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Wildlife Photography Blog - for news, views and articles on wildlife, conservation, photography, and safari destinations. © Scotch Macaskill | |||||||||
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Scotch Macaskill's Wildlife BlogProviding captivating, unexpected, and ever-changing wildlife and nature pictures that'll bring the excitement of untamed Africa to your doorstep......plus news and views on:
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Today's Picture: Leopard Lying on a Rock June 22, 2009 |
Photo Details: Leopard (Panthera pardus) lying on a rock against night sky, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana.
Additional Info: We spotted this leopard during the early part of a night-drive (6.30pm, winter) and were fortunate that it opted to settle comfortably on a rock, as if posing for us (or because we'd ruined its hunt - see below). I took the picture with a flash mounted on the camera's hot-shoe. I'm not crazy about taking flash photographs of animals at night, mainly because of the harsh shadows cast by the flash and the "red-eye" effect that often occurs. Luckily in this case the leopard's pose against the night sky eliminated the shadows, while red-eye is minimised because the animal is looking away from the camera. There is, however, an additional reason that is makeing me question the use of flash for photographing wild animals at night, and that's the sensitivity of their eyes to bright light. The whole issue of game viewing at night is a contentious one. The "night drive", for which you need spotlights to find the animals, is a popular safari activity, but the bright spotlights evidently cause distress to the animals and, certainly in the case of predators, interfere with their hunting. Roddy Smith, a veteran safari guide based in Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park, is vehemently opposed to the use of spots at night, unless they're covered with red filters. According to Roddy, "night-drives using conventional white spotlights are as intrusive and disruptive to animals going about their after-dark business as papparazzi are to royal girlfriends". Read more about the use of spotlights in Roddy's article, Safari Night Drives and the Red-Light Experience.
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Today's Picture: Black-Backed Jackal on the Move June 17, 2009 |
Photo Details: A black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) trotting through golden-orange winter vegetation, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana. See also a previous post titled Jackal Pair for more about these canids and their social structure.
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Today's Picture: Pair of Whitefronted Bee-Eaters June 12, 2009 |
Photo Details: A pair of whitefronted bee-eaters (Merops bullockoides) perched on a twig in a dry riverbed, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana.
Additional Info: See also previous blog posts for pictures of the Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) and Carmine Bee-eater (Merops nubicoides).
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Today's Picture: Cute Lion Cubs June 4, 2009 |
Photo Details: Lion cubs (Panthera leo) take time out after wrestling and rolling around in the grass, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana.
Additional Info: At this age, around four to six weeks old, lion cubs are very like domestic kittens - cuddly, playful bundles of fur. But the size of the paws is a dead giveaway, a sobering reminder of how big, dangerous and distinctly uncuddly these cats will eventually be. When I was in Mashatu at the end of December, I photographed two different male lions mating with one of the pride females, so it's more than likely that these cubs are the result. Lioness gestation period is 110 days, which would make the birth date around April 20, meaning the cubs are approximately six weeks old, which could be about right.
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