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Show us your turtles, terrapins or tortoises...


Tom Kellie

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Tom Kellie

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Pelomedusa subrufa in Amboseli


Photographed at 10:37 am on 11 February, 2014 in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.


ISO 800, 1/5000 sec., f/5.6, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.


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Full credit for this spotting goes to Mr. LI Yinan of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, who pointed out a small terrapin in a muddy puddle in the track.


Both Anthony and I were impressed that he'd noticed the terrapin, which alternated between immersing itself and speedily moving in search of better conditions.


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  • 3 months later...

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Terrapins and a Nesting Plover



~ Photographed on 21 July, 2015 at 3:38 pm in Meru National Park, Kenya, with an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.



ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec., 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.



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Our rewarding days in Meru over, we were heading back to the Murera Gate after an especially productive game drive. Glancing to the right — four terrapins!



After focussing the camera lens on one of the terrapins, I saw a nesting Blacksmith Plover in the background. Below them the back and ear tip of a hippopotamus.



The terrapins must possess very keen senses, as they turned and plunged into the water seconds after we stopped. We'd observed similar terrapin flight responses elsewhere.


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This one surfaced next to me while I was in a hide. It was a fairly fleeting glimpse to be honest.

 

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This one surfaced next to me while I was in a hide. It was a fairly fleeting glimpse to be honest.

 

~ @@KaingU Lodge

 

Yet sufficiently long to obtain a compelling image!

It's such a fine image — the legs extended into the water, the eyes directed toward the camera lens.

I like the shimmering ripples spreading out from it.

Even the nostrils are visible. I admire your photography skills, which I enjoy in your regular posts within the photography section.

Many thanks for this one!

Tom K.

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  • 6 months later...

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Out for a Stroll



Photographed at 8:30 am on 23 January, 2016 at Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.


ISO 400, 1/8000 sec., f/2.8, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.


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~ This is one of the few times I spotted anything of note. Our route took us through a sand area which would have been the riverbed had it not been during a time of prolonged drought.


Glancing downward at wildflowers this leopard tortoise was spotted. We stopped for photographs, surprised at the speed with which the tortoise vanished from our view into a grassy patch.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Leopard Tortoise, Masai Mara

Olympus EM-1, 50-200mm F2.8-3.5 @ 100mm, F8, 1/1000, ISO400

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some Terrapins this time, riding on the back of a hippo. Nairobi NP26397498111_0967d80306_c.jpg

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Amboseli would not be the first place that comes to mind for an outstanding terrapin photo.

 

ON the hippo, such a find @@IamFisheye.

 

I'd like to try to see hatchlings. Safarichick has kindly informed me of Playa Viva in Mexico, which could be a real winner. Thonga Beach in South Africa is also a possibility. Rocktail Bay has trips to try to see the hatchlings, maybe at Thonga beach.

 

What do you all know about hatchlings.

 

Here's my contribution:

 

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Sideneck turtles, Sandoval Lake, Tambopata, Peru

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Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia Mydas)

 

Photos of a nesting female, taken at Turtle Island (Lihiman Island) Sandakan, Borneo.

 

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Every night of the years 10s of Green Sea Turtles come a shore to lay their eggs, allowing tourists to see the whole process of egg laying, collection by the guides and the resulting release of another prior batch into the sea.

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#1: f/3.7 1/320sec ISO 196 63mm

#2: f/3.7 1/320sec ISO 64 63mm

#3: f/3.7 1/400sec ISO 64 63mm

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  • 3 months later...

Selinda, November 2015

 

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  • 7 months later...
Towlersonsafari

Hello @@Hads hope you can help with this gentelman we saw in the Harold Porter Gardens in February. We assume he is a entleman as we disturbed him mating, or attempting too.Immediately the embarresed female hid in a bush but he was very bold and decided on a quick snack-it was great fun to hear him munching-we think it is an angulate tortoise-can you confirm? and we gave it a good 8 on (@@Caracal's amiability index as he did not seem to mind when we inturrupted him

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Hi @@Towlersonsafari - I think you are 100% correct with the tortoise being an angulate.

He does not seem to be shy either.....

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  • 2 months later...

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Tiny Yellow Wildflowers

 

Photographed at 1:22 pm on 7 February, 2014 in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, using an EOS 1D X camera and an EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II super-telephoto lens.

 

ISO 100, 1/800 sec., f/2.8, 400mm focal length, handheld Manual exposure.

 

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After an eventful morning we were slowly driving near the Mara River, thinking of a suitable lunch stop location. The lightest of drizzles moistened the area, intensifying colors.

 

This Leopard Tortoise was enjoying fresh salad in the form of tiny yellow wildflowers. We watched from a distance, not wanting to intrude before a brief opportunity for a close-up image.

 
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  • 7 months later...

Show us some more tortoises, and help us identify those we might see on safari...

 

Matt

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  • 1 year later...
melproffit

Botswana 2006

Picture 147.jpg

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