Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM; Focal length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/3200; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400

The broad-billed roller is the smallest of the rollers found in southern Africa, and the only one with a yellow bill. The adult broad-billed roller has colorful cinnamon-brown underparts and lilac-purple below.

The juvenile bird also has a yellow bill but the breast and belly are a rather dull grayish blue.

The broad-billed roller is a fairly common resident, arriving in southern Africa towards the end of September or early October. However, it’s upstaged in the region by its more famous relative, the lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus), which is sighted more often and is the favorite of many because of its spectacular coloring (below).

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal length: 300mm; Shutter speed: 1/320; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 800.

We found this night adder trying to devour a frog (a guttural toad, we think) on the lawn of the next-door property. When we arrived, the snake had its jaws clamped on the frog’s rear end. Then we watched its various manoeuvres until it was able to latch on to the frog’s snout and gradually draw the entire head into its jaws.

Although some will probably find the photos repulsive (they’re no worse than the one above, by the way), if you’re interested in predator and prey behavior, have a look at our Night Adder Swallowing Frog photo sequence.

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Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Canon Rebel XSi 12.2MP); Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM; Focal length: 135mm; Shutter speed: 1/125; Aperture: f/8; ISO: 400; Exposure compensation: +1⅓

Although the cheetah above obliged its human audience by climbing and “posing” atop the stump of a Mashatu tree, the lighting was extremely tricky. It was already late afternoon and we were looking into the bright light of the dipping sun, while the cheetah was in deep shadow cast by the huge tree.

While our eyes can magically adjust to the contrast produced by this sort of lighting, the background brightness will trick your exposure meter, leaving the subject far too dark.

To compensate for this, I overexposed by 1⅓ stops, using the camera’s exposure compensation button.

In the shot below, instead of using exposure compensation, I tried an external flash on the camera to throw additional light on the subject.

Here the shutter speed was 1/200 at an aperture of f7.1 — not much different from the first shot where I’d compensated by +1⅓. I had, however, increased the focal length from 135mm to 165mm, eliminating more of the bright background light that was influencing the meter in the first shot.

Both images were processed in RAW using Canon’s Digital Photo Professional then cropped and resized in Photoshop.

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South African photographer Brent Stirton, with his photo story depicting the appalling rhino poaching taking place in Africa, has won 1st prize in the Nature Category, Stories, at the World Press Photo Awards 2012.

The photo above, one in his series titled “Rhino Wars”, shows a four man anti-poaching team that permanently guards a Northern White Rhino on Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The conservancy is the home of four of the remaining eight Northern White Rhino, the world’s most endangered animal.

In the photo below, a man holds up a large rhino horn in the African bush near Klerksdorp, South Africa. The horn has just been removed from a White Rhino in order to save it from poaching.

Clipped from: www.worldpressphoto.org (share this clip)

With the price of rhino horn soaring above that of gold, rhino poachers are being increasingly brutal and daring, often using modern, sophisticated equipment. In 2011 more than 400 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone for their horns.

The Nature Winner, Singles, was Jenny E. Ross from the U.S. for her image (below) of a
a male polar bear as it climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya (an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia), attempting to feed on seabird eggs.

Clipped from: www.worldpressphoto.org (share this clip)

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM; Focal length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/2000; aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400

While out on a morning game drive during a visit to Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, we had the privilege of watching a large herd of elephants — probably around 150 in all — moving slowly past in groups of varying sizes (below).

Within the groups there were many youngsters, varying in age from vulnerable infants to precocious sub-adults.

It was the “close protection” afforded the babies by the surrounding adults that was particularly fascinating to watch. Very seldom was a young elephant isolated for long enough to grab a photo; the majority of the time the youngsters were obscured by a protective forest of adults’ legs and trunks.

(Please Note: If you're not reading this post on Wildlife Photography Blog from Wildlife Pictures Online, then you're not seeing the original version. Please go to Baby Elephant Under Close Protection to read the original.)

