2020 Roundup

Green Bee-eaters - Sri Lanka

Working on the website recently it struck me that I haven’t blogged for some considerable time. In fact it was July last year, but the subject was our trip to Sri Lanka undertaken in mid-February. Time to do a 2020 Roundup then.

 

Sri Lanka was actually our last foreign photography trip and the catalogue of cancellations is still mounting. The latest one is a trip to the Maasai Mara this month that has already been postponed from last June and again from the rearranged date in November.

 

With all these cancellations it’s easy to think that we haven’t been busy, so I was surprised at New Year when I set up my 2021 catalogues to see just what we had managed to do.

 

Back in January, there were no Covid-19 restrictions in place and indeed we were only just beginning to be aware of it. There were never any doubts about the Sri Lanka trip going ahead and when we arrived there, they only had one case in the country. Temperature checks at Colombo airport were all we encountered.

 

On return from Sri Lanka, I made the decision to change camera systems. My reasoning was based on a belief that mirrorless cameras are the future and research that suggested Sony were the leaders in the field. I was planning to use my Canon lenses via an adaptor and that led to some test sessions on the local RSPB reserves.

 

While the results were good, I soon became aware that for a number of reasons, using only Sony lenses was the way to go and I haven’t looked back. It’s well documented that the menu system is less intuitive than Canon and I don’t disagree, but the effort in overcoming the issue is well worth it. The Canon gear is all packed away and could find its way on to a For Sale site in the coming months.

 

We had been asked to get involved with a project promoting Dorset tourism and that gave a number of opportunities to get out and try something new. It started in January with a couple of misty and frosty dawns on West Hill at Corfe Castle, the second of which produced the hoped-for conditions.

Winter Dawn at Corfe Castle, Dorset

Moving into March, attention moved to Hambledon Hill looking for a sunset landscape. It was the first time out with the Sony kit and I came away more than pleased with the results. It was the second location where a need to climb a steep hill was involved, but good fortune gave us the shots we wanted on the first visit.

 

Next time out with the Sony kit was to Weymouth Beach on a very windy Saturday afternoon in March, when the kite surfers were really enjoying themselves. I learned a lot that day, but just two days later we entered the first national lockdown and the project was suspended.

Kite Surfing - Weymouth Bay

Naturally not a lot happened while we were under restrictions, apart from using exercise sessions as fact finding for future shoots. One of the unusual effects of the pandemic was the need for various companies to anchor their cruise liners in open water. Aside from the sheer cost of laying them up in port, there just weren’t enough berths to go around. As I write this there are still three moored in Weymouth Bay and another off the West coast of Portland in the lee of the North-easterly winds. There have been as many as ten moored off Weymouth at a single time.

 

Exercise along Weymouth seafront and also walks on the coastal path have given some great opportunities for shots and as the lockdown eased more vantage points could be used.

 

Queen Mary 2 - Weymouth Bay

We don’t get a great deal of wildlife in our garden, so things were very limited there and virtually the only other chance I got involved a previously untried genre. Aviation photography is something I have thought about doing and when I heard that two US Air Force V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor aircraft were due to refuel at the former naval air station at Portland, I decided to have a go.

 

I wasn’t alone, there were plenty of spectators and a few ‘spotters’ and I could see why. They are impressive and noisy aircraft, but it was a pleasure to see and photograph something that to me was unusual.

 

V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor - Portland, Dorset

I was able to spend some time adding to my portfolio of Abbotsbury pictures once lockdown eased in June and I hoped to photograph brown hares at the same time. Despite several early morning visits, I failed in the latter task through lack of both available access to fields and focal length. Still work in progress on that one.

 

Moving into July, things really ramped up as the project restarted with a dawn shoot at the Beech Tree Avenue near Blandford and the re-staging of the Hovis advert at Gold Hill in Shaftesbury. For me the highlight was the re-starting of steam trains on the Swanage Railway post lockdown.

