{"id":19924,"date":"2026-07-05T06:42:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T18:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?p=19924"},"modified":"2026-07-02T21:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T09:59:37","slug":"day-2-lions-and-cheetah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924","title":{"rendered":"Day 2 – Lions and Cheetah"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Blood<\/a>
Blood blushed lion on the prowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The routine of our days began with a 05h30 wake-up call in the dark with warm smoky water poured into our wash stands under the tent awning. Quick morning ablutions soon had us following the beam of our head torches to the dining tent for a welcome coffee and rusks while discussing what we had heard in the night (if loud enough to have broken through the heavy canvas cover of sleep).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A generous spread of oats porridge, cereals, muesli and yoghurt, along with left over dessert from the night before soon had us well provisioned for a sunrise departure in the only relatively cool part of the day. The morning was spent exploring, tracking and searching for game, intel shared between passing game cars when encountered. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Swainson's<\/a>
Swainson’s spurfowl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We were on a mission for big cats so it was a little frustrating to pass some opportunities for birds in good morning light despite managing a reasonable image of a spur fowl on a termite heap and a image in memory of a Meyer’s parrot in flight (fortunately replaced by a photographic image later in the trip).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly we were upon them. A pride of resting lions littered at the edge of the track, tinged pink by both the morning sun and the remnants of the blood of last night’s feast on their faces. Well fed, they were entirely disinterested in us so patience was needed to try and isolate some scenes of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Lazing<\/a>
Lazing lions littering the grassland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A cluster of cubs added the cute factor to opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Intent<\/a>
Intent gaze of a well fed lion cub<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"A<\/a>
A cluster of cubs in the centre of the resting lion pride<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Heading on we encountered a Goliath heron who launched co-operatively into the low light.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Goliath<\/a>
Goliath heron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In terms of cats, I had expected to see lions, hoped to see leopard and expected not to see cheetah so it was a surprise to find a large male resting under a tree. Apparently the first in 5 years for the area. He was obviously beginning the feel the heat as much as we were and provided plenty of opportunity. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Cheetah\"<\/a>
Cheetah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As the sun climbed higher and higher the heat ramped in the safari car. The open sides and room gave some welcome airflow and viewing options but provided little shelter from the heat. Elephants wading knee deep in cool water had me envious. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Elephants<\/a>
Elephants enjoying the water<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By late morning we were tired and hot and the light had long passed ideal for photography so a return to camp for lunch was in order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gave an opportunity to download images and recharge batteries despite, at times the heat preventing laptops and phones from charging due to overheating. Tents were hot but at least in shade so a cold shower in your clothes or resting up under a damp towel could get some evaporative cooling. The open ended dining tent under the shade of a tree was the best location with a through breeze at times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were always opportunities around camp for birds with hornbills and starlings regular visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Southern<\/a>
Southern Red hornbill foraging at the camp margins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A late afternoon tea or coffee and biscuits had us fuelled for a sunset drive. The first day delivered some rare clouds which made so opportunities for landscape images with a baobab tree.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Our<\/a>
Our safari car with a baobab sunset<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Baobab<\/a>
Baobab sunset. One of the few occasions we had any clouds in the sky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Photos with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 180-600mm f5.6-6.3, Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 28-400mm f4-8 or Nikkor Z 14-30mm f4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari – Lions and Cheetah amongst other things<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari - Lions and Cheetah amongst other things","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[982,3,1397,209,19,1001],"tags":[26,25,1391,221,983,609,194,1395,190],"class_list":["post-19924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-photography","category-birds","category-botswana","category-south-africa","category-travel","category-wildlife","tag-bird-photography","tag-birds","tag-botswana","tag-nikon","tag-nikon-z9","tag-nikonnz","tag-photo","tag-photo-safari","tag-photography","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\nDay 2 - Lions and Cheetah - WildLight Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari - Lions and Cheetah amongst other things\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Day 2 - Lions and Cheetah - WildLight Photography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari - Lions and Cheetah amongst other things\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WildLight Photography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T18:42:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tony\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tony\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tony\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0\"},\"headline\":\"Day 2 – Lions and Cheetah\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T18:42:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924\"},\"wordCount\":618,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"bird photography\",\"birds\",\"Botswana\",\"Nikon\",\"Nikon Z9\",\"NikonNZ\",\"photo\",\"photo safari\",\"photography\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Bird Photography\",\"birds\",\"Botswana\",\"South Africa\",\"travel\",\"Wildlife\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924\",\"name\":\"Day 2 - Lions and Cheetah - WildLight Photography\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T18:42:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0\"},\"description\":\"Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari - Lions and Cheetah amongst other things\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":960,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Blood blushed lion on the prowl\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/archives\\\/19924#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Day 2 – Lions and Cheetah\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/\",\"name\":\"WildLight Photography\",\"description\":\"Nature Photography by Tony Whitehead\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tonywhitehead.com\\\/wildlight\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0\",\"name\":\"tony\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tony\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Day 2 - Lions and Cheetah - WildLight Photography","description":"Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari - Lions and Cheetah amongst other things","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Day 2 - Lions and Cheetah - WildLight Photography","og_description":"Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari - Lions and Cheetah amongst other things","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924","og_site_name":"WildLight