Leopard Hills, Sabi Sands, South Africa — October, 2015

[xelas]

How cool, the rock python defying the gravity!

[Tom Kellie]

What's that long-tailed bird in the tree?

It's a magpie shrike — you're sure to spot more,

Look around, they're easy to see,

I'm surprised you haven't seen them before.

Magpie Shrike in a Spreading Tree

Magpie Shrike's Long Tail

[Tom Kellie]

Apparently there's a pair of parrots perched high,

Their bright green plumage and curved bills distinctive.

Why they make no loud, raucous calls, I know not why.

Perhaps such parrot silence is instinctive.

Brown-headed Parrots

[Tom Kellie]

There they stand, quiet and motionless,

Water Thick-knees with their wide-open eyes,

Sophisticated in wilderness,

Observing three at once a nice surprise.

Three Water Thick-knees

Three-banded Plover with Water Thick-knees

Burhinus vermiculatus

[Tom Kellie]

Are you plovers or are you lapwings,

Blacksmith birds without forge or fire?

Your grey, black and white presence brings,

Serenity, which all desire.

Lapwing Flying Past Resting Birds

Lapwings Winging Past Hippos

[Peter Connan]

Great sightings and photos Tom, particularly the two reptiles.

 

But the first photo you posted of the python is one of the best snake photos I have ever seen, the way you used a shallow depth of field with pin-sharp focus on the eye is simply inspiring!

[Tom Kellie]

Any view of the Sand River is such,

That it seems unlike other streams.

Does one feel quite impressed? Not very much,

Yet its charm is the stuff of dreams.

Growth Thrives Where Water Abounds

Restful Break Spot

Sand River Vegetation

[Tom Kellie]

How cool, the rock python defying the gravity!

 

~ @@xelas

 

When I ducked low to bring the camera lens under the branch, it was apparent how the python had cupped its body around the branch, so as to balance.

A young python, it was nonetheless around 1 meter long. The beauty of its head and eye entranced me.

Thank you for your nice comment!

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

Great sightings and photos Tom, particularly the two reptiles.

 

But the first photo you posted of the python is one of the best snake photos I have ever seen, the way you used a shallow depth of field with pin-sharp focus on the eye is simply inspiring!

 

~ @@Peter Connan

 

Thank you so much!

Those reptiles were a highlight of the multi-day Leopard Hills safari.

I hadn't expected such sightings, let alone at close range. The overcast morning skies facilitated better color in the images as the sensor wasn't dealing with any overly bright patches.

Your generous comment about the camera and lens settings for the python portrait encourages me to do likewise in the future.

As the trip report shows, I rapidly came to like South Africa's beauty, including its reptiles...of which there are more yet to post!

Tom K.

Tom K.

[Tdgraves]

Great sightings and photos Tom, particularly the two reptiles.

 

But the first photo you posted of the python is one of the best snake photos I have ever seen, the way you used a shallow depth of field with pin-sharp focus on the eye is simply inspiring!

+1

[Tom Kellie]

A safari's unsung heroes are plants,

Which grow in the most unlikely of places.

Food for birds and mammals and home to ants,

Living, growing and dying with few traces.

Sedges Brighten the Shore

Early October Wildflowers

Algae Filaments in River Shallows

Life Finds a Toehold

Plants Beside the Sand River

Damselfly Resting on a Botanical Peninsula

[Tom Kellie]

Your beauty and flight my eyes entrance,

O damselfly of the delicate wings!

I love to watch your aerial dance,

When you fly about, surely your heart sings.

Airborne Damselfly

Resting Damselfly

[Tom Kellie]

Be careful, there's the Hippopotamus Clan,

Tucked in as tight as a family may be.

Unafraid of either animals or man,

For hippos the river water is safety.

Hippopotamus Clan

[Atravelynn]

Nice "hero" series. Good way to describe the plants, the unsung heroes.

 

"Are you plovers or are you lapwings,

Blacksmith birds without forge or fire?"

