A little pearl-spotted owlet gazing down at me from its perch on a wire. It was a magical day, finding our first pearl-spotted owlet in the morning and then finding another one at a completely different place in the afternoon. I feel like we’ve unlocked this species now!Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve.
Tag: nature photography
Jackal in the evening light
I love jackals. They are slightly bigger than a fox, but they move in the same jumpy way. This one stood in the evening light, apprehensively checking us out.Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve.
Southern red-billed hornbill
A beautiful southern red-billed hornbill in the evening sun. I believe this is a male, because the base of the beak is black.
Portrait of a giraffe
A black and white portrait of a giraffe that was checking us out. Giraffes are quite curious animals. If they see something strange – like a car, but I’ve also seen them do this with lions – they will watch it intently before ambling away.
Photo taken in Dinokeng Game Reserve
Young nyala
A fluffy young nyala in Dinokeng Game Reserve. Such a cute face!
Pearl-spotted owlet
Yesterday we found not one but two of these lovely little owls in Dinokeng Game Reserve near Pretoria, South Africa. They hunt during the day from a perch, like this dead tree. A very special thing is that they have eyes in the back of their head, or at least spots that look like eyes as well!
Angry stripes
Two zebras wrangling with each other. it was not a very serious fight, but rather a playful squabble in which one kept on trying to bite the others ears or heels, like an annoying little sibling, perhaps.
Newborn springbok drinking
In some ways, it was a sad week in Pilanesberg National Park. A black rhino calf was killed by lions; a young cheetah was killed by a leopard; and a young elephant died after a tree root became stuck in its throat.
But the circle of life means that there is more than sadness in nature. We saw this newborn springbok lamb drinking his mother’s milk, ready to start a new life. Let’s hope it will be long and happy!
Rhino and pied crow
A rhino with a pied crow perched precariously on its upper horn.
I’m trying not to see this as a symbolic picture about the fate of the rhinos…
Usually the oxpeckers fulfill the role of personal grooms, but sometimes crows will try to find sustenance – or possibly a ride? – as well. The rhino wasn’t too happy about this visitor though and flapped his ears to scare it off.
