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WILDLIFE BLOG
Wildlife: A bird in the hand….
Yesterday, I went to participate in a bird-ringing exercise at a friend's house - her gardens are a mecca for all sorts of visiting birds from abroad, and it always throws up some great sightings. Leading the ringing, were experts Klaus and Lizanne, who have ringed birds for many years and fed hundreds of pages of data to the University of Cape Town. They have visited Luangwa on many occasions so it was gratifying to recapture [...]
Through the Lens: Irritable Buffalo
On a short morning safari with my family at the weekend, we found a solitary buffalo bull. Although these guys aren't very social (or sociable!) they are very rarely seen alone, preferring the company (and protection) of other bulls. It's a fallacy to say that they are all the old bulls who have left the herd for retirement. It only takes a bit of observation, followed up with some reading, to show that bulls cycle through [...]
Wildlife: A Green Paradise
Safaris at this time of year are a bit less predictable than during the drier months. That's not to say that we don't enjoy great sighting, but just that you can't guarantee them every day like we (almost!) can in the winter. Nevertheless, a short afternoon drive with my family over the weekend still gave us over 20 mammal species and close to 50 bird species. I think that living in such a wildlife-rich part of [...]
Wildlife: Not checking in rear-view mirror before reversing
This warthog appears not to have checked inside its burrow before reversing in for the night! Perhaps it was startled and rushed to seek refuge in its hole, but found that the hole was still being used by a porcupine avoiding the heat of the day! These spines had been driven deep into the flesh, suggesting that the pig was moving quite fast when it came into contact with the spiky rodent! Porcupines, civets, genets, aardvarks, [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Photographing after Sunset
I was out in the bush last night and enjoyed a lovely sunset. After marveling the view, I headed towards home. On the way out, I kept looking around for photo opportunities as that soft glow of post-sunset is actually a great time to take photographs because the indirect light gives a special quality to images. A troop of baboons were playing around the base of some Ebony trees, enjoying the last of the light before [...]
Wildlife: A Puffback Display
I love going back over old images because I always find some gems I'd completely forgotten about. This image is far from one of my best (in fact, I look forward to some abuse from fellow photographers in the comments about the background and the unfortunate leaf) but it shows some wonderful behaviour. This little bird is a Southern Puffback, or Puffback Shrike. It's a noisy and abundant resident across woodland in Southern Africa, most easily [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Making the best of the light
Sometimes wildlife photography can be frustrating. Animals don't behave with us in mind, they just do what nature programmed them to do. Most wildlife enthusiasts understand that, and simply smile when a creature drops its head and walks in the opposite direction from where the photographer wanted! But when the wildlife is performing, and the light is not, it's easy to become frustrated! So what options do we have? If the light is poor, I tend [...]
Photo Safari Report: Namit & Usha | Nkhonzi Camp | 20 – 23 Oct 2015
I can't believe it's come along already...but the end of the season is here and we have had our first massive rain storm which has left the ground sodden and the roads very slippery! What follows is a collection of images from a 3-day photo-safari with 2 guests from India, Namit and Usha, who joined me at Nkhonzi Camp for the last few days of the season. As the end of the season always is, it [...]
Photo Safari Skills: Night Photos
Over the coming months, as well as bush updates, I will be posting blogs about how to take photos in some of the more challenging situations. These include backlit subjects, night photos, birds in flight, low light photography, sunsets and several others. Watch out for the "Photo Safari Skills" tagline. First up - NIGHT PHOTOS The opportunity to conduct night-drives is a major draw for many of South Luangwa's visitors. Certainly it is an added bonus [...]
Photo Safari Report: Remote Nsefu Sector with AGT | Zikomo Safaris | 12 – 17 Oct 2015
I am very pleased to offer the write up of the first Edward Selfe safari in association with Africa Geographic Travel, based out of Zikomo Safaris Camp on the edge of the Nsefu Sector of the South Luangwa National Park. This area was made (more) famous in recent years by the BBC documentary "Countdown to the Rains" which was presented by Kate Humble and Simon King and explored the behaviour of various characters in the bush [...]
Photo Safari Report: Ken & Sandra | Flatdogs Camp | 5 – 9 Oct 2015
Here are the images from my recent safari with Ken and Sandra. We had a spectacular week and enjoyed extraordinary sightings on almost every day. Ken and Sandra wrote some very kind feedback about being on safari with me. I thought I would copy it here on the trip report: "We have been on many trips to various wildlife destinations - however, our recent trip to Zambia is the first time we have been back to [...]
Photo Safari Report: Roger & Vicky | Flatdogs Camp | 1 – 4 Oct 2015
I am catching up with the sorting of all my images from the last 12 days! It has been an amazing couple of weeks in the bush and it's taking time to select the best images to share here. For now, here are the best from my time with Roger and Vicky, now on their 4th safari with me in Luangwa!! We enjoyed some really interesting hyaena behaviour on our first evening. Sniffing of genitals is [...]
EDWARD SELFE
I organise & run photographic safaris in the finest wildlife areas on Earth since.
