Shall We or Shan't We

A very mini crossing

Given the fact I have never witnessed the migration in the Masai Mara, it may seem like an odd topic for a blog post. In actual fact, I don’t imagine I shall ever witness the spectacle, but that is purely a personal decision.

There is much information available online about the migration and many documentaries about it have been screened. My purpose here is to give a quick flavour of what it can be like to anyone who may be interested to go to see it, but also for those who may never be fortunate enough to go.

The main season for the crossings of the Mara River are in July, August and September, the dry season. This is when around 1.5 million Wildebeest and many hundred thousand Zebra move from the Serengeti into the Masai Mara in search of food and water. Unsurprisingly, this also coincides with a huge influx of visitors.

Obviously, our visit in November put us outside of that migration window, but the fact is, there are crossings taking place all year. It’s just that the number of animals involved is much reduced. We were fortunate to see a mini crossing that probably numbered between 500 – 1000 animals, as well as two aborted crossings.

However, these two failures were perhaps just as fascinating as the successful one, if for no other reason than they gave us time to learn about how the process is meant to work.

Around the middle of our stay we were beside the Mara River looking for a pride of Lions that frequent the area. As we looked around, we came to a well-known crossing point and saw a herd (confusion) of Wildebeest in company with an equally sized herd (dazzle, cohort, zeal - take your pick) of zebra. There were probably around a thousand animals in the group. It was the events of the next couple of hours that was to prove so fascinating.

Given the popularity of the spot as a crossing, it wasn’t surprising to see a number of crocodiles on the bank and some in the water. In fact numbers increased while we were there. As we watched, two or three Wildebeest ventured towards the waters edge, but did not look confident. As they did so, all of the members of both herds followed suit. Suddenly the leaders turned around and headed back to the safety of the ground above the bank and as they did so, all the others turned-tail.

It appeared to confuse things somewhat and both Wildebeest and Zebra stood around as if to discuss the next plan. After a while, half a dozen Zebra approached the waters edge further upstream, where there seemed to be no crocodile present. We were hopeful this might at last allow us to witness a decent crossing, but again we were disappointed.

That was to be how the whole experience played out. Four different spots were tried and none proved suitable. We ran out of time finally and had to leave them to it, but they must have got across at some stage as on our next visit to the site, they had all crossed and gone.

I questioned our guide about this behaviour and the apparent lack of leadership in either herd. Indeed I was also interested in the fact that either a Zebra or a Wildebeest could be first into the water. The answer appears to be that it comes down to the bravery (or perhaps stupidity) of the first animal to reach the water, but once one has started to cross, the rest all follow without question.

In all of this activity the one thing that did occur to me is that the collective name for a herd of Wildebeest is particularly apt.

New Horizons

Wide open spaces of the Maasai Mara

It will come as no surprise that we have a deep-rooted love for Africa, it is after all where our interest in wildlife photography was born. We’ve been back several times, to Zambia where it all started, to Botswana and to South Africa. All have special memories for us and each location differs slightly from the others. The one thing they do have in common is that in the main, all our trips have been into what I describe as ‘close bush’, no wide-open spaces.

This pattern was finally broken on our February trip to Botswana, where two of the four reserves we visited, Central Kalahari and Nxai Pan, introduced us to the wider picture. It was therefore with some excitement we embarked on our latest trip into the Masai (or if you prefer Maasai) Mara in Kenya. We selected a small camp on the edge of the National Reserve and in close proximity to the Mara River, which proved an excellent choice.

It would be easy to say this has been our best ever trip to Africa and certainly in terms of the number and quality of sightings, that would be true. In fairness to all the other trips, this one was different on a few levels. The camp only has 5 tents and numbers true Masai people among its staff. The food was excellent and we spent 9 very happy days there. The tents were very comfortable, not that we spent much time in camp, so a return visit is already in the planning stages.

Our transition from high-end camps to mobile camping in Botswana has changed the way we operate on safari. This trip has seen us somewhere between these two extremes and is very much a model for the future. It has meant we can game drive all day – typically at least 12 hours a day - in our own exclusive vehicle, which makes a big difference to our photography. I can’t see us returning to the lodges or camps that operate strict morning and afternoon game drive itineraries with a siesta between brunch and high tea.

Earlier I mentioned the number and quality of sightings, the best we have ever had. Top of the list was in excess of 100 different lions, including 8 prides. Cheetahs numbered 11 and there were 4 different Leopards. But some of the sights they gave us were special too. The kills are always bitter sweet, but it’s the law of the jungle so to speak. There were fascinating insights into the hierarchy at a kill and there were some failed hunts too.