 

A day was spent scouting locations and a plan put together for the actual day. It was an early start and as the sun was rising the chance to take some ‘different’ shots of Corfe Castle without being run over. The weather was perfect all day, which allowed shots to be taken from all of the previously researched locations.

 

Swanage Railway - Corfe Castle Station, Dorset

Astro photography is a subject I’ve tackled a few times, but never been pleased with the results. Consequently, it’s not something that I aspire to doing very often. It seems to me that the best images are taken using a tracking device of some description and my general lack of interest in the subject prevents me from purchasing one.

With that said, I felt I had to have a go at Comet Neowise and we both ventured up to Hardy’s Monument to get it. It was a popular location and the bunfight involved in getting a shot wasn’t a great deal of fun.

 

One of the locations I had checked out at the beginning of the month was St Aldhelm’s Chapel, where I planned to shoot the Milky Way. So a couple of nights after the Neowise shoot we ventured down there and got some nice pictures. It’s a long walk along a rough track to get to it from the car park and for a while we had the site to ourselves. However, we were disappointed to see a fellow photographer turn up in his car, which he promptly parked in our shot. Why do people do that?

 

Milky Way over St Aldhelm's Chapel, Dorset

Fortunately, in July we were also able to make a return visit to Tom Way’s Fox hide in Buckinghamshire. We’d had a beautiful sunny day there in 2019 and witnessed the part completion of a new hide, so really looked forward to our return visit. Cometh the day, cometh the rain, but undaunted we shot a fine collection of wet Fox images that contrast nicely with last year’s results. The new hide was a great improvement too. Only downside of the day was the rain wiped out the Buzzard and Red Kite visits we had enjoyed in 2019.

 

Red Fox - Buckinghamshire, UK

August saw us getting involved with another photographic genre when a friend asked us to photograph her grandchildren. Actors always say never work with animals and children, but being as animals are what we do, children shouldn’t be too much of a problem. It turned out to be an interesting afternoon resulting in a more than satisfied ‘client’, so maybe actors have got it wrong.

 

August also saw us manage our second campervan trip of the year. Our first had been a washed out cycling weekend in the New Forest, but this was a photography trip and the weather was glorious. Maybe too glorious. We’d never visited Glastonbury Tor before so decided that would be our first stop, a popular choice for the day it seemed. The following day saw us at Ham Wall, another popular spot on the day but little wildlife out in the hot sunshine.

 

Glastonbury Tor - Somerset, UK

September normally finds us in France to celebrate my birthday and for two weeks of cycling in the Pyrenees. Instead we found ourselves closer to home with a trip down to Dancing Ledge on the Jurassic Coast near to Swanage. Despite all of the travelling we have done, this was yet another location neither of us had visited before. A definite spot for a future landscape shoot, when the conditions are right. The bright, sunny weather with a clear blue sky was great for a day out, but not for an interesting landscape picture.

 

That left just one more shoot that arose near the end of November and gave another chance to try my aviation image capturing skills. I was told that a Hawker Hunter was due to make several low-level passes over the old naval air station at Portland, so had to have a go. I decided that my best chance was likely to be to shoot from outside the entrance to the Verne prison, but arrived nice and early to check things out. I had time to relocate if I was wrong about my position, but that proved unnecessary. The weather when it arrived at 3pm was reasonable, but at that time of day in late November the light was never going to be great.

In all there were 10 passes over the next hour as the light gradually faded and the 20 frames per second rate of my Sony A9 grabbed me plenty of material. But it was a case of saving the best until last. After each pass the pilot banked the plane to starboard and flew around the outskirts of Weymouth to eventually approach from the east each time. However, after the final pass he banked to port and flew around the island of Portland. It was pretty gloomy by now, but my tenacity was rewarded when it flew straight overhead on its way back to Yeovilton.

 

Hawker Hunter over Portland, Dorset

That rounded off my photography for the year, but looking back at it now, I seem to have done more than I actually thought I had. At present this coming year isn’t shaping up too well, but at the moment our June and November trips to the Maasai Mara are still going ahead. The rest of our plans are quite fluid, but the vaccine programme will hopefully result in a more productive year than 2020.

