Kgalagadi September 2016: raptor kills and roadside rescue

[Tdgraves]

Another attempt at astrophotography, 18/9/16

 

As the full moon had passed, it was getting a bit darker each night, so I thought I'd give it another go. Of course there is a lot of light pollution in a main rest camp still....

 

The hint of the milky way after sunset

 

 

a bit later...

 

 

and later still....much more like it!

 

 

this time without the tree

 

 

A proper milky way at last!!

 

 

Am pleased that we still took the tripod and hopeful that there will be less light pollution at Kalahari Tented Camp.....

[Peter Connan]

What a mignificent series and sighting with the Bataleur!

 

I remember once reading an article on bird photography advocating that the photographer seek out the YAS. The Young and Stupid.

 

This series definately shows that the young are indeed stupid!

 

Milky ways are starting to look really good!

Edited December 20, 2016 by Peter Connan

[Tdgraves]

What a mignificent series and sighting!

 

I remember once reading an article on bird photography advocating that the photographer seek out the YAS. The Young and Stupid.

 

This series definately shows that the young are indeed stupid!

 

@@Peter Connan - at first I thought you meant the other vehicle which left!!

[Peter Connan]

@@Tdgraves, although I may be talking about myself here, that is probably just as true, although you did not reveal their age(s).

[Tdgraves]

@@Tdgraves, although I may be talking about myself here, that is probably just as true, although you did not reveal their age(s).

 

Too far away to see the occupants....

[Tdgraves]

Day 9, Nossob morning drive, 19/9/16

 

I was fourth in the queue again, this time behind the lady on the long safari, a professional photographer and a BBC researcher. In fact, the BBC researcher and I both arrived at the same time from different directions. Being the gentlemen, he allowed me to go ahead of him. It didn't matter what decision they made in terms of direction, as I had already decided to go north, as we would be checking out later and therefore going south anyway. As it turned out, 2 of the 3 decided to go north. It was a mere 1 degree when we left and I had the 5D today. The lady on the long trip was still at the gate when we arrived. She had needed to get a vehicle out of the way that thought that they did not need a permit, so they sat in first position to get out of the gate! Now that the temporary (or perhaps permanent) gate is not near the office, it is not unlocked automatically by the staff, but seemingly by the first person to leave each day. She was trying to tell them that they needed a permit, but didn't want to get into a fight with them. I took the padlock and let the 3 of us with permits out (with us at the end of the queue). I do not know if the permit-less vehicle followed later. The single lady let the BBC researcher pass as he had a long distance to travel. However, the lions did not take this into account! I guess it was the same mating pair that had run out in front of us 2 days before. Progress was slow. Due to the nature of the road, it was very difficult to get a shot, with the bends and avoiding the 2 vehicles in front of us. She could see that we were keen and struggling and drove up to the BBC researcher. She then allowed us to drive up to her. She had arranged for us to be head of the convoy! What an angel. As she had been on safari so long, she had already had lots of lion sightings and photos and of course the researcher had other plans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a couple of closer ones from the 7D courtesy of the OH

 

 

 

By this stage, there was a queue of traffic behind us and the safari angel suggested that we both move on, to let others have a go. Easier said than done - have you ever tried overtaking 2 lions on a mission, taking up most of the road? We finally plucked up the courage to squeeze past them and decided to go and stake out the waterhole, as they seemed to have been making determined progress towards it and it was only about another 1km or so away. So there we sat at Cubitje Quap and we waited. And waited. And waited. Did the lions turn up? Of course not. We assume that they left the road and went up into the dunes. However, as we were changing camps, we wanted a short drive and it couldn't have been much shorter!

 

We did however see another raptor kill whilst we were waiting. A lanner took a sandgrouse, annoyingly on the far side of the hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we got back to camp to pack up and leave, it was a balmy 2 degrees!!

[xelas]

It is always good to be at the head of a convoy ... when lions are leading the way!

[Ladouce]

Great pictures of the lions. I love the 3rd one. It is really beautiful.

