Black Rhino with Oxpecker

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Gabriela Plesea

Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Messages
8,129
Location
South Africa
Black-Rhino-Web-March-2023,-02.jpg

Dear Friends,

We've had some serious rain lately and happy to say all our dams are full and the reserve is green and lush. The rivers and rain water accumulated in drainage lines have receded to some extent but I still see some dazzling patches of water when looking out from my veranda!
Hippos are back and so are the water birds. Grass is very tall, makes it difficult to spot zebra and wildebeest. Been seeing lots of giraffe and quite a few eles recently, and we were very lucky to come across a black rhino during a game drive two weeks ago.
Here is one image from this sighting and I hope you notice the little Oxpecker. I do have other frames taken with the Z9 and 300mm lens but liked the pose here and the fact that one can see the subject's features so well.

Techs:

Nikon D5
Nikon 500mm F4
ISO 2500
F7.1
+1/3 EV
1/2000s

Thank you kindly for taking the time to view and for your comments on my previous images, as always they are much appreciated.

Kind regards,
 
Hi Gabriela ... nice to see you posting and to hear the good news in terms of rain .
Always special to see Black Rhino !!

Love the overall colors , tones looking great with truck load of details showing up .... not to forget the OP :t3
Really good to see the eye of the subject .

Nicely done all around ....:cheers:

TFS Andreas

BTW how are you doing with the Z9 ?
 
Hello Andreas!

Thank you so much for viewing Boetie, and for comments too.
Power/electricity about to go off here so I'll be back later tonight, but just briefly: happy with the Z9 overall and just done the firmware upgrade, going out in 15 minutes to test it. Hope I can find something to aim it at:bg3:
Spent three weeks to set up this new camera and feel that I got to know it very well, at first had an issue with AF which I hope has been sorted now. Will let you know how it goes:w3

Have a wonderful afternoon, I'll be back now now...

Kind regards,
 
Super Gabriela, I can recall some of that colouration from when I went and it rained a coupleof times. The rhino looks pretty massive and majestic, the slightly red dusty appearnce I definetely recall on a buffalo. It is well focused and I like the oxpecker too. Very appealing image.
 
Last edited:
Thank you so much Jon,

I am still baffled a bit about the colour of the rhino's lip, usually darker. A wonderful encounter nevertheless and glad I managed to get him 'in the clear'. Had to delete a number of frames because of the grasses covering its face.

This afternoon I saw a white rhino with calf...tried to grab a few shots but all you can see is the ears:tinysmile_shy_t:

Have a wonderful evening,

Warmest regards,
 
A wonderful sighting at any time in any place, certainly these days.
Love the vibrant summer colour here and great exposure on the darker rhino to have the important detail showing, Gabriela.
Hope the new camera works well!
 
Gabriela:

I love the juxtaposition of the giant rhino and the little oxpecker. Very effective DOF. Well exposed. Nice to see the lush grasses.

I suspect the lip had been injured at some point, causing the odd shape and colors.

Cheers

Randy
 

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