Gallery - Members’ Photos
An Acrobatic Kereru by Amilie Bentley ̶ I stood a couple of metres below some tall kowhai trees, watching as a male kereru persistently flew after his female companion. Eager to mate, he was so adamant, she not so much. This battle continued for longer than I could take, but the forces of nature were at play. Finally, there came a moment when they both tired and the female pictured here hung like a performing acrobat, catching her breath while she could. Her beautiful colours were in full display. However, this did not last long as she then flew from branch to branch, eager to escape the testosterone-filled male who would not give up his pursuit for her. The forces of nature were at play once again.
Lesser Antillean Iguana by Paul Willyams APSNZ MNZIPP AFIAP The photograph was taken on the island of St Eustasius (aka Statia) in the Caribbean in 2015. The Lesser Antillean Iguana lives only on that island and is critically endangered. They are also hard to find as they spend all their time in trees. They start out green and go completely grey as they get older. I found this young one right outside the National Park office and was able to get close. Fortunately the lighting was perfect (dull) and I got my focus spot-on, and leaned against a pole to stay steady. This was the first photo where I really felt I had it pin-sharp. This was taken at f5 with 189 mm focal length on a Canon 7D.
Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) on the coast of Namibia by Annemarie Clinton APSNZ ̶ Jackals are opportunistic feeders and readily feed on carrion when it is available. They are formidable hunters of rodents and gazelles and even feed on fruits and insects when prey is scarce. Besides brown hyaenas, jackals are the only large terrestrial carnivores on the coast of the southern Namibia desert. Both species feed on flotsam, carrion and hunt birds and small mammals. Cape fur seals are the main food source when there are nearby seal colonies. Due to the long lactation period of the seals (approximately 11 months), the colony is occupied all year long. During the seal birth season, from Nov to Feb, there are many placentas and stillborn seals available, providing most of the jackal diet. To get to the meat, the jackal has to open the tough skin, this procedure could take several minutes, and the jackal always starts from beneath the fore flipper, as seen in the image.
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