[Tdgraves]

thanks @@Ladouce and @@xelas

[Towlersonsafari]

cracking capture of cats checking the countryside @@Tdgraves

[Tdgraves]

Better than big bird battling breakfast? @@Towlersonsafari

[Atravelynn]

Those are some fine head of the convoy lion shots.

[Tdgraves]

Day 9 Transfer from Nossob to Kalahari Tented Camp, 19/9/16

 

By the time we had packed up the car and donated half a bottle of wine and a few eggs to our new neighbours, I had changed into shorts and a t shirt. I was rather surprised then, to see that when we set off it was only 6 degrees The OH was convinced the car's thermometer was broken, but the temperature did slowly rise during the drive up to 28 degrees when we finally arrived in KTC. I certainly wouldn't be wandering around in shorts at home when it's 6 degrees!!

 

 

First stop was the Brandt's whistling rat hole - and we managed to find one to take a photo of!

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, a really large construction vehicle soon arrived (on the loop, not the main road??!!?) and scared it off

 

The next sighting was another new bird, a booted eagle

 

 

And what was this up ahead in the road??

 

 

Two every sleepy lions (taken with iPhone)

 

 

 

 

 

They were not interested in moving, so we crept past them - this was as much reaction as they could manage....

 

 

And from the picnic site, some "tame" birds

 

 

 

 

 

After some refreshments and take-away breakfast, it was time to hit the road again. The upper dune road had been good ford birds in both directions.

 

Another new bird (sorry but the waterhole was quite far from the road), spike-heeled lark

 

 

And a more common Kalahari sighting, a fawn-coloured lark

 

 

Greater kestrel

 

 

Kalahari scrub-robin

 

 

Black-headed heron

 

 

It wasn't all birds...

 

 

We stopped at the next picnic spot for a comfort break. I was halfway to the toilets when I spotted bird which looked unusual, so I went back to the car to swap the loo roll for the 7D and got this - a short-toed rock-thrush

 

 

 

On the road again, we found this juvenile Southern chanting goshawk trying to hide

 

 

We went to Mata Mata to buy cool drinks and look at the sightings board before checking into KTC. The last sighting of the drive was a close male pygmy falcon an the entrance road to KTC. I was focusing on it, to see if it would fly off (the OH was driving) when this idiot in a minibus trying to go in the other direction stopped and very loudly asked (in Afrikaans) if he could move forwards to let him past. No safari etiquette. Obviously it flew off while we were moving, so no shot You will not be surprised to hear that it was the same idiot who spooked the kudu coming down to drink..... Grrrrr.

 

 

This was our welcoming committee in the room...

 

 

 

 

 

It had been a really long day, so we did not go for an afternoon drive, but just sat outside our tent watching the sun go down.

[Tdgraves]

Sunset and stars, Kalahari Tented Camp, 19/9/16

 

There wasn't much coming to the waterhole, but it was really nice to sit and relax with the peace and quiet

 

View from our patio area

 

 

Sunset with the iPhone

 

 

And with the 5D

 

 

Venus just visible

 

 

The braai

 

 

And some star trails!!

 

 

And when it got a bit darker, some proper milky way shots, without light pollution

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, it was on my second attempt at star trails, that I realised just how much battery is required. It was fine taking the shot, but at some point afterwards when processing, the battery died, along with my picture

Oh well, there is always tomorrow.....

[Peter Connan]

Do you use Long Exposure Noise Reduction, and a single long exposure for star trails?

 

I must admit, I have stopped doing that, and now take multiple 30-second exposures which I later stack using a little freeware program.

I find this is much more reliable, because you don't have that second long exposure, and also if somebody inadvertently shines a light in the wrong direction, that photo can just be omitted from the stack.

 

Lovely birds and Steenbok, and great milky ways!

[Tdgraves]

Do you use Long Exposure Noise Reduction, and a single long exposure for star trails?

 

I must admit, I have stopped doing that, and now take multiple 30-second exposures which I later stack using a little freeware program.

