A lioness takes a late-day snooze, but keeps her eye on any interesting developments out on the savanna. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

We saw two different species of dik dik while recently in Kenya. The Gunther’s dik dik and the Kirk’s. This is the latter. At least I think it is. They are very similar looking and can be hard to distinguish. Either way, I always love a setting where I can essentially blur everything out except for the subject. In this case, our low angle took care of the foreground, while the background distance and a relatively large aperture took care of the rest. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 280, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.

While on safari, a lot is made of the traditional Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo). There’s also the Little Five (lion ant, leopard tortoise, rhinoceros beetle, elephant shrew and buffalo weaver). And then there’s the “Ugly Five.” Rounding out a list that includes the warthog, vulture, wildebeest and hyena is this handsome guy, the marabou stork. I suppose it doesn’t help that marabou storks are patient scavengers and often seen hanging around garbage dumps. They are very large birds — among the largest in the world with a wingspan of 11 feet — and are nicknamed the Undertaker due to their resemblance to an old slumped figure wearing a cloak. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm FP lens, ISO 450, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

On our Kenya trips, we see two species of giraffe, the Masai giraffe in the south and the reticulated in the north. This is the latter. Reticulated giraffes have darker patches of color, which are more geometric shaped with well defined edges. Although it looks like this young one was trying to hide, it was doing what they do — eating thorny acacia tree branches. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.

I had previously posted a wide shot of the four cheetah cubs playing king of the hill on a termite mound. Here’s a closer look. These two were looking down on their siblings who were running in circles around the base of the mound. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 220, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

Where there are predators, there are always a few jackals lurking around. This black-backed jackal was shadowing two lions, waiting for them to make a kill, and then hopefully leave a few scraps behind. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

We had been viewing a few lions in the Masai Mara when I looked around and saw this Africa jacana catch a frog. With their long toes and claws, they can walk across floating vegetation to grab unsuspecting prey. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

Always fun to play with light and shadow when you can get the light to fall on the animal’s face and then expose for those highlights. This dwarf mongoose was running around in the bushes at our camp in the Masai Mara of Kenya, giving me plenty of time to find the best spot to take the shot. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 220, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second.

This was the first lion we spotted on our recent Kenya trip. And she was barely visible, hiding in an area of tall grass in Nairobi National Park. Because I have my auto focus set to a button other than my shutter release (aka back-button focus) I was able to quickly manual focus using my lens focusing ring and work around all the grass that was in front of her face. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

Most safari goers catch a glimpse of a lilac-breasted roller or two while out driving around. They’re hard to miss with their spectacular plumage, especially in flight. This one was perched on a boulder as we slowly drove past. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 360, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.