Posted by Elliott Neep on September 20, 2007 at 2:32 PM
This was photographed at Lake Nakuru National Park, two hours outside of Nairobi. Its well worth a visit if you ever go to Kenya. Its a vast shallow soda lake supporting about 1 million flamingos (although they are disappearing fast and only numbered 500,000 while I was there). The lake is being drained and polluted on an intense scale. The pale colour of the birds denotes a lack of food.
Spotted hyenas regularly patrol the shoreline. We counted a group of 14 on this occasion. Individuals repeatedly broke off from the pack, charging through the water, into the flamingos. They do this several times in order to select a lame bird. To see 000s of flamingos swarm into the air is breathtaking! The noise and colours are simply mind-blowing and almost impossible to portray in a single still image.
This shot is one of many captured during the last minutes of our stay - an hour later we were on a plane heading for the Masai Mara. Thanks for looking. C&C welcomed.
EOS 1DSmkII, EF600mm f/4 L IS & 1.4xTC (840mm), Beanbag, 1/500sec @ f/6.3, Manual Exp, ISO400
Posted by Alan Bryant on September 20, 2007 at 2:40 PM
WOW simply awesome
Did that one catch any ?.Not sounding morbid or anything lol
Posted by Chris Lloyd on September 20, 2007 at 2:51 PM
Fantastic stuff as ever Elliot, I particularly like the colours in this and that is what sets it apart for me.
These images really are tempting me to go to Africa now!
Regards Chris.
Posted by Sean Bolton on September 20, 2007 at 6:17 PM
Hi Elliott
Really nice action shot. Great colours too.
A shame to hear about the problems with the lake and pollution. Intensification of agriculture and industry is slowly but surely going to destroy the natural wildlife of Africa, with eventually only a few 'theme park' reserves left to hold whats left.
Posted by Elliott Neep on September 22, 2007 at 5:44 AM
Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated. Its very difficult to produce fresh material in Africa. Most subjects have been done to death and it takes great wildlife moments such as this to make it all worth while.
Alan B - no he didn't catch any but another one behind us did.
ARD - Thank you... I would like to accept this award on behalf of my family and friends... yada yada yada
Posted by Graeme Lee on September 22, 2007 at 4:38 PM
Doesn't get any better than this Elliott.........
Posted by Danny Green on September 24, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Discussion
12 repliesSpotted hyenas regularly patrol the shoreline. We counted a group of 14 on this occasion. Individuals repeatedly broke off from the pack, charging through the water, into the flamingos. They do this several times in order to select a lame bird. To see 000s of flamingos swarm into the air is breathtaking! The noise and colours are simply mind-blowing and almost impossible to portray in a single still image.
This shot is one of many captured during the last minutes of our stay - an hour later we were on a plane heading for the Masai Mara. Thanks for looking. C&C welcomed.
EOS 1DSmkII, EF600mm f/4 L IS & 1.4xTC (840mm), Beanbag, 1/500sec @ f/6.3, Manual Exp, ISO400
Did that one catch any ?.Not sounding morbid or anything lol
These images really are tempting me to go to Africa now!
Regards Chris.
Really nice action shot. Great colours too.
A shame to hear about the problems with the lake and pollution. Intensification of agriculture and industry is slowly but surely going to destroy the natural wildlife of Africa, with eventually only a few 'theme park' reserves left to hold whats left.
cheers
Sean
This image is so different from the other African photographs that I have seen,
The species,colours and the action all make for a very interesting shot thank you or sharing it :-)
I have seen the sky full of flamingos in the South of France and I agree with you it is a sight to behold :-)
Jacqui
John
Aberdeen
I give this running and hunting Hyena my 'running and hunting Hyena' award for September 2007!
Fab.
Regards
Alan B - no he didn't catch any but another one behind us did.
ARD - Thank you... I would like to accept this award on behalf of my family and friends... yada yada yada
Cracking shot, looks like you had a good trip.
Danny