Hartebeest Silhouette
The rainy season in east Africa means great skies most every sunrise and sunset. This silhouette of a hartebeest at sunset was taken in the Olare Orok Conservancy, just north of the Masai Mara in Kenya.
A Triple Shot of Cape Buffalo
Cape buffalo always have this look on their faces like they want to kick your ass. They just stand and stare at you, squint a little as if to say you better not come an inch closer and then resume grazing after you’ve moved off. They are actually quite formidable and have been known to take down a lion or two when the lions try to get their young. We actually saw a herd of about 100 surrounding a tree that they had chased two lions up into. The standoff lasted about two hours before the buffalo moved off and the lions were finally able to come down.
Leopard with Kill in Tree
Leopards are very strong and are capable of dragging their prey up into trees — even large prey like this gazelle. They will do this to keep other carnivores like hyenas and baboons from stealing the kill. At first, we only saw the gazelle up in the tree while the leopard was nowhere to be found. We decided to leave for an hour or two and then circled back later to find her feeding.
Elephant Seal Breath
Kind of like with my polar bear, snow monkey, river otter, orangutan, and meerkat photos, I’m always finding new elephant seal shots in my archives that I originally overlooked. In fact, I probably have more elephant seal photos than any other animal and it takes a while to sift through all the images to get to the ones that I like. I remember finding this large bull early one morning and trying to get shots of his breath contrasted against a dark enough background so that you could see it. Most of the shots ended up being against a bright sky, but a few, like this one, worked out the way I had hoped.
Jackal With Breakfast
We had just left camp early one morning in the Masai Mara when we spotted this black-backed jackal with a little breakfast. That’s a gazelle leg the jackal has in its mouth. And that’s the great thing about being on safari in Africa — you never know what you’re going to get. One day it’s a pride of lions with cubs and the next it’s a jackal with a gazelle drumstick.
Baboon in Rain
It had been raining pretty hard when we came across a troop of baboons in Laikipia, Kenya. One by one, they were crossing a small river using a fallen tree. I caught this guy as he was in the process of climbing down from the tree before getting to the other side.
Polar Bear Whisper
Thought I’d take a quick break from all the Africa pictures and revisit the polar bears for today’s post. These two male bears had been play fighting for about ten minutes before finally tiring out and collapsing into each other. I like the way that the bear on the left appears to be telling the other guy a secret. This was shot at Seal River in northern Manitoba, Canada.
Crowned Crane Portrait
With their golden plumed heads, crowned cranes are clearly one of the more flamboyant birds in Africa. I’ve photographed them before in both Tanzania and Uganda but have never come across one like this Kenyan, bold enough to allow frame filling portraits. He even started to display a bit by puffing out his feathers and dancing around.
A Pair of Coyotes in Griffith Park
I had to go out to Los Angeles this weekend and was able to squeeze a couple of hours in this morning to visit Griffith Park. I’ve always wanted to check out this park and finally got around to it at sunrise today when I was immediately greeted by three howling coyotes. It’s hard to believe such wilderness exists amidst the urban sprawl of LA. All I can say is the place is big. 4210 acres big. By comparison, Central Park is a mere 843 acres. The official website states that “Griffith Park is the largest municipal park with urban wilderness area in the United States.” Most of the animals found around the Los Angeles basin are found in the park, including coyotes, bobcats, and deer. The only exception is mountain lion, although there was one that made its way into the park back in 2004. Next time I’m in LA, I’ll have to set aside a little extra time for further exploration.
Lioness Lick
If you’ve ever been on an African safari, you know that getting close to lions isn’t a problem. I’m talking just feet away close. And for the most part, they won’t even acknowledge your presence (as long as you stay in your vehicle, of course). In this photo from the Masai Mara, I like the way that you can really see the texture in the lion’s tongue as she licks her paw.