Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Scarlet-Chested Sunbird- Mt. Kenya

A Scarlet-Chested Sunbird from the slopes of Mt. Kenya. The Bottle-Brush flower is a favourite source of nectar in the morning.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Baby Cheetah- Masai Mara Kenya

A Cheetah Cub with the characteristic white mane running down the back. Taken in the Masai Mara in 2004.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wild Flowers- Nairobi Kenya

I found these growing wild at the edge of the small chunk of indigenous forest that is my back yard here in Nairobi. See the location HERE.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

Elephant Rubbing Tree- Amboseli Kenya

This is a well-used 'Ellie Rub Salon' located near Tawi Lodge in Amboseli. It's got ALL the equipment to get to those hard-to-reach places..... and is best used after applying the mud-pack, not before.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Burguret River, Mount Kenya

This photo was taken yesterday (20/8/11) at our trout farm in Nanyuki.

The waters of the Burguret River are stained brown with tannins from Mount Kenya's 'Vertical Bog' located between 11,000 and 14,000 ft altitude on the western aspect.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Seed-Swirl, Nairobi Kenya

A nice geometric swirl from a spent seed pod off a backyard tree here in Nairobi.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Masai Mara: Elephant and Siria Escarpment, Kenya

The Siria Escarpment forms the north- western boundary of the Masai Mara. The furthest hills in tise image are within the adjacent Serengeti Park, Tanzania. See it on Google Maps HERE.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Early Morning Hot Air Balloon Game Ride- Masai Mara, Kenya

What a way to check out the migration in the Masai Mara! AND there's a champagne breakfast cooked wherever they land. Just don't ask about cost.....

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Malachite Kingfisher- Nairobi Park, Kenya

A big photo of a little bird. This is the most colourful of the several species of Kingfishers in Kenya, though not the smallest of the lot. This individual was focused on tadpoles at the time the photo was taken. I've never seen a Kingfisher eat anything off dry land... but possibly they supplement their diet with the occasional grasshopper and lizard.

Monday, August 15, 2011

'Kichwa Kubwa'. Male Lion- Masai Mara, Kenya

'Kichwa Kubwa' means 'big head' in Swahili- the commonly used code name for a male lion as used by safari guides and drivers. Most every tourist knows 'Simba' after all, and it's best if they believe their guide has found the big cats through keen eyesight & bush-knowledge.... rather than being told where to look by another driver or over the VHF radio.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Kongoni Poster- Kenya Wildlife

This is the product of a perfectly good kongoni photograph and some rather amateurish Photoshop experimentation. Please fee free to comment if it offends- I'm happy to keep the site 'straight' as it were...

Friday, August 12, 2011

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Young Elephant- Amboseli Kenya

A 2011 recruit for the Amboseli herd. Probably less than 3 months old but already keeping up with it's group- trekking as many as 10km per day between swamp & forest.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Fish Eagle- Lake Baringo, Kenya

Tliapia are naturally abundant in Lake Baringo & are the staple diet of a resident population of Fish Eagles.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Friday, August 5, 2011

Balloon (& Lion)- Masai Mara Kenya

Several hot air balloons arise into the still early morning air daily in the Masai Mara. Last weekend I counted eight- all widely spread across the huge reserve. The wildlife have grown accustomed to these huge looming shapes with their occasional roaring gas flames, so fortunately they do not disrupt the wilderness morning routine- nor to they leave any passing tracks....

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Madagascar Bee-Eater, Baringo Kenya

The Madagascar Bee-Eater is a temporary non-breeding migrant to Baringo from further south in Eastern Africa. Like most insectivorous birds, it's an acrobatic flier & can be seen quite far from shore catching insects over water.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Zoom-blurred Elephants- Masai Mara Kenya

This is what you get when you actively 'zoom' in or out using a telephoto lense during a long exposure. Some like the effect, some don't, but I rather fancied this composition taken in the evening in the Mara. The elephant were walking up a valley on the Siria Escarpment which defines the western edge of the reserve.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Sunrise in the Masai Mara- Kenya

Sunrise in the Mara- the colours are exaggerated by the camera's exposure into the sun, though some early grass fires in Tanzania add a red hue to both sunset and sunrise.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Trophy Cape Buffalo- Masai Mara, Kenya

This BIG but apparently not all that old Cape Buffalo was part of a herd of over 300 we saw in the Mara this past weekend. His horns will grow even bigger as he ages.

It'd be very difficfind to see such an animal in a country that allowed hunting. Kenya banned hunting in the mid 1980's in favour of tourism..... and growing beasts like this one to show the world!