photographs – Page 56

Lila (the leopard) stashes her kill

Published January 15, 2023 by Pelidoug

My camera registers the time that each photo is taken.

It was 6.30 pm when I took the immediately-preceding post’s final image; Lila had then just ceased “snacking” and was sitting still.

Directly in front of Lila, probably still warm, also motionless, was her kill.

It was still 6.30 pm when Lila had completed the demanding task depicted in the sequence which begins with the featured image, then continues with the next three photos.

Almost certainly, I will never witness a more prodigious physical feat.

From “red hartebeest calf carcass, stationary, flat on the ground” to “carcass securely stashed in the tree’s crown” took Lila circa thirty seconds to achieve.

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Locating Lila (the leopard)

Published January 12, 2023 by Pelidoug

Locating Lila (the leopard)

The featured image – photographed by fellow traveller Ian Millar, to whom my thanks – shows John M (a very capable nature guide/driver/researcher/educator) radio-tracking a leopard.

All of the leopards in Okonjima are 100% wild animals, but some have been “darted”, then fitted with radio-transmitter-equipped collars.

Okonjima, in central Namibia, is centrally focused on wildlife conservation and research, which is in large part funded by tourism.

At the time Ian took the featured image John had located unmistakable evidence of a leopard having very recently dragged his/her “kill” across the track on which “our” vehicle was driving…

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Weaving at the Windhoek Country Club

Published January 10, 2023 by Pelidoug

Weaving at the Windhoek Country Club

As is true of not a few other “country clubs”, the one in Namibia’s capital city is in fact well inside an urban “footprint”.

The Windhoek Country Club Resort offers luxurious accommodation, decent food, a casino, an 18 hole golf course, a gym, and extravagantly “Afrokitsch” reception and dining spaces.

To the astonishment of this non-gambler, non-golfer – and non-fan of Afrokitsch – my beloved and I there enjoyed an unforgettable wildlife experience, just a couple of human footsteps away from “our” room!

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Footprints: literally, mostly (with musical bonus)

Published January 8, 2023 by Pelidoug

Footprints: literally, mostly (with musical bonus)

This post’s actual footprints come from bears in Alaska, birds on the Indian subcontinent and continental Australia, a Tasmanian wombat, and humans in an African desert and Australian suburbia.

The musical bonus is courtesy of one of the greatest jazz musicians – equally so as composer, virtuoso instrumentalist and inspired improviser.

There’s also a metaphorical footnote which involves New Zealand’s largest farm…

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Warren River, 28/07/2022

Published January 6, 2023 by Pelidoug

Warren River, 28/07/2022

For easy access to magnificent virgin Karri forest, there is no better place than Warren National Park.

Its main entry point is only a few minutes’ drive from Pemberton.

My beloved and I have been there many times.

No two times are the same, even when they are only hours apart!

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Winter walk, Ashfield Flats

Published January 4, 2023 by Pelidoug

Winter walk, Ashfield Flats

If you confine your “nature walks” to places easily-reached without a car, and within 15 kilometres of Perth’s GPO, your worthwhile menu options are still surprisingly numerous.

Among them are the largest remaining river flats within the metropolitan area; Ashfield Flats’ nearer side is less than 10 kilometres from the GPO.

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Winter afternoon, Herdsman Lake

Published January 2, 2023 by Pelidoug

Winter afternoon, Herdsman Lake

This afternoon – and for too many afternoons over the next 100+ days – “too bloody hot, no thank you”, is an appropriate response to any invitation to go walking along the shore of one of Perth’s many wetlands/lakes/rivers.

This post fondly remembers a late afternoon, back when most days were ideal for wetland-walking.

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Happy Gnu Year, with musical bonuses (final, double-edition of Namibia “single”-image series)

Published December 31, 2022 by Pelidoug

Happy Gnu Year, with musical bonuses (final, double-edition of Namibia “single”-image series)

Gnu/wildebeest are bona fide antelopes.

However, as the Blue Wildebeest’s scientific name – Connochaetes taurinus – suggests, most human newcomers assume that wildebeest are bovine beasts.

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Breaking wildlife photography “rules” ( #23 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 30, 2022 by Pelidoug

Breaking wildlife photography “rules” ( #23 in Namibia single-image series)

From a very sensible “5 Quick Tips For Better Wildlife Shots”, which is worth reading:

One very important rule when photographing wildlife is to focus on the eyes of your subject.

As you can see, today’s photo breaks this rule…to its advantage, I think.

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“High, wide and handsome” (#22 in Namibia single-image series)

Published December 29, 2022 by Pelidoug

“High, wide and handsome” (#22 in Namibia single-image series)

The expression comes from the USA, and is usually applied to places like Montana or to ruggedly handsome “big” men in America’s “Wild West”.

”High, wide and handsome” perfectly describes a deal of Namibia, especially western Namibia’s Brandberg massif.

It covers circa 650 square kilometres, has a circumference of circa 140 kilometres, and Its high point – Namibia’s highest peak – is a deal taller than Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko.

Unlike the Great Wall of China, which is not in fact readily discernible to an astronaut’s naked eyes, the Brandberg is clearly visible from the International Space Station.

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Category: photographs