Hopefully this post will have whet your appetite enough to want to read more and over the coming weeks I hope to blog further on various aspects of the trip.

It's been a while

Monitor Lizard - Moremi, Botswana

Looking back, I noticed that last year I missed blogging for nearly four months, but this latest failure to post has broken that record. I can’t even say I’ve been busy with the camera, because I haven’t. In fact, since we returned from Hungary in early June, all I’ve managed is three landscape shoots. Little wonder then that I've had nothing to blog about.

It seems that once late Spring arrives, I lose all motivation. I don’t really care for macro work; bugs, butterflies and flowers don’t do it for me. Allied to an inability to get out of bed at unearthly hours, my landscape ambitions don’t progress well either.

It’s not as though I have a plausible excuse. Having retired in Spring, I should have all of the time I need and certainly more than when I was in full time work. The reality is I was doing more photography when I was earning a crust, which doesn’t seem right.

Lately I’ve been thinking the problem is that there are other things I’d rather be doing, after all I’ve been cycling or running for over 50 years, but that’s not the case either. I’ve even wondered whether to take a fresh tack; become a birder who takes photographs rather than a photographer who shoots birds. For a number of reasons, that’s not going to happen, but something has to.

Fortunately, there are rays of hope on the horizon. The coming five or six months are prime time for photographing wildlife in UK and I enjoy getting outdoors, even in Winter. It is also a good time to advance my landscape plans, without having to get up too early and I can do a sunset shoot and still be home for dinner at a sensible hour.

Perhaps best of all, Rose and I are shortly embarking on a trip to Kenya, which is a new location for us. If that doesn’t kick start the desire to get back behind a camera, nothing will. Hopefully it will also give me plenty of subject matter to write this blog on a weekly basis as per my original intention.

Late Spring in Hungary

European Bee-Eater - Hajdudorog, Hungary

At no time in my life have I ever thought I’d be visiting Hungary, but wildlife photography changed that. We’ve just returned from a thoroughly enjoyable trip, based in the superb Bibic Nature Lodge in Balmazújváros. https://www.bibiclodge.com The people are very friendly, nothing is too much trouble, food and accommodation is superb. Hungary itself is a very beautiful country and I was impressed to only see one item of discarded rubbish (a beer can down a country track) throughout the whole week we were there.

The trip was purely hide-based affording close views of a good number of species and guests are free to choose which hides they want to use on any particular day. We were part of a group of six photographers and the arrangements worked well for us all. A typical day started at 5am with a return for lunch around midday and then a second session from 3 or 4pm until 8pm, dependant upon species and location. Additionally there are a couple of all day sessions, with a slightly later start and earlier finish.

The only reservation we had about the trip is that most hides require shooting through glass, with the inevitable effect on image quality. If images are shot at 90deg to the glass the problem can be dealt with fairly simply with the latest post processing software, but as the angle to the glass gets more acute, the issue cannot be rectified.

Getting the dates right for the trip are quite important, but require a deal of luck as well. There is a finite window when the chicks of each species have hatched, but before they fledge and naturally this can vary from species to species and year to year. We were fortunate in having the maximum opportunity, despite only one of the three pairs of Hoopoe being successful. Only the Jackdaws fledged while we were there, but we had already photographed the adults prior to that.

It’s unlikely we’ll repeat the trip, but there are others in the same area covering different species that are appealing and we’d happily go for those in the future. As ever, anyone reading this and interested to know more, please get in touch through the Contact tab.

Basic species list for this trip:

Hoopoe
Kestrel
Red-footed Falcon (including backlit shots)
European Roller (including backlit shots)
Lesser Grey Shrike
Sparrowhawk
Hawfinch
Turtle Dove
Eurasian Jay
Little Owl
Marsh Harrier
Buzzard
European Bee-eater
Red-backed Shrike
Brown Hare
If you’re very lucky, Pine Marten too.

RSPB Musings

You know it's been a bad day when you're reduced to taking Pheasant portraits

For a number of years we have been members of the RSPB having joined to give both a stimulus to our wildlife photography and to support their conservation work. To be honest, it has only been partially successful and has had little or no effect on our photography. It’s almost impossible to get close enough to the action, even with lenses of 600mm and I truly believe the RSPB are missing a trick. So reluctantly we decided to cancel our subscription in favour of the pay as you go approach.

Last weekend we ventured up to the Lake District and planned a full day at RSPB Leighton Moss, but that has now caused us to look again at the issue. We arrived in quite a good size car park and wandered into the Visitor Centre to be met by a volunteer. We were given a rundown of what had been spotted recently, handed a map and asked if we were members. Explaining the situation, all that could be offered was the conservation card, but no facility to make my feelings known to the higher echelons of the organisation. We paid our entrance fees (£7 each, although I got away with £4.50 for being old) and set off.

