Already Mating

As I said earlier I spent a week on the island "Helgoland" to see Gray Seals. It was very interesting to whatch them and to take photos.
It's also funny to see the compositions of the groups because often there are one male, one female and one pub. The male which is usually not the father tries to mate with the female and sometimes even fights with the female to get what he wants. Often the fights are bloody and the big males have scars from several fights... (also with other males).



Fighting



Mating

Gray Seals on Helgoland

I spent the last week on the island Helgoland which is locatet in the Northsea.
There we had the chance to take photos of Gray Seals (Halichoerus grypus). Between December and February the young ones are born and it's pretty easy to get good photos because they are laying on the beach all the time.
The main Island is Helgoland but there is a smaller island next to it called "Dune" (ger.: Düne). You can go there by ship. It's very nice to whatch them growing.
Here is a picture of a pub on the beach.

Red Deers

One of the best spots for Red Deers (Cervus elaphus) is the Hoge Veluwe National Park in the netherlands. The best time to see them is the autumn when the come to a place in the Park. You also have the Chance to see Moufflons (Ovis orientalis musimon) and Feral Pigs (Sus scrofa).





The most time the males are in the front.





In this time they often bell.

Desert Elephants in Namibia

Three weeks ago we started a safari with "Ondjamba Safaris" to see the Desert Elephants of the Namib Desert. The Desert Elephants are not a subspecies they are only desert adapted African Elephants (Loxodonta africana). That means that they don't have to drink everyday and that the feet are bigger (because they have to walk on the sand).
A very intresting fact is that they dig holes to drink water when there is none. They Also love taking mudbaths.





Arriving in the morning.





A young one from 2011




A self-made water hole.

Transformer...

The green caterpillar is very dark after having sloughed.

Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillars

Yesterday and today we found one Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillar (Deilephila elpenor) in the middle of our garden pond. First I was wondering how they could get there but then I read that the adult moths usually lay there eggs under then leaves of Buck Bean (Menyanthes trifoliata) which is a waterplant.





This one is very young what is prooved by the green color.





This one is older and will pupate soon. If it doesn't hatch out this year it overwinter in the box I made for it.

Leopards in Nmibia

In Namiba are many Leopards (Panthera pardus). They are very shy and usually they avoid people. But sometimes you have luck. The best place to see a leopard the area around Okaukejo or Halali. At the Halali waterhole you might see a Leopard in the evening.





This two Leopards I saw at Halali at 6:10am. They watching all the elephants for 30 minutes and afeter they had left the came to drink.





This Leopard was spotted just behind the waterhole "Aus". It first sat on a rock and after a short while it came down and crossed the street.