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2013-05-08 11:17:43 (23 comments, 7 reshares, 68 +1s)

Northern Lights and the Milky Way

BEST VIEWED LARGE (view it then press "space"). Even better is if you can view it at 100% (2048x464) because that way you get to see much more detail in all the stars, including the trails of some satellites passing overhead.

This was taken out on a frozen lake in the north of Finland at about 11pm. The panorama consists of 13 separate photos stitched together to create a final image that is around 54 megapixels in size.

#TravelPanoWednesday by +Rolf Hicker  (+TravelPanoWednesday)
#WeatherWednesday by +Jason Borg (+Weather Wednesday)
#WideAngleWednesday  by +Asif Patel (+Wide Angle Wednesday)
#WideOpenWednesday by +Shawn Clover 
#WideWednesdayPanorama by +Ken McMahon, +David Heath Williams (+WideWednesdayPanorama)
#WinterWednesday  by +Antoine Berger, +Logan Miller
#WowWednesday by+Jan P... more »

2013-05-08 09:48:33 (23 comments, 5 reshares, 53 +1s)

Elephants in Ngorongoro Crater

Every morning at about the same time these elephants make the journey from where they spend the night up on the crater wall down to a waterhole on the crater floor. They were still some distance away when I took this but our guide knew exactly where they'd cross the road. As a result they ended up passing within just a few metres of us.

#ElephantWednesday by +Louisa Catharine Forsyth, +Diego Cattaneo, +Matthias Haeussler (+Elephant Wednesday)
#WildlifeWednesday by +Mike Spinak, +Morkel Erasmus (+Wildlife Wednesdays)
#HQSPAnimals by +Joe Urbz, +Marina Versaci (+HQSP Animals)
#WholeWildlifeWeek by +Sandy Schepis, +Dick Whitlock, +Anette Mossbacher, +Diego Cattaneo (+Whole Wildlife Week)

2013-05-07 15:25:58 (42 comments, 9 reshares, 94 +1s)

Iceberg Graveyard, Pleneau Island, Antarctica

BEST VIEWED LARGE!

This was just one of dozens of icebergs that get trapped and run aground by the currents near Pleneau Island, Antarctica. They remain here until they melt - a process that can take many years.

Have a look through the arch at the Zodiac to give you some idea of the scale - there are 11 people in that boat. Then remember that up to 90% of the iceberg is under water!

#SeaTuesday  by +Julia Anna Gospodarou (+Sea Tuesday)
#landscapephotography by +Landscape Photography +Margaret Tompkins +Carra Riley +paul t beard +David Heath Williams +Bill Wood +Jim Warthman +Ben T +jeff beddow +Tom Hierl  +Vishal Kumar  +Michael Blyde  +Carolyn Lim  +Steve Gould  +Jay Gould (+Landscape Photography)
#HQSPLandscape +HQSP Landscape by  +Rodolfo Seide +Johnny Minor +Terrie Gray +Nicolai Neijhoftand +La... more »

2013-05-04 10:39:51 (19 comments, 9 reshares, 79 +1s)

Four lion cubs being fed by their mum.

In this photo the cubs are about a month old. The cubs are about 9 months old now and last I heard all four are still doing well. I'm excited to be going back to see them in a week from now to see how much they have grown!

#WholeWildlifeWeek  by +Sandy Schepis +Dick Whitlock +Anette Mossbacher +Diego Cattaneo (+Whole Wildlife Week)
#catsallovertheworld  by +Robert SKREINER (+CATS all over the World)
#HQSPanimals by +Joe Urbz +Marina Versaci (+HQSP Animals)
#caturday  +Caturday +Caturday +Caturday +Caturday Everyday +CATURDAY! 

2013-05-02 16:47:26 (15 comments, 6 reshares, 56 +1s)

The Treasury. Petra, Jordan

The first sight that visitors see after walking through the 1.5km "Siq" (narrow gorge) at the main entrance to Petra is Al Khazneh, commonly known as The Treasury. Seeing the iconic structure suddenly appear after rounding the last bend in the Siq is a sight that stops many visitors in their tracks, myself included!

