Canary Clan

With this image I take you back to Zimanga Private Game Reserve for a brief interlude. You will remember I posted some images on my blog after our family's visit to this amazing place last month.

This photo is from my first session in the Mkhombe bird hide - where the action was coming thick and fast and recent updates from the reserve show no indication of the current state of affairs being otherwise.

A whole flock of Yellow-fronted Canaries were occupying the waterhole in front of the hide that morning, and the males in particular had very short fuses. With it being my first session in the hide, I was not accustomed to how shallow the depth-of-field would really end up being (the edge of the waterhole is merely 5 meters from the hide), given I was using my 500mm lens. I now know which settings to change for my return next year when I host a Wild Eye workshop there. The end result is that the bird with the outstretched wings was just-just out of my DOF here. I still like the photo, though, and the light is exquisite. 

What do you think?

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f5.6  |  1/500 SS  |  ISO-1800

click on the photo to display at the proper sharpness and resolution

Morkel Erasmus

Terrific Twinspot

Hi everyone.

I have just returned from a visit to an exciting new photographic reserve in South Africa called "Zimanga". Besides spending time on foot with an awesome pack of African Wild Dogs and a relaxed male cheetah, the reserve also boasts some new established and in-progress specialist photography hides, built in consultation with Bence Mate from Hungary. Zimanga is situated close to Mkuze in the northern corner of Kwazulu-Natal, a veritable birders' hotspot.

You can see more of the reserve and the hides on the official website: www.zimanga.com

This Pink-throated Twinspot was photographed from one of these hides. It's a bird not often seen in the open as it prefers dense woodland areas, and it also is only found in the northern corners of Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa), Swaziland and Mozambique. More species info can be found HERE.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f7.1  |  1/1250 SS  |  ISO-2800

(you lose a stop of light from shooting through specialised one-way glass with no noticeable loss of image quality - this ensures the birds are mostly unaware of the photographers inside due to the sealed hide being much darker than the ambient conditions)

click on the photo to view at optimal resolution and sharpness

Stay tuned to my blog and social media channels as I share more of my Zimanga experience in the coming days and weeks...

Morkel Erasmus

An elusive Kingfisher

I haven't shown you a bird in quite a while - so I'll remedy that situation right here and now! Southern Africa is blessed with a lovely variety of Kingfishers, a species that is a firm favourite with avid bird-watchers and photographers in most parts of the world, for sure.

I've had good opportunities in the past to photograph the more commonly found species in our region - the Malachite, Pied and Woodlands Kingfishers (and I've even had some good sightings of the Giant Kingfisher) - but there are 3 that have eluded me thus far in terms of getting a nice usable photo. These are the Half-collared Kingfisher, the African Pygmy Kingfisher and the Brown-hooded Kingfisher.

Well, one of them can now be taken off the "never photographed" list. On the recent Wild Eye Chobe Photographic Safari that I hosted, we were able to get nice and close to a Brown-hooded Kingfisher that had a nest in the bank of the Chobe river. Lighting conditions were challenging as it was at the end of the day in the shade of a large tree, but we all got some portraits we can be pretty pleased with.

Next up - to find the Half-collared and Pygmy!!

Techs:
Nikon D800
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/1000 SS  |  ISO-1800

Thanks for looking, and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you. I will be heading to the exciting new photographic reserve called ZIMANGA later in this week, where a number of photographic hides have been built and many more are in planning. Keep your eyes on my blog and social media channels as I share some images (which will surely include many beautiful birds) upon my return.

Morkel Erasmus

Kite Launch

One of the most common raptors to be sighted all over Southern Africa is the Black-shouldered Kite. They are often seen sitting on telephone poles and fence lines in the countryside, or hovering over grasslands as they scan for prey. I have seen them very close to urban areas on a number of occasions too. This photo was taken in the Kalahari desert, though. I was sitting patiently, watching this perched kite through my viewfinder, and waiting for the moment when it would alight from its perch and fly off. I was happy that the bird decided to do so before I disintegrated in the searing heat, and that it flew in my direction. By using a fast shutter speed, I was able to freeze the moment nicely and capture a couple of tack sharp frames of the take-off.

Techs:

Nikon D3s

Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II

1.4x teleconverter

f5.6  |  1/2500 SS  |  ISO-560

Exposure Bias: +0.3 

click on the photo to display properly

I hope you all have a wonderfully festive New Year's celebration! Be safe, and remember to clock in here shortly after New Year's Day as I will be revealing my "Best of 2013" blog post (which has become somewhat of a tradition on my blog) - you can view last year's selection HERE.

Morkel Erasmus

Kruger: December 2009 (Part 9)

We booked into Punda Maria for our one-night sojourn and eventually made it out for a late afternoon drive around the kopje. These are some of the sights we enjoyed on this last afternoon drive...


