Beauty of the Wild

Life of Popular WildCam Extended

2008-06-12T09:56:00.001-07:00

Good news for fans of National Geographic's WildCam at Pete's Pond, Mashatu Game Reserve, is that the cam will now continue operating until December 8.

The original intention was to close down the cam sometime in October, or certainly once the summer rains started, but such has been the popularity of the cam that its life has been extended.

For those of you who are not familiar with the WildCam, it's been placed in a "hide" at a small dam called Pete's Pond in the Mashatu Game Reserve in Eastern Botswana.

At this time of year it's very dry in Mashatu, so animals have to rely on any water that's available.

Most of the natural waterholes or streams have dried up, so the pond is one of the few places where the resident wildlife can find water.

This makes for excellent viewing, as a wide variety of animals have been arriving to drink, including elephant, a selection of antelope, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, hyena, warthog, jackals, plus numerous bird species.

National Wildlife Federation

2008-06-12T09:55:00.001-07:00

National Wildlife Federation is one of the body that is dedicated to the cause of wildlife. Yeah. National Wildlife Federation has the objective of protecting and restoring critical wildlife habitat.

In Washington, North American Wildlife Conference was held in the year 1936. In this conference, General Wildlife Federation was created. Subsequently, in the year 1938, General Wildlife Federation became the National Wildlife Federation.

National wildlife federation is one of the bodies that serve the purpose of conservation by focusing on the various issues pertaining to the protection of wildlife that consists of wild fauna and wild flora.

Yeah… This is one of the non-profit making bodies that help the people in understanding the values of wildlife significance and has many volunteer positions.

The persons who get associated with these voluntary positions have many functions starting from the arrangement of tours to the wildlife areas, supporting to undertake research in the field of wildlife and enlightening of people to be aware of wildlife.

In the field of wildlife conservation, in fact, this is the major American’s organization that speaks volumes to its credit.

Hence, even the children and senior citizens know the importance of wildlife and their vast habitat. The schedules maintained are ultimately for the future of the children of America and of course, the whole world.

This organization expects others to make a pledge to protect the wildlife and their valuable living place called as habitat.

Further, it seeks funds also to formulate some useful protective measures for the effective conservation of various species of wild animals especially the endangered wild animal species.

Additionally, it has concrete goals related to the protection of world from the effects of global warming. Joining as a member in this National Wildlife Federation is a credit for anybody who is bothered on wildlife. All of the wildlife lovers love National Wildlife Federation.

Nesting Hummers

2008-06-12T09:54:00.001-07:00

I post a holder for dryer lint for the birds to use in their nests. Today, I saw a hummer picking out some fluff to use for her nest. My first sighting of the year. Now to try and follow her to see what else I can discover!
Isn't Spring wonderful! Here's one of my new etchings of a hummer nest.

African Rock Fig

2008-06-12T09:53:00.001-07:00

Photo Details: African rock fig (Ficus glumosa) - a portion of its trunk horizontal to the ground - growing from a rocky outcrop, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana.
Camera: Canon EOS Elan film camera, Sigma 24mm lens with polarising filter, using Fuji transparency film.

Klipspringer

2008-06-12T09:52:00.001-07:00

Photo Details: Male klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) posing on rocky hillside, Mashatu Game Reserve, Tuli Block, Botswana.
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel (300D); Lens: Canon 100-400 IS Zoom; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/2000; Aperture: f5.6; ISO: 800.

Additional Info: The klipspringer (literal translation: "stone or rock jumper") is a small antelope (shoulder height about 60cm; weight 10 to 14kg) that lives on rocky outcrops and kopjes. This habitat restricts its distribution, so you're unlikely to see klipspringers in open grassland or savannah. In their chosen habitat, klipspringers are incredibly agile, with flat-tipped hoofs that allow them to bound up and down steep slopes and jump from rock to rock.

As can be seen from the picture above, the coat is coarse and consists of hollow, spiny bristles that provide insulation against extremes of temperature. Klipspringer commonly occur in pairs and form lifelong bonds. In southern Africa only the males carry the short, straight horns although in Tanzania both males and females have horns.

World’s Rarest Rhino Captured on Camera

2008-06-12T09:51:00.001-07:00

The rare footage of the world’s more rarest rhino have been captured by the hidden cameras in the Jungles of Indonesia’s Java island. This rare rhino is inhabitated only in two places in the world viz. 50 of them in the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java and eight of them in Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam.

Specially designed video cameras have been installed in Ujung Kulon to capture the pictures of these rare rhinos. Fortunately the team led by the campaign group WWF able to capture the footage of these rare Javan rhinos at the cost of the expensive cameras. The mother rhino became a little overexcited and charged the camera, sending it flying.

Adhi Rachmat Hariyadi, who leads WWF-Indonesia’s project is very much excited to note the presence of this rarest rhino in their project area. The footage is a big boon in wild life conservation to save the species. Hariyadi told that this footage gives new information on the rhinos’ health as well as vital insights into their breeding habits.

Snail Kites

2008-06-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

There are several pairs of Snail Kites nesting in and around the Marsh Trail at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. I’ve decided that this will be my summer project, to document the nest and eventually the fledgling kites, so you will probably see the gallery dominated by this one species. Of course if you’ve been a regular visitor here, you already know that the Snail Kite is one of my favorite species to photograph.

If you are interested in photographing the nesting kites at Loxahatchee, please keep the following in mind.

Many of the nests are too far away to see; only one nest is really visible from the Marsh Trail.

I recommend a minimum of a 400mm lens to be able to really get these birds large enough in the frame, and most of the time you will need a 500mm lens or more.

The visible nest is a morning shoot. The sun is just not in the correct position to be able to yield any good shots in the afternoon.

After about 7:30 in the morning the sun is blistering hot, and the gnats will swarm upon you. Wear insect repellant, sunscreen, and bring some water. You can easily become dehydrated out there. Also watch out for ants.

Finally, remember to be courteous to the other photographers and birders out there. Do not do anything that will disturb the kites. The Snail Kite is an endangered species in the Florida Everglades and it is illegal to disturb them.