The Treasury was thought to have been build around the 1st century AD. It is carved out of solid sandstone and is over 40 meters high. Despite it's name however it is thought to have been a royal tomb rather than a treasury. The name "Treasury" originated from a legend that said pirates or bandits had hidden their treasure inside the urn carved into the top of the façade. As a result of the legend, local Bedouins tried to retrieve the treasure by shooting the urn, damaging it significantly in the process. Inr... more »

2013-04-24 14:17:36 (17 comments, 32 reshares, 21 +1s)

It seems the news for rhinos just keeps getting worse as they are targeted by poachers in ever increasing numbers. A good friend of mine Sam is trying hard to do something about this however. He is raising money for Save The Rhinos by running the London marathon. The catch? He'll be wearing a full-body rhino suit for the entire race! Madness I say...

If you want to see what the suit is like, Sam made this little promotional video which I think is absolutely brilliant. Please do check it out, I think you'll enjoy it too: Run Rhino Run

Of course if you do feel willing to sponsor Sam he would very much appreciate anything you can give, however small. You can do so here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SamuelBond

If you aren't able to sponsor then sharing this post or the video would help too (yes, Facebook or Twitter also count! On Twitter he's... more »

2013-04-03 18:05:23 (34 comments, 19 reshares, 108 +1s)

Rockhopper Penguins piling ashore at Saunders Island, The Falklands.

#wildlifewednesday +Wildlife Wednesdays by +Mike Spinak , +Morkel Erasmus (+Wildlife Wednesdays)
#wetwednesday +Wet Wednesday by +Jen Baptist (+Wet Wednesday)
#birdloversworldwide +BIRD LOVERS Worldwide by +Robert SKREINER and +Edith Kukla (+BIRD LOVERS Worldwide)
Worldwide
#Birds4All +Birds4All by +Ricky L Jones & +Walter Soestbergen (+Birds4All)
#hqspbirds +HQSP Birds by +Marina Versaci and +Joe Urbz (+HQSP Birds)
#birdsinfocus #birdspecieslink +Birds in Focus by +Risto Talman (+Birds in Focus)

2013-04-02 20:42:44 (17 comments, 6 reshares, 66 +1s)

Look out!

Here's why it pays to be aware of your surroundings while you're out in the wilderness ;)

For #AfricanTuesday  by +Dick Whitlock and +Morkel Erasmus (+African Tuesday)
#onecatadaykeepsthedoctoraway +OneCatADay - Photo Theme Page by +Sandra Deichmann (though I'm not so sure in this case!!!)
#catsbigandsmallthebest +Cats Big And Small The Best curated by +Mark HELM

2013-03-28 12:14:23 (37 comments, 12 reshares, 111 +1s)

Northern Lights at Lake Torasjärvi, Finland

The tipi covers up a swimming hole that had been cut into the ice on the frozen lake. The air temperature was -30°C and no, I didn't go swimming!

#LongExposureThursday by +Francesco Gola and +Luca Gerardi (+LongExposure Thursday)
#TravelThursday by +Laura Mitchum
#FreshPics by +Trevor Farrell (+Fresh Pics)
#10000photographersaroundtheworld  by +Robert SKREINER (+10000 PHOTOGRAPHERS)
#AmazingLandscapes by +Rolf Hicker
#LandscapePhotography +Landscape Photography by +Margaret Tompkins , +Carra Riley , +paul t beard , +David Heath Williams , +Bill Wood , +Jim Warthman , +Ben T , +jeff beddow ,+Jeannie Danna , +Tom Hierl , +Vishal Kumar (+Landscape Photography)

2013-03-27 00:34:30 (19 comments, 1 reshares, 86 +1s)

Adélie Penguin on an iceberg. Best viewed large!

#wildlifewednesday +Wildlife Wednesdays by +Mike Spinak , +Morkel Erasmus
#birdloversworldwide +BIRD LOVERS Worldwide by +Robert SKREINER and +Edith Kukla
#Birds4All +Birds4All by +Ricky L Jones and +Walter Soestbergen
#hqspbirds +HQSP Birds by +Marina Versaci and +Joe Urbz
#birdsinfocus #birdspecieslink +Birds in Focus by +Risto Talman
#pixelworld +PixelWorld by +Alberto Carreras
#plusphotoextract by +Jarek Klimek

2013-03-27 22:28:44 (24 comments, 13 reshares, 77 +1s)

Giant's Castle, Drakensberg, South Africa

I've just seen +Morkel Erasmus's post for today's Vast Vistas  #AfricanTuesday  theme (https://plus.google.com/115370996311184482015/posts/LsUZX9m8WUb). I recognised the location immediately since I was lucky enough to spend a day there last September. Here's a photo of mine from almost the same location.

