nThambo Day 5 – New Sightings and Old Friends

Day 5 at nThambo Tree Camp proved another special day in the bush. Despite the wintry chill of the 5:30 am wake up, the sights I experienced were once again heartwarming. The morning game drive was highlighted early on with a nervous heard of impala drinking at the waterhole as their reflections peered back at them. A pleasing surprise was a great spot by Issack our tracker – an African Barred Owlet!

 

As we continues we were happy to encounter our friends the two “Ross Pride Breakaway Females” There two lionesses had left their original pride of 20 + lions to go it alone. There have proved themselves great hunters, but had sadly lost several litters of cubs over recent years. Having a healthy pride to help raise and protect cubs is critical as many other animals will kill young lion cubs if they encounter them unattended.

 

A hearty breakfast was followed by a nice bush walk where we got to learn more about tracking , animal scat, and the smaller things to be found in the bush. It was a very nice treat to wind up walking alongside a journey (or tower) of giraffe for over half an hour. My friendly Lilac Breasted Roller even visited us as we returned to camp.

The first part of the afternoon drive was highlighted by being in the midst of a relaxed breeding herd of elephants. To me the coolest part was to see the two elephants below “greet” each other in a most unique way! Has anyone ever seen this behavior before in the wild or in captivity?

   

 

The day concluded with another up close encounter with our by now well-known lionesses. Their expressions here show it all. Notice the condition of her teeth – close examination shows her to be missing a canine tooth and two incisor teeth. Life in the bush is not for sissies!

 

Cheers – come back to see the WOW factor that day six brings!

nThambo Tree Camp Day 4 - Another Day in Paradise

Day 4 at nThambo Tree Camp was another stunning day with superb winter weather (cool in the  morning and warm in the afternoon) Bother game drives produced some wonderful sightings. The morning began with yet another beautiful South African Sunrise  - the sunrises and sunsets here in southern Africa are remarkably orange relative to what a comparably clear sky in Texas produces. It seems that a greater presence of dust in the upper atmosphere here (potentially blown by winds from the Namib desert to the west) give this special color without the presence of clouds.

Elephants were the early highlight of the day as we were privileged to witness a relaxed breeding heard come down to  the waterhole to get a drink. The early light and their imposing presence made their visit all the more special  - I always love watching elephants manipulate their trunks in interesting ways and this encounter did not disappoint.  

 

We also got to visit with two of the most "prehistoric" looking creatures of the Klaserie Game Reserve - I'll leave you to decide which is your choice for "Most Prehistoric". 

 

As is always the case on came drives, there is the tension between predators and prey. The tiny steenbok (left) and impala (right) are always on alert and ready to alarm call and flee at a moments notice when any hint of hyena or lions crosses their sensory radar. 

 

 

I feel truly privileged to get to have and share this amazing experience in a truly magical place with you. While I am always a little disappointed when a game drive comes to an end, it's hard to stay that way when presented with a another glorious sunset! 

Day Two at nThambo - a Real Cracker!

 

Day two of my safari here at nThambo Tree Camp in the Klaserie Game Reserve was simply stunning. The combination of wonderful companions from South Africa, Germany, and England makes for a wonderful international experience that I wish everyone had a chance to experience. In addition, our hosts, guide and tracker have been nothing short of world class in making this visit feel like being at a second home – great kudos to Lily, Luan, and Issack!

 

 

 

 

Our two game drives of the day yielded a plethora of the “Big Five” (the five most dangerous animals to hunt on foot in South Africa – Rhino-Leopard-Lion-Cape Buffalo-and Elephant). Today we saw four of the five with only the leopard proving elusive. In addition to the thrill of seeing all the big name animals, Issack amazed all of us by seeing and alerting us to a bushbaby in the total darkness. I was thrilled to be able to capture images of it to share with you – usually they are far too skittish, but this fella cooperated for just long enough before hoping off into the African night. Enjoy the images and keep your eyes peeled here for more coming tomorrow!  

 

2013 Blue Lion Year in Review- Part 4 of 6

It's time to dive into the TOP TEN from 2013! This post counts down images #10 down to # 6. The ranking of my top ten is calculated by the response of Blue Lion Pride members on social media to these images over the year. As always, I am interested in YOUR thoughts about my images -- which ones excite you and which ones make you say "Meh"?  
If you missed ,y earlier installments -- do not fret you cam see them at the links below! 
PART 1     ~     PART 2     ~     PART 3

HERE GOES! 

#10 ~ Sable Antelope Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Glen Rose, TX

#9 ~ Climbing Leopard ~ Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

#8 ~ Blending In ~  Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

#7 ~ Perching Julia Longwing ~ Texas Discovery Gardens, Dallas, TX

#6 ~ Aplomado Falcon (captive) ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

Thanks for visiting! Please feel free to share my images with your friends on social media! Your support is very much appreciated! 
Once posted, just click to see PART 5 !

2013 Blue Lion Year in Review- Part 1 of 6

As 2013 winds down and I review my photography of the year, I have been enjoying spending time looking over the images I have produced this year. 2013 allowed me to explore my true love of nature photography through my amazing trip to South Africa and the Ngala Game Reserve in July as well as more local spots such as the Hagerman National WildlifeRefuge in North Texas, and the jewel that is the Texas Discovery Gardens in Dallas. I was also able to “shoot” some people in 2013 as I explored more Civil War reenactment photography at local events in Texas. Thanks to my wife’s love of theater, I have also started to dabble with doing cast images and some head shots of local community theater productions here in the Dallas Metroplex.

For this year’s review, I have selected 30 images that represent a combination of my personal favorite shots as well as my most widely viewed images on my website (http://www.bluelionphotos.com), social media such as my Facebook page and my Twitter account (@BlueLionPhotos).

This review will occur in six parts with this post being my 10 “honorable mention” images. The remaining top 20 images will be divided into four more postings until the final image in revealed in a posting all by itself.

 I hope you enjoy this journey through my photographic year – I welcome your comments below as I savor getting to know how my images impact you the viewer! Each of the images is viewable and available for purchase by clicking on the image here, which will take you to my website. 

Young Lioness ~ Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

Perching Owl Eye ~ Texas Discovery Gardens, Dallas, TX

Watchful Cheetah ~ Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

"Fence Sitting" ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

Young Male Lion ~ Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

Northern Harrier Hawk ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

Spring Blue Bird ~ Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Glen Rose ,TX

Hedwig  - I was thrilled to meet one of the actual "avian actors" who played the part in the Harry Potter movies.

Ellies at Sunset ~ Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

Blue on Blue ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

Continue exploring the next five images in my 2013 Countdown - http://bluelionphotos.blogspot.com/2013/12/2013-blue-lion-year-in-review-part-2-of.html