I find this is much more reliable, because you don't have that second long exposure, and also if somebody inadvertently shines a light in the wrong direction, that photo can just be omitted from the stack.

 

Lovely birds and Steenbok, and great milky ways!

@@Peter Connan single exposure, with noise reduction (I think) - have only just bought the wide angle, so just practising really. Is the software easy to use? Edited December 24, 2016 by Tdgraves

[Peter Connan]

Incredibly so. Import images, click "process", click "save".

 

There are a few adjustments, but to my mind they are hardly worth the bother.

[xelas]

Incredibly so. Import images, click "process", click "save".

 

There are a few adjustments, but to my mind they are hardly worth the bother.

 

@@Peter Connan , would you be so kind to share the name of the software with the rest of us ? And your star-trails settings??

[Tdgraves]

Day 10, Kalahari tented camp, morning drive, 20/9/16

 

It was 3 degrees when we left camp, heading south. I had the 7D today. The first sighting was a pair of bat-eared foxes, courtesy of another vehicle, but they were in long grass, so no photos

 

 

 

 

We stopped at a waterhole and not long later, this thirsty lioness appeared

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then she was gone, so we continued south. We had the briefest of glimpses of a cheetah mother and cubs on the dunes

 

 

Some birds

 

 

 

 

When we got to the next waterhole, there was a juvenile gymnogene and what we later identified as a jackal buzzard (new bird for us), both sitting at the hole. This could be interesting....

 

 

 

 

 

We thought that we'd get some practice at tracking birds in flight, so when the jackal buzzard took off and flew in a circle, eventually landing back at the hole, we were both clicking away....

 

 

 

 

One missing frame (not in focus) and one second later - and then this!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was only when we stopped shooting, that we realised that it had made a kill, of a sandgrouse! A vehicle approached us from behind to ask what the birds were. My reply "I haven't got as far as identifying the other one yet, as I was too busy catching it making a kill!". They had not noticed either

 

We carried on and saw a jackal buzzard at much closer range, confirming our initial ID

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a juvenile black-shouldered kite to round off the morning

 

 

What a drive! It was 30 degrees when we returned to camp

[Peter Connan]

Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow WOW WOW WOW!

 

@@xelas, the program is StarStax.

Settings:

Manual mode, manual focus, continuous drive mode with cable release (the built-in intervalometer on Nikons can be used instead).

 

I usually use a shutter speed of 30 seconds as i can then use the photos for both milky way or startrails. But if i wanted to do only trails i might increase that to 2 minutes.

F2.8

ISO whatever gets me the the exposure i am looking for, although nowadays i will put it 400 or 800 and just lift the exposure in post. With your D610 you can do this too, but i am told Canons should be set at ISO1600.

 

I might also do one or two exposures that are longer and brighter and focussed on the foreground, on which i then darken the sky. The technique is very forgiving of things like this.

 

StarStax also supports "dark frames" to reduce sensor heat noise, but i have never bothered.

 

Afterwards, i will import to Lightroom, edit one shot to my liking, copy the settings to all the others, re-edit any special exposures, and then export them all to jpegs.

 

They afe then imported to StarStax, and stacked.

 

The result looks something like this:

Edited December 24, 2016 by Peter Connan

[xelas]

Thanks, @@Peter Connan . Will ask more questions in person.

 

Phew, @@Tdgraves, that is a sequence any wildlife photographer dreams about. Kill, in flight, tack sharp!! After this one, we might just stay with the perched ones ??

[michael-ibk]

Wow, what a super sequence, just fantastic! Bravo!!

[Tdgraves]

Day 10: Kalahari Tented Camp, evening drive, 20/9/16

 

It was 34 degrees and game was sparse. We saw someone stopped just as the road enters the Auob valley, because of this...

 

 

 

We stayed for a while, hoping it would resurface, but it was not to be.

