Calving Season in Southern Serengeti Kusini & NCA Ndutu: Predator Action

[ricmiles]

Day 6 

 

Plan for the morning was to look for some action around the tails of the herds, which were not far from camp. 

 

We immediately noticed a female wildebeest and a calf running in the opposite direction of the herd and we made a comment on how separating from the herd is never a wise decision. We barely finished the sentence when a lioness appeared out of nowhere and started running after the two. Surprisingly enough she caught the adult and the calf got away. The lioness was still in the process of killing its prey when a huge number of hyenas gathered around them and kicked her out. The calf made the silly mistake to stay relatively close to the kill, staring at the scene. The lioness noticed it and started the chase again. She was no match for the scared calf. The hyenas were so busy fighting between them that they didn’t notice this second kill. 2 kills and predator-predator interaction, what an incredible sighting this was. All of this happened with very dim light so I waited to take the camera out and only got a few shots following the kills.  

 

 

We went our way. As we drove around the herd we found several more hyena kills. This clearly is an area where hyenas strive during the migration. Although it seems they hunt mostly before the sun rises. 

 

 

Moving towards the border with Ndutu we found a female cheetah with her cub. She was the same cheetah we found a few days prior on a kill. They looked hungry so we followed them and it wasn’t long until they spotted some thomson gazelles. We didn’t feel like getting too close in order not to interfere with the hunt. Luckily, she was successful and we rushed in as soon as the gazelle was taken down. 

 

 

3 kills by 3 different predators. It was now our turn to get some food and we looked for some shade under a tree. 

 

Final photos from the game drive:

 

 

In the afternoon I asked Festus to take us where chances of seeing a leopard were the highest. We went but the area was very quiet and we found no leopard. We only saw a small herd of elephants that turned the opposite way as soon as we were noticed.

 

 

Festus told us that elephants in the area are very uncommon and some seasons they never come this south in the Serengeti. This herd clearly wasn’t used to getting close to cars and humans. It never ceases to fascinate me how animal behaviour changes among different locations based on the local dynamics, especially related to human activity.

 

Edited April 6 by ricmiles

[Alex The Lion]

Looks like you had some great sightings and some good images.

 

I know you went with a photographic guide, though a lot of these images look quite soft/not quite focusing properly? Is this an equipment/user issue or something related to post processing?

 

My next advice on developing your photographic journey is to stick more to one sighting, which can mean not moving for a whole day. You have a lot of images in quite harsh light. You really have a 30 minute window at both Sunset and Sunrise to really make everything click.

[ricmiles]

@Alex The Lion Thanks for the suggestions! 

 

I think I had some trouble in general in a number of different instances, especially with wildlife in motion. I changed the way I focus on my camera and was slowly getting used to it. I might also be getting something wrong post processing that makes things worse. I am playing a lot on Lightroom and figuring things out slowly. 

 

I totally get your comment on the short time window. I have noticed that when the light is right, everything just works. Unfortunately, all hunts were shot either late in the morning / early in the afternoon with a harsh light, or very early in the morning with 6400 ISO (Lioness in my last comment). 

[Alex The Lion]

1 minute ago, ricmiles said:

@Alex The Lion Thanks for the suggestions! 

 

I think I had some trouble in general in a number of different instances, especially with wildlife in motion. I changed the way I focus on my camera and was slowly getting used to it. I might also be getting something wrong post processing that makes things worse. I am playing a lot on Lightroom and figuring things out slowly. 

 

I totally get your comment on the short time window. I have noticed that when the light is right, everything just works. Unfortunately, all hunts were shot either late in the morning / early in the afternoon with a harsh light, or very early in the morning with 6400 ISO (Lioness in my last comment). 

 

Understandable with the cheetah hunts. Looking at the elephants, you could be suffering from heat haze too.

 

What camera/focusing settings are you using?

 

There a better editors on the market, which you can use as a 3rd party plugin via Lightroom, and keep it for cataloguing, DXO is probably the best for RAW image sharpening/noise removal.

[ricmiles]

@Alex The LionI have a Nikon 7500D DSLR with an AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (and sometimes changed to a wide angle lens). Focus settings I now use two different buttons to focus and then shoot. Before I used to half-click the same button, now I can basically choose whether to focus continuously or not based on the circumstance. It came in handy but also took a few days to get used to it. 

