The grass is always greener on the other side!
July 26, 2007
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Backlit Kudu
July 24, 2007
Three banded Plover and Chick
July 20, 2007
This Three banded Plover had it’s nest out in the open on very broken ground and within a metre of one of the game viewing trails! It is a tiny bird though and I only spotted it as I stopped next to it to look at some elephants. It was agitated by my presence and was making a chirping noise. I moved away and photographed it using a 1.4x converter on my 200 - 400 f4 - not ideal but it was a bright day so I could stop the lens down to help with image quality.
Dad was also patrolling the area nearby.
I went back there today and mother and chick have fortunately relocated to a much better spot way off the main track.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Buffalo herd
July 18, 2007
I ran into a massive herd of buffalo this morning. There must have been a total of nearly 1,000 in the herd and they had come down to drink at the lagoon near here. I always struggle to photograph buffalo as it is very difficult to give an idea of the size of the herd unless they are standing on a hillside or in a ravine - otherwise you just get the front row and you can’t see the others behind! They were also spread out over a vast area so the wide-angle shots I took didn’t do them justice.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Trunkless elephant
July 15, 2007
Elephants have always been one of my favourite creatures and I find seeing an injured one even more distressing than with other animals. Today I was photographing a herd feeding on a sandy beach when I noticed a young calf that had lost most of its trunk.
An elephant’s trunk is an extremely vital part of its anatomy. It is like a 2 digit hand with which it can tear down a tree or pick up a favourite fruit. It is used for drinking – the elephant sucks water up into the trunk and then empties it down its throat – and for sucking up sand and dust to blow over itself. It can be used as a snorkel when swimming across a river and is an important means of communication and smell. To lose its trunk is obviously a huge handicap for an elephant.
I have seen trunk-less elephants before but never get used to the sight. They always look so awkward and ungainly. This calf had clearly had the accident (possibly a crocodile bite or more likely a poachers snare) a while ago as the wound was completely healed. The adult elephants were walking along the beach pulling up plants with their trunks, beating the dirt off against their legs and then sticking them into their mouths. He obviously wanted to do the same but couldn’t so had to bend down and uproot the plants with his mouth.
It will be interesting to see how the little fellow copes as he gets bigger. I think drinking water is going to be especially difficult for him.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Leopard Kill
July 13, 2007
This morning we came across a Hyaena feeding on an Impala carcass near the road. It was obvious from the size of his belly that he had been there a while! We watched him for a few minutes before he tore off a final chunk and skulked off.
No sooner was he out of sight than a small female leopard came slinking out of the bushes to retrieve her kill. She was very nervous and quickly picked the Impala up and dragged it away. It was a big Impala though and she really struggled to move it, having to stop regularly for a rest. This gave me some good opportunities to photograph her but she was fairly far away.
I put a 2x teleconverter on my 200 - 400 f4, something I hate to do (although it’s nice to have the option) as it makes the lens extremely slow and obviously increases depth of field (meaning the subject doesn’t ‘pop’ from the background). Still, I got some acceptable images although at higher magnifications it is clear that they are not pin-sharp.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
Mudpack Hippo
July 7, 2007
There is a bad tempered hippo in a lagoon near the camp at the moment. He has run toward vehicles on a couple of occasions and even charged one of the walks – fortunately he backed off in the end. He won’t be around much longer though as his waterhole is now just a mud bath hardly big enough to accommodate him! He will have to find a new lagoon or return to the river soon. Here he is wearing a mudpack and looking a little grumpy.
Content Copyright Patrick Bentley Photography
