I had previously posted a wide shot of the four cheetah cubs playing king of the hill on a termite mound. Here’s a closer look. These two were looking down on their siblings who were running in circles around the base of the mound. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 220, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
Where there are predators, there are always a few jackals lurking around. This black-backed jackal was shadowing two lions, waiting for them to make a kill, and then hopefully leave a few scraps behind. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
It was about this time back in 2017 when I visited Silver Salmon Creek up in Alaska. The coastal brown bears would forage mostly on the marsh grasses, but would also come out to the shoreline at low tide and try their best to catch coho salmon. Obviously, this mother was successful and she brought the fish back to her two cubs who were waiting not so patiently on a nearby sandbar. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.
We had been viewing a few lions in the Masai Mara when I looked around and saw this Africa jacana catch a frog. With their long toes and claws, they can walk across floating vegetation to grab unsuspecting prey. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
As a lot of other people in our area have noticed, this was a very slow year for chipmunks. On the other hand it was a big year for hawks. The presence of, and constant sound of hawks screeching, is no doubt the culprit for the drop in numbers of chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits. I took this shot a few summers ago when the chipmunks were plentiful and the hawks were not. Such is the nature of nature. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/9 at 1/250th of a second.
Time to start mixing the rest of the world back in among all the Africa photos. I photographed this sloth earlier in the year down in Peru. She had just finished eating fruits of the cecropia tree (their favorite) and was looking mighty satisfied. It’s a tight composition, but you can see that her head is almost completely turned around as she took a not-so-quick look at the camera before turning her attention back to the business at hand. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second.
Always fun to play with light and shadow when you can get the light to fall on the animal’s face and then expose for those highlights. This dwarf mongoose was running around in the bushes at our camp in the Masai Mara of Kenya, giving me plenty of time to find the best spot to take the shot. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 220, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second.
This was the first lion we spotted on our recent Kenya trip. And she was barely visible, hiding in an area of tall grass in Nairobi National Park. Because I have my auto focus set to a button other than my shutter release (aka back-button focus) I was able to quickly manual focus using my lens focusing ring and work around all the grass that was in front of her face. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
Most safari goers catch a glimpse of a lilac-breasted roller or two while out driving around. They’re hard to miss with their spectacular plumage, especially in flight. This one was perched on a boulder as we slowly drove past. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
Yesterday I posted the largest animal on the savanna. Here’s one of the smallest (at least one of the smallest I photographed) — the unstriped ground squirrel. As you might have guessed, what sets these guys apart from other African ground squirrels is the lack of a white stripe on their sides. They can be spotted pretty much anywhere in Samburu National Park but this was the only time I saw one making its home inside a termite mound. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.