At this point I should confess that there wasn’t much about all day, save for a very distant Marsh Harrier in a tree, but we’re used to that with wildlife togging. The day was partially saved in late afternoon, but more of that later.

After a couple of hours, it began to dawn on us that we could have saved ourselves the entrance fees and accessed the reserve for free. We could even have used the reserve car park. The locals obviously know this and take advantage, why wouldn’t they, but we were somewhat miffed. The issue is though, the locals aren’t doing anything wrong. They merely walk about 100m down a bridleway off the main road and they’re in the reserve. All of the hides, even the visitor centre and its facilities, are accessible.

There are two more hides attached to the reserve, about a mile away and these are freely open to anyone. It was here our day was rescued as they overlooked a scrape where there were six Spoonbills and plenty of nesting Avocets relatively close.

When we got home I researched the subject a little more and found this is a common situation. In the past year we have visited RSPBs Minsmere, Bempton Cliffs and Lakenheath Fen, among others. The situation is the same at them all, a public footpath or bridleway enables free access to those who know about it.

So what is the answer? In truth I don’t know, but from a photographer’s point of view I question whether the RSPB want to know. The admission situation is difficult for them, they can’t restrict access to public rights of way crossing reserves and clearly the money they raise is significant. But I feel they are missing a huge opportunity. The reserves are fine if you are a birder and just want to use your binoculars and spotting scopes to look at the birds. For us togs, they aren’t so good. A quick look around would show them the advent of digital photography has led to an explosion in the number of people wanting to photograph wildlife. One only has to look at the number of private hides being set up around the country and the sums of money we are willing to pay to use them. If only the RSPB would embrace that and the needs of togs in general, another revenue stream would be available to them and no doubt prove very lucrative.

Botswana Conclusions

Bedraggled Spotted Eagle Owl sums up conditions on this trip

We’ve now made four trips to Botswana and this was our second mobile camping trip there. As in Zambia, prices are kept quite high to keep a tight control on tourism. It’s a successful policy, but in both countries there is wildlife that you just won’t see. South Africa in contrast is both cheaper and the Big Five are guaranteed.

Our desire this time was for Rose to witness the Zebra migration and for me to have a better chance of seeing Cheetah, hopefully in action. We therefore had to go in the rainy season and we were just unlucky that this year has been the wettest in living memory. Nevertheless we had a great time and saw what we went for. Indeed we had some memorable sightings that we have never previously encountered on our safaris.

Despite the long transfers, both Central Kalahari and Nxai Pan with their wide-open spaces were new and exciting experiences for us. The Zebra migration, though less than in most years, was impressive. They were everywhere. Watching the female Cheetah use our vehicle as cover before launching her pursuit of a Springbok and the speed at which she accelerated, will live with me always.

The more traditional bush of Moremi and Khwai certainly gave us more variety and was just as exciting. The Leopard sightings were superb, something we had hoped for, but previous experience had left us expecting to be disappointed. We weren’t, far from it and probably up there with the best encounters we have had in the past.

Mobile camping is certainly a good way to do these trips, as it can be tailored to your own requirements. It’s possible to do it slightly cheaper by electing to go on a participation basis, but we prefer to go fully serviced so that we can spend the maximum time game driving. The other benefits we have over the lodges are a dedicated vehicle and not having to adhere to their set timetable. If we want to spend two hours or more on a sighting we can do so and don’t have to consider what others in the vehicle may want.

Khwai

Yellow-billed Hornbill - Khwai, Botswana

The transfer from Moremi should have been quite straightforward and virtually a game drive all of the way. But again the sheer amount of water lying around was to change the plan. What should have been a West to East direct drive became probably double the distance as we had to go halfway back to Maun, before doubling back into Khwai. But at least we got in there.

We arrived in the reserve in mid-afternoon and started to search for big cats. We knew there were Lion and Leopard about, but we couldn’t find them. I was having difficulty getting my bearings, as the landscape was so much different to how it looked two years ago, due to the rains. All too soon it was time for dinner as the light was lost for the day.

Not for the first time this trip, we were entertained during the night by heavy rain and thunder. But amid all of that commotion we could also hear Lions calling, so our first full day dawned dry and full of hope. I use the word dry, but I should perhaps just say it wasn’t raining.

We started out at our normal time just after 6am in search of the Lions that had been spotted near to camp the previous day. They were nowhere to be found, despite the calling during the night, so we decided to widen our search. After nearly two hours we were finally rewarded, but not with Lions. Instead we had a stunning encounter with a Leopard in a tree and remained with it for nearly an hour.

