Many people love leopards. Indeed they are the most attractive big cats in Africa in many ways. Lions are always great to see, and are easy to get close to. They often will walk around the safari vehicle and pay no attention to the vehicle of its’ contents. Cheetahs are also easy to get close to, and have been known to leap onto safari vehicles in order to improve their line of sight as they seek potential prey. Leopards, on the other hand, are much stealthier and like to avoid close contact with safari vehicles. They hang out in the bushes or up in trees, and are much more difficult to locate.

We have now been to Botswana seven times, and are booked for two more trips. We have seen a number of leopards, and one small cub. We have never seen two leopards together (except for mother and cub), and have taken many safari rides with no leopard sightings. But here is a small collection of our sightings.

Recently we have seen loads of migrating birds in our backyard. Most notably there have been numerous cedar waxwings and robins drinking at our pool waterfall, accompanied by the usual cardinals, northern mockingbirds, wrens, house finches, sparrows, doves, goldfinches and an occasional warbler. Here are some recent images, all shot with a Nikon D500 with 500mm lens, through a back window overlooking the pool and spa.