Monthly Archives: September 2022
Wildlife edition: The placid side of Hippos
This is a more typical “action” shot of Hippocampus. The youngster here is yawning. A frequent behavior and often photographed as it is about as much action as you are likely to see in a bloat of hippos at mid-day. When an adult does it, with the full grown tusks, it is, of course, much more impressive. 🙂 Again, these hippos will send the daylight hours hiding from the sun in the shallows, kneeling on the bottom to keep as much of their skin underwater as possible, and taking frequent dips to completely submerge. This bloat (or school, or pod) was along the shores of the Victoria Nile between its junction with the Albert and Murchison Falls in Murchison Falls National Park…taken from the tour boat to the base of the falls. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Shorebirds on the Nile
Spur-winged and Black-headed Lapwings, and African Jacana: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — There is a rest stop on the game drive trails of Murchison Falls National Park (complete with toilets) on the banks of the Victoria Nile, just above where it joins the Albert Nile at the head of Lake Albert. It is called, variously, the Delta or the Hippo Pools area, and it is a good place for shorebirds (as well as hippos, as the name suggests). Three that posed nicely for us were the Spur-winged Lapwing and the African Jacana (which we had already seen in the marshes at Mabamba, though not on the shore) and the Black-headed Lapwing (which was new at that point for us). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/640th.
Hippo edition: Fight!
Hippopotamuses live, you might think, fairly placid lives…grazing during the hours of darkness, sometimes wandering miles from water, and spending the days kneeling in the shallows of lakes and larger rivers to protect their somewhat delicate hides from the equatorial sun. Plaid, except when they aren’t! This is mock battle between two (probably young) males at the edge of one of the big bloats of hippos that we saw from the tour boat on the Nile below Murchison Falls, in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. “Bloat”, “crash”, “school”, or “pod”…all are used to describe a group of hippos. Our guide on the boat called them schools…but bloat is, according to internet sources, the more common and perhaps more correct term. I have heard it said that more people are killed by hippos each year, than by all of the big five taken together. Anywhere between a hippo and the water is a very dangerous place to be. You definitely do not want to be bitten by a hippo, as it only takes one bite. Still, the impression of a placid life is probably correct, 90% of the time. These two quickly settled back into the water once whatever point needed making was made to their satisfaction. Sony Rx10iv at 164mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed (cropped and enlarged) in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/800th.
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Northern Carmine Bee-eater: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — I have mentioned my fascination with Bee-eaters before. They are one of 3 families of birds that I am always on the look-out for in Africa…along with Sunbirds and Kingfishers. Of course, I am happy to see any African bird, but there is something about those three families that captures my imagination…or at least my attention. And this is one of my favorites. The Northern Carmine Bee-eater’s range in Uganda is limited to the area right around Murchison Fall National Park. There has been a suggestion that the range is limited by the availability of secondary loess deposits in which they build their tunnel nests. 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. Plus .3EV. (For those of you who follow my images on my blog, this is my second post on the Northern Carmine Bee-eater…though Facebook was giving me fits posting from Uganda, so this is the bee-eater’s first appearance in my Facebook posts. 🙂
Elephant edition: Our first!
We came across our first elephants along the banks of the Nile where the Albert and Victoria Niles join in Murchison Falls National Park. Elephants are still recovering after the Ugandan herds were decimated under Idi Amin…so you do not see the mass groups common in other East and South African countries. Ugandan elephants are still seen mostly in small groups of 6 to 12, including males, females and young. There seem to be a significant number of old bachelor males who are not attached to family groups…but that could just be my impression. This was a family of three, with one youngster…though there may have been more elephants back further in the brush waiting for us to pass. Sony Rx10iv at 74 and 100mm equivalents (they are big animals and we were quite close). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Abyssinian Ground Hornbills
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Ground Hornbills are most often seen in family groups, male, female, and generally a single chick to sub-adult bird. The male and female often walk through the savannah grasses next to each other. These are big birds, the size of a North American turkey. They prefer to walk or “lumber” even when threatened, but you do catch them in flight occasionally, mostly moving up to or down from a roost in the lower branches of well grown trees, and they have striking white patches on the wings. You can just see a bit of white poking out on the male’s wing in this photo. There is a Southern Ground Hornbill, which replaces the Abyssinian (or Northern) in Kenya and the rest of Africa south and east of there. They tend to be very local…but we saw several families on this trip to Murchison. This family happened to be close to our track along the edge of the Nile near where the Albert and Victoria Niles join. Sony Rx10iv at 554mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Feline edition: Leopard!
Leopard: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — I posted one shot from this sequence a while ago, but now, working through the Uganda photos in order, I come back to it. 🙂 I also told the story of the traffic jam of safari vehicles that had blocked the road and overflowed into the savannah on either side trying to see this Leopard hiding in tall grass, waiting for a safe opportunity to cross the road to get to its kill, which was hanging in a tree on the other side. There were well over a dozen vehicles, jammed in every which-way, bumper to bumper, back to front, like a crazy puzzle. Our guide walked the length of the jam talking to the other drivers and convinced them that no one was going to see the cat while all those land cruisers and vans were blocking its path, and we slowly untangled the mass of vehicles and moved off. We just happened be coming back to get to another road when the cat finally decided to get up and move. It was still trying go get around us to it’s prey, so, though we only stopped for a moment to see it, we got to watch as it stalked through the tall grasses parallel to the road. Wonderful indeed. Sony Rx10iv at 580mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 100 @ f4 @ 1/1000th.
Little Bee-eater
Little Bee-eater: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — We saw 8 of the 12 possible species of Bee-eaters in Uganda…most of the ones we missed have restricted ranges that we did not visit (mostly North-west Uganda), or are seasonal migrants that are only in Uganda during a different season. So not bad at all. And I always like seeing Bee-eaters. They are so bright and somehow so alive! We did eventually see Little Bee-eater at closer distances…but this was our first encounter in the brushy savannah of Murchison Falls National Park. 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.
Wildlife edition: Rothschild’s or Nubian Giraffe (or Northern?)
Rothschild’s (or Nubian) Giraffe, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — Or Northern Giraffe, or just plain Giraffe. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature only currently recognizes one species of Giraffe, though there have been numerous (and conflicting) genetic studies over the past 10 years that indicate that there are at least 3, possibly 4 (just maybe up to 9) different species of Giraffe. The Nubian and Rothschild’s were considered sub-species of Northern Giraffe under the 3 species scheme, but are now suspected to be the regional variations of the same species. At any rate, all the Giraffes in Uganda are (or were) Rothschild’s (if they are not really Nubian) and definitely Northern Giraffes. Confused much? Wherever the ball comes down in the Giraffe species roulette, the Ugandan Giraffe is a beautiful animal…with a boldly marked hide, pale legs, massive shoulders and a long neck. They browse the tops of Acacia trees, giving the trees their characteristic flat tops, and taking only the tender new leaves…stripping them off the thorny branches with nimble lips and an agile tongue. They are big animals…not only tall, but massive, with powerful legs. They do indeed stand tall in the savannahs of Uganda. Sony Rx10iv at 412mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 @ 4 @ 1/500th.
White-browed Coucal
White-browed Coucal: Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, August 2022 — One of the more common birds of the brushy savannas and open grassy groves of Uganda, the White-browed Coucal is a cuckoo, often seen clinging on at the top of a bush or walking on the ground hunting for insects and small toads and lizards. I like the patterns in the plumage of the adults and the interesting poses it gets itself into. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 250 and 200 @ f4 @ 1/500th.