#AfricanTuesday "Vast Vistas" by +Morkel Erasmus, +Dick Whitlock and +Grobler du Preez (+African Tuesday)
#hqsplandscape +HQSP Landscape curated by +Ara MO , +Delcour Eric , +Blake Harrold
#LandscapePhotography +Landscape Photography curated by +Margaret Tompkins , +Carra Riley , +paul t beard , +David Heath Williams , +Bill Wood , +Jim Warthman , +Ben T , +jeff beddow ,+Jeannie Danna , +Tom Hierl , +Vishal Kumar
#mountainphotos +Mountain Photos by +Baki Karacay

2013-03-21 12:15:46 (16 comments, 5 reshares, 74 +1s)

Göreme Sunrise

This is one of the hundred or so hot air balloons that make their way across the town of Göreme in Turkey first thing every morning. The 3,916m high Mount Erciyes is in the background.

#TurkishThursday +Turkish Thursday by +Baki Karacay
#SilhouettesOnThursday by +Siddharth Pandit
#TravelThursday  by +Laura Mitchum

2013-03-20 11:24:25 (25 comments, 11 reshares, 74 +1s)

While Zodiac cruising at our very last stop on South Georgia we saw our first Weddell seal lying on a rocky beach. We approached slowly, but to my dismay the seal took one look at us then quickly slipped into the water and disappeared. You can imagine our surprise when a few seconds later it surfaced right next to us and proceeded to swim a couple of laps around the boat, clearly curious about the strange "creature" that had entered its domain.

#WildlifeWednesday  by +Mike Spinak and +Morkel Erasmus
#MirrorsAndReflections  by +Gemma Costa (+Mirrors and Reflections)
#PlusPhotoExtract  by +Jarek Klimek (+PhotoExtract Photography Magazine)
#10000photographersaroundtheworld by +Robert SKREINER (+10000 PHOTOGRAPHERS)

2013-03-19 09:37:20 (23 comments, 9 reshares, 66 +1s)

Children jumping off the rocks on the northern tip of Zanzibar. How they didn't hurt themselves I'm not quite sure...

#AfricanTuesday  by +Morkel Erasmus, +Dick Whitlock and +Grobler du Preez (+African Tuesday)
#SeaTuesday  by +Julia Anna Gospodarou (+Sea Tuesday)

2013-03-19 16:56:46 (17 comments, 13 reshares, 61 +1s)

Gentoo Penguin

Watching penguins on the land is often hilarious because they look so clumsy and comical. Watching them in the water is fascinating too though - they're so fast and agile it is as though they have transformed into a whole different species. I like to think this photo of a penguin jumping for a breath of air captures a bit of both sides of their two polarised personalities.

This was taken from a boat just off the southeast coast of South Georgia as several Gentoos swam alongside.

#ActionMonday by +Adrian Buturca (+ActionMonday)
#BirdPhotographyMonday by +David Hemmings (+Bird & Wildlife Photography)
#MidairMonday  by +Jeff Moreau
#WholeWildlifeWeek by +Dick Whitlock, +Anette Mossbacher, +Diego Cattaneo and +Sandy Schepis

2013-03-18 21:52:28 (24 comments, 0 reshares, 46 +1s)

Hello! After a month overlanding from Johannesburg up to Nairobi followed by a week in the north of Finland, I'm now back home and finally have some time to catch up a bit with my photos and also of course with you all on Google+.

I thought I'd start by posting a photo of one of my favourite animals - a chameleon. I found this little guy asleep at the tip of a branch one evening in a campsite in Botswana. Knowing that he would stay there all night, I went back first thing the next morning and sure enough he was just getting moving on his morning adventures. This photo was taken as he climbed his way back up towards the trunk of the tree, presumably in search of some tasty insects for breakfast.

#MacroMonday by +Kerry Murphy, +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Jennifer Eden  (+Macro Monday)
#ReptileMonday by +Will Pirnasch  (+Reptile Monday)
#macro4all (+Macro4All)

2013-02-05 12:57:10 (20 comments, 4 reshares, 87 +1s)

Puerto Natales Waterfront at Sunset

Note the funky lenticular clouds to the top right. These are formed when cool moist air flows over mountains, causing standing waves to form on the downwind side which condense into clouds at their crests.

