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Meru, Samburu, Lake Nakuru, Kenya — October, 2014


Tom Kellie

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Asking a lady ostrich one,


Question or two about her day,


To find out what she's left undone,


In her reply, what might she say?




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Female Ostrich in Sun Silhouette



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A Chicken's Role Model



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Her Magnificence



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High Strutter



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A Most Impressive Bird


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Reticulated markings bold,


With a pattern so distinctive,


Tinged with late afternoon sun's gold,


To admire it feels instinctive.




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Massive Musculature



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Ridgeline



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Marvelous Animal



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Where We Saw Giraffe



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Bold Reticulated Marking



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So Very Near


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In the soft golden hour sunlight,


Most color hues intensify,


Looking saturated and bright,


Yet difficult to quantify.




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Long Stretch



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Meru Reticulated Giraffe in Early Evening



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Dark Tongue in Action



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One Morsel at a Time



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Points of Honor



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Treasured Meru Memory


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Never complaining, these lapwings,


Seemingly content to be birds.


Their character's one of those things,


Their actions express without words.




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Single Vanellus spinosus



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Matched Pair at Day's End



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Spur-winged Lapwings


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@@Tom Kellie I don't love which I love more your photos of the reticulated giraffes or the spur-winged lapwings;I think that I'll have to call it a draw.

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What mother does, baby does, too.


Humans and elephants alike,


Learn by watching what others do,


Even a small pachyderm tyke.




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Birds in Early Evening



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Damaged Tusks



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A Not-so-little Little Family



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Out of Harm's Way



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Family Group at Eventide



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Mother's Raised Trunk



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Trunk Raised Like Mother


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@@Tom Kellie your giraffe photos remind me of how relaxing it can be to just sit and watch them eat and languidly chew. I think I could watch them eat and walk all day!!

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Nothing divides impala herds,


Their group loyalty is so strong.


They chatter without using words,


Scattering if things should go wrong.




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Impala Horn Sheen



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Within the Fence



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E Pluribus Unum



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Subtle Coat Color Blending



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Dark Scent Glands


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There's something special I feel when,


An elephant approaches me.


If being near is their choice, then,


I'm as contented as could be.




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Lackadaisical Grazing



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After Approaching the Safari Van


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Fence-sitter’ has a downbeat sense,


Suggesting one uncommitted.


This kingfisher so cool, not tense,


Was at ease and never flitted.




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Fence-sitter



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Attentive Kingfisher


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The game drive winds down in low light,


A full day of beauty at end,


Yet we see one more special sight,


With feathers in tawny brown blend.




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Peering Downward



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Shades and Tints of Brown



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Eagle at Rest Yet Alert



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Plumage Edged in Lighter Tones


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  • 2 weeks later...

Morning ablutions in the dark,


Earth tone towels a welcome sight.

It's our final time in the park,

Anything we see a delight.



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Low-key Earth Tones


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For Morning Ablutions

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We see others walking along,


Like us, there is much to be done.


In my thoughts the tune of a song,


As I'm certain we'll soon have fun.




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Born Free Foundation



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On the Park Entrance Road



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Going to School


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Antique gold clouds gild silent skies,


Lending morning melancholy,


A subdued image for our eyes,


To ignore it would be folly.




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Meru Dawn



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Portentous Clouds



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Sleepers Awake


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Embellished with nothing at all,


Giraffes stand out but don't show off.


Considering that they're so tall,


Their throat must make quite a loud cough.




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Giraffes Begin Early



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Morning Game Drive's First Spotting



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As Lovely As It Gets


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These Numida meleagris,


Briefly paused on top of a berm,


Blue heads impossible to miss,


Their restlessness one can confirm.




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Helmeted Guineafowl on a Berm



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Bits of Blue



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Running Guineafowl


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Not many vehicle tracks here,


This secluded zone of dry grass.


These animals react with fear.


We ask why does that come to pass?




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Two Large Birds Perched in a Snag Tree



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Separated from the Soil



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African Buffalo Pair in Dry Grass



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Stone Cairn with Signs


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Noisy, these two, they screech a lot,


Letting all know that they're up there.


Will they keep this up when it's hot,


Loudly, if only on a dare?




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Northern White-crowned Shrike



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Eurocephalus rueppelli


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Dark clouds mixed with golden sunlight,


It's our final Meru game drive.


Just to be here is pure delight,


The great joy of being alive.




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Every Hair Stands Out



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Departure



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Juvenile Waterbuck



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Not Much Shade



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Sunrise Profile



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Alert Posture



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Characteristic Common Waterbuck Marking


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On Meru's red soil may be viewed,


Many species of lively birds,


Feeding together without feud,


Companions without any words.




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Inconspicuous Dove



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Streptopelia capicola



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Unlikely Pair



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Buffalo-Weaver and Fiscal



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Dinemellia dinemelli and Lanius cabanisi


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Simplicity, no leaves at all,

A fiscal perched where it may see,

Potential prey, both great and small,

Living in unfeigned harmony.

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Lanius cabanisi in a Bare Bush

 

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Photography and poetry is fantastic tom.

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Doum Palms and a track of red earth,


A quiet morning drive it seems.


This, the land of mankind's birth,


With natural mystery teems.




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No Shortage of Perches



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Doum Palms Against a Dark Sky



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A Quiet Track



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Red-billed Hornbill in Dry Grass


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Observing, then going away,


Who's really been looking at who?


‘Life is life’ is all I can say,


Going on is all one may do.




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Corythaixoides leucogaster



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Going Away


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