Aardvark!

[Marc Mol]

Aardvark! or the Zambian-Bemba name "mphendwa".
We were on the trail of a leopard we had lost when coming down to the dry river bed we came upon this once in a lifetime sighting,
I immediately told Victor, (after he was uncontrollably shouting mphendwa, mphendwa!!:Whoa!:) my guide to stop, still keeping the engine running I grabbed a couple of insurance shots in case he took off, we then crawled
the vehicle ahead turned off the engine and got some closer images here, it all happened in a matter of seconds, even Victor got out his phone for some grab shots!:bg3: (showing a black dot:tinysmile_shy_t:)
He then trundled off into the scrub never to be seen again.
It was, believe it or not his 3rd sighting in 25 years in the bush but the first time anyone with him had got any images and certainly my first ever encounter!

A privilege and a thrill to see this rarely encountered mammal foraging for termites on the dry Katete riverbed.:cheers:
This is about the best I can extract out of this image and web resize 256kb limit:2eyes2:...............trust me that it does hold up better at a larger resolution.:w3

D3s 500VR 1/60s f/5.6 ISO3200 Exp-2 2/3 EV & spot meter (using spot light from vehicle as my only light source) I adjusted colour on the aardvark to take down the yellow from spotlight. Cropped around 15%
Katete river bed, Nkwali region, SLNP- Zambia Nov 2011

My Xmas present to Ken W before he leaves for Botswana!:wave:

C & C most welcome

Cheers
Marc

[Todd Frost]

Great sighting and big congrats at getting this image :5. Good use of lighting available to you on quick notice. Gotta love the D3s for its high iso ability! Well done. TFS

Todd

[Sid Garige]

I had to do a bit of wiki reading to get to know this guy better Marc. Looks like once in a life time opportunity and your execution is perfect. Brilliant image.

[Kiran Khanzode]

You nailed it, Marc, I think this is the ONLY image of this species I've seen anywhere. Critique ? What Critique......:cheers:

[Harshad Barve]

big congrats at getting this image
TFS

[Ken Watkins]

Marc,

Thanks very much for this what a privilege, it as rarely seen as Marc mentioned, even more so than a Pangolin.

The quality of the image does not bother me in any way just seeing it would have been good enough for me:w3

Earlier this year somone I cannot remember who posted images of a daylight sighting drinking at a waterhole on Outdoor Photography, but I cannot now find it, sorry.

[Marc Mol]

Many thanks guys for the positive comments, surely for me, it may well be a once in a life time sighting.:Whoa!:


Marc,
Earlier this year somone I cannot remember who posted images of a daylight sighting drinking at a waterhole on Outdoor Photography, but I cannot now find it, sorry.


You nailed it, Marc, I think this is the ONLY image of this species I've seen anywhere. Critique ? What Critique......:cheers:


Thanks Ken, Kiran
Rudi van den Heever posted a very nice image also some months ago here:

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/89754-Marakele-Aardvark?highlight=Aardvark

[Ken Watkins]

Marc,

Thanks for that missed this whilst I was "away", surely an image of the year contender?

[Steve Canuel]

Congrats on the sighting and the photo Marc. Enough light and detail where it needs to be to tell what it is while still keeping the surrounding darkness of the night.

[dankearl]

Nothing to critique from me.
Great encounter and captured very well.
Minimal noise for the ISO and darkness, well processed and presented.
Thanks for sharing this, a very unique image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

A super sighting - one I have yet to enjoy...
Given the conditions I think you came away with something nice to hold on to Marc...:5

[gail bisson]

How lucky you were and good enough to get the shot. A keeper for sure,
Gail

[Rachel Hollander]

Marc - I'm a little late to the party but congrats on the sighting and the image. Well done!

TFS,
Rachel