The Generous Eye: Giraffes in the sunset. Happy Sunday!
“If your eye is generous, your whole being if full of light!” Jesus
Towards the end our first day at Murchinson Falls National Park in Uganda, while we were on our way back to the lodge after a cruise on the Nile to the base of Murchinson Falls, we encountered a journey of Giraffes just before sunset on the crest of a hill in that golden light. Who could resist? Giraffes, to my eye (my generous eye) have a strange beauty at the worst of times, and bathed in glory, as they were at that moment, they are certainly creatures that demand, and reward, our attention. What eye, but the most generous and loving eye of the Creator, could have seen in imagination, and shaped in the flesh, the Giraffe? It is such an unlikely critter…and yet, once seen, so perfectly essential and necessary and right, that you can no longer imagine the world without it. That is the way with the creations of our loving God…each perfect, each undeniable once seen.
It can only be my fervent prayer, reinforced by faith, that I am such a creation…and can live in the world with the same grace as the Giraffe…sunrise to sunset. And that, of course, is my prayer for you as well.
Uganda Kob
A classic shot of the Uganda Kob…the antelope species that replaces the Impala and the Gazelles in much of Uganda. It is, to my eye, a bit sturdier than the Impala…more like a Grant’s Gazelle in body proportions. We saw herds of 50 or more grazing in the lush grasses of September in Murchinson Falls National Park. This is likely the dominant buck of this particular herd. Sony RX10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.
Petas Monkey
Our third (out of 9) primate species on my September #Epic_Uganda_Vacations birds and wildlife safari in Uganda’s National Parks and Reserves. This fellow is in Murchinson Falls National Park. He climbed up to greet the first rays of the rising sun (and maybe to keep a better eye on us as we stopped on the road near him). They are more commonly seen foraging on the ground, and, indeed, that is where we saw our first one. This one presented itself a half hour later and further into the drive. Given their common social structure…they live and forage in troops of up to 25…there were probably a lot more of them out of sight in the long grasses under the acacia trees below. Sony RX10iv at 600 and 1200mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. The heavy brow and the dark eye-sockets make the eyes hard to recover but you can see a hint of them in the closer view. 🙂
Rothschild’s Giraffe
Among Uganda’s National Parks and Reserves, Murchinson Falls is the only one that supports the kind of herds of the bigger animals that you associate with Kenya or Tanzania or South Africa. In fact, I have never seen larger herds of Giraffes than we saw at Murchinson Falls. Giraffes generally go in bunches to graze…not as solitary individuals…and bunch of Giraffes in the landscape together is called a “herd” or a “journey” or a “tower”, depending on which authority you check. Tower is pretty obvious in its derivation, but not, in fact, very descriptive. While Giraffes might tower as individuals, they don’t group up into anything like a tower. Herd is too prosaic for consideration. Which leaves a “journey of Giraffes,” which certainly captures more of the feeling of Giraffes as you actually see them in the verdant expanse that is Murchinson Falls in September when the rains have started. The Murchinson’s Giraffes are Rothschild’s Giraffes, the most endangered of the three sub-species of common Giraffe…the Masai (the most widespread in Kenya and Tanzania), the Reticulated with a limited range in Kenya, and the Rothschild’s, common only at Murchinson Falls National Park here in Uganda and in a healthy introduced herd in Lake Nakuru National Reserve in Kenya. The panel presented here tries to capture both the felling of the mass of Giraffes at Murhinson Falls, and the grander of the creature. These are from our first encounter with Giraffes on this trip with #Epic_Uganda_Vacations. Sony RX10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos, and assembled in FrameMagic.
Defassa Waterbuck
The first official day of our #Epic_Uganda_Vacations safari was spent getting to Murchinson Falls National Park, with a stop at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary along the way for Rhino Trekking, and we drove through the Murchinson gate at sunset, did not reach the Nile Ferry until 7PM, and Pakuba Safari Lodge deep in the park until well after dark. We woke the next morning to a herd of Defassa Waterbuck feeding around our cabins. These shots were taken before sunrise, using the Sony RX10IV’s Anti-Motion Blur mode for the low light levels. Two of the young bucks were testing their combative skills. 600mm equivalent. Processed in Polarr.
