Posts in Category: Africa
Ross’s Turaco
Ross’s Turaco: Entebbe Botanical Gardens, Entebbe, Uganda, August 2022 — There are several Turacos in East Africa and Uganda. The Ross’s is arguably among the most colorful. We found this one with a group of Great Blue Turacos at the Botanical Gardens in Entebbe. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1.3EV.
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Northern Carmine Bee-eater: Murchinson Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Along with sunbirds and kingfishers, Bee-eaters are among my favorite African birds. This is the Northern Carmine Bee-eater, certainly a spectacular bird by any measure. We saw many of them at Murchinson Falls National Park early in our trip. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.
Shoebill Stork (adult)
Shoebill Stork: Mabamba Swamp, Entebbe, Uganda, August 2022 — As wonderful as seeing the chick of the Shoebill was, it was almost as satisfying seeing a couple of adults. According to our local guide this is a female. It is difficult to image just how large these birds are! They always take me by surprise. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Bigodi Wetland Walk, Kibale, Uganda — Male and Female. The name comes from the female. One of my favorite small African birds, after Sunbirds, Beeeaters, and Kingfishers! 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 125 and 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Olive-bellied Sunbird!
Olive-bellied Sunbird: Chimpanzee Forest Lodge, Kabale, Uganda, August 2022 — Sunbirds are the hummingbirds of Africa…bright, quick, with long bills for sipping nectar and catching tiny bugs from the flowers. The Olive-bellied Sunbird is among the most colorful, even with its dull name. 🙂 The garden at our lodge is full of them…and full of sunbirds…with at least a half dozen species. Sony Rx10iv at 509mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Zebra with foal, variation
Another shot of the mother Zebra with her foal at Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. I am not sure how old the foal was. The foals are born with brown stripes, which darken as they grow. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. And I missed publishing this shot yesterday.
Warthog piglet
During our Birds and Wildlife Safari in Uganda in September there were lots of young animals around…calves and fawns, cubs and piglets. This is Warthog Piglet at Lake Mburo National Park…not newborn, as they only weigh 1 to 2 pounds at birth…but maybe a few weeks old. This is perhaps as cute as a warthog gets (unless, of course, it is a Disney warthog). Sony Rx10iv at 1200mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.
The Generous Eye. Bee-eaters. Happy Sunday!
“If your eye is generous, your whole being is full of light!” Jesus
Bee-eaters are one of my favorite African Birds. They are elegant, brightly colored, and have interesting behaviors. They are custom designed to feed on bees and other flying insects…up to the larger dragonflies. Most are communal nesters, and most nest in holes in banks along streams and rivers. In the regions of Uganda we visited, there are 11 possible bee-eaters. 10 are resident, and there is one migrant that breeds in Europe. We saw 6 different species in 12 days. Though they are all obviously variations on a theme, they are all distinctive. Even the closest two in the panel here, the Cinnamon-chested (bottom left) and the Little (bottom right) are different enough to recognize in the field. (And they are, left to right and down: White-throated, Northern Carmine, Swallow-tailed, Red-throated, Cinnamon-chested, and Little.)
Now, I believe that this universe we live in, and this earth we live on, and all its creatures, are works of creative love…works of a creative imagination working good. So when I look at the Bee-eaters of Uganda, I see and can celebrate that love. Sometimes I like to think that what I believe is a choice, and I sometimes present it that way to others since it can make it easier to understand, or at least to accept…but if I am honest, there is no choice involved. I am compelled, in the face of the evidence before me, to believe that creative love moves in, lives in, everything around me. What is already in me, the light within, answered what I see with a resounding and generous yes! The Bee-eaters just make it easier for me to believe. May your eye be generous and you whole being full of light today! Happy Sunday!
Mountain Gorillas, moving out
After about 30 minutes in the presence of our family of Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda, the silverback, who had shown signs of being increasingly uncomfortable, decided to move the family on. I put it down to one of the cell phone toting tourists (not one of my group) getting at bit too close and making eye-contact one too many times, but the silverback might well have just gotten bored with us. Once he had disappeared through the heavy vines at the clearing edge the others quickly followed. Mom patiently waited for the youngest to climb aboard before she moved off. She did not seem to mind when the infant grabbed fists fulls of her fur for climbing holds. Sony Rx10iv at about 200mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. For the full story on my Mountain Gorilla Trek, visit here.
Mountain Gorillas, breakfast
Mountain Gorillas are mostly vegetarian. They eat all parts of the plants around them from roots and bark to seeds and fruits…over 140 species of plants. One favored food is the gallium vine, which we saw them eating in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park when we visited our family of Gorillas. The silverback (male) was cracking the vine open to get at the soft parts inside, while the female was stripping leaves. Mountain Gorillas are big…the silverbacks can run to 440 pounds, and it takes a lot of vegetation to keep them healthy. They forage in morning and again in the evening before bedding down. Sony Rx10iv at 440mm and 540mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.