An ugly bugger (Marabou Stork):

 A big boy: 

Pumbaa and his friend:

A tender Impala moment:

Inquisitive Zebras:

Our last dinner under the Kruger stars was nice but also sad. It's always sad to be leaving the bush and going back to the rat-race. The next morning I decided to do something bold - with the gates opening at 04h30 already, I decided to drive south as far as we can get before the gates close at 18h00, and only then take the 4 hour drive home. Talk about maximising your time in the field, haha.

These are the sightings we enjoyed on this long, but rewarding drive from Punda Maria to the Paul Kruger Gate close to Skukuza.

Open-Billed Stork:

Yellow-Billed Kite:

Same raptor being harrassed by a Fork-Tailed Drongo:

The ever-present Glossy Starling (a Kruger stalwart):

Impalas locked in a fierce contest:

Cute warthog piglets:

The high level of the Olifants river this particular year:

 

Compare the 2 scenes I posted above with the same river, from the same viewpoint, 5 months earlier (July 2009)!

 

We had a long way to go still - so we carried on southwards...

Mud-bath:

Stork and Elephant:

The lovely Carmine Bee-Eater:

The lovely Lilac-Breasted Roller:

We reached the Paul Kruger gate around 5pm (and got home by about 9pm!). I am looking forward to possibly fitting in another trip to the northern reaches of the Kruger National Park in the next few months. I hope you enjoyed these trip reports...I've got a few to catch up on so there are more coming!

Have a blessed Christmas time with your families and loved ones!!
God bless you all.

Morkel Erasmus

Mahem in the Mara

During the recent Wild Eye photographic safari that I led to the Mara Triangle in Kenya, we had some very nice sightings of (in my mind) Africa's most beautiful crane species - the Southern Crowned Crane (or Mahem Crane). This photo was taken as the early morning light burst through the clouds on the horizon and lit up the outline of this crane as it was performing a mating dance.

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
f4.0  |  1/320 SS  |  ISO-800

click on the photo to view properly

Ready to roll with this week - bring it on!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: African Darter Portrait

I am off to the Kruger National Park tomorrow for a glorious 8 days of quality time with my wife and baby daughter, being in nature, feeling close to the Creator and obviously a little photography.

Before I go, here's a portrait of an African Darter taken in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, earlier this year for you to enjoy.

f7.1  |  1/640 SS  |  ISO-400 |  Focal length 600mm

 
Expect some new images when I return!
Stay safe...

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Pied Kingfisher

Another quick photo! This was taken from the Mankwe Hide in the Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa, sometime last year. I am hoping to go there again soon if time and opportunity allows.

f8.0  |  1/2500 SS  |  ISO-1000

Cheers!

Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: African Jacana

I am swamped at the moment...but thought I just HAD to do a quick blog post, even if it's just to share a photo I processed recently and enjoyed viewing.


This African Jacana adult was photographed from the rim of a small boat on a pond near the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

f5.6  //  1/500 SS  //  ISO-400

Many die-hard bird photographers will bemoan the "head angle" here (the fact that the head is turned away from the camera ever so slightly), but I do feel the very low angle placing the viewer in the bird's environment is the strong point of this photo, and it actually dominates anything that could be found wanting here (combined with nice golden light of course!).


What do you think? Would love your thoughts...


Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: White-fronted Plover Chick

I thought it was about time for another PhotoShare. I should be able to get to a longer, more informative blog post sometime soon, but with a new baby in the house, you know how it goes!


This cute little white-fronted plover chick was the object of my photographic pursuit one summer morning on the South African west coast town of Dwarskersbos. Unlike the other coastlines of South Africa which are marked by cliffs, rocks, forests and dunes...the west coast is marked by miles and miles of stretching, smooth beaches.

I got down very low for this perspective of this elusive little bird. As you can see from its plumage, it blends in very well with this beach environment which is filled with scattered broken bits of shells. Every time I got close, the chick laid down and got lost to my eyes.

Until next time...


Morkel Erasmus

PhotoShare: Ground Hornbill in the Air

This is going to be an exciting week at the Erasmus house, folks! Our first child is arriving sometime between today and Thursday...so things are bound to change around here! Will keep you updated as things progress. We are very excited and anxious to welcome out daughter Aimee into this world.

In the meantime - here's another PhotoShare for you to enjoy. Those who have been to Africa before will know that the Ground Hornbill is quite a quirky character. They normally walk around on the ground (hence the name) and hunt for anything from locusts to small reptiles. On this occasion we had the rare privilege of seeing a whole family of these interesting birds up in a tree early one morning in the northern Kruger National Park.

The light was sweet and the birds obliged.

f4.0  //  1/1000 SS  //  ISO-500

Morkel Erasmus