Wasgamuwa National Park – Part 2 of Sri Lanka 2020

Elephant baby Suckling Mum

On our third full day at the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society we got into the Wasgamuwa National Park when it opened in the morning. This was the norm for the rest of the trip as we spent full days in the park.

Immediately on entering the gate we found a White-throated Kingfisher perched on the branch of a dead tree. That gave us a series of high key shots, before it moved to a similar perch, but this time with a more pleasing bokeh.

We followed that up with both Land and Water Monitors, a Pond Heron, a Crested Serpent Eagle posing nicely in a tree and an Open-billed Stork perched on a nest.

These were all pretty standard static sightings, but what we saw next was a pair of Woolly-necked Storks displaying in a courting ritual. Despite the long grass they were in, we got so quite interesting and perhaps unusual shots of them.

Unusually it was mid-afternoon before we got some Bee-eater images, closely followed by Elephants that were destined to take up most of what remained of the afternoon.

Driving back to the main gate, we passed the swampy area where the previous day we had photographed the Crocodile. The same subjects were there, but the late afternoon light was particularly good for the Painted Stork pictures.

Painted Stork

 Day four in Wasgamuwa National Park began similarly to the previous day, but this time featured three Black-headed Ibis on a dead tree. The backdrop this time was storm clouds and showed off the Ibis really nicely. That was followed by a Changeable Hawk Eagle on a similar perch, but we were back to high key shots now.

Continuing the single bird theme, we had a White-bellied Sea Eagle, Pond Heron, Bee-eater and Scaly-breasted Munia, before spotting a beautiful Brahminy Kite. In fact, birds dominated the morning session and it was almost lunchtime before we started to photograph mammals. This time it was Buffalo and included a small calf.

Briefly, it was back to birds in the form of a Brown Shrike and then a very large Water Monitor on the track in front of us. By now it was time for lunch.

Straight after our break we had a couple of Kingfishers and then a session with an Indian Roller, again high key. Soon after that we caught up with a large herd of Elephants and the rest of the afternoon was spent with them. We got a variety of images including an opportunity to concentrate on eye shots, as they were so close.

Elephant's Eye

We now had just two days left in Wasgamuwa National Park and although we were getting a lot of repetition, something new would come along now and again. We started with a Brown Shrike, but closer this time and then we found a Blue-tailed Bee-eater. Another new one was a Common Lizard, which kept us busy for 20 minutes.

Then it was back to the birds with a Spotted Dove and, as the rain started, a Purple Heron. Final sighting before lunch was another Common Lizard.

Early afternoon served up more birds among which new species were Red-wattled Lapwing and Intermediate Egret. They kept us busy for an hour until we found our usual late-afternoon herd of Elephants. This was a large group and gave us plenty to work with for the rest of the afternoon.

On our final day, we arrived at Wasgamuwa National Park gates earlier than previously and were treated to the antics of a troop of Langur Monkeys. There were a number of babies amongst them, which made the encounter all the more endearing.

Once inside, we started as usual with birds, this time a Little Egret. We had a brief encounter with a Land Monitor on the track and then a superb session with a Green Bee-eater. After that we had another first in a Yellow-billed Babbler followed by another Changeable Hawk Eagle sighting.

As we headed for lunch, we suddenly stopped when the guide spotted a Bees nest hanging from a tree above the track. It was an impressive sight.

Unusually, straight after lunch, our first sighting was a family group of Elephants. We spent about an hour with them and took a number of behaviour shots, including a couple of mock charges. This sighting was punctuated by a Cattle Egret in the long grass with a frog it had caught.

Leaving them alone, we found a Spotted Dove perched on a dead twig in beautiful light and with a perfect bokeh. Moving on, we then saw a number of Land Monitors in the same place and were just in time to see them disappearing into their underground burrow.

