Leopards
While on safari in Ngala Game Reserve, Kruger National Park, South Africa, we tracked these two Leopards for a couple of days and finally caught up with them. They are siblings, brother and sister, according to our guide. For more on these Leopards check out my previous posts:
Here you'll find these two cuddling with each other.And here for a Leopard killing an Impala.Here's a couple more...
"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change." - Wayne Dyer
(more...)
Zebra Kiss
Another South Africa shot?! Yes and I still have more... It's beginning to be quite a task to edit images in a diverse way so I don't bombard you with a month of Zebras and then a month of Leopards. But it's definitely fun reliving these moments.
African wildlife is cool to photograph any way you cut it but when you capture a moment of affection or violence or some raw activity it's something really special. Here we found a harem of Zebras in the early morning light. These two in particular stopped to give us a little show for a minute and I was ready with the camera."If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change." - Wayne Dyer
(more...)
African Penguins
While in Cape Town, South Africa a few weeks ago I attended a tour that took us from our waterfront hotel all around the coast of the Cape Peninsula. It was a nice tour that basically ended at a beach called Boulders Beach. Boulders Beach is famous for it's African Penguin colony. Thousands of penguins are here year round and there is a boardwalk that gets you up close and personal with them.
The African Penguin is smaller than most other species standing at 27 inches. Compare that to the popular Emperor Penguin standing at 4 feet tall. In the image above you'll find several penguins returning to the beach after a fishing expedition. They can reach speeds of 20 KPH in the water and dive down to 60 meters for as long as 2.5 minutes.
The penguins do breed in this area so there are literally nests all over the place. I noticed a lot of abandoned eggs as well due to either being infertile or because of predators. Mongoose, birds and other animals prey on the penguin's eggs.
Below you'll find two young chicks beneath their mother.
It's a remarkable place because of how close you can get to these penguins. I literally stood on the boardwalk and looked down over the edge to the sand below (about a foot away) and watched a couple penguins mating. It was even more fascinating to watch as the male laid next to the female and put one of his wings over her as to cuddle afterwards. The African Penguin is indeed monogamous.
An interesting fact: the penguin's coats are white underneath and black on top. That is because it helps camouflage them from predators while in the water. When a predator looks up from under the water at them it blends in with the bright sky and when looking down on them it gets lost in the shadows of the deep water.
"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change." - Wayne Dyer
(more...)
Brown-hooded Kingfisher
The Kingfishers were high on my list of African birds to see and I found one! This little guy was in camp at Ngala Game Reserve. A tributary river to Timbavati River runs right alongside the camp and we would sit and lounge around between game drives watching for wildlife. I would watch this Kingfisher perched on a nearby tree as it would spend its day swooping down into the water and snatching up fish but every time I approached he was super skittish and flew away. I was so determined that I left my camera and tri pod set up in close range of the branch that it loved and left it set up there until the Kingfisher came back. When it did I just snuck up to the camera and started firing away - it didn't seem to care as much then."If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change." - Wayne Dyer
(more...)
The Giraffe
Next to Impala, the Giraffe was probably the most abundant animal in South Africa. We landed at Hoedspruit airport for our safari. We left the airport for Ngala Game Reserve and about 10 minutes into our drive the first animal we saw was Giraffe. And there were a lot of them - mostly just grazing on the trees alongside the road. They were amazing to watch.
The Giraffe is the tallest living animal standing at 16 to 20 feet tall. Their necks alone can reach up to 7 feet long. They primarily eat leaves off of Acacia trees. Acacia trees have large thorns on them but the Giraffe uses its18 inch tough tongue to reach around the thorns and grab the leaves.
One of the most noticeable trademarks of the Giraffe (besides it's pattern) are the Ossicones. Ossicones are horn-like (or antler-like) protuberances on their heads. It's one of the best ways to tell sexes apart. In the image above you'll find they are more knob like indicating it's a male while the image below they appear to be pointier with tufts of hair on top indicating a female. See if you can identify the other images.
If you look closely at the image below, about a third of the way up the Giraffe's neck you will find a bird hitching a ride. These are called Oxpeckers and you'll find them on a lot of animals in Africa. They eat ticks, larvae and other parasites off of the large animals.
"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change." - Wayne Dyer
(more...)
Read More Posts From Forget Me Knott Photography
Working...