Photography","article_published_time":"2026-07-04T18:42:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tony","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tony","Estimated reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924"},"author":{"name":"tony","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0"},"headline":"Day 2 – Lions and Cheetah","datePublished":"2026-07-04T18:42:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924"},"wordCount":618,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","keywords":["bird photography","birds","Botswana","Nikon","Nikon Z9","NikonNZ","photo","photo safari","photography"],"articleSection":["Bird Photography","birds","Botswana","South Africa","travel","Wildlife"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924","url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924","name":"Day 2 - Lions and Cheetah - WildLight Photography","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-07-04T18:42:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0"},"description":"Day 2 of our Botswana photo safari - Lions and Cheetah amongst other things","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","width":960,"height":640,"caption":"Blood blushed lion on the prowl"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/19924#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Day 2 – Lions and Cheetah"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/","name":"WildLight Photography","description":"Nature Photography by Tony Whitehead","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf44f50ed633ae6f6256fd8d79241f0","name":"tony","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fcc09a0c3018fb7aab77c8bc477d9f59884f7573178b1a329fb88b10779b4f62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tony"}}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Lion-20250912-NZ9_4736-DxO_DeepPRIME-3-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3ThZJ-5bm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14474,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/14474","url_meta":{"origin":19924,"position":0},"title":"New Zealand Sea Lions – Perseverance Harbour, Campbell Island","author":"tony","date":"August 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Photographing New Zealand Sea Lions at Perseverance Harbour, Campbell Island","rel":"","context":"In "mammals"","block_context":{"text":"mammals","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/mammals"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo of a Sea Lion sub-adult male watching operations from the landing zone at Beeman Base, Campbell Island","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PerseveranceHarbour-D5C_0033-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PerseveranceHarbour-D5C_0033-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PerseveranceHarbour-D5C_0033-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PerseveranceHarbour-D5C_0033-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9268,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/9268","url_meta":{"origin":19924,"position":1},"title":"New Zealand Sea Lions at Surat Bay","author":"tony","date":"September 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Having previously seen New Zealand Sea Lions at Enderby Island I was keen to and try and find some on the mainland. They are the world's rarest Sea Lion and under significant threat so any sign of establishment of mainland colonies is encouraging. The Catlins are known as a regular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "birds"","block_context":{"text":"birds","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/birds"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kelp makes a comfortable pillow for a resting New Zealand Sea Lion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/NZSealion_DSC3854-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/NZSealion_DSC3854-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/NZSealion_DSC3854-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/NZSealion_DSC3854-web.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6149,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/6149","url_meta":{"origin":19924,"position":2},"title":"More Enderby Island Sea Lions","author":"tony","date":"May 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week's post did not have space to do justice to the\u00a0\u00a0photos I took of the Enderby Island Sea Lion colony\u00a0so I thought I would share a few more this week. It was quite a powerful scene to witness with the raw aggression of the males, their dominance of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "mammals"","block_context":{"text":"mammals","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/mammals"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/SeaLionHarem_D811156-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/SeaLionHarem_D811156-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/SeaLionHarem_D811156-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/SeaLionHarem_D811156-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6000,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/6000","url_meta":{"origin":19924,"position":3},"title":"Enderby Island hike – South shore","author":"tony","date":"April 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Emerging from\u00a0the Southern Rata forest east of Teal Lake we continued our Enderby Island hike along the south shore. The going was initially easy underfoot with a plush carpet of mosses and bidibid but after a Teal-free Teal Lake we encountered the final trackless, shoulder high, tussock hummocks which, combined\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Zealand"","block_context":{"text":"New Zealand","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/new-zealand"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Light-mantledAlbatrossPair_D819880-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Light-mantledAlbatrossPair_D819880-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Light-mantledAlbatrossPair_D819880-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Light-mantledAlbatrossPair_D819880-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6108,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/6108","url_meta":{"origin":19924,"position":4},"title":"New Zealand Sea Lions – Enderby Island","author":"tony","date":"May 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We spent the rest of our afternoon on Enderby Island watching the New Zealand Sea Lions in the breeding colony at Sandy Bay. It was a hive of endless activity with little dramas playing out the whole time. The dominant beachmaster males \u00a0control a group of breeding females and are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "biology"","block_context":{"text":"biology","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/biology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/SeaLionPupMother_D810441-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/SeaLionPupMother_D810441-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/SeaLionPupMother_D810441-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/SeaLionPupMother_D810441-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6318,"url":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/6318","url_meta":{"origin":19924,"position":5},"title":"Campbell Island – Lady of the Heather","author":"tony","date":"July 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A romantic tale of a tartan clad lady on Campbell Island was one of the historical aspects of the trip that Paul Charman shared with us. Paul writes for the New Zealand Herald and, accompanied by his wife, Debra-Rose, was on a mission to capture some images in celebration of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Zealand"","block_context":{"text":"New Zealand","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/category\/new-zealand"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/LadyOfTheHeather_D813705-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/LadyOfTheHeather_D813705-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/LadyOfTheHeather_D813705-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/LadyOfTheHeather_D813705-web.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19924"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20290,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19924\/revisions\/20290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}