Spotted Dove

Having started the day with Langur Monkeys, our next encounter was a large group of Toque Macaques. Again there were plenty of behaviour shots to be had before we moved on.

By now it was time for our daily late-afternoon Elephant encounter. It started with a pair, engaged in a courting ritual, but while we were there it didn’t result in any mating. We went in search of more and found a small family group that we stayed with until it was time to head to the gate for the final time.

On the way we had one final Elephant sighting that raised concern with our entire group. It was a young female completely alone and we learned she had become separated from her herd some time ago. It was not known whether her mother had been killed or if she became separated when fences were erected.

The concern was that although she was feeding, she should still be getting mother’s milk and without that, her ability to survive was in doubt. The park authority was aware, but planning not to intervene in any way while she was still feeding. Just surviving alone was an issue as was whether another herd would allow her to join.

That brought the trip to an end, with just another white-knuckle ride back to Colombo airport on the following morning. It had been an interesting visit with a fair share of highs and lows. We would visit Sri Lanka again, but a different park would be our choice, in pursuit of more variety of species.

Sri Lanka in February 2020

Two male Elephants having a 'discussion'

A little over a year ago we were given the chance to join a small group of photographers on a conservation/photography trip to Sri Lanka. The conservation aspect was involving Elephants and was planned for morning activity, with afternoons allowing general wildlife photography. The result was on a wet Saturday evening in mid-February, we met up with two fellow photographers and a tour leader at Heathrow for an overnight flight to Colombo.

It was just as the Covid-19 virus was starting to spread, but no travel restrictions were even being discussed. We knew there was one confirmed case in Sri Lanka, but it never entered our heads not to go. The only abnormal things we encountered, were the flight crew all wearing face masks and all arrivals in Colombo being remotely temperature checked. That was it.

Our first night was due to be spent in Colombo and after a transfer of about an hour, we arrived at our hotel. A plan had already been hatched to visit Viharamahadevi Park to photograph the Fruit Bats, so after a quick freshen up we set off in a couple of Tuk Tuks. It was a short, but interesting, journey and unfortunately we managed to get separated. The result being we were dropped at different entrances to the park and took some time to locate the other members of the party.

In all honesty, it was a bit of a waste of time, because the bats were high in the trees and only took flight as the light was failing. It did however give us a fascinating insight into the local culture.

By now we were all feeling hungry and walked around the area for a while trying to find somewhere to eat. It wasn’t a fruitful search and although we knew we could get a meal in the hotel restaurant, they weren’t due to open until 9pm. We were weary after our flight from London and had to be ready to leave the hotel at 5am next morning, so that wasn’t an option. Luckily, we found a Dominos Pizza restaurant and although not quite what we were expecting, it fitted the bill. Food consumed, it was a walk back to the hotel and climb into bed.

Next morning we departed at 5am for what was to be a very long transfer. Even at that time the roads were busy and we were soon seeing children making their way to school. It was quite frantic too, speeds are high and horns are used at all hours of the day and night. It seemed a long time before we left the built up area and an easing of the traffic flow, but it was approaching lunchtime when we arrived at our destination.

We were quite surprised by what greeted us by way of accommodation and equally what was being planned for us. There was no expectation that we should do any conservation work and we were being viewed more as a test group for future photographic tours. It also transpired there had been a misunderstanding about our rooming arrangements and after some lunch we were shown to our bungalows in the grounds.

Changeable Hawk Eagle

The plan was for a late afternoon drive to an area known as the Elephant corridor in the hope of seeing some Elephants around sunset. No one told the Elephants though.

We had a leisurely start next day spending some time around the camp, which is run by the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society. There was some birdlife in the grounds to keep us occupied between breakfast and lunch, Kingfishers, Bulbuls, Munias and Weavers, before a visit to the Wasgamuwa National Park in the afternoon.