 

I will have a look at DXO, thank you. 

 

If I may ask, I would like to upgrade camera to mirrorless for my next photographic trip. I've been told that the Z7 is trash and the Z8 performs amazingly. Would you also agree with this? I don't expect results to change drastically, but would not mind being pleasantly surprised. 

[ricmiles]

Day 7 

 

Final morning was also kind of a hit and miss. The prior day when we got back to camp we were told by the other guests that they found a leopard on the tree I took some silhouette photos of the first day at Kusini. They mentioned it had a kill so we assumed chances of seeing it still up there were fairly high. We gave it a shot. 

 

 

The kill was still up there, but no sign of the leopard. Or so we thought. We left the area and followed the herd: 

 

A bat-eared fox: 

 

 

Moving on we found a hyena covered in blood:

 

 

The final photos on our way to the airstrip: 

 

The other guests were also on our same flight and they told us they went back to the tree that morning and the leopard was still there. It must have been hiding in the upper branches. Really makes you reflect on the fact that sometimes these animals are hard to find even if you know what you are looking for and where. 

 

Our flight back was planned terribly. We went from Kusini airstrip to Seronera. Changed aircraft and went to Maswa Airstrip, Lake Manyara Airstrip, Tarangire Airstrip and then finally Arusha Airport. Changed aircraft again and went to Kilimanjaro Airport. 3 planes and 6 stops. The views were out of this world so there’s that to appreciate at least. 

 

All in all the whole trip was everything I hoped for. I saw the huge herds in the open plains and I got the action I was looking for while working on my photography at the same time. A big appreciation for Andrew Beck & Wild Eye for taking me through this learning process and Asilia for always making my stays with them feel comfortable and genuine. 

 

Ndutu and Kusini are both extraordinary in their own way and I would advise combining the two instead of picking one over the other. As per the timing, it definitely feels like February is when most activity is concentrated in as that is when the births actually happen. I would highly suggest waiting for that peak time to end and go at the beginning of March with considerably less crowds. You might not see the births, but given the amount of calves already born you’ll be rewarded with a lot of action. 

 

Reflections on future trips: 

To build on my photography. I have decided to dedicate one yearly trip to photography. I have booked a safari in - Lower Zambezi, Zambia in 2025. I will be doing North & South Luangwa in July/August of this year but decided to focus on walking so I doubt I’ll do much photography there. Another photographic safari I’m interested in going on for photography is the Greater Kruger (MalaMala and Londolozi). 

- I have to do some research on some other great safaris to go on during the ‘Green Season’ November to May. I know about the zebra migration in Botswana and am wondering if there is anything else that could be considered a must. Might start a thread on this as I’m sure many people would also be interested in the topic. 

- I have now been to northern, eastern and southern Serengeti. I would like to go to western Serengeti.  I have enquired and it seems it is advised to go in July to maximise chances of seeing the herds in the area. Unfortunately, the timing won’t work for me neither this year or the next because of my two trips to Zambia being too close. I will check by late May if herds are moving towards the Grumeti river earlier than usual I might fit in a quick stop in June. If not, it will stay in my bucket list for a while and hopefully by 2026/2027’ I can ‘complete’ the Serengeti.

 

Edited April 6 by ricmiles

[Alex The Lion]

3 hours ago, ricmiles said:

@Alex The LionI have a Nikon 7500D DSLR with an AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (and sometimes changed to a wide angle lens). Focus settings I now use two different buttons to focus and then shoot. Before I used to half-click the same button, now I can basically choose whether to focus continuously or not based on the circumstance. It came in handy but also took a few days to get used to it. 

 

I will have a look at DXO, thank you. 

 

If I may ask, I would like to upgrade camera to mirrorless for my next photographic trip. I've been told that the Z7 is trash and the Z8 performs amazingly. Would you also agree with this? I don't expect results to change drastically, but would not mind being pleasantly surprised. 

@ricmilesok, you are still on a DSLR, and an entry model too.

 

So back button focusing is standard for a wildlife photographer, though what settings are you using? Is it centre point, wide area etc?

 

With these entry level DSLRs, anything other than using the centre point, becomes quite tricky, the focusing systems are not up same level as the latest mirrorless cameras, with subject eye focusing etc.

