This Week At Angama #46

It’s been a very unpredictable week in terms of weather and wildlife. An impressive reminder of just how changeable and dramatic the Mara can be. [f 4.0, 1/800, ISO 320 +1]

This big beautiful male posed for a picture. As the day was cloudy and the light not harsh, it was easy to photograph him from any angle. Beside him were two females of around the same age – I assumed these were his siblings. [f 5.6, 1/800, ISO 250]

I couldn’t have been more wrong. He stood up, approached one of them from behind, patted her on the back to wake her and proceeded to mount and mate with her. The other female lay right next to them seemingly unbothered. [f 5.6, 1/2000, ISO 250 -0.67]

A few minutes later, the male stood up, approached the second female, and as before, patted her to wake her up and mated with her as well. This behavior is not very common which is what made it so interesting to document. [f5.6, 1/1000, ISO 200]

Driving around the Reserve looking for more game, we spotted this silver backed jackal headed in the opposite direction. Behind us was this little stretch of water so we reversed hoping he would come towards it and jump. And he did. [f 5.6, 1/1000, ISO 250]

Using binos, we scanned around hoping to find lions. Instead we were rewarded with this sighting of a fish eagle hunting. Too far to photograph, we saw it dive directly into the water and emerge with a catfish. It landed on a small mound but a resident spur winged plover was having none of that. [f 5.6, 1/1250, ISO 320]

Annoyed by the plover, the fish eagle perched on a tree closer to the road. [f 5.6, 1/1250, ISO 320]

Wasting no time, we headed towards it and remained with it for a while. When the eagle flew off, I was ready and got the shot that I was hoping for. [f 5.6, 1/2500, ISO 320]

A young waterbuck nursing while its mother kept a watchful eye on me. [f 5.6, 1/500, ISO 640]

It is interesting how captivating eyes can be in a photograph. Immediately they draw attention to the subject. [f 5.6, 1/320, ISO 250]

A bohor reedbuck, concealed in the bushes to avoid detection. [f 5.6, 1/250, ISO 250]

Woolly necked stork profiled in front of storm clouds. [f 5.6, 1/500, ISO 250 +1]

Striking Greater Blue-eared starling looking for insects. [f 5.6, 1/320, ISO 640 -0.33]

This long crested eagle surprisingly allowed us to get close enough for this shot.  [f5.6, 1/500 ISO 250]

The hyena’s blood crusted nose told us that she had recently been feeding. [f5.6, 1/200 ISO 250]

Suspended in midair. [f5.6, 1/1250 ISO 250]