Soon after arrival in the park we encountered our first Elephants and immediately started comparisons with the African Elephants we are so familiar with. Most striking were the smaller ears, a general lack of tusks and a slightly different head shape. We spent some time with them until they moved into an area where we couldn’t get a clear view at which point we moved on.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on birds, namely Bee-eaters, a Crested Serpent Eagle, an Indian Robin, Oriental Skylark, Indian Rollers and Brown Shrike. As the sun was starting to set, we found the Elephant herd again and were rewarded with some backlit shots, interspersed with the sighting of a Changeable Hawk Eagle.

Next day we were out early paying another visit to the Elephant corridor. Again, the Elephants were missing, but there was some birdlife and a chance to do some arty shots involving a mist-covered lake. Bird of prey interest this time was provided by a Grey-headed Fish Eagle. We also had Rose-ringed Parakeets, Spotted Doves, Kingfisher and Little Cormorant.

We headed back for breakfast and spent some time in the gardens, as we couldn’t access the national park until the afternoon. It was around a ten to fifteen minute drive to the park and then the same sort of time signing in and being assigned a ranger. We were quite lucky that we got a good ranger and he stayed with us for the whole trip.

Green Bee-eater

It was no surprise to find the first sighting of the afternoon involved Bee-eaters. Mainly we saw the Green and the Blue-tailed species. Along with the Elephants, they were the most common sightings and gave us some beautiful images.

Moving further into the park, we next arrived at a swampy area and had quite a lot to see. First up was a Painted Stork followed by an Oriental Darter and then slightly further along on a fallen tree, a Crocodile sunning itself with its jaws wide open. Somehow it was managing to look both intimidating and docile at the same time. A Pond Heron was next and as we were parked up, we noticed straight ahead of us was a Bee-eater on a solitary branch.

Spotted Doves are quite common in the park and rather attractive. A pair of them were next up, followed closely by more Bee-eaters and then more Spotted Doves. Variety was reintroduced when we chanced upon a Greater Coucal, although it was not well positioned to be photographed. After that we had an Oriental Skylark beautifully positioned on a single branch with a clear complimentary background.

Oriental Skylark

By now, it was time for some more Elephants and right on cue we encountered a large herd, which contained some very young ones. In fact it was this sighting that produced one of the shots of the whole trip with one of the babies suckling its mother. A memorable end to our second full day.

Mara 2019 - The Final Couple of Days

Kiok & Koshoke, Topi Plains Pride Males

After taking an afternoon rest the previous day, we were feeling completely refreshed on the morning of our last full day. We were back on top of our game by 6:20am photographing the Enkuyanai pride once more. I was happily adding to my portfolio of shots featuring the wonderful Olbarnoti while watching more of the antics from the cubs and sub adults. The light wasn’t wonderful and after a while we moved on, but it had improved considerably by the time we reached our next Lions.

This featured one of the Six Pack males mating with a lady and at this point the other four members of our group joined us. This was the final morning for two of our group so we had planned to meet up for a group breakfast, but there was more action to be seen before we satisfied our hunger.

We found some of the Bila Shaka female Lions feeding on a Buffalo carcass, watched over by the rest of the Buffalo herd. None of us were prepared for what happened next. The Buffalos organised themselves and chased the Lions away, before gathering around the body. It was as if they were trying to bring it back to life, even though the body had clearly been ripped open. Some were even licking it trying to get some response; it was a surreal experience.

By 9am we were all ready for breakfast and this one was to be more leisurely than usual. We spent some time on a photo call to record the occasion and to get pictures with our three guides Joseph, Jackson and Dominic.

Our Guests and Guides - Final Group Breakfast

As our two guests left us to prepare for their flight back to Heathrow, the remaining four of us split up again the see what we could find. There was some more Lion action to be had and another fight between two Topi, but otherwise it was quiet. We revisited the Buffalo kill and found the Lions back feeding, but by now the Hyenas, Jackals and Vultures were gathering. The Buffalo herd had moved on.

We decided on an early lunch so that we could get to the airstrip to bid our guests farewell, thank them for joining us and wish them a safe journey. We arrived at the airstrip in good time, but the plane was late leaving after having to wait for a passenger from the nearby camp.

