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Game Warden

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Couple of shots from the Bale Mountains. They were taken with a 450D and a Canon 55-250mm lens. I'm making a half hearted attempt at learning to use it and Photoshop properly so any criticism is welcome.

 

 

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I'll stick a trip report up when I get a chance. I'm planning to be on the road until after Christmas so don't hold your breath :)

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Simien Mountains

 

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Matahara

 

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Can anyone ID the bird? I know it's a type of weaver bird, I'm looking for the specific species.

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I am no birder, but to me that looks like a Lesser Masked Weaver.

 

Nice pictures btw. Thanks for sharing!

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urologysteve

This is a honey badger from about 6 feet away. We were sitting on some rocks and he decided to wander up to us. It was 10pm so lighting was an issue, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a honey badger picture. There were no outside lights, so this is "flashlight" lighting. Sorry it isn't a little clearer, but the limbs made it tough. It is at Halali, Namibia in July 2013. Canon D60 with 70-200L f2.8 lens.

 

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This one shows his teeth. Claws were quite impressive for a small animal.

 

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Game Warden

I would like to see a honey badger. And an aarvark. And a pangolin. And a etc etc etc ;)

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urologysteve

I would like to see a honey badger. And an aarvark. And a pangolin. And a etc etc etc ;)

I was lucky enough to see 2 of the 3 over 2 days. We had 4 honey badger sightings over 4 seprate days, but twice was at the Halali water hole at night. The other 2 were driving around Dolomite and Okaukuejo in Etosha. During the day and along the side of the road. Unusual to see during the day.

 

The Pangolin was a lucky break. Doing a relaxed game drive at Frans Indongo (Waterburg area) our last evening in Namibia. We were mainly looking for white rhino. 15 minutes before sunset we spotted the one from the above picture. 5 yards off the dirt road. We got out and watched it walk in to a bush. The guide said in 7 years of doing that drive, he had never seen a Pangolin. We felt fortunate. My brother asked, "If you grab it, would it be aggressive or bite." The guide responded, "I don't know, never seen one." He had been guiding 13 years, 7 here. We didn't grab it.....

 

I am still searching the Aardvark. Maybe my next trip!

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@@urologysteve seems you have had some excellent sightings! Badger and pangolin! If the rest of your trip was in the same league...

 

Welcome back!

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urologysteve

I had asked my brothers prior to our trip what animals they would REALLY like to see. Each had a short list of their favorites: Elephants, leopard, rhino, cheetah- mostly the usuals that I expected. My oldest brother (always the joker) added to the end of his list a "unicorn." He said if I could find a unicorn he would be happy. So on day #6 of our trip earlier this month, I found him this....

 

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urologysteve

Halali waterhole in Etosha, July 3rd, 10pm. Canon D60, 70-200L f2.8 prime. Settings: 200mm, f2.8, ISO 4000, 1/2 sec.

 

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Next is Okaukuejo, July 4th, 10:30pm. Canon D60, 70-200L f2.8 prime. Settings: 140mm, f2.8, ISO 4000, 1/2 sec

 

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francescodelv

Masai Mara

 

 

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Wild Dogger

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Young male Leopard on the road at Seronera, Serengeti.

We had this sighting all for us, no other cars.

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africapurohit

The photo was taken during an unaccompanied walk around Chiawa Camp, Lower Zambezi NP. I was doing quite well, in terms of laying low and not being noticed for around 20 minutes, until one member of the herd became aware of my presence.

 

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africapurohit

Photo taken on the wind-blown Mara plains, just after this lioness took down a wildebeest in 2005 (scan of 200 iso film)

 

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Game Warden

@@africapurohit do you think this would work well as a B/W with the levels adjusted?

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africapurohit

@@Game Warden here's a quick attempt

 

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Game Warden

I like that; increase contrast maybe? I like the diagonal lines of the windblown grass.

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A pangolin is a pangolin :) (intended to go with the pangolin pic).

 

Love the gelada!

Edited by Sangeeta
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francescodelv

Mating Leopards in Sabi Sand

 

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africapurohit

These Sabi Sands leopards have no shame - right in the middle of the road!

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@@Game Warden & @@urologysteve When we were staying at Mbweha Camp in Nakuru a few days ago we did a night drive and asked the driver to find us an Aardvark, a bit tongue in cheek, half way through he turned and said to us "You are very lucky... we've found an Aardvark'. COULDN'T QUITE BELIEVE IT... or how fast it could move for that matter! The driver had only seen one a couple of times previously himself.

 

Not a great shot but really chuffed to have seen it :Dgallery_23619_867_12130316.jpg

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Oh. good for you, SafariCal! That's a great shot.

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Game Warden

Nice capture. Run Forest run...

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Not a great shot but really chuffed to have seen it :D

 

Chuffed you should be!. It's all the proof you need that weren't dreaming! And I no idea Aardvark's could bound like that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Though not technically the best of images (light levels were low and my hands were shaking with excitement -or perhaps it was fear!) this is not a sight I am ever likely to see again!

This female African Crowned Eagle was huge. She had just caught a small forest antelope (at the time I thought it was a Suni but looking at the images now I think it is a Harvey's (Red) Duiker) and had airlifted it onto this bough where she butchered and consumed the poor beast. These eagles are supremely powerful raptors which punch well above their weight.

Gazing into the eyes of a Crowned Eagle stirs a deep-rooted primal fear. These eagles also hunt primates! In fact there is now convincing evidence to suggest that these birds hunted early hominids (eg the "Taung child").
Crowned Eagles hunted our early ancestors!

It doesn't end there however as Peter Steyn wrote in Birds of Prey of Southern Africa (1982): "One grisly item found on a nest in Zimbabwe by the famous wildlife artist D. M. Henry was part of the skull of a young human. That preying on young humans may very occasionally occur is borne out by a carefully authenticated incident in Zambia where an immature Crowned Eagle attacked a 20 kg seven- year old schoolboy as he went to school. It savagely clawed him on head, arms, and chest, but he grabbed it by the neck and was saved by a peasant woman with a hoe, who killed it, whereafter both eagle and boy were taken to a nearby mission hospital. The boy was nowhere near a nest, so the attack can only have been an attempt at predation."

 

The second of the two images has caught the bird's nictitating membrane (a kind of horizontal third eyelid) giving the bird an almost demonic appearance.

 

Whilst one might expect this sort of sighting deep in a Congolese rain forest we actually found this bird in a small patch of riparian forest in Nairobi National Park. The sighting was down to the amazing skills of our guide Ben Gitari who really excelled himself this trip.

African Crowned Eagle was only first identified in Nairobi NP in December 2010 ( http://nairobinationalpark.wildlifedirect.org/2010/12/30/529-sp-birds-counting/ ) and Harvey's (Red) Duiker was only first identified in the park in September 2009 ( http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/nairobi-duiker938.html#cr ) -so what are the chances of catching both together?

Despite the pressures that Nairobi NP is under it is still well worth a visit -especially if you get off the beaten track & explore the hidden corners of the park. Indeed on a clear day you can even see the fires burning in the arrivals wing of the international terminal at JKIA!

Edited by Rainbirder
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