Sunday, 5 August 2012

Big is beautiful


This crowd pleaser is one of the special species of bird found on our beautiful reserve. It is also the largest bird in the world. The Ostrich!

We tend to find them in the northern and eastern parts of the reserve and simple geology explains why. A large portion of the northern section is made up of a Gabbro soil type which holds its nutrients better than the sandy granite soil in the southern sections. Simply put, the grazing is a lot better and it’s more open than the south.

One morning we decided to head up to the north as my guests had already seen Lion, Rhino, Buffalo, Elephant and Cheetah. So with the pressure off we went to see what the north had in store for us.

Heading north on Wilderness Road, we found one of the special creatures this area can deliver. For a change, and within camera range, there they were. Three Ostriches - two females and a male! As it was overcast, the light wasn’t great. The camera’s came out nonetheless and we got the shot anyway.


 


After a few minutes the two females started walking off in a westerly direction away from the road, but the male it seemed, was more interested in us, just as we were in him. He stood around for a while, kept looking around, all the while keeping a very close eye on us. Then came what we were waiting for. The sun broke through the clouds for the first time that morning and the most beautiful light enhanced our subject.




He stood around for a while and his inquisitive nature created a few interesting portraits.







All photo's taken with a Nikon Coolpix P510


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