Lunchtime

[William Walker]

A Black-Headed Heron eating a Brown Water Snake.

[Tony Jay]

Wow!

Those are pretty dramatic images.
BTW I didn't know you were into bird photography.
Very different to your usual landscapes.

Well done.

Tony Jay

[Chris Calohan]

Great use of DOF to isolate the event. Neat shot.

[Matt Tilghman]

Cool!  I wonder how long the snake lasts inside of the bird's body...

[William Walker]

Hi Tony,

I have always been a keen birder, not a fanatic, just keen. Always adds an extra dimension in the Game Reserves.

Anyway, I bought myself a 500mm f4 the other day and loaded into the vehicle this morning, just in case. We went out looking for landscapes and got to this low-level bridge, which I was hesitant to attempt. As I was doing a u-turn I saw the bird with the snake. I quickly changed lenses and managed to get a few shots before he swallowed the snake a flew off.


We then watched these two ladies crossing the river. They had obviously done it before because they held onto each other and made it through quite easily. Always something interesting in Africa! I love it!

Chris I cheated a bit with the second picture. I used the new Radial Filter Tool in Lightroom 5 to emphasise the DOF.

Matt, I have no idea how long it takes, the snake was certainly still moving around pretty vigorously, so it was not even dead yet!
William

PS. Tony, the main reason for the 500mm is because in November I have been invited to one of those exclusive lodges in Kruger National Park where I have been "guaranteed" numerous leopard sightings a day! Once I get some decent leopard pictures I can die a happy man!! 
William

[Tony Jay]

...PS. Tony, the main reason for the 500mm is because in November I have been invited to one of those exclusive lodges in Kruger National Park where I have been "guaranteed" numerous leopard sightings a day! Once I get some decent leopard pictures I can die a happy man!! 
William

I am grinding my teeth man.
I have a 500mm f4.0 too and I also want to shoot leopards - it has been too long.
Sadly I think the closest leopard to me lives in Sydney Zoo.

I do however, wish you the best of British luck for November.
It is nice to see though that you are taking a favourite phrase of Gary Player to heart, "the more I practice the luckier I get!"
If these pics are anything to go by then by November you should be an ace.

Tony Jay

[Rajan Parrikar]

Terrific images.

[wolfnowl]

I am grinding my teeth man.
I have a 500mm f4.0 too and I also want to shoot leopards - it has been too long.
Sadly I think the closest leopard to me lives in Sydney Zoo.

Tony Jay

Don't discount zoo animals!  (not my work, but Mike Shaw): https://plus.google.com/photos/102518365620075109973/albums/5840402651753516913

[William Walker]

Don't discount zoo animals!  (not my work, but Mike Shaw): https://plus.google.com/photos/102518365620075109973/albums/5840402651753516913

It's funny you say that Mike. Even the type of place I am going to in November is "frowned upon" to a degree by many purists! I have been going to game reserves here in Southern Africa for more than fifty years now and have only seen a leopard once!(And that was before I had a decent camera.)

These exclusive lodges share specific areas, bordering Kruger, with one or two other similar places and all the game-guides are in contact with each other by radio. As soon as something is spotted everyone rushes across to the co-ordinate and each vehicle has twenty or so minutes with the animal and then makes way for the next. "Canned game-spotting" in other words.

I have, with a certain degree of guilt, given in to this opportunity and am really hopeful to have some good sightings. It is not guaranteed, but it is as close as you get other than going to a zoo.

Greater Kruger Park is probably the best place to have a chance of seeing leopard the "purist" way. Perhaps Riaan or Heinz could add to this.

Willliam

PS. Having said all that, I am aware that Zoos are as close as many people can get to what we in Africa are privileged to have on our doorstep.

[Tony Jay]

Mike, I am from Africa.
Just live in Oz now.

The idea of going to a zoo to photograph animals that I previously was used to seeing wild in the bush is plain depressing.
I am just discussing now with my better half whether we should go over to Southern Africa later this year.

The leopard thing is intriguing - they are so hard to find and photograph yet, actually they are still everywhere.
A bloke in the southern subrubs of Johannesburg set a trap for whatever was stealing the chickens out of his backyard last year and caught a leopard.
In Pretoria fleeting nocturnal sightings of leopards are fairly common.
In more rural areas leopards are much more common but they are just such secretive animals.
I confess, that as a species, they have always fascinated me.

Tony Jay