Nikond7100 on The Singemonkey

February 14, 2023

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 16:12:11 +0000

A mess of hippos.

January 14, 2023

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 12:27:52 +0000

Little fruitbats dangling themselves to sleep in Satara restcamp. I think they’re probably Wahlberg’s Epauletted Fruitbats. They’re about the size of my fist. When they’re settling themselves down they look like someone struggling in a sack.

January 09, 2023

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 12:33:58 +0000

Two large, impressive vultures. The lower bird is a Lappet-Faced Vulture which sports the largest wingspan of any non-seabird in Southern Africa. A huge, powerful vulture that’s able to tear open carcasses to the benefit of slighltly smaller vultures like the White-Backed Vulture shown landing here.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 16:07:11 +0000

Painted Wolves (aka African Wild Dogs aka Cape Hunting Dogs) are the most desired large predator sighting in Kruger Park by regular visitors. We’ve been fantastically lucky to see them on most visits in the last decade. Packs are frequently wiped out by diseases of domestic dogs. Only the slow process of evolution or a genetic vaccine will restore them to the numbers they enjoyed in the late 19th Century.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:42:47 +0000

The Saddle-Billed Stork. I was delighted to find that the Indian Black-Necked Stork is a close cousin who’s eschewed the clown makeup for a gothic, vampire look. The perfect contrast.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:37:10 +0000

Dogs are always dogs. They love to play. They love to support and socialise. The painted wolf second from right has clearly been released from a poacher’s snare by the brilliant South African National Parks Board Staff. Despite the ugly gash, closeups reveal that it’s scarring over and healing nicely.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 13:38:54 +0000

I’d guess a lot of South Africans would be surprised to know we have indigenous parrots. This busy, curious little bird is the Brown-Headed Parrot. In some cities you can see Rose-Ringed Parakeets. But they’re the descendants of escaped pets. And they thrive in urban environments as they have for thousands of years in their native India. But this is a true Southern African parrot.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 13:27:06 +0000

Two cheetah brothers. In the second pic you can see the one brother calling the other down from his pedestal in his surprising cat-like high meow.

December 29, 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 13:15:44 +0000

The sportiest and slinkiest. The African Cheetah. Two brothers using the way markers outside Orpen rest camp as viewpoints and scent marking them. Seeing cheetahs in Kruger is special. Seeing them clearly and close is magic.

December 24, 2022

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 12:16:19 +0000

Dawn in the African bushveld style.

December 24, 2022

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 12:14:10 +0000

Oh hai! Guess where we are again.

October 28, 2022

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 11:28:03 +0000

Looking through some pics to make some prints and I discovered this lion pic from 2018. They really are strange-looking cats. Very long and lean. I guess they’re built for more endurance than Tigers and most other cats that are ambush hunters. Lions have to keep up with prey for longer periods of time, I think.

July 29, 2022

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 09:18:48 +0000

To photograph birds, you need the longest lenses possible. Here’s a little example. This lovely Common Starling was just across the narrow, one-way road from my balcony. The longest autofocus lens I have at home is a 300mm. This gets you further on the slightly smaller sensor of a lot of cameras than on a traditional 35mm camera (you can imagine the smaller sensor as taking a piece out of the middle of what you’d see in 35mm).