Winter seems to be well on its way here in South Africa with plenty of cold weather over the last couple of weeks. The end of the rainy season marks a transition period where the landscape slowly begins to transform from dense stands of lush green trees and grass, to the more subdued shades of browns and oranges. All in all a great time for photography!
This months images were taken during winter last year. As always, if you would like to download the file, simply click on the image and then select the “download” button when the image opens in the Box.net window.
Our group sat watching this adult Martial Eagle for a good twenty minutes before it took flight. I must have rattled off at least 3o shots, only two of which were worth keeping.
The second image is of two young lions. Female lions reach sexual maturity at around 4 years of age, a year before males (5 years). At around 3 years of age, young male offspring are forced to emigrate in part as a result of the intolerance of the adult territorial males. From this time right up until they mature and succeed in taking over a pride range, young males lead an unsettled existence, either as nomads or unwelcome lodgers which must avoid confrontation with resident prides.
This young male, along with any other young male offspring of similar age in the pride, would be on the brink of such an existence. The young female however, would more than likely remain within her natal pride. Adult females are normally all related, descending from females that have lived generation after generation in the same range.
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