A few times a week I go walking with a friend around Radnor Lake (Nashville, Tennessee).

These walks are supposed to be more for exercise than for photography, but I cannot go anywhere in Nature without a camera

This morning we saw a White-tailed Deer Buck looking after a herd of does, a Beaver swimming and making a quick excursion on land and we observed the courtship behavior of some Canada Geese.

A most productive wildlife photography morning!

If you would like to review all my Radnor Lake picture go to www.sperka.biz/radnor

I have been working recently with some very interesting animals.  So, here is small animal species identification contest. These are six different macro pictures.

The first reader of my blog who sends in the correct identification of all six pictures (species names) by email to info@sperka.com will win a 8″x10″ print.

Enjoy the contest 

I will publish the correct match and the winner soon!

Here are two pictures of a case when the animal chose to come so close to our vehicle, that we made the decision to get out of the way . The second picture is taken from a considerable distance. The Elephant Bull past us quietly!

In the first picture you can see the dashboard of the car and the Elephant. It was pretty close.

Picture 1: Camera: Canon 1D Mark IV / Lens: Canon L 17-40mm at 28mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/320s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +/-0.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Time: winter morning / Freehand from vehicle

Picture 2: Camera: Canon 1D Mark IV / Lens: Canon L 17-40mm at 40mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/320s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +1.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Time: winter morning / Freehand from vehicle

This is another scenic shot with an animal in it. But you have to look very carefully to detect the Cheetah in the tree.

Two groups enjoy this Cheetah sighting in the morning mist from their game viewing vehicles.

This pictures was taken at Phinda Private Game Reserve, South Africa.

Picture Data: Camera: Canon D30 / Lens: Canon L 100-400mm at 400mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/1000s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 100 / Exposure Correction +/-0.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Auto / Time: winter morning / Freehand

Well, this is another scenic shot but it has some animals in it – The best of both worlds ? .

It is a picture of a winter sunset at Imagine Dam on Phinda Private Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

I hope you enjoy this very African scene.

Picture Data: Camera: Canon 350D / Lens: Canon L 4.0 17-40mm at 37mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/30s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction -1.00eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: Shade / Time: evening / Freehand

Most of the time you see a picture of a lion with an open mouth the animal is either yawning or flehming. It may look threatening and intimidating but it really is neither.

The young lioness in this pictures shows that she is quite upset. She is growling  at two young males (one of them in the picture), which were part of a different pride, who walked quietly past her in a show of dominance.

This scene was part of an encounter of the juvenile offspring from two prides on Thanda Private Game Reserve (2 males and one female on both sides). This happened while the adult females of each pride were absent.

During the time we watched the encounter there were no open hostilities, just lots of territorial marking behavior, many growls and fierce facial expressions (as the one in the picture

But the next day the males of both prides showed obvious signs of a night battle (wounds from claws on his shoulder – see the picture below).

More about lions:

Both males and females defend the pride and its territory against intruders. The male(s) associated with the pride must defend their relationship to the pride from outside males who attempt to take over their relationship with the pride. Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females. Membership only changes with the births and deaths of lionesses, although some females do leave and become nomadic and/or form a new pride. Sub-adult males on the other hand, must leave the pride when they reach maturity at around 2–3 years of age.

Picture Data:

Picture 1: Camera: Canon 1Ds MIII / Lens: Canon L 4.0 500mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/500s / Aperture: f/4 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +1eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: midday / Freehand

Picture 2: Camera: Canon 1D MIV / Lens: Canon L 3.5-5.6 28-300mm at 210mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/4000s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 1600 / Exposure Correction +0.5eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: manual K6500 / Time: mid morning / Freehand

For more Lion pictures got to
www.sperka.biz/lion (for African Lion)
www.sperka.biz/lion2 (for African Lion in zoos)
www.sperka.biz/lion3 (for Asiatic Lion)

Here is one more scenic “non-animal” picture. This for all the “barn lovers” out there. I took this image in the Swiss Alps during a trip from Germany to Italy in August 2010.

This is a typical small barn next to a hill-side path. In the winter this area would be covered with snow, but in summer it displays lush green grass.

Picture Data:
Camera: Canon 1D MIV/ Lens: Canon DO 70-300mm at 200mm / Mode: AV / Shutter Speed: 1/350s / Aperture: f/5.6 / ISO: 400 / Exposure Correction +0.5eV / Metering: Central weighted / White balance: K6500 / Time: early afternoon / Freehand from a car window

In the last few weeks a few people have asked me if I could also put some of my scenic “non-animal” pictures on the blog.

Even if it is not my focus (I usually target things that can move ) I will post a few of my scenic shots over the next few weeks.

So here we go. The first picture is – predictably – from South Africa!

It is a view over the Mkuze Game Reserve, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. The picture was taken from high ground in then north of Phinda Private Game Reserve in the early hours of the morning.

Enjoy it.

It is hard to believe, but I forgot to put my favorite cat, the African Leopard, into the contest selection

Congratulations to Ricky Reino from Surrey in the United Kingdom. He was the first to get all answers correct. And here they are:

1 Caracal – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
2 Serval – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
3 Cheetah – Phinda Private Game Reserve – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
4 Snow Leopard – Zurich Zoo – Switzerland
5 Cougar – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
6 Clouded Leopard – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
7 Jaguar – Chattanooga Zoo – Tennessee, USA
8 Eurasian Lynx – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
9 Male African Lion – Thanda Private Game Reserve – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
10 African Wild Cat – Limpopo Region, South Africa
11 Manul or Pallas Cat – Zurich Zoo, Switzerland
12 Bengal Tiger – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
13 Female African Lion – Phinda Private Game Reserve – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
14 White Lion – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA
15 White Bengal Tiger – Nashville Zoo at Grassmere – Tennessee, USA
16 Amur or Siberian Tiger – Private Collection – Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
17 Panther or Black Leopard – The Bronx Zoo – New York, USA
18 Jaguarundi – Krefeld Zoo – Germany

The “Forgotten Cat” …

African Leopard – Londolozi Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa

… and the “Extras”

Sand Cat – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA
Bobcat – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA
Ocelot – Memphis Zoo – Tennessee, USA
Fishing Cat – Cincinnati Zoo – Ohio, USA

So, here is small contest for the cat lovers among you.

These are all the 18 different wild cat header images in one picture.

Below are 22 possible IDs for these cats (so I do not make it too easy I have included 4 species, which are not in the picture

The first reader of my blog who sends in the correct match list (images to names) by email to info@sperka.com will win a 8″x10″ EYES print of the cat species of her/his choice.

A – Male African Lion / B – Clouded Leopard / C – Amur/Sigerian Tiger
D – Eurasian Lynx / E – Caracal / F – Sand Cat / G – Ocelot / H – White Lion
I – Bengal Tiger / K – Jaguar / L – Snow Leopard / M – Serval /N – Cougar
O – Fishing Cat / P – Panther / Q – White Tiger / R – Pallas Cat/Manul
S – Jaguarundi / T – Cheetah / U – Bobcat / V – African Wild Cat / W – Female African Lion

Enjoy the contest

I will publish the correct match and the winner tomorrow!

If you like my EYES images go to www.sperka.biz/EYES to see more of them.

If you would like to help to protect all the wild cats in this world go to www.panthera.org