Winner Photographers Competition November 2009

Congratulations to Janet Bloom (SA) for her win­ning entry — African Paradise Flycatcher. This pho­to­graph will be fea­tured on our elec­tronic news­let­ter which will go out at the end of the month (and cred­ited to Janet).

Janet had the fol­low­ing to say about her submission:

"We saw this mom and dad feed­ing their chick at a lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve when it star­ted rain­ing. The dad swooped down and sat on the chick until the shower was over. A few days later, the chick had left the nest and was fly­ing with the par­ents." Continued

Sugar Bird & Spider by Leonard Browne (photograph)

This pho­to­graph of a Sugar Bird and Spider was sub­mit­ted to our Novembers Photography Competition by Leonard Browne. The sug­ar­birds are a small fam­ily of pas­ser­ine birds which are restric­ted to south­ern Africa. The two spe­cies of sug­ar­bird make up one of only two bird fam­il­ies restric­ted entirely to south­ern Africa ... Continued

Flightless Dungbeetle by Neville Cowan (photograph)

Dungbeetles seem to be a favour­ite sight­ing for vis­it­ors to South Africa, based on the num­ber of pho­to­graphs of dun­g­beetles that have been entered into our pho­to­graph­ers' com­pet­i­tions. Here is one of my favour­ites from our Photographers Competition November 2009, by Neville Cowen of the UK.

This par­tic­u­lar dun­g­beetle was cap­tured on film, in the malaria-free Addo Elephant National Park, which boasts the largest remain­ing pop­u­la­tion of this endangered beetle in the world. The main attrac­tion of the Addo Elephant Park is the park’s 350 or so African Elephants. The Black Rhino and Cape Buffalo are also not­able spe­cies, as are many other large herb­i­vores, par­tic­u­larly ante­lope spe­cies such as kudu, eland, red harte­beest and spring­bok. Continued

All eyes on Cape Town (photographs)

The city is buzz­ing with vis­it­ors all here to enjoy what Cape Town has to offer in the lead up to the final draw for the FIFA 2010 World Cup which is hap­pen­ing on 4 December. Readers of the UK Telegraph recently voted Cape Town as their favour­ite city out­side Europe and in Condé Nast Traveller's Readers Choice, Cape Town was named top city in Africa / Middle East, and 4^th in the world ... Continued

Birds Eye View by Noula Bouwer (photograph)

Todays pho­to­graph was sent to us by Noula Bouwer as is entiled "Bird's Eye View". A great pho­to­graph of a gir­affe, Noula has sub­mit­ted a num­ber of really great pho­to­graphs to our cur­rent pho­to­graphy com­pet­i­tion. You can see more of her entries at November Photography Competition. Giraffe are non-territorial, social anim­als that travel in large herds that are not organ­ized in any way. They live in the savan­nas of Africa, where they roam freely among the tall trees, arid land, dense forests and open plains ... Continued

Game Drive photograph by Justin Cohen

South Africa is a wild­life para­dise offer­ing ump­teen num­bers of national parks and game reserves. Although each game reserve offers its own dimen­sion to game view­ing, one com­mon factor ties them all together: the regal big five of the South African wild world — Elephant, Leopard, Rhino, Lion and Buffalo. Game Viewing in South Africa is done either in closed vehicles (mostly in the National Parks), in open safari vehicles in the Private Game reserves and both day and night game view­ing is avail­able in private reserves ... Continued

Vervet Monkey — mother and baby by Trudi Naude

Submitted to our November Photography Competion by Trudi Naude, this pho­to­graph of a ver­vet mon­key (Cercopithecus Aethiops) and her baby is entitled "Hold on tight". Different types of ver­vets vary in col­our, but gen­er­ally the body is a green­ish olive or sil­very grey. The face, ears, hands, feet and tip of the tail are black, but an obvi­ous white band on the fore­head blends in with the short whiskers ... Continued

Eagle in Flight — photographs by Dror Orbach

These two pho­to­graphs caught my eye when we received them as I think they are quite spec­tac­u­lar. Taken dur­ing a hol­i­day to South Africa last year, they were sent to us by Dror Orbach from Israel. Dror has quite the eye for tak­ing great wild­life pho­to­graphs ... Continued

Dwarf Chameleon photograph by Jennifer Peers

This amaz­ing close up of a dwarf chameleon was sent to us by Jennifer Peers as an entry for our November Photography Competition. Jennifer has sub­mit­ted some of the most beau­ti­ful pho­to­graphs (see pre­vi­ous fea­tured photo here). According to the Wikipedia entry for Cape Dwarf Chameleon (Bradypodion pumi­lum), it is nat­ive to the Western Cape where it is restric­ted to the region around Cape Town. Continued

Giraffe photograph by Erma Mae Perkins

This beau­ti­ful pho­to­graph of a Giraffe taken on a game walk in the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve was sub­mit­ted to our November Photography Competition by Erma Mae Perkins. Established in 1895, this is the old­est game park in South Africa along with nearby St Lucia Reserve. Apart from game view­ing drives there are self guided auto trails which provide inform­a­tion on both the man­age­ment and nat­ural his­tory of the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi game reserve. Guided walks can be espe­cially reward­ing in the early morn­ing and late after­noon ... Continued

Bashful and Beautiful — Waterbuck by Dror Orbach

Todays pho­to­graph of a female Waterbuck was sent to us by Dror Orbach from Israel, taken on a visit to South Africa in 2008. The water­buck is not aquatic nor much at home in water, but it does take refuge there to escape pred­at­ors. The water­buck is a large, robust ante­lope with large, roun­ded ears and white patches above the eyes, around the nose and mouth and on the throat. Only the males have horns, which are prom­in­ently ringed and as long as 40 inches. Continued

Yellow-billed Hornbill photographs by Mhairi Kelly

These two fab­ulous pho­to­graphs of a group of Yellow-billed Hornbills was sent to us by Mhairi Kelly. The Yellow-billed Hornbill is a medium sized bird, with length between 48 to 60 cm, char­ac­ter­ized by a long yel­low beak with a casque (only in males). The Yellow-billed Hornbill feed mainly on the ground sur­face, where they for­age for seeds, small insects, spiders and scor­pi­ons. Termites and ants are a pre­ferred food source in the dry sea­son ... Continued

African Paradise Flycatcher photo by Janet Bloom

Todays beau­ti­ful pho­to­graph is of an African Paradise Flycatcher taken by Janet Bloom in the Madikwe Game Reserve. Says Janet: "We saw this mom and dad feed­ing their chick at a lodge in Madikwe Game Reserve when it star­ted rain­ing. The dad swooped down and sat on the chick until the shower was over. A few days later, the chick had left the nest and was fly­ing with the par­ents" ... Continued