I don’t often post the smaller birds that we see while on safari in East Africa. But this is one species that I always like to photograph — the grey-headed kingfisher. Unlike many other kingfishers, these guys nest in tunnels they dig into the ground or termite mounds. Photographed in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 720, f/5.6 at 1/2500th of a second.
I put this video together for an upcoming podcast I’m going to be featured on. Thanks to my sister Kerry and my wife Karen for grabbing footage of me while I’m grabbing footage of wildlife.
It’s always fun to shoot in the rain (as long as I’m prepared for it, and it isn’t raining so hard that I lose visibility). It also seemed as if this young olive baboon was enjoying the rain. He/she was running around jumping from tree stump to rock to tree stump. Photographed in Kenya, many trips to Kenya ago. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second.
It was early evening and getting very dark when I took this photo of a lion stalking a hippo. The camera was struggling to focus, but I was able to get a few sharp images at high ISO as a pride of young male lions gave it their best attempt. The hippo charged back a few times and ultimately the lions realized they weren’t up for the task and they moved on. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 12800, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.
Leopards are almost always solitary unless it’s a mother with her offspring, or two adults come together to mate. I’ve seen lots of leopards over the years, but only once have I seen more than one at a time and that was a mother with her almost-full-size cub. But as with most species, they do have a fun name for a group of them. Leopards are incredibly powerful jumpers, capable of launching themselves into trees or onto prey with sudden force, so “leap” fits the bill. I photographed this solitary adult male this past June in Kenya. To get your Leap of Leopards merchandise, visit Species Limited. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1400, f/5.6 at 1/1600th of a second.
Lions like to get active just after the sun sets. This young male was scoping out the area for any potential prey — a highlight of our tour in June of 2024. If you’d like to join a Crane Wildlife Tours trip to Africa, reach out to get the conversation started. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1400, f/2.8 at 1/640th of a second.
Here’s another elephant that I was able to photograph from a ground-level perspective using a wide angle lens, inverted monopod and remote trigger. In Samburu National Reserve in the north of Kenya, the elephants take on a reddish tint due to the red clay dirt of the landscape. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens (at 24mm) ISO 160, f/4.5 at 1/500th of a second.
Sometimes it can be tricky to distinguish a young male lion from a female. This lion clearly had what looked like the beginning growth of a mane, but sure enough it turned out to be a female. Certain older subadult and dominant females can have slight scruff on the jawline. She was the first lion we saw on our June of 2023 trip — day one in Nairobi National Park. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 560, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.
Always exciting to spot a leopard. On our trip in June, this was the first one we saw. It was deep in a bush, but very close. We thought it might be our only sighting, but later that afternoon we caught up with the same leopard when he was out hunting. And the next morning we saw three more. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 7200, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.
We always see a few grey crowned cranes on our trips to East Africa. It’s actually the national bird of Uganda and they are common throughout many areas of sub-Sahara Africa — usually around wetland habitat. This one was photographed on our first day of safari this past June in Kenya’s Nairobi National Park. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 80, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.