WILDLIFE BLOG

This large male baboon was acting as sentry early in the morning. While I was watching, he began to look uncomfortable. He stood up on the branch and started to shift from side to side, as if trying to get a better view of something in a thicket nearby. Suddenly, his demeanour changed and he began calling agressively - "wahoo wahoo wahoo". In baboon-speak, this translates as "Leopard" and is one of many calls that they [...]

These Red-billed Oxpeckers had eaten their fill of ticks from the back of their host giraffe, and with no other feeding options around, chose to hang on and enjoy the ride.

It's pretty unusual for me to see a new species in an area that I know so well, but it does happen occasionally! Last night, I found this Spotted Dikkop in some open grassland between areas of scrub Mopane trees. It's a nocturnal insect-eater and is not common in the riverine area of the park. I was very happy to see it and even get a photo! With 480+ species of bird in the Luangwa, there's [...]

In the North of the park, there are several areas of vast open plains. While these areas are sometimes a bit bleak, at this time of the year, when there's still some grazing to be found, some animals choose it as home, safe from many of the predators. Other animals cross the plain to reach the river and surrounding lagoons. As we passed through in late evening, we found this bull Kudu ambling towards the thickets [...]

I was up in the Northern Sector of the park over the weekend and we found this large male lion drinking in a gully. He wasn't very comfortable around us and quickly moved up the bank and away from the water, but he did stand for an identification shot. It was well before sunrise so the light was very poor, but as he moved through the trees, we could see the remains of an old scar [...]

Testosterone levels in mammals are always highest in the early morning (and after a successful contest with another male of course!) so we often watch interesting behaviour between male impala during the rutting season. This male was parading around his patch, showing off to the females and making his presence known to other males. The flared tail is a giveaway signal that he feels dominant in his area. After some time, another male approached him and [...]

I enjoyed watching this small family of elephants as they trudged through the dry bush towards the river. As they got closer, their pace picked up as they smelled the water and they celebrated with huge trunkfuls!

These large carnivorous birds are something of a speciality in the Luangwa, given that they are very scarce in other areas of Southern Africa. Here, they occur in good numbers although they are certainly not common. I found a pair stalking across an open plain yesterday and decided to try some portrait photos.

I've been going through a lot of old images that are stored on my system but have never seen the light of day, and came across these images which were taken over the last few months and show the growing up of a young leopard cub. She's been wonderful to watch and I have many more memories than I have images to back them up. Here she prowls down a track towards me in the gloaming [...]

I was out in the last light of evening yesterday and caught this image of an elephant cow feeding in the Leadwood forests. The sun was being masked by a cloud and gave this beautiful, moody effect.

In the last light of evening, this Lilac-breasted Roller held its ground on a nearby mopane trunk, before turning its gaze to the ground to check for one last hunting opportunity before dusk.

Wild Dogs are well known for their highly efficient hunting methods. Rather than relying on stealth and ambush (as do the cats) they employ the chaos and confusion method with astonishing success. It's estimated that around 90% of Wild Dog hunts end in a meal for the predator, compared to around 5-10% for cats. I'd seen several Wild Dog hunts in the past, but the one I watched on Sunday evening was perhaps the most spectacular [...]