Looking around, we could see there was another late afternoon storm approaching, thankfully not on the flight path back to Nairobi for our guests. Once they were safely airborne we resumed our game drive and found a Tawny Eagle in a tree, superbly lit and with a clear shot. It also gave me one of my favourite landscape shots from my visits to the Mara.

Tawny Eagle

Soon after, the storm hit us and we thought it was game over for the day. There were still a couple of hours before darkness was due to fall, but the light was pretty poor so we started off towards camp. We were fooled though, as this storm passed through quickly and in less than an hour we were stopped beside a Hyena den outside of which a mum and young cub were sitting perfectly at ease. They were so relaxed, we didn’t get anything other than a few sitting shots, so our guide, Joseph suggested another den close by.

This was a good call as there was a mum with two cubs, who were both bigger than the one at the previous den. They were quite boisterous, so gave us more to work with. We could also see a second mum with a very young cub that Joseph estimated to be no more than a couple of days old. Mum was sat in the entrance to the den, shielding the cub from the outside world and therefore we only got an odd glimpse. Now it was time to head home for the day for a welcome dinner and preparation for next day’s departure.

Our final morning started at the usual time of 6am and our first subjects of the day were the five Black-backed Jackal pups. This time they weren’t very animated and just spent their time sat outside their den. Time was of the essence, so we moved on and the rest of the morning turned out to be a Lion-fest. First we found the Enkuyanai pride and as Lolparpit, Rose’s favourite, is a member of this pride, we spent some time with them. Eventually we left them and spent the rest of our time either side of breakfast with the Topi Plains pride.

Both of these encounters gave us some delightful head-on walking shots and in particular, male portraits. It was a great morning, but we had to get back to camp for two very important appointments prior to our final lunch.

Presentation to Joyce & the Village Elder - Photo courtesy of Helen Jones

On our last two trips to the Mara, we have taken unwanted clothes donated by generous people local to our home, for the children in the local village. The village elder collects them from us and distributes them to the most needy families in the village.

We also sponsor a village girl by the name of Joyce, to help with her schooling and provide her with some clothing too. This was the second time we have met her and her Mum, but we weren’t prepared for what actually happened next. Out of the blue, Joyce’s Mum presented both Rose and I with Maasai blankets and the most beautiful beaded Maasai necklaces. We were truly humbled by her generosity and remain so.

And so another successful visit to the Mara drew to a close and as we left, we were already looking forward to our next visit with guests in June 2020. Little did we know what was around the corner for us all.

Mara 2019 - The Next Phase

Topi Plains Juveniles at First Light

Entering the second half of the Mara portion of the trip, we were out with the Topi Plains pride of Lions before 6:30am. The light was fantastic and in a little over an hour had shot over 400 images, mainly of the cubs at play. As temperature rose and they settled down, we left them and looked out for more action.

Soon we found a tower of Giraffes and witnessed our second fight of the year between two males. We’d previously seen two brothers fighting some years ago in Botswana and watched as the parents moved in to break them up and keep them apart. We were told that it’s not impossible for a Giraffe to die in one of these fights due to a broken neck, but thankfully haven’t had to witness that. Neither of these fights were broken up by others, but just seemed to peter out, probably through lack of energy.

Our next sighting involved Rose’s Lion of the moment, Lolparpit. This time was a bit different to previous sightings of him though, he was alone with a female. We spent the best part of an hour with them waiting for some action, but all to no avail. With the hunger pangs building, we left them and headed for a spot to have breakfast.

We were quite close to an area known as Rhino Ridge having breakfast and looking around could see something actually on the ridge. Once we’d packed up, we drove to the spot and found Amani, one of the well-known female Cheetahs of the Mara. She was happy to pose for pictures for a good forty minutes before she climbed up into the rocky part of the ridge where we were unable to follow.

Amani

The morning had been quite successful and it was still only 11am, so we decided to see if we could find ourselves an obliging Leopard. We were successful to some extent, we found a male Leopard, but the position was rather tricky and afforded us few opportunities. He wasn’t showing any signs of relocating; it was the hottest part of the day after all, so time to move on.

