure the worker cutting cane (probably less than 10 metres away) didn’t have a clue he was there.

February 23, 2015

Backwards Glance

February 13, 2015

Warthogs

Given the sheer quantity of warthogs I saw while at Zimanga Game Reserve, I’m surprised it has taken me this long to post any photos of them. They were everywhere I looked, from dawn till dusk. In our yard, wandering down the road (and seeming to take great joy in holding up the vehicle progress) and I am pretty certain there was at least one (probably more) hanging around every time we stopped the vehicle to do our tracking.

They could be described as having a face only a mother could love, but honestly I found something kind of endearing about them. And if nothing else, I really, really needed to work on a blog post of a land dweller, or I’d have to change the tagline of my site to “Images of birds and more birds”.

Have a great evening!

A young warthog I caught snooping around the garden while I was outside photographing the birds. 1/500 sec, f7.1, ISO 100 — A young warthog I caught snooping around the garden while I was outside photographing the birds.
1/500 sec, f7.1, ISO 100

The second before "Oh no, they see me!" 1/640 sec, f9.0, ISO 400 — The second before “Oh no, they see me!”
1/640 sec, f9.0, ISO 400

Catching a nap in the mid afternoon heat, in the garden of the Wildlife ACT volunteer house. 1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 250 — Catching a nap in the mid afternoon heat, in the garden of the Wildlife ACT volunteer house.
1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 250

Big tusks on this one! 1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 1100 — Big tusks on this one!
1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 1100

A large female warthog popped by the Mkombe bird hide for a drink. 1/1250 sec, f8.0, ISO 1600 — A large female warthog popped by the Mkombe bird hide for a drink.
1/1250 sec, f8.0, ISO 1600