Moving on, we had Bee-eater and Kingfisher sightings, together with a solitary Elephant, before we heard of a pride of Lions spotted some way from camp. Getting there involved a river crossing at a ford, where the water was deep enough to come halfway up the bodywork and then moving through an area where the track was extremely rutted and muddy. A quick stop for coffee and then we got into position and found a male and three females asleep under some bushes. We sat with them for a while, but decided to go back to camp for lunch and then come straight back out. The plan was to arrive before the cars from the lodges arrived after their siestas and high teas around 4pm. We were back in position before 3pm.

They were still under the same bushes, but our guide had a good idea of where they would come out and positioned the car accordingly. He was right and one by one they slowly emerged, then lay down in the sun and started dozing once again. Every now and then one or more would stir and we witnessed some wonderful interaction. Some cars pitched up, but we stayed as long as we felt we wanted before heading back for sundowners and dinner.

We certainly weren’t ready for what happened next though. Not more than a quarter of a mile from the four Lions was a solitary female with a cub that could only have been a few days old. We watched in awe as the youngster played, biting Mum and jumping on her before she would pick him up in her mouth and move him along. By now the light was fading fast and we were struggling to get good images, but also we had a distance to travel to be back in camp before 7pm when the reserve closes for the day.

Our final full day was to be just as eventful, after another night of rain and Lions calling. Within a mile of leaving camp we rounded a bend in the track to be met by a male and a female Lion lying there. We spent the next two hours watching their antics as the female attempted unsuccessfully to seduce the male into mating with her. She tried everything, including the storming off trick, but all to no avail.

We then headed back to the area where we had witnessed the Lions the previous day, even though the ford across the river was even more difficult after the night’s rain. On the way we spotted a pair of Fish Eagles in a tree, where they were devouring a catfish. Meeting up with a car from one of the lodges, we were told of a Leopard in a tree, with a kill (an Impala), so we made our way to it.

We stayed with her for an hour until she decided to come down from the tree and find a shady spot under a bush to sleep it off. We left and the rest of the morning yielded mainly bird sightings. We decided that we would take the same approach as we had yesterday and return to the Leopard straight after lunch.

On our way back after lunch, we noticed a Python that had clearly devoured something quite large and was languishing in a tree. Speculation was it could be an antelope of some kind, probably an Impala.

Arriving back at the Leopard sighting, our plan had worked like a dream again and we were the only car there. Again we were able to take up a prime position before the lodge cars arrived. It looked as though only the hind legs were left and the Leopard was again tucking into it, despite a vast amount of Maggots crawling all over it.

We had been watching and photographing her for almost two hours when suddenly she became very alert, stood up and peered into the distance. Our guide thought it might be her son coming along to share the meal with his mother, as he has been seen to do so before. But it wasn’t long before the real reason emerged, as a Spotted Hyaena came out of the bushes and into view.

The next thirty minutes was very interesting, watching the posturing of the two animals. Slowly the Hyaena, also a female, positioned herself under the tree and out of sight. At the same time the Leopard thought it a good idea to move the remains of the Impala further along the branch. At that point, it became obvious that there was more of it left than we thought, as suddenly one of the front legs fell out of the tree. The Hyaena pounced immediately as if shot from a gun and amid much crunching of bones, devoured that particular treat. But the fun wasn’t over and the whole scene was repeated as the other front leg fell down with the same result.

At that point we decided to leave and head back to camp. It was getting late, we had a good way to travel and we thought our day was done. How wrong we were.

The late afternoon light was now perfect as we got into the golden hour and there in front of use was a Yellow-billed Hornbill preening in a bush. It was beautifully lit and we were able to get very close, as you can see in the above image. Opportunities like this don’t happen often, but we weren’t finished yet.

As we got to the area where we had seen the Lion cub the previous day, we witnessed a fight between the mother and a male Lion. The cub had been hidden away, but the Male would have killed it had he found it, so the mother was furious in her fight. What an end to the day.

All that remained of the trip was a short morning game drive, before the transfer back to Maun and a night in Thamalakane River Lodge before our flights home. We weren’t to be disappointed though.

We knew there had been Lions close to camp overnight, but weren’t prepared for what happened. Before we even left the camp, our guide called us to the car to see a male Lion walking down the track towards us. As he walked past the camp, no more than 30 – 40 yards from us he stopped, looked us up and down, then walked on. Fabulous.