In this case the mountains were those of Torres del Paine, visible in the background on the left. They're the same mountains as in my previous photo, only this time around I was happy to have the wind back because without it these clouds wouldn't have appeared.

Single exposure with minimal processing, shot using an ND filter and a hard ND grad.

And with this I bid you all farewell again as I'm off on another very last minute adventure, overland and camping in East Africa.

#SeaTuesday by +Julia Anna Gospodarou (+Sea Tuesday)
#tuesdecay by +Ian Ference (+TuesDecay)

2013-02-04 01:12:36 (30 comments, 13 reshares, 117 +1s)

Sunrise at Torres del Paine

It took me a few days to get this shot. I had to find a small, shallow and reasonably well sheltered pool that would give me a suitable reflection, then wait for the weather to behave - something that doesn't happen too often here because it is notoriously windy!

On this particular morning the wind was calm but there was a lot of cloud behind me blocking the sun. I was very close to giving up when the sun suddenly broke through and lit up the mountains in spectacular fashion. It lasted all of 20 seconds before everything went dull again. Those 20 seconds had me smiling all day :)

#MirrorMonday by +Gemma Costa and +Elizabeth Edwards  (+Mirrors and Reflections)
#MountainMonday  by +Michael Russell (+Mountain Monday)
#NationalParksMonday by +Juan Pons (+NationalParksMonday)
#NatureMonday by +Rolf Hicker and +KateChurc... more »

2013-02-02 17:00:50 (30 comments, 17 reshares, 99 +1s)

I'm still playing catchup a bit here on G+, looks like there has been lots happening while I've been away! Hopefully I'll be back up to speed soon. In the meantime here's another shot of some King Penguins, this time from Salisbury Plain on South Georgia where there is a huge colony of about 200,000 of these beautiful birds.

For #WildlifeWednesday curated by +Mike Spinak and +Morkel Erasmus 
#WholeWildlifeWeek

2013-02-02 17:00:32 (34 comments, 5 reshares, 92 +1s)

I just arrived back from a wonderful trip around the Falklands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Our first stop was a landing at the Falklands where we were told that we'd likely see a King Penguin or two, but not to bother spending time with them because we'd see many more in the following days on South Georgia and that our time was better spent with some of the other wildlife instead.

I could appreciate the logic to that, but logic goes out the window when you see these beautiful birds for the first time. Hands up who could have walked past these two stunners without taking a photo?

Plenty more photos to follow, though I won't have much Internet time for another couple of weeks still. Apologies in advance for my tardiness!

#WildlifeWednesday  by +Mike Spinak and +Morkel Erasmus (+Wildlife Wednesdays)

2012-12-21 12:17:13 (32 comments, 1 reshares, 67 +1s)

An African Wild Dog, classified by IUCN as endangered. Wild dogs are extremely successful hunters, hunting in packs and managing to make a kill about 80% or 90% of the time. By comparison, lions make a successful kill only about 30% of the time. Despite that these dogs are extremely rare with only 3,000-5,000 remaining. The dogs need huge territories which are increasingly hard for them to come by.

For a slightly belated #ThreatenedThursday, curated by +Diego Cattaneo +Sumit Sen +Sandy Schepis and +Anette Mossbacher
#WholeWildlifeWeek

2012-12-21 11:37:36 (30 comments, 15 reshares, 108 +1s)

Sorry for my long absence. I've been away for a few weeks and since being back it has been a mad rush to catch up on a million different things - most of them rather dull, such as sorting out tax returns!

Here's a shot from Göreme in Turkey. Almost every morning up to 100 balloons take to the skies, giving passengers a stunning view over the region's "fairy chimney" rock formations. Most of the balloons take off shortly before sunrise. The one pictured here was the very first for the day.

For #TurkishThursday (+Turkish Thursday) by +Baki Karacay
#TravelThursday by +Laura Mitchum 

2012-11-12 23:11:46 (29 comments, 6 reshares, 92 +1s)

Drakensberg Sunset

After spending half a day hike up Rainbow Gorge, we rounded a corner and were greeted with this view just a few hundred metres away from our camp. The four snowcapped peaks in the distance are (from left to right) Inner Horn, Outer Horn, The Bell and Cathedral Peak. We tried to climb Cathedral Peak the following day but had to turn back just short of the summit due to dangerous conditions.

