The World Through Our Lens
Photography from our encounters with wild animals, from our travels around the world.
On a late July afternoon, on his way to a local farmer’s market, Bob made a brief stop at North Reesor Pond in Rouge National Urban Park . His intention was to look for shorebirds, but with none presenting, he began to scour the reeds and bushes for insects. That is when he happened upon this most unusual caterpillar, a Cecropia Moth Larva. Read more
Pandemic Birding had been a whole new experience for Bob and me. Since the pandemic was officially declared in March 2020, we had made outdoor activities a priority but always kept within a 30-minute radius from our home. On one such occasion in late May 2020, we happened upon this newly fledged Eastern Screech Owlet. Read more
Day 2 in Costa Rica had us first completing a very early morning guided bird hike. After breakfast back at Hotel Kokoro, Bob and I headed to Ecocentro Danaus on the edge of La Fortuna. It is a private reserve with a butterfly conservatory where Bob and I hoped to see some of Costa Rica’s tiny winged jewels. Read more
Bob and I covered a lot of ground on our second day in Costa Rica. We began birding before sunrise and by early afternoon, we decided to check out Ecocentro Danaus on the outskirts of La Fortuna. The small private reserve was rich in wildlife. Read more
Setting off mid-morning from Skukuza Rest Camp in Kruger National Park on a self-guided safari had Bob and me filled with anticipation. Our destination for the afternoon was Sunset Dam near Lower Sabie Rest Camp, a mere 36 kilometres southeast of Skukuza. The generous waterhole at Sunset Dam rewarded us with prime wildlife viewing that included this family of Hippopotamuses. Read more
From the patio door, on our second morning at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, I saw dense fog hemming in the mountains and feared, at best, an overcast if not a rainy day. A glance at the clock revealed it to be only 5:30 a.m. Two hours later, the fog was lifting, and the sun bathed the hillsides in golden showers of light. Read more
Bob and I arrived at Hilltop Camp in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park exhausted after an extremely long day that saw us traveling from Kruger National Park and across Swaziland to get there. Over dinner, we had views of the Park from the expansive restaurant patio that overlooked muted silhouettes of undulating mountaintops while an armed guard sat unobtrusively in the shadows and watched for wildlife like Vervet Monkeys that might cross the thin electric wire just below the terrace. Read more
It was one day as Bob and I sat in the car alongside a gravel road in Kruger National Park that we saw this prime example of an African Bush Elephant. We had pulled to the side of the road to sit for a spell and eat our lunch when this behemoth stepped from the cover of thick vegetation onto the road right in front of us. Talk about lunchtime entertainment! Read more
I couldn’t help myself but every time that Bob and I saw warthogs in South Africa, I thought of Pumbaa, the warthog in the Disney film The Lion King. And when Bob and I were conducting our self-guided safaris within Kruger National Park, we saw our fair share of these unusual looking animals. Read more