The Week in Pictures #661 – Londolozi Blog

Two elephant bulls playfully wrestle one another on the banks of a waterhole. These friendly bouts of fighting help establish loose hierarchies between the young males within a group and hone their skills for when they one day might have to defend themselves in a real battle for dominance.

A lurking crocodile sits motionless in the backwaters of the Sand River. The still surface of the water allowed for an easy high-key edit which creates a great effect, highlighting the reflection of the largest reptile in Africa. These high-key edits (whitened background) are not everyone’s cup of tea but I quite enjoy them.

One of the Nkoveni female’s cubs keeps an eye on a small herd of elephant that were passing by behind us while guarding an impala kill they stashed in a Jackelberry Tree. The trio of the Nkoveni female and her two cubs have been providing some of the best leopard viewing I’ve witnessed in my time at Londolozi. They are found on just about a daily basis at the moment and the cubs are at the perfect playful age.

The Plains Camp Males have been venturing further east into the Ndzenga males territory of late. I’ve really enjoyed seeing more them on the reserve. The one male is particularly large and carriers a rather intimidating presence. On this morning we followed them both as they trailed the scent of the Ntsevu Pride along the southern banks of the river. What was interesting was that they were marching at quite a speed and then suddenly stopped, paused and turned on their tracks potentially indicating that they were comfortable going further out their territory.

Giraffe have some of the most incredible eyelashes. This particular female giraffe was very relaxed with having us around and decided to feed on a guarri bush (not a species of plant they often eat) right next to our vehicle, allowing us to capture a close up profile of her, eyelashes included.

A different frame of the same sighting above. Take note of the Pied Kingfisher, just above the rump of the elephant on the right, hovering above the shallows, searching for small fish to catch.

The Nkoveni Female drags an impala ewe up the trunk of an Apple Leaf tree. This was the second time we saw her hoist the kill after one of her cubs had knocked it out the tree. It’s certainly not easy being a mother leopard.

With the kill secured in the branches of the Apple Leaf, the one cub joined the Nkoveni Female in the tree and waited for her sibling to join them.

This Little Bee-eater’s plumage matched the leaves of this bush willow rather perfectly. While summer certainly is the time for more vibrant photography, not all is lost in the dry winter months. Take note of the slightest teal coloured stripe just above the bee-eaters deep red eye – they are such beautiful birds.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago, on the full moon towards the end of July. The sky was full of dust and smoke from seasonal fires, causing the moon light to refract into an orange hue. A flock of White Backed Vultures in a dead Deadwood tree were chosen to be our subjects in silhouette.

A lioness of the Ntsevu pride locks eyes on a kudu bull walking by the pride at dusk. They never ended up hunting the kudu (at least while we were there) but given this expression, it certainly wasn’t out of the question at this point.

The northern rocky outcrops are the only place we have Klipspringer antelope on the reserve but they aren’t always that easy to spot. I often give myself a personal challenge when driving through these areas to try find a Klipspringer before the tracker does. This one however was a giveaway silhouetted against the blue winter sky, he was difficult to miss.

Kudu are some of the most impressive antelope species we find in Africa. Here, a bull and cow lined up perfectly to showcase two of their greatest attributes; their large ears and spiralling horns. I find the females to be rather elegant while the adult males have a very regal look about them. This photo was particularly rewarding as most kudu tend to shy away from the vehicle in slip into the thickets quite quickly.

A Lappet Faced Vulture, the largest of the vulture family in the region, asserts himself over a hippo carcass. I am reminded, every time I get a close view of one of these birds, how large they actually are – standing at over a meter (3.2 ft.) tall and having a wingspan of just under 3 meters (9 ft).

The wild dog den in the deep south western area of Londolozi continues to amaze us. The pups are growing at a rapid rate and are increasingly curious and playful.

A recent visit to the wild dog den late one afternoon was one of my best best sightings of the year. The light was amazing for photography and the pups were busy for over an hour, chasing each other around and stalking Crested Francolin.

The Ximungwe Female, who has been relatively scarce since losing her last litter of cubs, made an appearance with two consecutive impala kills in the same area over a two day period. On this particular afternoon, we watch her carry half a carcass for about 300 meters before hoisting it into a beautiful Marula Tree.

The Ximungwe Female pauses for a brief moment while hauling her meal through the dry grass. In my personal opinion, she is one of the most successful hunters of the leopard we see on the reserve.

Nkoveni Female’s male cub has suddenly hit a growth spurt over the last couple of weeks and is now significantly larger than his female litter mate. Here, he leads his mother down the trail towards us.

The pack of three have had the odds stacked against them from the start of the denning period. They have done incredibly well in raising their 3 pups to this point but have they now lost them? On this particularly cold and windy afternoon, we unexpectedly bumped into them as they embarked on another successful hunt.

This large elephant bull was in a rather bad mood when we came across him late one afternoon. A few seconds after I snapped this photo, we realised he was in musth – a heightened testosterone state – and decided to give him his space.