A Hippo photographed at Elephant Plains Game Lodge in the Northern part of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin, adjacent to the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

A meerkat at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa

A baby Nile Crocodile in South Africa

A mother giraffe and its calf pictured at the Tala Private Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa

Chacma baboons in Kruger National Park, South Africa

A leopard is pictured in Namibia, South Africa

An elephant in Kapama Game Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

A Namaqua Chameleon in Swakopmund, Namibia

White rhino pictured in the Rhino and Lion Park in Gauteng Province, South Africa

A red colobus monkey

A chacma baboon

Leopard cubs at Elephant Plains Game Lodge

A humpback whale in St Lucia, KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa

Source

British wildlife lover Roy Hancliff captures bird in mid-flight using a home-made photography set-up in his garden in Canada’s British Columbia. Included in his collection is this mid-air duel between two pine siskins in a conflict over their territory.

Roy, 65, from Oxford, has also managed to freeze hummingbirds – famed for their speed, with wingbeats of up to 90 times a second.

Another picture shows a small chickadee flying straight at Roy’s camera like a low-flying bomber.

Roy captures the birds in the back garden of his log cabin in British Columbia, Canada, and polishes the process by firing five flashes simultaneously at very high speeds.

To highlight the birds, he paints his own coloured backgrounds by hand and sets them behind the birds’ feeding area. By doing this he removes the ‘clutter’ of the trees and plants in his garden and makes sure the birds really stand out for the viewer.

Roy said: “When I take the shot it’s so quick I don’t see it. Our eyes simply aren’t fast enough to register all the action that is happening right in your own back garden. It’s only afterwards when I check what I have that I know what images I’ve got. You really have no idea of what you are getting until you review the pictures later. I’m stunned by the beauty of a regular bird you see all the time suddenly looking very different when it’s frozen in time.”

Roy moved to Okanagan Bay in Canada’s British Columbia with wife Sharon, 46, in 2003 after retiring as a home renovator in Spain. He took up nature photography seriously after realising the birds wintering close to his home were so hungry for the seeds he leaves out for them that they would visit his garden in vast numbers. Roy now leaves out food for the birds and has a camouflaged igloo which he uses to get within three metres of the birds and take his stunningly sharp pictures.

A black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) diving in Roy Hancliff’s garden

Three pine siskins in confrontation in Roy Hancliff’s garden

A hummingbird in flight, feeding on a pink geranium in Roy Hancliff’s garden

A house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) mid flight

A black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) in flight

A hummingbird in flight

Black-billed magpies in Roy Hancliff’s Okanagan Valley garden

An osprey in mid fligh

You can see more Roy Hancliff’s photos HERE.

Angi Nelson said: “I thoroughly enjoy working with frogs and I just love everything about them from their amazing colors to their interesting behavior. My partner owns two reptile shops and at home we have three species of frogs. They need a lot of care and you need to keep them spotlessly clean in order to keep them healthy. Quite often when we get a new order of frogs in at one of the shops I will take them home to quarantine them and make sure they are healthy before we sell them on.”

The European common frog (Rana temporaria) has adapted to a wide variety of conditions, increasing its range over most of Europe.

Emerging from a partially frozen pond more than 6,000 feet high in the Alps, European common frogs (Rana temporaria) set out to find mates and begin breeding activities.

The search for mates often begins underwater, before surface ice has melted. Photographer could hear the calls of male frogs in spring even through the ice of Alpine ponds.

Frogs mate in a position called amplexus, with the smaller male clasping the female from behind in a ride that can last two days or more. As she lays eggs, he expels sperm to fertilize them.

Frog pairs can begin hibernation in amplexus, turning it into a months-long embrace that may provide a breeding advantage by allowing mating as quickly as possible once warm weather arrives.

Eggs of high-elevation frogs may be 30 percent larger than those of lowland females, giving tadpoles a head start.