We climbed in the car and set off to follow him as he was searching for his females. He finally caught up with them on a track that ran behind the camp and the three of them just started snoozing on the track. WE watched for a while then gingerly drove around them and moved on.

Our next encounter was with a pair of Elephants, who clearly didn’t care for our presence. We were mock charged several times and got some super images as a result.

After a few more bird sightings, including another first, we found another pair of Lions, who mated not once, but twice while we were with them. This was to be our final sighting of the trip and a memorable one at that.

Next time I’ll post up my conclusions on the two weeks and try to include some information for anyone interested in trying a similar trip.

Moremi

Southern Carmine Bee-Eater - Moremi, Botswana

After a night in the lodge outside Maun we were feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the second half of our trip. The journey into the Moremi reserve is not that long, although the metalled road soon gives way to a track. Indeed the lodge we had been in offers day safaris into Moremi. So although this was to be a transfer day, in reality most of it was spent game driving.

Arriving at the gate we were warned that it was very wet in the reserve and that certain tracks were impassable, one of which was the track into the Khwai reserve that we were due to take a few days later. Undaunted we set off and although we did encounter some very large and deep puddles our initial impression was that the situation wasn't too bad.

The drive was fairly uneventful as far as animals were concerned, apart from a first ever sighting of a Lesser Spotted Eagle and the first Red Lechwe of the trip. We stopped for a leisurely lunch, then pressed on and very soon we were treated to the sight of a Lilac-breasted Roller posing beautifully on a termite mound. It's known as the most photographed bird in Africa and for good reason. I have hundreds of shots of them, but can never resist getting more.

It wasn't long after this that things took an unexpected turn and required a change of plan. The radio crackled into life and it was the two guys in the support vehicle calling to let us know that not only was our booked campsite inaccessible due to flooding, but they were stuck in the mud. Our guide hastily got out the satellite 'phone and started to make arrangements for an alternative site, but all three of us were somewhat annoyed that this information hadn't been given to us at the gate.

With an alternative site secured, we set off to the same location as the support vehicle to assist them jacking out of the mud. Time was getting tight and with the added distance to the new site, it was going to be a challenge to get the camp set up before darkness fell. Luckily, it wasn't long before another message came over the radio to say the guys had managed to get out and were on their way to the new site, so we resumed game driving.

Heading to the new site, we found ourselves on familiar territory from our trip two years ago, but it was barely recognizable due to the amount of water lying there. In fact we could see the gatehouse from which we left the reserve on that occasion only about 400m away, but we couldn’t get to it. We were entertained for quite a while by a couple of Yellow-billed Storks expertly fishing and also by a Monitor Lizard basking in the late afternoon sun on a termite mound.

By now it was time for sundowners and then a short drive to the camp, where the guys had made a great effort to get the camp set up and the dinner underway. It seemed we had disturbed a troop of Baboons that lived there and they were very vocal in their disapproval for an hour or two until they realized if we were staying, they would have to go. They moved on and all was quiet by bedtime.

Our first full day in Moremi dawned dry and overcast after another night of rain and thunder. We followed the normal pattern of 5am alarm call, breakfast and a departure between 6am and 6:15am. Little did we realize how quickly a significant sighting would be made and within 5 minutes we were parked and watching a male Leopard in a tree. We spent almost two hours and shot many frames before he finally came down the tree and moved away.

We headed off to see what else was on offer, but very soon it became apparent that there was even more standing water after the overnight rain. This fact was later born out when we spotted a crocodile actually swimming in the flooded wheel tracks. OK, it was a young one, but even so, it’s not a very common sight. The day was mainly one of spotting and photographing birds, including a couple more to add to our all time list. We called time during the late afternoon as a thunderstorm that we had watched building finally reached us and we headed back to camp early.

Our second full day in Moremi was much the same as our first, although the weather was drier and there was no early surprise Leopard sighting. A couple more new bird species, but perhaps the highlight was our first encounter with a Rock Monitor Lizard. To say he was uncooperative is the understatement, but an impressive animal nonetheless. We witnessed a rather serious disagreement in a Baboon troop as an alpha-male chased an interloper round and around a lake at speed until he had been seen off and found another tree.

We moved on and stopped a little while later for coffee, where we appeared to annoy a Hippo quite seriously. He kept his eye on us all of the time we were there, continually submerging and resurfacing just a little closer each time. The remainder of the day was again mainly bird photography, punctuated by Wildebeest, Impala, Giraffe, Red Lechwe, Kudu and Leopard sightings.

Probably the highlight was the Southern Carmine Bee-eaters. We had spotted them the day before, but this time it appeared we were disturbing potential food sources for them as we drove along. We were being accompanied by up to four birds flying alongside us and the image with this post is of one of the birds. It really was a beautiful sight.

