Thursday Thoughts – Fighting Poachers

/ Leya / 8 kommentarer

On the reserve where we stayed, they had a powerful program to save the rhinos from poachers. According to the ranger who checked them up every day, driving around in her jeep, they had only lost two rhinos the last years, which is amazing. Instead of taking away their horns, they use radioactive isotopes – that do not harm the animal.

One of the rhinos was a bastard with a white rhino as the mother and a black rhino as the father. In fact, he is the only one in the world – according to the rangers. As he cannot have any offspring, he might be the last one ever.

On top of this mountain, they raised the orphans – before releasing them into the reserve again. They do not reveal how many rhinos they have in the reserve…which is good.

We were lucky to see quite some of them, both white and black ones, going about their daily chores as well – such as scrubbing their stomach against termite stacks and mud rolling.

Finishing off with the wonderful ranger who had dedicated her whole life to the rhinos, and a phone photo from our guide, taken while passing by our outdoor picnic place…(where we used to sit peacefully at the tables – luckily without rhinos!) Thank you, Conni, for sending me those spectacular shots!

Macro Monday – Golden Orb Spider

/ Leya / 13 kommentarer

I admit it is elegant and beautiful… about 50mm body and at least 50mm legs.

The female is a giant and the male a dwarf in comparison. Several males can sit in the web, waiting for an opportunity to mate. If they move too fast though, they will be her prey instead of her lover.

Leaving a line of waste is done to protect the net from birds flying into it.

Spiders are not my favourite animals, but our ranger’s story made it fascinating. Their bite is harmless and comparable to a bee sting. Their webs are strong enough to stop small birds in mid-flight. The silk is as strong as Kevlar, which is the strongest known man made material.

Lens-Artists Challenge #393 – Lucky Shot

/ Leya / 31 kommentarer

Sophia has a fun challenge in store for us – lucky shots we have saved, either while photographing or while editing. Please go to her lovely site for great inspiration!

When flying in to Victoria Falls, we saw the pillar of water drops rising from the river and falls up in the sky. And, I did not have a window seat… that’s why this photo is such a lucky shot!

Arriving at the gates, we were welcomed by Pumba himself.

I loved the kudus with their big ears and beautiful faces. Back home, at the computer, I found a bird sitting between the ears of this female, naturally there were some sitting on her back too.

Home again, a summer some 7-8 years ago, we had planned ”fika” at this table. But when we got there, it was already taken…

Ten years ago, in our garden, I was lucky enough to catch a series of our neighbour’s cat raiding two magpies’ nests. I could hardly believe my eyes – or my luck! 6 photos show it all.

Finally, an old, well used photo of my favourite dogs. Sweet memories.

Mille and Totti always had fun together – this quick shot, (on the computer) showed young Totti giving a full head blow to his old friend Mille.

With children and animals, you can always get lucky and surprising pictures!

Thank you, Sofia, for a great challenge! And thank you to Patti for enlightening us on the three layers! A good teacher and many excellent answers!

Thursday Thoughts – Birds, birds, birds!

/ Leya / 22 kommentarer

Among the many African treats were the beautiful birds. Here is a collage of: Striated Heron, Hadada ibis, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, European Roller, Bee-eaters, Magpie Shrike, Egyptian Goose and Lilac breasted Roller.

The glossy starlings were everywhere – shining beauties. Bee-eaters were also frequent.

I really loved all the birds, for their colours and for them being easily spotted in trees and on twigs on the savanna. I’ll finish with two charming couples that caught my heart:

The Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills (flying bananas according to our ranger…) and the Southern Carmine Bee-eaters. The Hornbills came very close and seemed to seek our company, and the bee-eaters flew through the soft air like sparkling jewels.

April is the month when our migrating birds return to nest. I am looking forward to welcoming them – their nesting boxes are ready for new families! In fact the last two or three years we’ve had bee-eaters too in Skåne, the southernmost part of Sweden. At least something good with the warmer climate.

Lens-Artists Challenge #392 – Framing Your Shots

/ Leya / 35 kommentarer

Patti‘s challenge this week is all about using Foreground, Middle Ground and Background to make your shot more interesting. Please visit her original post for brilliant examples!

I will use some of my latest photos from Africa, even though they will not be as diverse examples as Patti´s.

At the Victoria Falls Hotel: Chairs and tables are in the foreground, a bar in the middle and a painted balcony in the background. Even if this is not a symmetric picture, everything is in harmony.

This is a picture of very short perspective, but I can still see the three levels – zebra paintings in the foreground, painter in the middle and more paintings in the background.

The artist, Lemington Muzhingi, was a very warm person and when I asked about his art, he told us the moving story of how he became a skilled artist. As a child he admired his big brother, who effortlessly painted anything around him. When Lemington tried to paint like him, he was laughed at and mocked, so he hid his paintings under the carpet and continued to secretely practice. One day another boy in his class found one of his paintings and showed it to the teacher. That was the starting point for Lemington’s career and now he is a dedicated painter selling all over the world.

Back to the restaurant for dinner! Grass and branches in the foreground, the restaurant in the middle and clouds and more trees in the background.

Patti invites us to join in and share up to 3 photos that use this technique from our archives or from a photo walk. Link to her original post and use the “lens-artists” tag so we can find your post in the Reader.

A Big thanks to Tina and her beautiful Phone Challenge that proved phones are ready for primetime photography – and for me to practice… Next week Sofia returns with next challenge on Saturday, April 11th at noon EST. In the meantime, have fun and stay inspired!

Macro Monday – Giant African Millipede

/ Leya / 17 kommentarer

This is the largest millipede in the world – Length up to 12 inches and about 400 legs. Not thousand. A lovely meeting!