Baboon Nest Raider!

africaddict

Here are a few images that I won the "Caught in the Act" competition for Dec/Jan edition of Africa Geographic.
The website page link to this section has not been updated yet..................hopefully soon.

Baboon nest raider on Southern Carmine Bee-eater(Merops nubicoides)colony.
Taken Sept 2007 with Nikon D2Xs/300 f/2.8VR (HSC mode)
On the Luangwa River, Zambia at the nest photographic hide located
approx 15m parallel to the river bank.
We were met with the sight of a couple of Baboons trying to break
away the nesting holes in an attempt to get to the fledging chicks.
This behavior is seldom seen and rarely photographed (to my knowledge).
Here shown one Baboon clutching a White Fronted Bee-eater chick in hand.




Snatched & on the run!





The Carmine Bee-eaters would dig into the riverbank and lay their eggs up to 3-5 feet in depth. Here you can see the Baboons reaching in for the steal.




Another Baboon with an egg in it's mouth.




C& C most welcome.

Cheers
Marc

ShepsMom

Hey Mark, what a great catch! Especially if it's a rare one. I'm questioning colors of your shot, they are very yellowish green on my screen.

africaddict

ShepsMom wrote:

Hey Mark, what a great catch! Especially if it's a rare one. I'm questioning colors of your shot, they are very yellowish green on my screen.

The color/WB has actually been toned down from original.
The actual color- ie. what I saw on the day was qiute yellow, as it was shot in early morning light. Reflecting off the bank made for a very intense gold color. Definitely not green on my screen, though.

Giphsub

Great shots. And well done on the award I assumed that the colour of the sands were very yellow anyway.

Skippy

africaddict wrote:

Here are a few images that I won the "Caught in the Act" competition for Dec/Jan edition of Africa Geographic.
The website page link to this section has not been updated yet..................hopefully soon.

Baboon nest raider on Southern Carmine (Merops nubicoides)colony.
Taken Sept 2007 with Nikon D2Xs/300 f/2.8VR (HSC mode)
On the Luangwa River, Zambia at the nest photographic hide located
approx 15m parallel to the river bank.
We were met with the sight of a couple of Baboons trying to break
away the nesting holes in an attempt to get to the fledging chicks.
This is rare behavior and never photographed to my knowledge.
Here shown one Baboon clutching a White Fronted Bee-eater chick in hand.
Closeup
Snatched & on the run!
Closeup
The Carmine Bee-eaters would dig into the riverbank and lay thier eggs up to 3-5 feet in depth. Here you can see the Baboons reaching in for the steal.
Another Baboon with an egg in it's mouth.
C& C most welcome.

Cheers
Marc

Congatulations Marc,
What an awesome sight that must have been to wittness
Those Baboons look capable of doing quite a bit of damage.
Baboons are meat eaters aren't they ?

Glad you were able to capture and share these images with us.
Ya lucky buggar ..... Skippy
.

Maestro

Great behavioral shots! You really have had some very nice series from Africa. I've enjoyed them all.

Harryb

Great set.