Two pertinent questions, especially the first one.

Good job spotting that python. What interesting poses. Having both the English and the Latin names at your service increases the rhyming possibilities.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Atravelynn

[Tom Kellie]

Who knew crocodiles could swim so fast,

Head held high, feet and tail beneath.

Enthralled as I watched it swimming past,

What stood out were its many teeth!

Speedster

No Need for Special Effects

More Than Long Enough

[Tom Kellie]

Nice "hero" series. Good way to describe the plants, the unsung heroes.

 

"Are you plovers or are you lapwings,

Blacksmith birds without forge or fire?"

Two pertinent questions, especially the first one.

Good job spotting that python. What interesting poses. Having both the English and the Latin names at your service increases the rhyming possibilities.

 

~ Atravelynn

 

Thank you for your encouraging comments. They mean much to me.

We versifiers know what it's like to attempt such a “road less traveled” approach to trip report writing.

True enough about multiple names and rhymes. Which one to use typically depends on whichever one fits and sounds right.

The plover vs lapwing tussle is best asked in verse, as I know better than to step into the minefield of current avian taxonomy.

Plants are COOL! They may seem less demonstrative than animals, but who needs to be followed around all the time by a wagging tail?

This work week involves trips far from where I live, thus there's very limited time available for adding to this trip report.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

The water thick-knee keeps its distance because,

It knows from long, sad experience,

What happens to those who pass near to those jaws,

Which snap at their owner's convenience.

Life Around the Shallows

Let's Be Friends

Crocodile, Thick-knee and Lapwing

[Tom Kellie]

The game drive over, you've earned your rest,

Jehanne and Ronald who are such a great team,
These guys are among the very best,
Both skilled at tracking, in their eyes a bright gleam.

At the Leopard Hills Entrance

Jehanne and Ronald

 

[Tdgraves]

@@Tom Kellie - we had the same guide!!

[Abena]

@@Tom Kellie, what a great TR!! I would have 'liked' every single photo but my internet started to run slow half way through. The photos were fabulous and you really got to see a wide variety of animals. The cheetah and the hyena were amazing - so too the baby elephant (always just too cute) and the hippos and crocs. Very cool python photo as well as the monitor lizard! I have a thing for photographing patterns and the stripes on zebras fascinate me. I enjoyed the plant photos very much as well. I don't mean to leave 'anybody' out - it was all great. The lodge sounds.... spectacular. I guess you're looking forward to getting back there soon!

[Abena]

Oh, and I had to look up Zorilla - now I know what it is and what it looks like!

[Terry]

Hi Tom, Enjoying your trip report immensely, the plants, the verses, and of course the animals. I especially like the pictures of the pictures of the cheetah and the wilddogs. To the wild dogs feed their young, - what a treat!. It is also great to see a crocodile on the move like that rather than pretending to be a log.

 

You have captured the beauty of the Sand River area well. I too had to look up Zorilla, at first I thought the name was a joke, so I have learned from your report.

 

Terry

[Super LEEDS]

Python! Oh wow, oh yes! Well done, @@Tom Kellie

[Kitsafari]

@@Tom Kellie while i've enjoyed your lyrical report, i particularly liked the ones that accompanied the male cheetah in the forest as the poetry mirrors reflections on the sleek elegant cat,

 

my favourites were these: it reminds me so much of william blake's poetry, which i thoroughly love.

Gliding through the foliage with brazen stealth,

The male cheetah's camouflage heightened by leafy green,

Having no need for either fame or wealth,

The forest visitor passes through largely unseen.

 

What dreams shimmer in a cheetah's head,

When it pauses to rest and survey the terrain?
Does it feel weary, needing a bed?
Or are its musings impossible to explain?

[Kitsafari]

wow that python's eye and head was intense, and you caught its perfect balance on a thin branch outweighed by its body perfectly.

 

Love that yellow hibiscus engleri - now I've learned its name! we saw so much of it on the ground but often forgot to ask its name.