#AfricanTuesday Magnificent Mountains by +Dick Whitlock, +Grobler du Preez and +Morkel Erasmus (+African Tuesday)

2012-11-08 11:20:47 (29 comments, 8 reshares, 74 +1s)

Sunset over Hagia Sophia The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) - thanks +Baki Karacay for the correction!

For   #TurkishThursday  by +Baki Karacay (+Turkish Thursday)
#TravelThursday  by +Laura Mitchum

2012-11-05 12:05:54 (29 comments, 2 reshares, 71 +1s)

African Leopard

As many of you will know, leopards are very elusive creatures and seeing one in the wild is usually a rare treat. During the six weeks I spent in South Africa I was only lucky enough to see leopards once. Fortunately it was a great sighting with two large males that were marking their territory and clearly trying to warn each other off "their" turf. Apparently this behaviour can last several days and generally one leopard will gracefully concede defeat rather than end up fighting.

This photo was taken when we first spotted one of the leopards. At this point we had no idea that there was another one about 100m away over the brow of the hill!

Leopards are classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN, but this may soon change to Vulnerable due to their increasing fragmentation and habitat loss.

#wholewildlifeweek  by +Diego Cattaneo,+S... more »

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (43 comments, 10 reshares, 97 +1s)

The Milky Way

This panorama of the night sky was taken on a moonless night in the Drakensberg, South Africa. I had been waiting a long time to try my hand at some star photography so I was understandably quite excited to finally get this opportunity.

For the curious, here's how I created this image: My camera was on a fixed tripod. I took nine individual photos by panning my camera between shots then I stitched them all together using a free app called Hugin. Each photo was shot in a portrait orientation and the camera was in manual mode. I used manual focus at 16mm, f/2.8, 30 second shutter, ISO 6400. The full size version of this photo is roughly 14,000 x 4,200 pixels.

#NightPhotographyFriday  by +Mark Hammon and +Steve Passlow (+Night Photography Friday)
#AmazingLandscapes by +Rolf Hicker
#LandscapePhotography by +Margaret Tompkins, +CarraRil... more »

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 38 +1s)

I've just been looking through various photos taken during and after Hurricane Sandy. What an awful trail of destruction that it has left behind :(

One shot in particular that stood out to me was this one, taken in Santiago de Cuba:  http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/10/hurricane_sandy_the_superstorm.html#photo32

It stood out for a couple of reasons. One was because there hasn't been a lot of publicity in the western media about the impact the hurricane had on Cuba - this is perhaps only the second storm-damage photo I've seen from there. Another reason is that I was in the same spot as the above photo just a few months ago which really helps drives home the reality of the situation. Here's a similar photo I took before the storm. I'm not sure it's exactly the same street, but it can't be more than a block or two away. I hate to think how long it will... more »

2012-10-31 09:48:18 (29 comments, 3 reshares, 52 +1s)

Collared Sunbird in Coral Tree

This was taken during a weekend trip to St Lucia, South Africa. There were quite a few sunbirds around but I was finding it a little tricky to get a decent photo of one. A friend mentioned that she knew where there was a tree that had a lot of sunbirds in it. I went there first thing the next morning and sure enough it was swarming with them!

This is a female collared sunbird. Only the males have the distinctive purple collar that gives them their name.

#WildlifeWednesday by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak (+Wildlife Wednesdays)
#WideOpenWednesdays  by +Shawn Clover

2012-10-30 13:56:31 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 36 +1s)

Male Kudu

Despite spending 6 weeks in the bush and encountering kudu on an almost daily basis, I found it almost impossible to get a decent photo of one. They tended to prefer the thicker bush which meant lots of branches and messy backgrounds, far from ideal for photography. Most of the time the kudu would also move away once they were aware of your presence meaning we often only got to see the backs of their heads. This large male was no exception to that but at least he had the decency to do it out in the open!

#AfricanTuesday  "Ungulates" by +Morkel Erasmus, +Grobler du Preez and +Dick Whitlock (+African Tuesday)

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (29 comments, 6 reshares, 56 +1s)

Mosque Moonset

A crescent is one of the oldest symbols known to mankind, having been found on seals dating back as far as 2300 BC. The crescent and star was adopted by the Turks in the 12th century and went on to become symbolic of the Ottoman Empire. This in turn helped to popularize the crescent and star among the Muslim populations of many countries across Asia and Africa. As a result of this the crescent is now often used to symbolize the Islamic faith.

