Thanks everyone for the well wishes for our cat Lily yesterday. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. The sun rises fast on the Kenyan savanna. We were rushing around trying to find a subject to put in front of it and spotted a few grey crowned cranes. I was able to get out of the vehicle and on the ground, which enabled me to place the crane’s head above the horizon line for a more dynamic composition. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 64, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.

The saddle-billed stork is one of Africa’s tallest and most striking storks, standing up to five feet tall with a wingspan that can reach over nine feet. It gets its name from the bright yellow “saddle” shield at the base of its long red-and-black bill. Unlike many storks, it tends to be solitary or seen in pairs rather than in large flocks, stalking wetlands for fish, frogs, and other prey. It’s always a favorite sighting for guests on our African safaris. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 125, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.

I was deliberately shooting at a slow shutter speed to get a sense of movement while panning with this beisa oryx. The foreground bushes added to the motion-blurred effect as the oryx ran through the scrub brush of Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 180, f/5.6 at 1/30th of a second.

The light was bad. My lens was too long. Camera was shaky. Nevertheless, here’s 67 seconds of baby elephant cuteness. Enjoy. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, 4K/120fps.

This beauty is a red-chested sunbird, captured during one of my favorite times of day while on safari — in between game drives when I get to walk around camp while most everyone else is taking their afternoon siestas. It’s a small bird found in parts of East and Central Africa. Males, like this one, have an iridescent green head, scarlet chest, and metallic blue highlights. Using a slender, curved bill, it feeds on nectar from flowers, often hovering like a tiny hummingbird, though it will also perch to feed. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1800, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.

Threat display or simply a yawn? If the former, it’s meant to warn off rivals or predators without physical confrontation. It’s sometimes accompanied by vocalizations or raised fur, which makes the tiny mongoose appear larger and more intimidating. Within the group, it can also be a way to settle dominance disputes or assert rank, part of their highly social and communicative behavior. I should state that even though it looks like she’s looking straight at me, the display started with her looking off to the side at other mongooses before she turned her head toward camera and closed her mouth. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 2000, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.

This was the second of the three leopards we saw recently in Kenya. She gave us a nice show as she climbed up and then down a tree before disappearing into the bushes. She must have gotten into some sort of a fight with that little chunk taken out of her nose. We caught up with her again later when she was lounging on a big boulder in the foothills of Samburu National Reserve. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 195mm) ISO 200, f/2.8 at 1/1250th of a second.

Male Grant’s gazelles have long, elegant horns, which can reach up to 32 inches. These ridged horns are used in ritualized combat with other males, locking and twisting in displays of strength to win mating rights. Unlike some antelopes, both sexes have horns, but the male’s are noticeably thicker, longer, and more deeply curved. The horns not only serve as weapons but also as visual signals of dominance and maturity. We primarily see the Grant’s gazelles in Samburu National Reserve in the north of Kenya, whereas the smaller Thomson’s gazelles are much more common in the Masai Mara in the south. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 560, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.

The eastern yellow-billed hornbill is a striking sight in flight, with its broad, rounded wings and long tail feathers fanning out as it moves from tree to tree. Its flight is typically short and swooping, with bursts of flapping followed by glides, giving it a bouncing motion through the air. When it takes off, you can often hear the flap of its wings and catch a flash of its black-and-white plumage and oversized yellow bill cutting through the sky. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1250, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.

When hippos open their mouths wide and lift their heads skyward, they’re not yawning, they’re showing off in a territorial or dominance display. This dramatic gape, which can stretch over 150 degrees, is meant to intimidate rivals and signal strength without the need for a fight. Males use it especially often to defend their stretch of river or impress females, and the impressive size of their jaws and tusks makes the message loud and clear. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 4000, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second.