We don't often get very close to Kingfishers, because they have great eyesight and see us coming! However, when I was crossing the bridge recently, I stopped to have a look over the edge and saw this Pied Kingfisher with a fish in its beak! [...]
We recently had a group of photographers visit camp, who spent 3 days sampling the sights of the Luangwa and seeking that 'perfect shot'. We were very lucky with what we saw, and they have some fantastic photos to show for it. The highlight of [...]
We are lucky to have a very relaxed female leopard living in the nearby area. She has a huge range, so we're never too sure where she's going to turn up, but when she does, it's regularly with her two cubs! Now almost 6 months [...]
Giraffes spar by using their long necks and massive heads to inflict heavy blows on the body and legs of their adversary. We rarely see this fighting 'for real', as most animals prefer to settle their differences in other ways. But we often see sub-adult [...]
I've encountered some of Nature's less adorable creatures in the last couple of days. First, I was walking in long grass on a flood plain and found that there were hundreds of Blister beetles sunning themselves on the tops of the tall elephant grasses. At [...]
These Greater Blue-eared Starlings are ant and termite specialists, often found on the ground in short grass areas. Their iridescent blue/green colouration comes not from a pigment but from the micro-structure of the keratin in the feathers.
Sometimes the teeth of hippos don't form in the normal way, and the canine pierces the lip as it grows. While it looks horrific, there are several hippos in a similar situation in the Luangwa and they don't seem to be affected by it.
There's something soothing about watching an elephant feeding calmly nearby. I'm fascinated by the textures of the ears, trunk and eyes, and have many photos similar to this one in my albums.
It always pays to take care where you tread out here. Quite apart from being a shame to squash this baby Boomslang, it might bite back. Boomslangs are readily identifiable by the enormous eye and the way in which the boundary between the upper and [...]
We spent a lovely afternoon at a nearby salt spring on Sunday. The area is used by various wildlife species who come to drink and make use of the coarse grasses that grow there. At this time of year, hundreds of Crowned Cranes congregate to [...]