We finished the day with another visit to the Yellow-billed Storks fishing, sundowners and then back to camp for dinner. What greeted us when we got there was one of the best sunsets we were to witness during the whole trip.

All that remained in Moremi was the following day’s game drive to the gate and then the transfer into Khwai. The rain was back to haunt us at breakfast, but thankfully stopped before we left. Three memorable sightings were in store for us between the camp and the gate, which strangely happened at the same location. We were watching a large group of Red Lechwe, the most we had seen all trip, as overhead was flying a majestic African Marsh Harrier. As we were concentrating on these, there was a commotion behind and to our right hand side and what was probably the largest pod of Hippos we have ever seen were running down a track to a new flooded area. Magical to watch.

Next time I’ll conclude with a summary of our two full days in Khwai.

Nxai Pan

Alert Giraffe Family - Nxai Pan, Botswana

The transfer to Nxai Pan was long and tiring, not to mention very wet at times. Shortly after we left the Central Kalahari gate the track was completely flooded and looked more like a river. At times it was impossible to decide where the shallowest track was, but we got through without mishap.

Arriving at the Nxai Pan gate, we were greeted by another track masquerading as a river and informed that we could only be admitted at our own risk. This was a no-brainer as our camp was already set up in there and there was no alternative. As it was getting fairly late, we did a short game drive and repaired to camp for dinner and bed.

Next morning all was well and we set off to see what Nxai Pan had to offer. It was to turn out to be a day mainly consisting of bird sightings, apart from the Zebras, which was the reason we were there anyway. They were even more plentiful than the Oryx had been in Central Kalahari and our guide estimated we saw between three and five thousand in Nxai Pan. However, the vast amount of rain and the affect it had on the vegetation meant the Zebras didn’t need to migrate so far as in most years. Had it been a normal year he estimated we would have seen three to four times that number.

My first impression of Nxai Pan was how big and open the area is, although only a fraction of the area covered by Central Kalahari. It is classic Cheetah territory and that was what I was hoping to see. I didn’t have to wait long on our second day and we found a female with two young cubs, probably about nine months old. We spent best part of an hour with them as they slowly moved around their range and the cubs played happily with each other, before they moved into cover and we left them.

Next up was another herd (dazzle) of Zebras, and another brief Cheetah sighting, but much of the day was spent looking for Lions. After lunch, we were successful, even witnessing a (distant) mating session. There was a torrential thunderstorm later on in the afternoon, but once this moved through we had another Cheetah sighting, which turned out to be the brother of the female we had seen in the morning.

That brought us to the end of our two full days in Nxai Pan and just left us with a game drive to the gate next morning. We had been trying, unsuccessfully, to photograph a European Bee-eater since we arrived, but every time our guide killed the engine, the bird would fly. Finally we were successful as we found one in an Acacia bush and it didn’t move. Also added a Bradfield’s Hornbill to our list as it posed beautifully beside the track. All too soon we were at the gate and transferring back to Maun for our mid-trip overnight stay in Thamalakane River Lodge.

My overall impression of Nxai Pan is somewhat mixed. Certainly we saw exactly what we went there for, so we have no complaints on that score. But there are vast areas of the reserve that are inaccessible due to the no off-roading policy. I understand the reasons for this policy and agree with it, but it only works if there are adequate roads to use and that is where Nxai Pan suffers.

Central Kalahari

A well fed Cheetah - Central Kalahari, Botswana

Maun is known as the ‘tourism capital’ of Botswana and is where we based our trip with overnight stays at the beginning and end as well as one night in the middle on the transfer from Nxai Pan to Moremi.

The journey to the Central Kalahari is quite long with around 45 miles on metaled roads followed by a similar distance on a dead straight, sandy track. Once at the Northern gate, the remainder of the journey is a game drive to wherever the camp has been pitched. We were located mainly in an area known as Deception Valley and recent sightings there had been very encouraging. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is huge at around 53,000 square kilometres, so we were only going to experience a small fraction of it

Our previous safaris had all taken place in what I would describe as typical bush, even when we were in the Okavango Delta. But the wide-open plains of the Kalahari were a welcome change and immediately we could see our hoped-for sightings were a distinct possibility. The game drive section gave us a number of excellent bird sightings, but as we got into the Deception Valley area there were Springbok, Black-backed Jackal and three male Lions that we were to get to know quite well in our 4 night stay.

After a 5am call on our first day, we started our game drive shortly after 6am and the pattern for the trip became clear. The early start was the norm, but despite returning to camp for lunch on most days, we were game driving for around 10 – 12 hours each day.

