Winter Workshop 2011

Bruna's Fish Eagle

Bruna managed to catch this fish eagle at just the right moment on take off!! She has done some work on the image by adding vignetting, a bit of contrast and sharpening.

Tree Squirrel.

These little guy's are super subjects in the cold weather as they sit in the sun trying to warm up. Their antics as they prepare for the day can be very amusing.

A young elephant testing the wind.

Fish Eagle.

As it gets cooler and the pans start drying up. The fish eagles and storks have easy picking. Most pans have a mass of writhing barbel (catfish) caught in the mud. There is also often a lot of competition between the different predatory species.

Dwarf Mongoose.

Just like the squirrel's these little fellows also struggle in the cold of winter and spend a great deal of time in the mornings grooming, warming up, and playing before starting to forage. They are often found in association with hornbills. The hornbills, being birds, are keen to get going in the morning and will call to the mongoose to try and get them up faster. This is because while the mongoose are feeding they often miss insects that the hornbills catch. The mongoose are repaid by having the hornbills as sentry's and by them giving an alarm call for avian predators.

Bruna getting down and dirty!

Michelle looking for that different angle, with her baby cam!!

Linda all wrapped up.

A large herd of buffalo on the morning drive.

Photo Opportunity

Have a look at the last Diversions article at www.divleisure.co.za

Guests Comment

I copied this comment off a guests blog and translated it directly from Spanish to English. It certainly had me in stitches!!

Sean Pattrick descended from Irish, has licensed guide of level 3, with specialization in management of rifle, is coach of guides, a degree in management of farms. Hunter professional, manufactures their own knives, is sculptor, wrote for travel magazines and is a professional photographer specializing in wildlife. A great guy like a closet is wardrobe, with a deep voice and appearance of breakfast crocodiles. As they say in that bad movie: "You could drop him off at the North pole wearing a g-string and two-weeks later he would show up in Mexico with a fist-full of pesos and an Attitude." The difference is that he would bring further magnificent photos of the experience. And how, also is not a piece of bread. It has been our teacher of photography for four days. A privilege.

A New Family Member!

A Labrador Retriever in the bush.

Not the dog you expect to see in the bush but she is taking to it like a lab to water!

Bailey is a yellow lab that has South African Champion father and comes from a working background at the Eagertriever Labradors. www.eagertrievelabs.co.za

She is super bright and is already sitting, walking on a lead and doing short retrieves!

Chilling in the Hammock.

The only way to keep cool and watch the game on the Olifants river plains below the house. The hippo snorts and honks certainly got her attention!

Checking on all the new smells that have been left by passing animals in the night,

before our morning training session. We are all on a steep learning curve and are having a great time doing it. We are following Mike Lardy's training program from http://www.totalretriever.com

Nothing like a pool to beat the lowveld heat at lunch time.

Some swimming companions!

Grey Tree frogs.

Learning to swim in the local waterhole. At least there are no croc's in here!

Learning the finer points of retrieving from the boss!

That's not doggy paddle!

A Bush Bash in the Timbavati.

Panther and the python (boa)!

Learning about one of our most feared animals from Donald (www.khamai.co.za)at Bateleur Camp in the Timbavati Game Reserve.

Leopard one of FIVE in four days!!

Doctor and elephant bull have a moment.

Boomslang

Often confused with a green mamba but the mamba's distribution is along the coastal belt.

Making safe !!

Gerhard

Looking at the remains of an impala. Possibly killed by a leopard.

The pose we all expect to see leopards in.

The saying goes something like this " you don't have to be the fastest you must just not be the slowest!" are those shoes saying something?

Balule Photo Workshop 2010

A bushveld sentinel.

These Leadwood trees can live for a thousand years and are so dense that they stay standing for up to fifty years after they have died. So long as they are not ravaged by fire.

An African wildcat in the day!

The Drakensberg at sunset.

Flat lizard make great models.

The first rain clouds of summer made for great sunsets.

Two male lions reluctantly following the pride. With seventeen to feed there is little time to relax between hunts for this pride. Fantastic to see them all on the move together!

Stephen getting to grips with the low light!

Black Rhino Release

Due to the recent dramatic increase in rhino poaching it is great to see that there are still rhino being released into more wildlife areas in South Africa. The private reserves, various park's staff and people like WWF are doing a fantastic job of looking after our natural heritage. We must keep giving them the support that has been shown in the last few months. It is often only in a crisis that we get to see country's true colours and it is fantastic to see how behind our conservationists the country is.

After an overnight drive being released into a new reserve.

This fellow took out all his anxiety on the vehicle and lost his horn in the process. It just shows how easily the horn can come off without a serious amount of damage to the rhino. The horn will re grow and in about four years he will be back to square one!

All the equipment is especially designed to make the job as fast and safe for both people and animals as possible.

The still sedated rhino about to be put out to have a transmitter fitted in his horn. This enables the park staff to keep a daily check on his position.

Stopping even a sedated rhino takes some man power!

The smaller more rounded and compact foot of the Black Rhino.

Notching the ears provides easy ID in the bush and can be referenced on a national data base.

Lesions caused by a Filaria parasite,one of which is unique to Black Rhino.Part of it's life cycle is as a biting fly, their lava are found in the rhino's dung. The parasite is spread thru the population by rhino visiting dung middens in their territory.

Transmitter fitted, eyes covered to help keep him calm, ears blocked for the same reason. Just a few more minutes and the reversal drug will be given and then its a whole new world!!