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.

It’s good to have a goal while on safari, but at the same time, always be ready for the unexpected. We had been searching high and low for leopards while in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve. On this particular day we weren’t successful in that pursuit, but it’s all the other creatures we encountered along the way that made this, and every game drive, unique and special. This is a suburb starling, one of the most common birds we see in east Africa. But always great to capture one in flight showing off those iridescent blue wings and orange belly (mostly obscured on the downstroke). Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1800, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.

I’m in the process of changing up my website and adding additional subdomains, but still a work in progress. All that is to say that I hope this post goes through. It might not. Or you might get multiple notifications. Who knows. What I do know is that I was very close to this zebra. With those large eyes placed on either side of the head, zebras have a wide field of vision (almost 350 degrees) which helps detect predators from nearly all directions. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.

I had to get low for this one. In fact, I wanted to get even lower to place the secretary bird’s head further into the sun, but well… the ground got in the way. Secretary birds are large, long-legged birds of prey native to sub-Saharan Africa, known for hunting snakes and insects on foot. We see them every now and again in the early morning perched high in acacia trees, warming themselves in the sun before descending to the ground to begin their day of stalking. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 72, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.

In Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve, cheetahs often climb termite mounds to gain a better vantage point over the landscape. This serves two purposes — it helps them scan for prey like gazelles and dik-diks, while also allowing them to keep an eye out for potential threats like lions or hyenas. They’ll also use termite mounds to rest or mark territory with scent, and we’ve even seen cubs playing king of the hill a few times. We had high hopes that this guy was getting into hunt mode, but not to be. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 450, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.