Hi friends,
So, its been sunny and bright all thru Jan & Feb in Kampala, good for taking pictures…Set out for a birding trip to Mabamba Bay yesterday..But nature was not too kind to show me the birds but presented with an incredible sight of the cloud formation over Lake Victoria. One of the shortest photo trip , I ever had.
This is Olare Orok Conservancy just outside the Masai Mara National reserve in Kenya teeming with wildlife. This picture is posted to give a perspective of the distance you could spot a big cat.
River crossing by wildebeest or gnus in Mara river. Jully-September is a great time to visit Masai Mara, kenya to witness this spectacle.
The giraffe, a mammal native to Africa, is the world’s tallest land animal. Giraffes are herbivores who use their long, black, prickly tongues to grasp and remove leaves, flowers and fruits from tall trees and other vegetation. Several ways to identify a male giraffe from a female giraffe exist, besides referencing their reproductive organs.
Male giraffes grow up to 19 feet tall from their feet to their horns and weigh up to 4,300 pounds. Female giraffes grow up to 16 feet tall and weigh up to 2,600 pounds. Both male and female giraffes have horns. Females’ horns are thinner with dense hair, while males’ horns are thicker with hair smoothed from sparring with other males. A male may grow a second pair of horns behind the first pair.
Male giraffes are not as social as female giraffes. Males establish dominance among herds by sparring, or clashing their horns and necks against those of other male giraffes. Male giraffes are less selective than female giraffes when foraging for food; they also eat vegetation at higher elevations than females, who prefer to forage for food at or below body height.
Today’s picture I have posted reminds me of this quote. ”
“The only time you turn your back on a child is for them to hop on.”
A Weaver bird just about to take off …This shot was taken at lake Mburo National park, Uganda.
One of my favourite animal, where I got an opportunity to be up close and personal….One of the endangered species on earth, mountain gorillas are mainly found in Uganda, Rwanada & Congo in the Virunga mountain range and Bwindi Impenetrable forest. Having a view of them is not easy. One has to trek the rain forest and then look for them.Â
This is a typical sight in Chobe river, Botswana where water birds and elephants can be seen together.
An action shot a crocodile killing a cat fish in the Chobe river, Botswana. if you notice , a piece of meat flying the the air on the top left corner…
Its weekend time..have a relaxed time..Family of lions at Chobe National Park, Botswana
This lioness was hungry and looking for a hunt. She walked past our vehicle is when she turned and gave a deadly look . Taken at Chobe National park,Botswana.
The Nile monitor lizard is the largest lizard in Africa. Because they eat crocodile eggs, Nile monitors are often seen near crocodile nesting sites. This was taken in Chobe ,Botswana where it was coming towards a dead fish.
Leopards are astoundingly strong, solitary animals and strong swimmers. The leopard is the most elusive and secretive of the large felids. They are extremely difficult to trace and locate in the wild.
I took this shot just before this leopard hiding in the bush. It was a mid day and a hot afternoon.
 — at Chobe National Park, Botswana.
A group of ostriches is a pride or a flock, and they live in small herds that typically contain less than a dozen birds. The flightless ostrich is the world’s largest bird and it is mainly found in the African savannah as well as in other selected desert lands.A young ostrich is called a chick.This is the first time I saw a flock with young ones.
Have a great week ahead…Looking straight into the camera..The cheetah was at my arm’s length distance in Masai Mara, Kenya..When he looked at me(the camera), i was frozen but took an instant click to preserve this moment…
Thomson’s gazelles are found mainly in Tanzania and Kenya, and there’s a small population in southern Sudan. They form herds of up to 200 individuals, but form much looser groups while migrating. Like other gazelles they perform ‘stotting’ or ‘pronking’ when alarmed by a predator. This involves jumping repeatedly with legs stiff and back curved and landing on all fours. Stotting is thought to demonstrate to the predator the amount of energy the gazelle has and thus to forestall a long chase by telling it ‘I’m too athletic for you to catch’.