 

I would also look at the camera body/lens combination to see if there is any front/back focusing issues. Not all lenses and bodies work correctly together. For example, you put the focus point on the eye, though due to a misalignment between the two, the focusing point is a metre infront.

Edited April 6 by Alex The Lion

[ricmiles]

@Alex The LionSo the settings I change based on the circumstance. If I have one subject laying down I will use one single point and move it to frame the photo as I like best. When I had cheetahs on the hunt I would increase the area of focus, and for birds I even tried the movement detector. 

 

Based on your comment I assume the move to a mirrorless camera is very much worth it. My next trip will be mostly walking I won't do much photography but will definitely get it by my trip to LowZamb in 2025 with a photographic guide to make the best out of it. 

Edited April 6 by ricmiles

[Atravelynn]

"All in all the whole trip was everything I hoped for."  Well, it certainly looked like it from the trip report. 

 

Based on the discussion with @Alex The Lion, if your photos were not quite the quality or "settings" for lack of a better word that you wanted, you probably can do some additional fixing in post processing to bring them closer to your idea of perfect.  And if you are on a photographic learning curve over time, then you can bank these, be happy with all of your excellent luck, learn from any miscues, and carry on to the next trip.  Quite the hobby, eh?

 

Maybe Nat Geo will not come calling, but if you share these photos with friends, family, co-workers, etc. they'll be blown away.  Those peaceful yellow sun-near-the horizon dusty herd shots are gorgeous, in addition to the predator action.

 

Very good advice:

Ndutu and Kusini are both extraordinary in their own way and I would advise combining the two instead of picking one over the other. As per the timing, it definitely feels like February is when most activity is concentrated in as that is when the births actually happen. I would highly suggest waiting for that peak time to end and go at the beginning of March with considerably less crowds. You might not see the births, but given the amount of calves already born you’ll be rewarded with a lot of action. 

 

For Ndutu and Kusini I did follow your advice on the last trip to this region and even did a layering effect.  Ndutu 3, Kusini 3, Ndutu 4.  I think it was availability in camps and getting guides I wanted that made me do that.  But I liked how it worked out and it's a game drive between the two areas.

 

Two, not one, but two trips to Zambia coming up?  As noted, QUITE the hobby.  Go for it!

[Athene]

@ricmiles very informative trip report with some beautiful pictures Riccardo, we have never been to Ndutu and Kusini but are planning now for 2026, unfortunately we have to plan for the end of March due to my husband's work.

Regarding the camera equipment, my husband is using Nikon Z8 and Z9 and is happy with both of them, I am using Z6.

 

[Alex The Lion]

13 hours ago, ricmiles said:

@Alex The LionSo the settings I change based on the circumstance. If I have one subject laying down I will use one single point and move it to frame the photo as I like best. When I had cheetahs on the hunt I would increase the area of focus, and for birds I even tried the movement detector. 

 

Based on your comment I assume the move to a mirrorless camera is very much worth it. My next trip will be mostly walking I won't do much photography but will definitely get it by my trip to LowZamb in 2025 with a photographic guide to make the best out of it. 

 

Didn't you have a photographic guide with you this time?

 

Just a few thoughts:

 

1. The use of back button focusing is t to remove the focus from the shutter button. It allows you to focus and recompose, rather than moving the focusing point on the screen. It's a lot quicker and allows you keep the centre point as your focusing point.

 

For a stationary subject, you focus with the subject in the centre of the frame, then stop using back button focus. Move the subject to where you want them in the frame and push the shutter button.

 

Unless you are very close to your subject, it will stay on the same focusing plane.

 

Higher end mirrorless camera will track a focus point as you recompose, though it's not always 100%.

 

2. Set you focusing to AF-C the whole time. With back button focusing, simply use the method in point one for stationary subjects.

 

3. Of the 51 focusing points, only 15 are cross type. I would suggest limiting the trust you place in expanded/auto focusing modes, with more focus on single point. Your camera will look to focus on grass, tails etc rather than eyes.

 

No camera body is perfect, though the advent of eye autofocus in more high end cameras has taken some of the guessing away.

 

 

 

 

[ricmiles]

@Alex The LionI have travelled with Andrew Beck this time around. Will travel with Greg du Toit in June 25'. 

