Black-backed jackal hunting sandgrouse

[Duncan Groenewald]

Right forum this time!

Missed by a tail feather.

• SONY ILCE-9M3
• FE 600mm F4 GM OSS
• ƒ/4
• 600mm
• 1/5000s
• ISO 250
• Flash not fired
• Sun, 28 July 2024 9:43 AM

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Duncan another cool action shot !!!
Again a bit tight for my liking ... other than that stunning

Which waterhole ?

TFS Andreas

 

[Duncan Groenewald]

Cubitje Quap - morning light.

Yep - I agree with you re a little too tight - next time a 300 2.8 + 1.4TC. Lots of space behind in the frame - but not much in front or on top on this one sadly. Tricky to follow with the human eye amidst the birds and they are jumping up a level too.

I am looking for an excuse to go back !

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Nice water hole !!!
Well fully understand the dilemma with the human eye , we all do fight that problem at times .

 

[Duncan Groenewald]

All the space you could want in this one - just heading away from the camera and head in the shadows unfortunately. What can you do !

• SONY ILCE-9M3
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• ƒ/6.3
• 441mm
• 1/4000s
• ISO 2000
• Flash not fired
• Sat, 20 July 2024 8:00 AM

 

[Basil Dardagan]

Images of Jackal hunting doves at Cubitjie Quap are not uncommon however yours are definitely a level up from the norm. Really great shots all around imo. Were these all taken at the same sighting? How long did this Jackal put on such an incredible show for?

 

[Duncan Groenewald]

Images of Jackal hunting doves at Cubitjie Quap are not uncommon however yours are definitely a level up from the norm. Really great shots all around imo. Were these all taken at the same sighting? How long did this Jackal put on such an incredible show for?

Yes we have done this trip in the past but it is difficult to get good shots - most cameras cannot track the subject well enough - check my YouTube channel where the full sequences are shown - the jackal is often obscured completely for some distance as it runs in and then it is often obscured by the birds as the big mass of them fly up. So far only the A9iii has proven reliable at tracking through all that clutter. We had A1s and Z9/Z6iii's but they are not up to it - you can get lucky and get some shots but usually you miss the critical action. In the 3 weeks earlier this year the other camera's got no comparable shots. I can highly recommend 120fps RAW, RAW pre-capture And Sony autofocus for capturing this kind of action . Check the Avian forums for the images of lanner falcons catching a namaqualand dove - that's even more impressive.

As far as the jackals go - they were there quite often but we only had a few days over the 3 weeks - maybe 2 or 3 days at CQ on which they were chasing the birds and then its usually over quite quickly. They can lie around for quite a long time before having a go and then they may disappear for half an hour before returning.

Basically you have to be prepared to sit there all day waiting.

Polentswa is easier because they are further away but the light is from the wrong angle there. I'll post a couple taken there.