Safari! - part 2: Serengeti National Park

In this second post on our visit to Tanzania last year, I'll show some shots from the Serengeti National Park.

To reach the park we set off early from the Ngorongoro crater, and drove for about 8 hours on pretty poor roads. On the way, we made a couple of stops, one of which was to pay fees on entry to the park. While we were waiting for our driver to sort out the paperwork, word got round that a couple of elephants were nearby, on a small hill next to the car park. We grabbed our cameras and binoculars and legged it up the hill, and here is what we found!

This is taken from a range of only about 50 feet. Amazing to get so close - especially when not in a vehicle.

Another stop was made at Olduvai Gorge (a.k.a. the Cradle of Mankind), an archeological site  at which many early humanoid remains have been discovered. Here is a picture of the gorge, including the monolith which shows some of the layers in which the remains were found (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olduvai_Gorge).



Once we entered the park, the wildlife sightings increased.One of our first sightings was this group of osteriches.

This next shot is one of my favourites - a Hyena proudly carrying away it's lunch to a quiet spot where it can eat it in peace!

After the long drive, we arrived at out lodge just after sunset and had an early night! The following day, we went in search of leopards. To do this, we drove around the plains inspecting any small patch of trees we could find. Eventually, we found what we were looking for!

While in the Serengeti, I decided that the animals I like to photograph most are giraffes! (squirrels are a close second). This next shot is one of my favourite shots since I've being doing wildlife photography. It's printed very big on my living room wall!

This next chap came very, very close indeed! Taken at about 180mm on FX:

We were very lucky, as the Wildebeest migration was taking place a little early, owing to lack of rainfall. Although we were not really there at the "right time", we still witnessed vast numbers of Wildebeest (sweeping majestically) on the move. These migrations are so big that it's very difficult to photograph them. The lines of animals literally stretch from horizon to horizon - in the background of this next shot, you can at least see part of one line.



Next time, I'll show some shots from the third location we visited - Tarangire National Park.

Safari! - part 1: Ngorongoro Crater

In November we went on safari in Tanzania. This was our first time on Safari, and we timed the trip to also coincide with our 1st wedding anniversary.

We had a wonderful time, and had plenty of luck with the weather and animal sightings. In the next few posts, I'd like to share some photos I took while we were there. We visited three main locations, namely the Ngorongoro crater, Serengeti National Park and Tarangire National Park - I'll make a separate post for each. In a later post, I'll also describe what I took with me in terms of camera equipment, and how that worked out.

After a long journey, we arrived at our lodge on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater (in fact an extinct volcano) about an hour before sundown. This first shot is taken looking over the rim, into the caldera. It's difficult to get an idea of the scale looking at this. To give you an idea though, those lines criss-crossing the foreground are dirt tracks.

The following morning, we drove down into the crater, which is inhabited by most of the animals you might imagine you would hope to see on safari (Giraffes are an exception to this, as they cannot scale the steep side walls!) One of our first encounters was with this pair of Warthogs with their piglets. 

At lunch, we stopped near a small water hole, along with many other vehicles. The local wildlife were well aware of the potential for scraps at a site like this, and in particular there were about a dozen Black Kites swooping back and forth the whole time we were there. An excellent opportunity for some BIF photography! I dont think I have ever been able to get so close to a bird of prey of this size in the UK - the shot below, which is cropped only slightly, was taken with a 300mm lens on a Nikon D300.

After lunch, we continued our drive in the crater. The side walls of the crater are very distinctive - they stretch across the entire horizon, and rise steeply from the flat basin of the crater floor. In this next shot you can see the crater wall in the distance. In the foreground are flamingos gathered in a salt lake.

We didn't witness any kills while we were in Tanzania, but we did see plenty of predators, including Cheetahs and Lions.

This Cheetah spent pretty much the whole day sitting in this spot sleeping. Or yawning.
 
The Lions in this next shot are picking off some scraps remaining on a carcass (according to our guide, these two fall pretty low in the social order, and hence eat last!), while also fending off the attentions of Jackals, vultures and Hyenas.

The rest of the pride had already moved on, but we caught up with them a little later.

Next time some shots from the Serengeti!

A Couple More Squirrel Shots

I'm a complete sucker for these guys! They continue to visit on pretty much an hourly basis, and I've taken plenty more photos of them over the weekend. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Coming up soon, I'll be posting a few entries on our recent Safari in Tanzania!

My entries for WPOTY 2012

Each year I enter a couple of competitions, usually the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) and the British Wildlife Photography Award (BWPA). I've been shortlisted a good few times in the BWPA, but never got anywhere in the WPOTY. I'll keep trying - and here are a few of my entries for 2012.

Gray Squirrels

In the last few weeks, increasing numbers of gray squirrels have been visiting our garden. It's only a small garden, which backs on to a housing estate, which means that other than a few birds, we rearely have any visitors. So, it's nice to see them.

They seem to be a family group, as they move around together and seem fine with each others company. Most are youngsters. They are aslo pretty tame, and dont mind being approached to within about 10 feet or so - close enough to get some nice portraits...

Rutland Water

Earlier in the year we visited Rutland Water, hoping to see Ospreys there. We did, but not at close enough range to get any pictures, I'm afraid. Nevertheless, we did have some other, closer, encounters.

Walking back to the car park, we noticed a neighboring field, in which some hares were mucking about.

By the visitor center, there are some bird feeders. However, instead of birds, the food was being eaten mainly by rodents! If you don't like rats, look away now.