Final sighting before a welcome lunch stop was Lolparpit’s brother, Olbarnoti and the rest of the Enkuyanai pride.

While we were having lunch I became aware of a large bird in a densely leafed tree, so dense I couldn’t identify it. I asked our guide and he made a stab at an identity, even though his view was no better than mine. Shortly after, the bird took flight and landed on open ground on the opposite side of the river. It was only then we could see it clearly enough to realise it was a first for us, a Silvery-cheeked Hornbill.

First sighting of the afternoon as we moved along the shore of the Talek River was two male Lions from the Fig Tree pride. They were sleeping under a large bush and one of the pair, Maridadi, had a huge and bloody gash from the top of his nose almost down to his top lip. Amazingly, this had been caused in a recent fight over a female with the other Lion sleeping beside him, his brother Kaka. Eventually they stirred and moved around slightly, but didn’t stray from the first position we had found them in. We stayed photographing them for about 30 minutes, until our attention was diverted to a huge troop of Baboons approaching. A half hour of grooming and various Baboon antics followed, made all the more interesting by the number of babies in the troop.

Maridadi's Injury

Time was getting on by now and it was looking like the daily late afternoon storm was approaching, so we started back to the camp. There was still one surprise in store for us though, an encounter on open ground with another female Cheetah. This time it was the beautiful Nora, looking like she was wanting to hunt, but with no prey anywhere to be seen. We stayed a quarter of an hour or so and made some images that did her justice, before the rain arrived in earnest. Another day drew to a close, but it had been a good one.

Next day was the complete opposite as eight straight days of thirteen-hour game drives caught up with us. We were out on our first encounter at 6:30am as normal. But a couple of hours later, we stopped for a quick breakfast and headed back to camp for some much needed rest and relaxation.

The first sighting had involved Black-backed Jackals, a species I particularly like, but on this occasion showing the dark side of their character. They crossed paths with a herd of Thomson’s Gazelles and singled out a vulnerable fawn. A huge chase ensued with the fawn’s mother doing her best to ward off the Jackals. She was successful for quite a while by placing herself between the fawn and the pursuing Jackals, but the chase was relentless and when her speed took her in front of the fawn, it was game over. But we then witnessed the dark side of it all where the Jackals just ate the fawn alive.

We moved away and soon found a Spotted Hyena den with some sub adults giving us some shots. Then we found the Marsh pride Lions and spent some time with them before a quick breakfast and the drive back to camp.

More from the Mara

Siligi and five of her cubs

On our third full day, we had a plan that involved an even earlier start than usual. It involved a long journey to reach the area where we were hoping to catch up with a Cheetah (Siligi) and her seven cubs.* It was roughly the same area as we had seen the Fast Five the previous day, but was bordering a no-go area where it would be impossible to find them.

We struck lucky, but it was to be the only time we’d see them on the whole trip. The main piece of luck was they were still in the no-go area when we arrived, but close enough to the road to be able to get pictures. The early morning light upon them was superb and we were privileged to spend around 70 minutes with them before they moved further into the restricted area and out of range.

It was a truly magical sighting, watching the cubs, still with their fluffy ‘Mohican’ manes, playing with one another while Siligi kept an eye out for danger.

A decision had to be taken at this point; did we stay in the area to find the Fast Five again, or Notch 2 and Spear Boy, or should we go elsewhere in search of fresh subjects. The latter idea won the day and we motored off in the direction we had approached from.

It was fully an hour before we had a sighting to work with, a Saddle-billed Stork. The light was getting a bit harsh to work with a predominately black and white bird, but they are a great subject so we had a go at it. Ten minutes later, we were in Lion territory with members of the Rongai pride who were spread over quite a distance.

The final sighting before breakfast was of a Zebra herd drinking in a large pond. It was almost as if they were posing for us, giving us some nice head-on and side-by-side shots.

