Etosha – Vulture Magic
During my trip this year to Etosha I was hoping to capture some of the vultures interaction with other predators in the vast wilderness. I was not disappointed by what i saw in the field but photographically it was very challenging. I did mange to witness 2 black back jackals ( canis mesomelas ) feeding on a fresh springbok carcass that was obviously a Cheetah kill from earlier that morning as the vultures had not yet started to congregate and sightings of Cheetah were recorded the days before in that general area . This image i captured was not the only highlight of this sighting………………………
One of the clues nature photographers use to find the site of a kill or dead animal is to scan the sky during the day and look for the tell tale thermals holding soaring vultures as they search for any meal . With the vast open spaces and large availability of water around I knew that finding any interaction near a water hole would be difficult . I concentrated early mornings on scanning low level shrubs and any ground activity and as it started to heat up , the signs of soaring vultures…….