If you enjoy superb wildlife and nature photographs — and have some time to spare — 121clicks.com has selected an extensive portfolio of wildlife photography websites that could entertain for hours.

While some of the photographers like Michael “Nick” Nichols, Anup Shah, and Steve Bloom are household names in this field, others are less well known — at least to me.

Some specialize in marine photography, while others concentrate on North American wildlife, which explains why their names are not immediately familiar to someone whose interest is mainly in African wildlife.

With the popularity of black and white photography soaring, Nick Brandt’s African images, particularly his unusual animal portraits, are sure to fascinate and intrigue.

Another photographer whose images are bound to evoke strong reactions, whether admiration, indifference or disdain, is Ganesh H Shankar, a part-time photographer from India. I’m an unashamed admirer who finds his images extraordinary.

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L; Focal length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/640; Aperture: f/8; ISO 800

We were watching two lionesses, more than likely sisters, affectionately nuzzling and licking each other (below), when the one rolled on her back briefly, all the while keeping her gaze on us. I find the image quite intriguing because of the direct eye contact from an unexpected angle.

Lions are regarded as the only truly sociable cats, with social licking and head rubbing being common among members of a lion pride. It is assumed this behavior plays a part in reinforcing social bonds, as does the greeting ceremony performed by lions.

According to Richard Despart Estes (The Behavior Guide to African Mammals), “pride members have to go through the greeting ceremony whenever they meet, as a proof of membership in the pride and of peaceful intentions”.

Caption: Two lionesses, members of the same pride, affectionately nuzzling and head-rubbing, Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana.

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/160; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400.

The above photo was taken in October last year while staying at Rock Camp in Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana’s Tuli Block. The young lion, with his mane starting to show, was still in his mother’s company. Next week I hope to be back in Mashatu, so it’ll be interesting to see how much he’s grown (no guarantees of course that we will see him again).

The photo was taken fairly early in the morning with some backlight, giving the image a monochrome look. I’ve been preparing some of my wildlife images for printing as greeting cards, so decided to play on this and turn the image into black and white with a very faint sepia tinge – below.

And here’s another greeting card experiment, also in black and white but with the cheetah’s eyes in color:

It’s been some time since I added new photos to my Wildlife Pictures Online Gallery, but have now included a gallery of nineteen Jackal Pictures, featuring mainly black-backed jackals but also with a few side-striped jackal photos.

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/500; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 400.

In August this year I posted a couple of photos of a malachite sunbird in non-breeding or “eclipse” plumage, that in-between stage found in birds that do exhibit a distinct breeding plumage — see Malachite Sunbird on Aloe.

Since then I haven’t seen much of these birds, but today — while trying to photograph some other birds in the garden — I was rewarded when a malachite in its full breeding plumage posed briefly for me.

As can be seen, the sunbird is now entirely iridiscent green except for the blue-black wings and tail.

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens: Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM; Focal length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/500; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO 400

While out on an afternoon game drive in Mashatu Game Reserve, we saw a black-backed jackal some distance away, apparently burying some fresh animal bones under a small tree.

Our safari guide, Mollman, wasted no time in scanning the surrounding area through his binoculars, looking for the source of the bones. A few minutes later we drove off in the direction of the jackal, to be rewarded shortly afterwards by the sighting of a cheetah and her sub-adult cub.

Both the cheetah were resting in the shade, looking contented and well-fed. Not far from where they lay, we could see two jackals gnawing on the remains of an impala that the cheetah had previously brought down. Once the cheetah had eaten their fill, they’d moved off and abandoned the rest of the carcass, which was immediately claimed by the jackals.

The picture above shows the one jackal making the most of this free meal, provided courtesy of the cheetah and her cub. So another fruitful game drive, with good views of two cheetah plus feeding jackals, thanks to the expertise of our bush-wise safari guide.

If you’d like to know more about these members of the dog family (canidae), see our article, Black-backed Jackal Information.

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