This opening day was to turn out as mainly a bird sighting day and what was immediately noticeable was the number of Pale Chanting Goshawks about. Another fascinating discovery was that the juveniles are very confiding, but the adults will fly before the vehicle has even come to a halt. Aside from the birds we had some delightful encounters with Ground Squirrels doing their Meerkat impersonations, young male Springbok play-fighting and huge herds of Oryx (Gemsbok) the like of which we’d never seen before. The day ended when we encountered three Bat-eared Foxes in the middle of the track, but in fading light. We managed a couple of record shots, but that was the best we got all trip. The length of the grass due to all the rain gave them plenty of cover and they are very nervous anyway, so mainly all we could see were ears.

Day Two was to yield Hartebeest, a charming Scrub Hare and the one thing I wanted to see, Cheetahs. Not only did I see Cheetahs, I finally got to witness a Cheetah successfully hunting and see for myself the stunning acceleration these cats can generate. This probably was the highlight of the trip for me, but there were other encounters that came exceptionally close. We also witnessed the amusing sight of a Clapper Lark. These birds take off vertically with a sound not dissimilar to the drumming of a Snipe, but then issue a whistle as they dive back to the ground.

Our final full day in the reserve was by far the best and gave us memorable sightings of the three male lions. They are three brothers aged around 30 months and have yet to grow manes. They were a joy to be with as they play fought with each other in the early morning, but our evening encounter with them was more memorable. The sight of all three trying to climb a tree in failing light was one to behold and needed an ISO setting of 12,800 just to get 1/60th second shutter speed.

Before that we had seen the same Cheetah with her two cubs as the previous evening and this time had made two further kills. One was left for the Jackals, to distract them from the main kill, which was being gradually eaten by the cubs. The nearby trees began to fill with Vultures, while they waited for their turn to come in and clear up the remains.

Moving back to pick up the Lions again we found a tower of 30 Giraffe in an open area, all very relaxed and a couple of the younger males practicing their sparring on each other. Approaching this location we were very fortunate to spot an African Wild Cat in the undergrowth. In truth, they look like a longer-legged version of a domestic tabby we are used to, but seeing such a secretive animal was a bonus.

Overnight there was a lot of rain and our departure to Nxai Pan was in the wet. Understandably our game drive to the gate wasn’t very productive, apart from a very wet and bedraggled Spotted Eagle Owl we found on the track. Whether she was ill, injured or too wet to fly we couldn’t tell, but she gave us some wonderful close-up shots.

Next time I’ll cover the three nights we spent in Nxai Pan and the challenges we faced there.

Botswana 2017

Kori Bustard - the national bird of Botswana

A question I’m often asked is, “what do you do with your pictures?” The answer is always the same along the lines of listing the various social media platforms, Flickr and of course, this website. Inevitably, if a fellow photographer poses this question, the conversation develops from there and enables me to ask what I find a more fascinating question: “How do you display your images?”

Often this leads to a discussion about how the process of posting to multiple platforms can be streamlined. That is not what I’m actually asking, but it does yield some interesting ideas and sometimes kicks off experimentation. It’s a good learning process even though in time, I often find myself reverting to my original methods.

But what I am driving at with that question is how do others deal with a batch of shots from a particular shoot. Let me try to explain.

If I go out to a location for any length of time, be it a day, a week, or a fortnight, I will download and back up the images immediately on return and then take my time to deal with them. This was originally born out of necessity through time constraints, but is less of an issue now. However, it does allow me to overcome the excitement of the moment and look at the images with a more considered eye.

It does go further than that though. When a particular species of bird or a rarity arrives locally, a cascade of images of it suddenly hit the internet to the extent that one can get bored with seeing ‘another Bearded Tit’ image for example. My preference is to hold back my images until the flurry has died down and then post it so that it doesn’t get lost in the crowd.

There is a down side to this though. I currently have lot of images of Red Squirrels in the snow, but if I hold back on posting these, I’ll have to wait until next Winter to post them. It just doesn’t look right if I were to post them up in July.

The alternative is to deal with each shoot immediately on completion and while that may work for some trips – an African safari perhaps – it just means the images get mixed up with all of the others being posted. I’m not at all convinced I can be that disciplined either, nor am I certain I want to be.

As with most things in photography, it’s a subjective view and what works for one, doesn’t for someone else. For now, I’ll stick with my process but remain open to reasoned persuasion.

View Now or Later

Robin - Tehidy Woods, Cornwall

A question I’m often asked is, “what do you do with your pictures?” The answer is always the same along the lines of listing the various social media platforms, Flickr and of course, this website. Inevitably, if a fellow photographer poses this question, the conversation develops from there and enables me to ask what I find a more fascinating question: “How do you display your images?”