Cheetah prowling..The curious expression in his face shows that he is upto something mischievous!!! He was about to mock chase a herd of wildebeests. — at Amboseli National park,Kenya
This was taken at Amboseli national Park ,Kenya when these two elephants were playing with each other.
Males are known as rams, while females are referred to as ewes and have no horns. Male impalas have Lyre-shaped and ringed horns, up to 75cm long. The male’s horns can take many years to reach full length, which is why young animals are unlikely to establish a dominant position and breeding territory.
That is what is called a majestic yawn!!!! The tongue is so large hiding the canine teeth…
Elephants playing with each other at Amboseli national Park. Whats your caption for this picture??
This was taken near the swamp in Amboseli National park, Kenya.Elephants fling dust to keep themselves cool and free of pests. Though they are rough to touch, their skin is very sensitive.Mud is actually very affective at blocking UV radiation and heat, which elephants find much less comfortable than dirt.
These are a pair of spotted hyena.In spite of their reputation as cowardly scavengers, spotted hyenas are actually highly interesting and intelligent animals. They are efficient hunters that can bring down such large animals as buffalos and zebras. Powerful teeth and jaws enable them to crush and consume bones to get to the nutritious marrow, before the stomach’s highly concentrated hydrochloric acid helps digest the bone. Also called as laughing hyenas , as they are capable of 11 different sounds. They are also the scavengers as they help control populations of a wide variety of species, and, because they’ll eat almost anything, they appear to clean up everything in their path. The spotted hyena social system is very complex. There can be 50 to 100 individuals in a clan. Spotted hyenas have a matriarchal society, and the females are larger and much more assertive and aggressive than the males.
Good Morning…Scent marking by lions plays an important role in territorial advertising. Male lions will back up against some convenient vegetation and eject squirts and spray of pungent smelling urine against the foliage. The strong odour has a lingering quality which can be detected even by humans with a relatively poorly developed sense of smell, many hours later. Hidden within the liquid urine is an amazing array of chemical compounds which in peculiar and specific arrangement convey much information interpreted and understood only by other members of the same species
Hello bloggers, I am back after my Kenyan safari to Amboseli and Masai Mara with lots of stories and pictures. Today am going to post some of my pictures on the wildebeest crossing in Masai Mara river.This was the ultimate spectacle which I witnessed during this year’s Masai Mara visit. Estimated around 30000 wildebeest, they chose the most difficult crossing point (around 8 metres in height) where they had to jump,swim and cross the river. The annual Wildebeest Migration at the Maasai Mara is a natural cycle that replenishes and renews the grasslands of East Africa. The sight of the wildebeest is staggering- a continuous charging mass that stretches from one horizon to the other this endless grey river of life is mottled with black and white as zebras join the throng. What I saw was a complete pandemonium , traumatic and dramatic. The wildebeest slowly gathered near the Mara river for an hour. As you can see the pressure building up. And there was push, jump, and crossing. Some were injured , yet some managed to join the others. The aftermath was the carcass floating in the river. Those who were weak didn’t survive. 
Good morning friends…My Kenyan safari starts from tomorrow for a week…I was reminded of the last year Mara trip and thought of posting this today….The action packed Mara is always full of surprises….Am on a safari to Amboseli NP and Masai Mara for a week. So see you all with lots more wildlife pics soon.
This Giraffe is licking the ground for salt and mineral deposits.He has to bend his knees to enable his long neck to reach down to the ground. Taken at Chobe national park,Botswana
This is a. African hawk eagle, a medium large eagle of savannah woodland. These powerful birds take francolin, guinea-fowl and mammals such as hares and Bush Hyrax. Note the feathered legs (tarsi) down to the feet -typical of all true eagles (Bateleur, Snake Eagles and buzzards all have naked tarsi).The flight shot was taken at Samburu National reserve ,Kenya
Usha Harish Photography 