These strange little birds feed exclusively on the bodies of mammals.  They dig through the fur with their beaks and pick out ticks and other insects found on the ‘host’ animal.  They will also feed on insects that are found in or on wounds that the mammal may have.  The smallest mammal that the Oxpeckers will feed off of is the Impala, anything smaller is usually avoided.  This is probably because of the heavy tick load and also the more social nature of the species.  Smaller buck like the Duiker and Steenbok are more solitary animals.  It has also been discovered that Oxpeckers will open old wounds and enhance existing ones to drink the blood from an animal upon which they are perched.  I have visited Kruger Park many times in my life and have always wanted to snap a clear shot of these birds in action.  It’s proved a difficult task and finally on my most recent trip, I got what I was waiting for!

I’ve always thought the name, “Hippopotamus” was somewhat strange and sounded kinda funny.  It’s understandable that people prefer to call them “Hippos” as it rolls off the tongue much easier!  I recently discovered that the name “Hippopotamus” comes from the ancient Greeks and it literally means, “River Horse”.  For many years people believed that these animals were herbivores but it has quite recently been shown that will and do eat meat if the opportunity arises!  Some Hippos have even been known to kill young animals as they cross the river.  We stopped our car at the edge of a river in Kruger Park and sat there for what must have been over an hour, I had noticed these 2 bulls displaying some aggression towards one another and decided it was time to be patient and wait for them confront one another…  These are the shots I got.

I don’t have any information to share about this bird.  I spotted it in the Kruger National Park recently and took the photo, that’s all. 

These guys are quite common throughout Southern Africa as they are able to adapt very well to all kinds of environments.  There are actually 3 sub-species of Baboons that occur throughout their range in Southern Africa.  The ‘Cape Chacma’ is the larger of the 3 and has black feet.  The ‘Grey-Footed Chacma’ occurs from the northern parts of South Africa and into Zambia, these are generally smaller and have grey feet.  The smallest of the 3 sup-species is found in Namibia and into Angola, they are known as the ‘Ruacana Chacma Baboons’.  The best way to appreciate Baboons is to turn off your car engine and sit and watch them, I have found early morning to be the best time to do this.  We sat and watched these guys for about an hour in the Kruger Park recently and I managed to snap these shots.

Definitely one of my favorite animals to watch when on Safari.  Majestic and huge, towering well over any vehicle, these animals are elegant and completely silent.  They have no vocal chords and how they communicate with one another is still a mystery to scientists the world over.  Although their necks are so long, they actually have the exact same amount of neck vertebrae as we humans have.  Males and females can be told apart by their horns.  A males horns will usually lack the tufts of fur on the ends as a result from ‘necking’ with other males in combat.  Females do not show aggression and manage to retain the fluff on their horns.

Unlike many other waterbirds the feathers of the African Darter do not contain any oil and are therefore not waterproof. Because of this, the bird is less positively buoyant and its diving capabilities are enhanced. After diving for fish, the feathers can become waterlogged.  In order to be able to fly and maintain heat insulation it needs to dry its feathers.  I shot this picture of a Darter at the Lake Panic bird hide in the Kruger National Park, sunning his feathers after some time in the water.

I recently drove up to the northern Limpopo Province with my friend Simon to shoot some pictures with him.  We were supposed to spend the night up there and drive home the next day, instead, we drove back down the same day!  We hit this storm on the way back down, it was definitely one of the most insane storms I have ever seen!  These are some of the shots I took with my Canon G11, set up on my dashboard with 15 second shutter speeds.  I really love how these came out!

I shot this picture a while ago with my Contax G1 and just liked the old look of this picture, there’s definitely something about shooting with film that you just don’t get when shooting digital. 

I shot this picture with my Contax G1 film camera, I really wasn’t expecting much from the image but it turned out to be one of my favourite pictures of the day!  Shot from the top of a random building in downtown Johannesburg.

I found this guy sleeping on the streets of Johannesburg on a recent trip to downtown.  I felt sad for the people down there, drinking their sorrows away…  I think he was dreaming that South Africa would become the 53rd State of America!