Karen and I head to Corsica tomorrow for a week. Won’t be a wildlife trip, but who knows what we’ll find while out exploring the island. Until then enjoy this contemplative mountain gorilla. He knows something. I don’t know what he knows, but something’s going on in that head of his. Photographed last month in Magahinga National Park in Uganda. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 90mm) ISO 1250, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second.
Here’s another one from the backyard last week. This spotted fawn has been hanging around all summer and occasional stops by the photo booth to take a few self-portraits. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) IS0 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and remote flash units.
Here’s another shot from our first night when we visited Nairobi National Park. It was getting pretty dark at this point, but still enough light to catch a few portraits of this secretary bird nesting in the top of an acacia tree. These guys spend most of the day on the ground before returning to their nests at night. They are birds of prey and quite large (growing to more than 4 feet tall). They’ve been described as an eagle-like bird on crane-like legs. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm lens, ISO 2800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
We saw this mother cheetah and her four cubs three or four times over a four-day period in northern Kenya, often in pretty good light. This was early morning and Mom was just joining back up with her cubs after hydrating down at a river. You can see all four cubs hiding in the grass. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1250, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
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.