African Jacana
As we were turning the boat around after our first Shoebill sighting in the Mabamba Wetlands near Entebbe, Uganda (no easy task as the channel was choked with water plants), one of the African Jacanas that had been feeding nearby decided to come really near. This shot, taken at 1200mm equivalent (2X Clear Image Zoom) is cropped only for composition. The bird was close! Note that unlike most water-weed-walking birds, the Jacana does not have webbed or lobbed toes. It relies on the huge spread of its foot to support it on floating vegetation. Sony RX10IV. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr. #Epic_Uganda_Vacations.
Shoebill in the rain
One of the participants on my #Epic_Uganda_Vacations safari in Uganda decided to come in a day early to look for the Shoebill Stork in the Mabamba Wetlands near the airport in Entebbe. Though I had already made my flight arrangements, on mature reflection (the only kind I am capable of at my age) I decided it was worth the money to change my flight to join her. It turned out to be a magical day. We saw, not one, but two Shoebill Storks, and many other interesting birds, both at the Mabamba Wetlands and at Entebbe Botanical Gardens. And we got our only good soaking of the trip. A storm came up as we were watching the first Shoebill and we huddled under a beach umbrella in the boat and tried to take photos through the rain. This bird mostly just stood and endured the wetting, but it became more active toward the end of our observation, stalking slowly forward and obviously intent on something below water level. If you look closely you can see the rain in the air. 🙂 Shoebills are solitary, except during their mating season, which only comes around once in 5 years. That, and habitat reduction, accounts for their small numbers and isolated distribution. We did see a third Shoebill on the trip…an isolated individual in the Delta of the Victoria and Albert Niles in Murchinson Falls National Park…and that is a high count for any trip to Uganda. Sony Rx10iv at 1200mm equivalent (2x Clear Image Zoom). This is stretching the limits of what the camera can do…using digital enhancement in low light for distant shots…but it was the only way to get the image. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
More White Rhinos
A few more shots from our visit to the Riwa Rhino Sanctuary in Uganda. First, to give you some perspective, some of our group (plus a random tourist who was also assigned to our guide) with the guide. The Rhinos are under the shade of the bushes on the left. Second frame is the male Rhino on the move. The third is the view of a Rhino you do not want to have, though I was still too far away for the Rhino, with its near-sighted, grazing adapted vision, to be aware of me. And finally, one of the Rhino calves nursing. Again, Rhino Trekking is a unique experience, and one not to be missed when you visit Uganda. Sony RX10iv at various focal lengths. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in polarr.
White Rhinoceros, Uganda
I am back from 14 days in Uganda with Epic Uganda Vacations. 5 of us did a tour of the major National Parks and Refuges. You will be seeing a lot more and I will have much to say about the adventure…with was excellent. This shot is from our trip from Entebbe to Murchison Falls National Park. We stopped for lunch at the Ziwa Rhino Santuary. Rhinos were hunted to extinction in the 1970s in Uganda for their horns, but efforts are underway to reestablish them in Ugandan Parks. The Ziwa Sancturay is a breeding project. They imported 3 White Rhinos from Kenya and 2 from a zoo in Florida. They now have 29 Rhinos on the refuge. When they reach 40 they will begin to introduce them into one of the National Parks, and continue until they are represented where ever they historically roamed. At Ziwa we had a unique opportunity to walk out and see Rhinos on foot, at close distances. These Rhino Treks help support the conservation work of the Sanctuary. While most tourists at Ziwa typically see 2 Rhinos resting in the shade of trees, we saw 6, and several up and moving. This is a mother and her calf moving from one shade tree to another. This is about the moment the ranger took my arm to remind me to move back 🙂 The “white” in White Rhino is not a color but a corruption of the Afrikaner word for “wide” and refers to the width of the mouth. The White Rino is a grazer, eating low grasses, while the ”Black” (beaked) Rhino is a forager, eating leaves from bushes and trees, and has a much narrower mouth. I am not aware of any other facility that provides this kind of experience…and it is an experience…seeing wild Rhinos up close on foot. It is just one of many unique aspects of a Ugandan Safari.
Black-streaked Puffbirds
The Black-streaked Puffbird is, according to the book, difficult to see and uncommonly seen. My guide on the Amazon Journeys Birding the Manu Road adventure, Pepe Rojas, managed to find me two different ones along the Manu Road on the eastern slopes of the Andes in southern Peru. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr.