A quick interruption of the Africa picks to report on this week’s activity up at the camera trap. Lots of deer, raccoons and rabbits, but also a bobcat and this young(ish) black bear. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and remote flash units.
Here’s another shot of the white rhino mother and calf that we saw our first night in Nairobi National Park. From the ground level perspective, the calf looks almost as big as the mother. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens (at 69mm) ISO 2200, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
These guys seemed to be hatching some sort of an escape plan. A Cape buffalo, yellow billed stork and a pair of yellow billed oxpeckers all hanging out in apparent symbiosis. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.
“Big tusker” is a term used to describe elephants with tusks that weight more than 100 pounds each, and are so long they graze the ground as the elephant walks (the heaviest ever tusk for an African elephant was 226 lbs). The last of the true big tuskers live in an area of Tsavo National Park in Kenya. They are nearly gone due to their desirability to hunters and poachers. I photographed these two elephants in the Masai Mara of Kenya. They aren’t exactly in the big tusker category, but they did have the longest tusks of any elephants we saw on this recent trip, especially the bigger of the two in the foreground. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 125mm) ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.
I rarely post people photos these days, but a client favorite of the Kenya/Uganda tour that my wife and I lead is always our village visit to Kisoro in Uganda. Of the many shots of the local kids that I captured, I liked this one of the little girl’s eye finding the camera. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 450, f/2.8 at 1/500th of a second.
Olive baboons are often seen grooming one another. It’s part of their social behavior, usually removing ticks in areas that the one receiving the grooming can not reach. Photographed just outside the Masai Mara in Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
We didn’t see too many ostriches on this trip, but we did have good luck with them the first night in Nairobi National Park. This is the common ostrich. We also saw a couple of Somali ostriches while in Samburu, but none posing for the camera quite like this guy. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 560, f/6.3 at 1/640th of a second.
We saw three species of bee eaters while in Kenya. This is the white-throated, showing us a bit of that colorful plumage. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1400, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
One of the reasons I love to add a visit to the north of Kenya to my itineraries is the gerenuk. I’m always on the lookout for their feeding behavior when they stand on their hind legs beneath acacia trees, feeding on the upper branches. This is a female, captured early in the morning, pre-sunrise. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1800, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.
We saw two species of giraffe on our recent trip. Reticulated giraffes live in the north of Kenya, while Masai giraffes inhabit the savanna grasslands of the south. And where there’s a giraffe, there’s usually an oxpecker or two. In this case, a yellow-billed oxpecker, along for the ride — and a few ticks. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1100, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.