This photo was taken as the moon set behind the mosque in Uçhisar, Turkey. It wouldn't have been possible without a very useful mobile app called Sun Surveyor, written by +Adam Ratana. Because the moon was tracking so closely behind the sun it wasn't even visible until shortly after sunset, at which point the moon was already low on the horizon. Using the app I was able to predict the moon's path quiteacc... more »

2012-10-27 14:49:37 (29 comments, 16 reshares, 77 +1s)

Curious Cubs

We were fortunate enough to encounter these four new arrivals as we rounded a corner during a game drive one afternoon. We had suspected for a while that one of the female lions on the reserve had cubs but until this moment no one had seen them. I'm not sure who was more surprised by the initial encounter, us or the cubs! Their first reaction was to hide behind their (rather disinterested) mother. One by one their curiosity got the better of them and they each popped their heads up to take a look at the strange metal animal in front of them.

For #Caturday  by +Jules Falk Hunter, +Shantha Marie Fountain and +Cicely Robin Laing (+CATURDAY!)

2012-10-10 08:29:26 (28 comments, 5 reshares, 59 +1s)

Elephant Herd

On our very first game drive we encountered this herd of elephants. The light was lovely and so were the elephants - they ended up walking all around our open-top truck, some of the more curious younger ones to within a metre or two.

#ElephantWednesday by +Diego Cattaneo, +Louisa Catharine Forsyth and +Matthias Haeussler (+Elephant Wednesday)
#WildlifeWednesday  by +Morkel Erasmus and +Mike Spinak
#WholeWildlifeWeek

2012-10-09 10:35:59 (17 comments, 2 reshares, 64 +1s)

Giraffe at Sunrise

One of the nice things about going on early morning game drives is the light can be wonderful. In this case however we encountered a giraffe that was standing behind a tree and with the sun glaring off to one side behind him. I happily sat watching him browsing but couldn't see a photo opportunity so left the camera alone. After a couple of minutes he decided to change trees, and it only just occurred to me in the nick of time that I'd have a chance at a shot as he walked past the sun.

Giraffe trivia: you can tell males from females by their horns (they're actually called ossicones). Females have hair all over their ossicones whereas males have bald bits at the top because it wears off from fighting. I lifted up the exposure on this image to check, the giraffe is definitely a male :)

For #AfricanTuesday by +Morkel Erasmus,... more »

2012-10-08 18:05:54 (40 comments, 13 reshares, 106 +1s)

Look out below!

Puffins aren't the most graceful of birds when it comes to landings. The birds on the ground in this photo were right to look apprehensive - the incoming puffin barely managed to avoid the birds below as he came in for a semi-controlled crash.

#birdphotographymonday by +David Hemmings (+Bird & Wildlife Photography)
#midairmonday by +Jeff Moreau 

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (17 comments, 2 reshares, 48 +1s)

Drakensberg National Park

This was one of the more challenging sunrises I've ever witnessed, but boy was it worth it. To get to this point we set out at 3:30am and hiked up towards Cathedral Peak in the pitch dark. By 4am we were wading thigh deep through an icy cold river, torches in mouths... if we weren't fully awake before the river crossing we sure were afterwards!

We made it up to the ridgeline where this photo was taken from in time for a spectacular 360° view at sunrise. After a good break for breakfast and photos, we carried on and tried to make it to the 3004m high summit. Unfortunately we had to turn back a couple of hundred metres short because the snow was too deep and the rocks too slippery. That didn't detract from an incredible (and incredibly tough) day however. By the time we arrived back 'home' at about 4pm we'd hiked up and... more »

2012-10-04 15:22:06 (50 comments, 18 reshares, 132 +1s)

I'm now back in London after six weeks of volunteer work on a game reserve in South Africa. I can't believe the time has flown by already.

The people, the places, the wildlife, everything was amazing and better than I could have hoped for. I got to learn a lot about the effort required to maintain a reserve like that - it's staggering! I have a new-found respect for those people who make it all happen, from the specialists who monitor the various animals' health and well being to the anti-poaching team who patrol the reserve 24/7 and really do put their lives at risk doing so.