Zebras quenching their thirst

After a late breakfast it wasn’t long before we met up with the old warrior Scarface again, a survivor of a male Lion if ever there was one. We spent a good deal of time with him, although being honest he wasn’t doing much. But we stuck with him until lunchtime.

Over lunch we decided we would go back to the same location and get some images of the other members of the Four Musketeers. We knew that we would only see Morani and Sikio, because the fourth member, Hunter, hasn’t been seen for some time. That proved to be a fruitful early afternoon, but Lion inactivity eventually decided us to move on and see what else we could find.

Our next encounter was a short series of shots of a Secretarybird sideways on, before it did the usual trick of turning its back and walking away from us. In a matter of minutes we next found a couple of Black-backed Jackals. I have always found them to be very photogenic and quite liked spotting them, but on this trip I saw the other side of them. That situation was a few days away and I’ll refer to that more in another post.

Time was now approaching 3pm and it seemed things were starting to peter out. We had what for us has been a rare sighting of a pair of Southern Ground Hornbills. What was good about it is the fact that we got the best shots of this species since we first photographed them in Kruger National in South Africa back in 2012.

There was then a brief period with a Leopard Tortoise before he ambled off into the grass and out of sight. Next up, the heavens opened and operations were put on hold for a while. Time passed and eventually we headed back to the camp for the day, briefly photographing a decidedly damp Spotted Hyena beside a flooded track on the way.

At first light next day we were with the Enkuyanai Pride of Lions photographing mainly cubs and sub adults. Close by we found a pair of Black-backed Jackals with quite a number of cubs playing in the early morning sun outside their den. The parents were quite relaxed and happy to move some distance away from the cubs, only returning to them now and again. We had an enthralling twenty minutes recording their antics, before word came through that Kaboso, the female Leopard had been sighted.

After about an hour, we finally managed to see her, but she was quite deep in a ravine. The rain of the previous evening had made approaching the edge a very hazardous action and so after a while of waiting to see if she was going to move, we went to find a spot for breakfast.

Over breakfast we decided a plan to return to where Kaboso was located and if there was no improvement in her position, to move on. We were somewhat in luck when we got there to find she had moved and we could get shots, but they still weren’t optimal so we headed off to see what the Enkuyanai Pride were doing.

Enkuyanai Pride having lunch

This proved to be a good plan as they had taken down a Wildebeest and virtually the whole pride were there tucking in. We stayed with them for about an hour and a half and witnessed some very interesting behaviour and interactions. That took us nicely into our lunchtime and discussing a plan for the afternoon.

With Kaboso being relatively close, we drove back to where she was and witnessed a most wonderful afternoon. Arriving in the area, we first spotted a male Leopard that we learned was Kaboso’s partner. Soon after, Kaboso appeared and with her was her cub. They walked right in front of us and as she did so, she retrieved a baby Warthog that the male had killed and brought for her.

She moved it away from us into an area where she felt safe, but we could still see her and watched as the cub helped itself to a welcome meal. They were there for sometime, until they moved back down into the ravine.

Kaboso and her cub

At this point we started to see a troop of Olive Baboons arriving and started to fear for the cub’s survival. They cornered Kaboso under a bush against the side of the ravine, but fortunately the cub had escaped to where the male was located. There followed quite a concerted effort by the Baboons to try to get at Kaboso, but after what seemed like an age, she managed to escape and headed towards the male. The Baboons lost interest once she was no longer cornered and left the scene. We were concerned about whether the cub had survived, but as time was getting on we had to set off back to camp for the day.

As with the previous day, around this time there was another very heavy rainstorm. We battened down the sides of the truck and got on our way, but just had time to check out the Enkuyanai Pride on the way. Things had quietened down by then of course although there were still some rather grubby and wet cubs feeding on the remains. And so another eventful day drew to a close.

* Footnote. As I write this in April 2020, we learn from Dr. Elena Chelysheva

of the Mara Meru Cheetah Project that sadly only two of Siligi’s cubs have survived.