The banded mongoose is unlike most other mongoose species that live relatively solitary lives. Not this guy. He hangs with his fellow mongoose mates in colonies. Together they share a rich social structure. True, this one is alone in the above picture, but just behind him and out of frame are his fellow “mob” mates, as they are technically called. Photographed on the plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.

The Somali ostrich was considered a subspecies of the common ostrich as recently as 2014 but has since been designated as a distinct species. Their conservation status is listed as “Vulnerable” due to hunting for meat, medicinal products and eggs, as well as a general lack of conservation efforts in several of the countries in which they still live. Males like this one have a blue neck and legs that becomes even more blue during mating season. Photographed in Samburu in Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

Where there are buffalo, there are oxpeckers. They enjoy a symbiotic relationship. The cape buffalo has a dedicated bug zapper and the red-billed oxpecker has a lunch buffet. This one was taken in the Masai Mara of Kenya on my January 2020 trip. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/640th of a second.

A female gerenuk stands on her hind legs and eats from a bush in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Enjoy this last post while I take a week off to visit some friends in New York and then head out to northern Minnesota for a few days searching for owls. Hopefully I’ll have something new to share toward the end of next week.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.

A reticulated giraffe marches across the grassy plains in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya. This subspecies of giraffe — also known as the Somali giraffe — is endangered and there are currently only about 8,500 individuals left in the wild. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/1000th of a second.

Leopards will often drag a kill up into a tree to hide it from scavengers, primarily hyenas. You can see a bit of the impala that this leopard was keeping watch over. We saw her go up and down the tree a few times over the course of a day in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/160th of a second.

This black-backed jackal pup seems quite content with a bed of dried mud he/she found along the side of the road in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

When lion cubs are young, they seem to be all head and very little body, like this one photographed in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/320th of a second.

Always a treat to capture grooming interaction between mother cats and their young. I photographed this lioness and her two cubs (the other is hidden behind Mom) on my first trip to Kenya and the Masai Mara. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/250th of a second.

Lewa in Kenya is one of the best places on earth to view rhinos in the wild. We saw plenty of both white and black rhinoceros. This mother was nuzzling her calf late in the day as they foraged on the green grass, courtesy of the short rainy season in November. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 102mm) ISO 800, f/3.2 at 1/640th of a second.