 

The roads at the upper end of the Auob valley are sandy and had markedly deteriorated since we had been at Nossob. When we were at Mata Mata, there were two areas that needed caution, both at the top of ridges in the road. The tyre tracks were deep and you could not deviate from them, otherwise all speed was lost, so these "hills" had to be taken at full speed, to counteract any possible loss of speed and avoid getting stranded. Now, the whole road was rutted like this and long stretches were completely treacherous. This meant that slow game drives, looking for birds and animals was largely impossible, as 50 kph had to be maintained. I guess the roads were due to be graded and given that it was peak time in the park, the large number of vehicles was having its' effect. Lots of the local tourists also had large 4x4 vehicles with trailers or off-road caravans as well, which cause more damage to the sandy "roads". We were pleased to get to the loop roads, which were in better condition, due to the smaller volume of traffic and lower average speeds.

 

We found this spotted thick-knee, but there was little else to see.

 

 

 

 

I was now driving, making our way back to camp. It was pretty stressful, trying to keep on the tracks and maintaining 50 kph. When we approached one of the "hills", I knew that I had to hit at at top speed, to avoid being beached. We were following a Land Rover and I should have realised when they struggled to reach the top, that there was a problem, but what could we do? Gate closing time was approaching and unlike the Kruger, there aren't any alternative routes (which is part of the problem). So, I took a deep breath and floored it. Unfortunately, as we got higher, the car was struggling more and more and the speed was dramatically dropping. I had my foot to the floor in first gear and I could tell we were in trouble, but I could do nothing about it. As we reached the top, I lost all momentum and the car stopped. Nothing I could do could move it, backwards, forwards, nothing. It was an automatic, so I couldn't change gear otherwise. Slight changes in steering wheel direction. Nothing. I gave up, as I was worried that we were just digging into the sand

 

 

Luckily, as there was only about 15 minutes left until the gates closed, we wouldn't have to wait hours to be rescued, as could happen in the Kruger. So, I put on the hazard lights and hoped for the best. Less than 2 minutes later, I watched a convoy of three South African 4x4 vehicles approach in my rear view mirror. But wait, where were they going? Instead of coming up the hill behind me, they turned off onto the river bed? Had they not seen us? Didn't they know about the no off-roading rule? So I started frantically waving out of the window. They had seen us, but they knew more than we did. The bloody treacherous "hills" had little diversions across the riverbed. When they were closed, there were branches pulled across the entrance and when they were open, these were moved to the side. How were we supposed to know about this??? Why didn't they tell anyone? They are so keen to emphasise that off-roading is not allowed due to the fragile environment, even if I had seen one of these entrances with tyre tracks, I would never have followed them...

 

Anyway, the lead 4X4 approached us from in front to assess the situation. Initially, they were not friendly. The female passengers first comment was "you are the second people that we have rescued today!". However, the driver from the second vehicle was in his element, able to break in his new tow-rope, purchased specially for this trip! After a few circuits around the car, trying to find the towing loop, a plan was hatched. The tow loop was at the back, so we would be pulled down the hill and could then use the diversion road. I decided that they would feel more comfortable without a woman at the wheel, so the OH took over. It was a very simple procedure.

 

During this time, a sunset drive arrived and so the ranger got out to check that we were all ok. His first comment was "I thought that we had closed this road yesterday" and then to the South Africans "You'll be able to pull them out" and promptly left

 

When we were safely down and it was established that we were all staying at KTC, they let us go first, in case of further problems. There were no sightings en route. As we hadn't got their tent numbers, when we got back to camp, we rushed to our room to grab a couple of bottles of wine as a thank you and then drove back up to meet them at the gate. Their response was "I can't accept these unless you drink them with us". So we were invited to join the family and friends in one of their rooms. The two bottles and many others were consumed. The female passenger became much friendlier after that! The braai was fired up and despite our protestations, we were not allowed to leave. Lack of food was not an issue though as 3 pork ribs and numerous other things were cooked up. So not only had they rescued us, they had fed and watered us too! It was a very good (and late) night, but it stopped my planned astophotography

[xelas]

It only takes one South African (or more) to make a party out of a disaster!

[xelas]

It only takes one South African (or more) to make a party out of a disaster!

And where are the photos?