Grey-headed kingfishers are widely disturbed in and around the African continent. This one was spotted on one of our game drives in Kenya, perched amidst the thorns of an acacia tree. We also had a few hanging around our tent in Samburu National Reserve. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 2800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.

I got a few shots of this lion licking his paw, but liked this one best where you can really see the size of that thing with some visual reference (keeping in mind that male lions have enormous heads). Photographed on the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.

Yellow-necked spurfowl can be a relatively common sight while on a Kenyan safari. This one was putting on quite a performance atop a small bush in Samburu National Reserve. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second.

A lioness takes a late-day snooze, but keeps her eye on any interesting developments out on the savanna. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

We saw two different species of dik dik while recently in Kenya. The Gunther’s dik dik and the Kirk’s. This is the latter. At least I think it is. They are very similar looking and can be hard to distinguish. Either way, I always love a setting where I can essentially blur everything out except for the subject. In this case, our low angle took care of the foreground, while the background distance and a relatively large aperture took care of the rest. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 280, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.

While on safari, a lot is made of the traditional Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo). There’s also the Little Five (lion ant, leopard tortoise, rhinoceros beetle, elephant shrew and buffalo weaver). And then there’s the “Ugly Five.” Rounding out a list that includes the warthog, vulture, wildebeest and hyena is this handsome guy, the marabou stork. I suppose it doesn’t help that marabou storks are patient scavengers and often seen hanging around garbage dumps. They are very large birds — among the largest in the world with a wingspan of 11 feet — and are nicknamed the Undertaker due to their resemblance to an old slumped figure wearing a cloak. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm FP lens, ISO 450, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

On our Kenya trips, we see two species of giraffe, the Masai giraffe in the south and the reticulated in the north. This is the latter. Reticulated giraffes have darker patches of color, which are more geometric shaped with well defined edges. Although it looks like this young one was trying to hide, it was doing what they do — eating thorny acacia tree branches. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.

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.

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.