Western Osprey - The Bird That Changed My Life!
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
1M ago
All photographers out there know that sinking feeling when you miss the shot - the disappointment and heartache is often difficult to deal with, the ultimate cliché of “The One That Got Away!” This story is very close to my heart as it is the bird that inspired me to take my bird photography more seriously thanks to the AMAZING YouTube channel of Mark Smith - the true legend of Osprey videography and photography! I kept dreaming that one day I could also fill my viewfinder with one of these majestic hunters of the sky! I live in Langebaan (about 90 minutes outside of Cape Town up the West Coas ..read more
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Bateleur Eagle (adult vs juvenile) - Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
3M ago
Since my wife and I started going to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (we just completed our 4th trip) a decent image of a Bateleur Eagle was near the top of the bird wishlist. In the past we could not get accommodation at Nossob (need to book like a year in advance), so we have always day tripped to Cubitje Quap, the famous waterhole for Bateleur sightings. Due to there never being enough time we have blanked (not spotted an eagle) each and every time - but hopes were high as we managed to find a booking at the Riverfront chalets in Nossob during our last trip in October. We could not contain ..read more
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The 3 Musketeers - the new era of lion in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park?
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
4M ago
Leading up to our most recent trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we were following the social media posts on the high lion activity in the park, and most notably the 3 subadult males called the Musketeers. We could not wait to see the havoc they were creating with our own eyes, come on, let’s go! Background The story goes that 6 subadult males (around 2.8 years old) were banished from the Lower Dune pride by the adult males in order to maintain their dominance. The 6 split into 2 coalitions of 3 and the 3 affectionately known as The Musketeers simply walked down the dune road and settled ..read more
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African Wild Cat - Secretive Cat of the Kalahari Desert
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
11M ago
Leading up to our latest trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we broke our own cardinal “rule” by adopting the typical safari-goer’s approach by compiling a wish list of animals/birds that we wanted to see. We learnt years ago that this is a recipe for disaster because if you do not see everything on your list you tend to not enjoy yourself and end up chasing around the park instead of slowing down and enjoying the deafening silence and smells that you only find in the bush. Luckily the experience gained from years of going to the bush kicked in and as soon as our tyres hit the gravel road ..read more
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Leopard, the Spotted Predator of the Kalahari Desert
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
1y ago
Every nature lover out there will undoubtedly agree with the following statement: “there is no other animal in the world that will stop you in your tracks and make you wait for hours upon hours for it to show itself quite like a leopard”. On our recent trip to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park we did just that, spending hours in our car in the blistering heat waiting for leopards to wake up from their slumber in the famous camel thorn trees hoping to get an few seconds to photograph them - boy was it WORTH it! On our previous trip (link) we focused more on the birdlife due to limited big predator s ..read more
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Aerial Predators of the Kalahari
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
1y ago
To celebrate my milestone birthday (50th) we decided that it would be the perfect time to make a 10 year long pipe dream of visiting the arid Kalahari a reality, so we quickly set about planning a trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park! You would think that after 10 years I would have all the finer details in the palm of my hand, but in reality it could not be further from the truth and to be honest I was a little rusty in the planning department due to our limited trips to the bush as a result of the Corona virus. Thankfully I have some amazing photography friends that visit the Park regula ..read more
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Cape Vultures of Potberg Mountains - saved from the brink of extinction
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
1y ago
What can I say about the Cape Vulture, I guess majestic, breathtaking, resilient and graceful are a few words that immediately pop into my mind. Over the years we have been following the progress of the incredible conservation effort in the Potberg area of the Overberg aimed at saving the Cape Vulture from extinction! We have visited the area many times, sometimes to climb the mountains to view these magnificent birds in their roosting area or to simply take leisurely drives along the dirt/gravel roads in the hope of spotting them as they descend to feed. On our recent visit we had the most AM ..read more
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Giant Kingfisher Hunts Mozambican Tilapia
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
2y ago
My fellow bird photographers out there know how awesome it is to just see a Giant Kingfisher let alone getting great photographs of one, now throw in a HUGE Mozambican tilapia into the mix and you have the makings of a dream come true! I recently had the privilege of experiencing this at my “local“ wetland and as I sit here behind my laptop I am trying to find the words to do justice to the mix of emotions I felt that morning in the hide - it was AMAZING! intaka island Situated in the heart of Cape Town, South Africa, this wetland is the home of many species of birds, including Kingfishers tha ..read more
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One simple adjustment to drastically improve your bird photography
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
2y ago
All photographers out there will agree with me that one of the most challenging aspects of bird photography is TIME! Recently I tested a theory out in the field and the results shocked me - one simple adjustment DRASTICALLY improved the quality of my bird images - keep reading to find out more! The life of a bird photographer Unlike landscape or even wildlife photographers (at times), bird photographers all too often find themselves in a “snatch and grab” situation. What I mean by this is that we frantically pick up our gear and fire away hundreds of frames in a few seconds as we are scared th ..read more
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Top 10 Bird Images of 2021
Mark Booysen Photography
by Mark Booysen
2y ago
Looking back at 2021 from a bird photography perspective makes me smile as I managed to capture some decent images of my bucketlist birds. Here are some of the highlights: Yellow-billed Kite that caught a HUGE puff adder and landed within a few metres of my car to feed on it - talk about a once if a lifetime moment that lasted a full 15 minutes - read the blog post here Verreaux’s Eagle successfully hunting a mole before taken to the air and providing me an opportunity of capturing a few frames of it’s prized catch tightly clenched in it’s HUGE talons - read the blog post here Eventually ..read more
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