Often this leads to a discussion about how the process of posting to multiple platforms can be streamlined. That is not what I’m actually asking, but it does yield some interesting ideas and sometimes kicks off experimentation. It’s a good learning process even though in time, I often find myself reverting to my original methods.

But what I am driving at with that question is how do others deal with a batch of shots from a particular shoot. Let me try to explain.

If I go out to a location for any length of time, be it a day, a week, or a fortnight, I will download and back up the images immediately on return and then take my time to deal with them. This was originally born out of necessity through time constraints, but is less of an issue now. However, it does allow me to overcome the excitement of the moment and look at the images with a more considered eye.

It does go further than that though. When a particular species of bird or a rarity arrives locally, a cascade of images of it suddenly hit the internet to the extent that one can get bored with seeing ‘another Bearded Tit’ image for example. My preference is to hold back my images until the flurry has died down and then post it so that it doesn’t get lost in the crowd.

There is a down side to this though. I currently have lot of images of Red Squirrels in the snow, but if I hold back on posting these, I’ll have to wait until next Winter to post them. It just doesn’t look right if I were to post them up in July.

The alternative is to deal with each shoot immediately on completion and while that may work for some trips – an African safari perhaps – it just means the images get mixed up with all of the others being posted. I’m not at all convinced I can be that disciplined either, nor am I certain I want to be.

As with most things in photography, it’s a subjective view and what works for one, doesn’t for someone else. For now, I’ll stick with my process but remain open to reasoned persuasion.

Scotland 2017

Mountain Hare - Cairngorms, Scotland

Scotland seems to be becoming a regular venue for our wildlife trips and our latest visit had been planned for some time. If you want to secure the services of one of the many togs now offering guiding services, booking twelve months in advance is very much the norm. The flipside of this is we wanted to photograph Red Squirrels and Mountain Hares in the snow; try booking those conditions that far ahead.

Our ultimate destination was the Cairngorms, but we decided to break the journey in two and started off with a day in a hide just over the border. Frankly that was a disappointment. The weather wasn't the best and the fact we needed to use ISO 3200 to get any sort of usable shutter speed was never going to make it easy. Biggest let down of all was the particular species we were after didn't show up all day, always a possibility in this game. We just have to accept the fact and move on.

Move on is what we did the following day and managed to get to the RSPB visitor centre at Loch Garten with about 30 minutes of useable light left. There was no-one about, but plenty of birds and our first sighting of Crested Tits. A number of the birds there were quite tame, we even had a Blue Tit fly inside the car.

Our base for the next three days was Grantown-on-Spey from where we were hoping to get the pictures we wanted. Naturally enough, there was no snow so we had to make the best of it.

Day one saw us start with Red Squirrels and at one time we had six of them in range to choose from. After a morning with them we moved on to get Crested Tits. This was more of a challenge, the birds were backlit and there was a considerable amount of flare that was hard to control. It does seem a bit churlish to complain about getting sunshine in Scotland, but that's how it was.

Day two and still no snow, but we went off to the Findhorn Valley to do Mountain Hares and they were easy to spot. We had a very productive, if cold, day as there was a strong, icy wind blowing down the glen. We ended the day happy.

Day three dawned with a sprinkling of snow and we were hopeful that we could get what we'd driven six hundred miles to get. It turned out that there was nowhere near enough snow, although showers were forecast for the day, so we had another session in the Crested Tit hide. It was planned to be a morning only visit and then move on elsewhere, possibly for Buzzards, but we elected to stay with the Cresties all day. The showers did materialise, but it wasn't until we drove back to Grantown that we realised how much there had been. More significant falls were forecast for that night, so the decision to stay an extra day was taken. Fortunately both our accommodation and our guide were able to cope with that and a plan was set.

There was about four inches of the white stuff on the ground when we got up on the fourth day and we knew the gods were smiling on us at last. We spent a couple of hours with the Red Squirrels and then headed off up the glen for a second time. Finding Hares this time was naturally totally different, but our guide is a regular there and has a good idea of where certain individuals like to hunker down. A successful afternoon resulted and it was job done. We had already bagged some beautiful images of both the Squirrels and the Hares, but getting them in the snow just took them to another level.

Had we not stayed for the extra day, we wouldn't have been able to get home anyway, so it was a good decision to stay. There was more snow that night, but by delaying our departure until mid-morning next day we were able to get down to Perth with little trouble. In fact, we actually made it all the way back to Dorset. A successful week completed.