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Reflections on Umlani – photos captured in the past month
Every month, Umlani puts together a series of photographs highlighting sightings from the month. These reflections on Umlani perfectly accentuates the quote by Will Smith saying, "It's really beautiful, it feels like God visits everywhere else, but lives in Africa".
Providing some of the best sightings in a long time, June was a rather spectacular month. From lions, to buffalo herds; it appears as though winter has set in and the bush has faded to browns (increasing the chances of sightings). Below are some of the top sightings captured by Greg McCall-Peat.
Lions
The Mbiri males, the dominant males of the area, have continued to demonstrate their dominance by patrolling the area. They were even seen claiming the kills of both the Ross pride lionesses and the Zebinine pride.
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- Mbiri males on patrol of their territory
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- A male pauses at the sound of hyenas
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- The big male’s reflection sits in the water that he is drinking from
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- One of the Mbiri males staking his claim over the young giraffe kill that the Zebinine pride lionesses had
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- Larger Mbiri male watches his partner drag the giraffe carcass to cover
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- Two Zebinine pride females who are hiding small cubs at the moment
Elephants
Elephants are saturating the wild at the moment. At times, you can find herds of close to 300 individuals on a daily basis. It is a truly magical experience being able to witness these beasts in the wild.
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- Two calves playing in the beautiful, golden light
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- Even a “bum-shot” look spectacular in this lighting
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- A small herd of elephants moves through one of the dry riverbeds
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- A young elephant quenches its thirst at a small waterhole
Leopards
Marula has been mating again with Rothsay male. Although she is relaxed, he isn't during the daylight hours and so he tends to stay away from vehicles. The Mazinyo male was found on top of a termite mound one morning, waiting for warthogs. He eventually grew impatient and moved on to find a meal elsewhere. Despite these sightings, Nthombi has been the star of the show. Heavily pregnant, she has been seen searching for meals, attempting to catch scrub hares and securing a red crested korhaan.
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- The Mazinyo male out on the hunt
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- Nthombi stalking, in search of a meal
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- Resting after killing a steenbok
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- Nthombi successfully catches a red crested korhaan
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- Nthombi feeds on the red crested korhaan over half an hour
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- A heavily pregnant Nthombi relaxes
Buffalo
Buffalo sightings have also increased significantly this month. It is not uncommon to see herds moving in search of food and water - picking up smaller herds along the way.
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- This male buffalo is showing the flehmen response after testing the urine of a female to see if she is ready for mating
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- A hi-key image of a bull was captured as the herd crossed a dry river bed.
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- The rising sun sheds soft morning light over a herd of buffalo
Wild dog
There have been regular sightings of wild dog this month as a pack has been denning on the neighbouring property. One particular sighting that stood out was catching the wild dogs on their hunt. After struggling to keep up with them, they were eventually found feeding on an impala. They then moved to a nearby waterhole and began playing and chasing each other.
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- A feeding frenzy as the wild dogs devour their prey
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- This dog picked up on an approaching hyena
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- A few pack members waiting for the rest to catch up
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- Two of the wild dogs interacting with one another