 

1. I wasn't aware that the single point moved to the side could negatively impact the focus. Very valuable to know and will definitely follow this advice. With moving subjects I'll stick to what I was doing? 

 

2. Will do 

 

3. Yes I think this will be the big take away from your comments. Not all focus points are made equal. 

 

Very much appreciate the advice. 

[ricmiles]

@AtravelynnEven if not perfect from an experts' perspective I am very much aware that these photos are way beyond anything I could have taken just a few months ago. I have learnt a tremendous amount and clearly I'm just at the very beginning. 

 

That layering effect Ndutu-Kusini-Ndutu I'm sure worked wonders. It is just a game drive between them and even a productive one for cheetahs!!

 

Yes two different trips to Zambia, both of which I am very excited about. Zambia was the first country I've been to Africa but never went on safari there. The first I'll be doing North & South Luangwa which I've seen in documentaries many many times. The camps all look very rustic and I'll be doing loads of walking... I'm sure I'll get a very genuine experience out of it. And Then the Lower Zambezi trip which I trust will level up my photography game, whilst enjoying what many people refer to as the most beautiful park in Africa. 

 

 

[ricmiles]

@AtheneThanks so much and really appreciate all the advice given. I think I will get a Z8 and some 70-200mm lens for my trip in Lower Zambezi. 

 

For your trip, I fear you might risk most of the herds will have already left the area by late March. When I was there it seemed like they were heading towards the Seronera area. Also, many camps in Kusini get dismantled before hand so that would be something to enquire about. 

[pscrimshaw]

On 4/4/2024 at 6:33 AM, ricmiles said:

@pscrimshaw This is mad! Love your photos and I do remember at least a couple of times when the behaviour around those cubs was appalling. Actually, that is what often pushed me towards the open plains (Along my passion for cheetahs). Were you on one of the two vehicles that said hi to Andrew by any chance? 

Yes that was me! We were the ones that asked to move beside you when one male was drinking and didn't want to ruin your shot. I only went to the plains on one day (my guide didn't seem to want to head out that far more than once even though I insisted but that's another story). You definitely got lucky with the lioness with the really small cubs. I don't know too many people that knew about her, but everyone knew about the one female with the two larger ones. Though I recently heard she lost one cub to a rival male lion. Still so funny to read and see your photos here!

[Athene]

@pscrimshaw just read your trip report on your website. What an incredible safari you had, I am envious. I think many safari talkers would be happy to find your East African safari here on this forum.

[ice]

3 hours ago, pscrimshaw said:

You definitely got lucky with the lioness with the really small cubs. I don't know too many people that knew about her, but everyone knew about the one female with the two larger ones. Though I recently heard she lost one cub to a rival male lion. Still so funny to read and see your photos here!

 

Cassandra is down to two cubs and Laura down to one

[ice]

3 hours ago, pscrimshaw said:

I only went to the plains on one day (my guide didn't seem to want to head out that far more than once even though I insisted but that's another story). 

 

Pretty much all guides in this part of TZ prefer to stay off the Plains.

[ricmiles]

@pscrimshawKeep in mind the two litters of 4 and 3 cubs were in Kusini, not Ndutu. Where can I read your TP? 

 

@iceThe cubs mentioned are in Kusini. I spoke with Alex Walker himself this morning and he confirmed they are doing well. 

 

 

[pscrimshaw]

8 hours ago, Athene said:

@pscrimshaw just read your trip report on your website. What an incredible safari you had, I am envious. I think many safari talkers would be happy to find your East African safari here on this forum.

Thank you so much! I've actually just recently found this forum but I think I'll need to spend a lot more time on here! I'll see if I can get my trip report on here 

[offshorebirder]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:55 AM, ricmiles said:

3 kills by 3 different predators.

 

Fantastic.   Thank you VERY much for this trip report @ricmiles I am just discovering it - somehow I missed it till now.  

 

Ndutu is on my bucket list and seems to stay "one or two trips out" for some reason.   TRs like yours tap me on the shoulder and say "get thee to Ndutu".

 

[ricmiles]

@offshorebirderThank you, I appreciate your comment. 

 

It is a very special place for sure and I do hope you combine it with Kusini. The open grass plains are truly a remarkable place to drive around. It really feels wild and remote. Real Africa.