Lions On The Loose

[PJL]

At the end not a bad morning. I am also still waiting for a pearl-spotted owlet

The view from Lower Sabie is always lovely. How is the food and service these days?

You're right Lis, it turned into a decent morning, but sightings were spread out so it felt very quiet. The food & service at Lower Sabie was generally very good. There was just one day when the kids wanted hot chocolate that we asked them to not make it too hot which resulted in cold hot chocolate

Fantastic jackal, pearlie and Rhino sightings and shots, PJL

Thanks Pumbaa

just caught up, great photography all round, I see you using a 400??? what canon 100-400 MK11, Full Frame??

Hey Peter, yep the 100-400 mk2 sometimes with a 1.4x converter mk3. Not full frame unfortunately - I have a 7D mk2
It's always a bit tricky to work out what the best equipment is for your budget etc, but that setup has worked well.

[PJL]

Great sightings again, Peej, and sommer two Big 5 together!

What a lovely and unusual rhino shot!

Thanks RP. It was a nice setting for the rhino but was quite a mission to see

Very lucky to have seen rhino again

Thanks Alf - particularly on that side of the park it was lucky

The first time I saw a Pearl Spotted-owl I couldn't believe how small it was....they are lovely!

I am also still waiting to see a leopard from the Lower Sabie deck!!

Yeah those owls are tiny, but very cute
We chatted to one of the waitresses at LS and she said she regularly sees the leopard there
I guess you just have to sit there all day, but then I would feel I'm missing out on all sorts of other sightings

[PRWIN]

I,m thinking of doing the same as well, getting a 7dMk11 as a second camera and doing what you did with a 1.4X on the 1.6 of the 7D will give you a +_ 900m focal length

[PJL]

I,m thinking of doing the same as well, getting a 7dMk11 as a second camera and doing what you did with a 1.4X on the 1.6 of the 7D will give you a +_ 900m focal length

Yeah it's a good range. I've heard very good things about the Tamron 150-600 mk2 which would be a cheaper option and less hassle in terms of putting the converter on and off. I still feel like the converter causes a bit of a loss of sharpness at the long end which might not be an issue with a single lens
Having said that, most of the time images are soft is due to the air movement due to heat rather than the glass quality

[PJL]

Tues 25th June contd

After the early lunch, Grandpa was keen to head around the Mlondozi loop as some cheetah had been seen there earlier in the day. It was the heat of the day, so it was probably the only cat that was likely to be up, so we took a trip that way.

The Lower Sabie bridge had all the regulars, but this time a huge crocodile basking in the sun





The Mlondozi loop itself was quiet and we didn't manage to find anything resembling a cheetah, but at the lookout there was quite a bit of action with elephant drinking







The kids enjoyed chasing after the lizards



And even found this huge one that seemed to have developed a forked tail



The local bandits still looked ready to cause trouble at any moment, and I was quite thankful not to be trying to cook anything with them around



Apart from the monkeys it was a very peaceful scene and we stayed for quite a while enjoying the birdlife and some of the other distant animals





Heading back round to the H10 this yellow-billed hornbill was posing nicely





We also caught a secretary bird and brown snake eagle on the way back towards Lower Sabie





Further up the road we came across a small conference of cars and found out from an OSV that one of their guests had spotted a cheetah at the base of a tree. Admittedly the grass would have made it fairly difficult to see a flat-out cheetah, but after going forwards and backwards we were all convinced the guest had simply got confused with the shapes the yellow grass was making... even the OSV driver couldn't see it and after hopping into the back of his vehicle for the extra height was still not convinced

We carried on our way back to Lower Sabie to stop off for ice creams. The only other sighting along the way was a monitor by the bridge



By this stage of the day I was exhausted from the previous nights illness so made myself comfortable in the back of the car with strict instructions to be woken for anything decent. The route home would be via the H4-2 and S130 with the hope of catching the lions again near the Vurhami bridge. I managed a bit of a snooze down the H4-2 and was half awake on the S130 when we came across a car stopped up ahead. Something caught my half-awake eyes off to the side.... 'Woooaaaa, stop the car!!!!!'

[Lisbeth]

Sometimes wish thinking makes you see things that are not there

Nice group of Kudu bulls and a nice monitor All the birds go without saying

It's funny with the Mlondolozi through being right down there, but I have never noticed it. Maybe because I'm always there in summer and there is water in the river

[Richprins]

Agreed with Lis...unusual Mlondozi pics! you should put them on that thread!

I've also seen a two-tailed skink there...seems to be quite common!

[PJL]

Sometimes wish thinking makes you see things that are not there

Nice group of Kudu bulls and a nice monitor All the birds go without saying

It's funny with the Mlondolozi through being right down there, but I have never noticed it. Maybe because I'm always there in summer and there is water in the river

Agreed Lis, wishful thinking combined with sleep deprivation meant I could just be seeing things
We hadn't ever seen Mlondozi without water either... not sure where it all went

[PJL]

Agreed with Lis...unusual Mlondozi pics! you should put them on that thread!

I've also seen a two-tailed skink there...seems to be quite common!

Yeah will add it to that thread. Not sure where the water went. We've always seen it with water and hippos etc - even in September

[Richprins]

It often dries up, and can fill up very quickly too with local showers! It is a smallish dam.