While I love this blog, I now pretty much only write on my other two blogs: BirdingBlogs.com and 10,000 Birds - I would love to see you there!

Friday 23 October 2009

Wildlife up close - cheetah

It's really hard to sum up what a cheetah is. Sleek. Elegant. Powerful. Like a bird.

huh? did I just say that? like a bird? well, they chirp like a bird (cheetah cannot roar or purr, just chirp). but it is more than that; there is an elegance and energy about them that most closely matches that of a falcon. well, at least I think so.

Although I love cheetah, I feel somewhat unqualified to really express what a cheetah is so I think I am going to go across to SAPhotographs and ask Joan to guest write something (she is a BIG fan of cheetah and has lots of experience with them). I have a whole series of cool cheetah photos, so if she obliges then I'll post her insights with those photos.

Back to the close-ups. So much of what makes a cheetah special are its feet (and permanently exposed claws), hence there is lots of that here:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

If you have not seen any of the "Wildlife up close" digiscoping series, then here is a bit of an intro (from the first Cape Buffalo post):
So one of the great things about digiscoping is that one has a huge focal length to play with, so one can really get up close and personal with some pretty impressive creatures. In my time in Southern Africa, I was able to get a whole pile of close-up macro-style images of a variety of wildlife.
What I would like to do is to create a collection of the best "Wildlife up close" images but I would like you to help me out. Each post will feature a different species of African wildlife and I would like to vote for your favorite (or against your least favorite).

So far, we have had:


Please vote for your favorite, and at the end of the series, I will randomly choose a winner from each post in the series and send them the original full-sized image they chose. In two weeks I will randomly choose a winner from all those that voted in a particular post!


Have a wonderful day,
Dale


7 comments:

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Really wonderful shots Dale. I have to take two favorites on this one #2 & 4.

They are magnificent animals. It will be a pleasure to write you something about them and will e-mail it to you to post.

Chris said...

Hi Dale,
You know I love your close-up posts. They are gorgeous and make us realize the beauty of the animal world! We are getting new and original angles with this approach of yours, and I'm definitively addicted to it... Keep going on!!

Becky said...

Love the face shot and #4. Did you know that the Maine Coon cat makes a chirping noise also.

Gaelyn said...

I can certainly understand comparing the cheeta to a falcon, both swift and fast. I like #4 best. Although they're all great captures. So fun to see these animals up close.

Dale Forbes said...

Hi all, thank you for sharing with me.

looks like number 4 is in the lead! interesting, I kinda likes number 1 the most. btw, Joan has agreed to write something so I'll post it with some more cheetah photos next week.

happy birding (I'm off to Italy for the weekend)
Dale

Anonymous said...

If any animal can be compared to a bird it would be the Cheetah for sure. It walks and glides with a sense of ease just as a bird would easily fly. Plus it must run as fast as some birds can fly.

Kevin said...

Dale

I am kind of partial to the Cape Buffalo but also the Burchell Zebra is great too!!