Needless to say I took plenty of photos during my time there and I look forward to sharing some of them with you in the weeks ahead. I haven't caught up on processing them all yet but here's a cute one to get the ball rolling.

This lion cub was one of four and is about 2 to 3... more »

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (22 comments, 4 reshares, 66 +1s)

Bamburgh Castle Wildflowers

These colourful poppies were an unexpected bonus during my trip up to Northumberland in June. I'd liked to have been a few paces back for this shot but that would have been hazardous to my health - there was a busy road with cars wizzing past about 10cm to my left!

#FortressesFriday by +Benjamin Dahlhoff
#FloralFriday  by +Tamara Pruessner  (+FloralFriday)

Tomorrow I head to South Africa for 6 weeks where I'll be doing volunteer work on a game reserve in northern Zululand. It'll make a pretty big change from life in London that's for sure and of course I'm really looking forward to the adventure!

It sounds like I won't have great Internet access, perhaps just a slow connection once a week, so apologies in advance if I'm a bit quiet over the coming weeks. I'll of course be taking plenty ofpho... more »

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (25 comments, 10 reshares, 117 +1s)

Avenue of the Baobabs

For #TreeTuesday, by +Christina Lawrie and +Shannon S. Myers (+Tree Tuesday)

2012-08-14 10:25:11 (27 comments, 10 reshares, 97 +1s)

Black Headed Gull and Puffin

Black headed gulls are opportunistic feeders, and what better opportunity than a puffin that has already done all the hard work by gathering a mouthful of sand eels? This puffin was on its way back to its burrow to feed its chick when the gull attacked. Fortunately for the puffin, a last second change of direction combined with a short run for cover meant it managed to escape without losing any of the booty.

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (26 comments, 2 reshares, 65 +1s)

Sunrise over Viñales, Cuba

I'm away for the next 3 days and probably won't be online much until next week so thought I'd sneak in one last photo before I go. This was taken one slightly hazy morning in Viñales, Cuba.

Enjoy your weekends everyone!

For  #travelthursday , curated by +Laura Mitchum 

2012-08-09 11:08:41 (28 comments, 5 reshares, 57 +1s)

Dinner Time!

We encountered this bear on an ice flow north of Franz Josef Land. He (due to its size and thick neck we think it was a male) had obviously been feeding on this seal for a while but he was still picking his way through the remains. It was an experience I'll never forget. The glaucous gulls that can be seen in the picture are often found hanging around bear kills, scavenging for leftovers.

This bear was a very lucky one. He was a long way south of the pack ice which is where most of the seals (food!) can be found. Generally when bears don't stay with the retreating ice they end up stuck on land for the summer with very little to eat, so this seal was potentially a life-saver for him. As of August 1st, the extent of the sea ice this year is the lowest on the satellite record.

News, satellite images and other information about the current ice levels... more »

2012-08-07 19:38:00 (53 comments, 2 reshares, 80 +1s)

I just saw +Laurent Coppée has updated his profile photo with a classic shot of himself wearing +Gilmar Smith's fantastic hamburger hat! I can't compete with the hamburger, the best I can do hat-wise is this one. I was wearing the hat specifically as protection against dive-bombing terns. As a side-effect, I guess it made me look a bit like a fencepost.

Sorry +Sumit Sen for changing my picture, and also for borrowing your hat for this photo ;-) +Anette Mossbacher, this was the best I could do, I didn't have any meerkats handy unfortunately. Also +John Kampsen I think it was you I promised to upload this for originally, sorry it's taken me so long to do so!

2012-08-09 11:05:58 (36 comments, 37 reshares, 126 +1s)

Arctic Terns Fighting

A few weeks ago I posted a shot from the Farne Islands of a pair of terns fighting. Here is another shot from the same fight.

#birdphotographymonday by +David Hemmings (+Bird & Wildlife Photography )
#midairmonday by +Jeff Moreau
#actionmonday  by +Adrian Buturca (+ActionMonday)

2012-08-06 11:09:21 (41 comments, 7 reshares, 82 +1s)

Walrus Colony Action

Here's a photo from our visit to a walrus colony I mentioned in my previous post. There were perhaps up to 300 walrus, a far higher number than we were expecting to see (in previous years they had apparently numbered around 20-60). Presumably this is a positive sign that the walrus are finally starting to recover in numbers.

The amount of activity was at times almost overwhelming. Groups of 20-50 males jumped in the water causing a huge commotion, sometimes heading straight for our Zodiacs out of either curiosity or with the intention of defending their territory. This wasn't something to be taken lightly; we didn't want to disturb the walrus, plus they have been known to puncture the boats with their tusks! As a result we often had to back off to a safe distance in a hurry when a few over enthusiastic walrus surfaced nearby.

Soon,... more »

2012-08-02 14:35:15 (21 comments, 3 reshares, 53 +1s)

*Atlantic Walrus* (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus)

The walrus only lives in the Arctic Ocean and nearby seas and was hunted almost to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their populations have recovered somewhat since then though the Atlantic Walrus in particular still remains at low levels. Current estimates range from 20,000 to 30,000 animals, but so little is known about their numbers, habits and distribution that they are in a conservation category called "Data Deficient".

This was a lone male we encountered on an ice floe however we were also lucky enough to observe a colony of 250-300 walrus a little later in the trip.

#ThreatenedThursday curated by +Diego Cattaneo, +Sandy Schepis, +Anette Mossbacher and +Sumit Sen.

2012-08-01 13:57:01 (37 comments, 6 reshares, 76 +1s)

Yesterday I arrived back from a couple of incredible weeks in the Arctic to find that London has come alive with the Olympic Games. I've heard the opening ceremony was pretty good so I might watch that later today. I also intend to catch up with as many of your posts as possible and see what I've been missing out on here during the past two weeks :)

We found this bear on an ice floe while heading to the north of Franz Josef Land. It was one of the few bears we got to see up close, with the ship managing to carefully approach to within perhaps 50m of him. As a real bonus he was part way through eating a seal! I'll save the gory photos for later, though even here you can see a bit of seal blood on his nose.

It was a fantastic encounter I won't forget any time soon. We watched him for about 30 minutes before leaving him to it and continuing on our way.

... more »

2012-07-16 09:13:08 (36 comments, 19 reshares, 129 +1s)

Good Morning Everyone!

This was one of a dozen or so grey seals we came close to on the Farne Islands. She looks like she's waving hi. In fact it was the start of a huge yawn. If for some reason anyone wants to know what the entire inside of a grey seal's mouth looks like, let me know. The next couple of shots in the sequence will be all you need!

Early tomorrow morning I'll be winging my way towards Murmansk and boarding a ship bound for Franz Josef Land in search of walrus, polar bears and whatever else we might encounter along the way. I'm not sure quite what to expect and I'm pretty excited! I'll be completely offline for a couple of weeks but hope to have plenty of new photos and no doubt a story or two to share when I get back.  

Have fun everyone!

#WholeWildlifeWeek by +Anette Mossbacher, +Dick Whitlock, +Sandy Schepis,+... more »

2012-07-11 11:03:44 (73 comments, 36 reshares, 207 +1s)

Dinner Time!

This Atlantic Puffin is on the way back to its burrow with a mouthful of sand eels to feed its chick. Puffins can dive up to 70m deep and they use their tongues to hold the eels against their beak as they continue to catch more.

The hard work isn't over for this particular puffin just yet though. Lurking around the burrows are dozens of black headed gulls waiting for puffins like this one to arrive home. As soon as they land the gulls set upon them, trying to get them to drop the fish. It was fascinating to watch the poor puffins changing course at the last second to land clear of the gulls, then run in zig-zags to the safety of their burrows. Generally they got away with it but every now and again a puffin would lose its entire catch and have to start over.

#WildlifeWednesday by +Mike Spinak and +Morkel Erasmus
#BirdLoversWorldwide by +Robert... more »

2012-07-09 13:37:40 (56 comments, 8 reshares, 105 +1s)

Arctic Terns Fighting

These two terns were performing some pretty impressive aerobatics while they had a brief fight with each other. It made for a pleasant change - generally speaking the terns preferred to attack my head instead!

#birdphotographymonday by +David Hemmings (+Bird & Wildlife Photography)
#midairmonday  by +Jeff Moreau

2012-11-02 00:24:59 (30 comments, 5 reshares, 63 +1s)

Bamburgh Castle Sunset

#fortressesfriday by +Benjamin Dahlhoff
#sunsetsaturday by +Dennis Hoffbuhr
#saturdaynightlight by +Dirk Heindoerfer, +SaturdayNightLight
#ruralsaturday  by +Mario Cerroni, +#RuralSaturday