Wildlife Highlights, iPod, short version

Wildlife podcast, week 44 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:52:04 +0200

Week 44 first takes us to Botswana's Moremi Game Reserve, where cameramen Brad Bestelink and Jason Loughran film a hippo altercation sparked by the antics of a pushy young male.

Our second story tracks the reactions of Moremi's animals to a changed rainfall pattern. Early rain brings unexpected shoots of green growth to the usually dry and barren October landscape.

Then it's off to Stringer Reef in Sodwana Bay, South Africa with crew members Graeme Duane and Ian Cook for a very close encounter with a "tubby" electric ray and a massive, rather menacing moray eel.

We end the journey in Zambia's Kafue National Park. Earth-Touch crew members Pierre Minnie and Sakhile Radhebe bring us footage of foraging open-billed storks.

Wildlife Podcast, week 43 2009

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:51:59 +0200

In the 43rd week of the year we begin our journey in Meno a Kwena, Botswana with cameraman Boris von Schoenebeck, where we take a close look at newborn frogs lining the water's edge along the Boteti River.

We then head over to the Pomene estuary in Mozambique where Barry Skinstad spends some time with a beautiful cuttlefish.

Then it's back to Botswana's Nxamaseri channel, where a boomslang causes quite a stir as it weaves in and out of the nesting burrows of carmine bee-eaters, in search of chicks and eggs.

We end off this week at a different location along the Nxamaseri channel, where Boris von Schoenebeck documents the tenuous hold resident skimmer birds have on survival in an environment fraught with threats to their safety.

Wildlife Podcast, week 42 2009

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:54:25 +0200

In this week's podcast we begin our journey in the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana, where cameraman Brad Bestelink captures some interesting elephant bull behavior.

Staying in Moremi with Brad, we observe the region's apex predators guarding their kill from one of the more persistent scavengers, the vulture.

We then head down to the coast with marine cameraman, Barry Skinstad to explore some of the most fascinating little creatures that adorn the grassy beds of the Pomene estuary in Mozambique.

We wrap up this podcast back in Moremi Game Reserve with some beautiful and rare footage of leopards mating high in the branches of a sausage tree, courtesy of Brad Bestelink.

Wildlife Podcast, week 41 2009

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:51:01 +0200

We begin this week in Botswana's Moremi Game Reserve with cameraman Brad Bestelink as he follows a pack of wild dogs and observes the confidence and agility of the youngest pups.

Staying in Botswana, we meet up with Boris von Schoenebeck as he films some perfectly camoflauged skimmer chicks on a sandspit in the Nxamaseri.

We end in Barra, Mozambique with cameraman Barry Skinstad who is successful in his mission to find majestic giant manta rays before he heads back to South Africa.

Wildlife Podcast, week 40 2009

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:38:20 +0200

In this week's podcast we are treated to a retrospective look at some of our wonderful local and international locations.

We begin our journey with Paul Myburgh in Sumatra Island, Indonesia, where he takes an intimate look at the maternal instincts of an orangutan mother.

We then head off to South Africa’s Sodwana Bay, where cameraman Grant Brokensha dives with rather lethargic ragged-tooth sharks.

Next we explore the micro-life among the coral beds off the Western Cape coast. Barry Skinstad finds a beautiful little octopus towards the end of his dive.

At the southernmost tip of the world cameraman Pierre Minnie looks at the diverse and well-adapted life that survives such extreme conditions.

We end off week 40 in Nxamaseri, Botswana with Brad Bestelink, who captures some stunning footage of a crocodile waiting patiently to snap up a young heron.

Wildlife Podcast, week 39 2009

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:52:41 +0200

This week Boris von Schoenebeck arrives at the dry Boteti River in Botswana just in time to see the arrival of water for the first time in 20 years.

Grant Brokensha takes us to Bikini Reef off Sodwana Bay to take a closer look at a curious pufferfish.

We join Darryl Sweetland in the Phu Kiew Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand to find the source of the buzzing in a forest. Darryl also takes us to a small pond that houses a variety of life.

And lastly we join Brad Bestelink in the Moremi Game Reserve to witness the first sighting of new wild dog pups.

Wildlife Podcast, week 38 2009

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:22:42 +0200

We begin this week in the Moremi Game Reserve with cameraman Brad Bestelink as he watches one of the most awesome predators in Botswana eyeing potential prey.

We then go diving on Bikini Reef in Sodwana Bay with Grant Brokensha as he explores the many different symbiotic relationships that exist along this stretch of the coast.

Darryl Sweetland is up next with some stunning butterfly visuals from Thailand. These butterflies seem to congregate around a specific mineral lick in the Phu Kiew Wildlife Sanctuary.

We then move to Namaqualand where cameraman Pierre Minnie shoots some excellent close-ups of monkey beetles seeking refuge in gazania flowers.

We end this week back in the Okavango Delta, where elephants enjoy a cooling dust bath in the late afternoon sun.

Wildlife Podcast, week 37 2009

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:23:49 +0200

This week we start off in Paradise Bay, Antarctica. Here, we join our camera crew as they take their first steps onto the southernmost continent in the world.

We then head over to the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana for an early morning view of the Xakanaxa pride.

We end off this week with cameraman Pierre Minnie. He treats us to amazing and vibrant visuals of the Namaqualand flowers in bloom.

Wildlife Podcast, week 36 2009

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:31:45 +0200

Last week our 'Marine Podcast' was published under the 'Weekly Podcast' section. Apologies, this was an error on our side but we do hope you enjoyed the feed. If you liked what you saw, the 'Marine Podcast' is available as a separate download from www.earth-touch.com/rss.

We start off week 36 in Bontebok National Park, South Africa. Here cameraman Pierre Minnie gives us a scenic view of seasonal change.

Next up is the Khao Yai National Park in Thailand. Darryl Sweetland takes a look at the intricate, armour-like scales of a Vogel's pit viper.

Staying with Darryl, we head over to Kuiburi National Park where an Asian elephant moves through the forest undergrowth. It is especially interesting to note the physical and behavioural differences between African and Asian elephants.

We end off this week in Sodwana Bay with cameraman Grant Brokensha. He takes us a little further up the coast to an area known as Black Rock Bay. Here we are treated to a rare sighting of a Bouton's snake-eyed skink.

Wildlife Podcast, week 35 2009

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:05:32 +0200

We start the 35th week of this year with Darryl Sweetland in Thailand. Here we get to spend quite a bit of time observing the comical antics of white-handed gibbons.

Next up, we are taken underwater in Sodwana Bay. This montage showcases the amazing diversity found on Seven Mile Reef.

Then we wrap up in Moremi Game Reserve with Graham Springer. Here we watch a herd of zebra grazing on the grassy plains.

Wildlife Podcast, week 34 2009

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:03:00 +0200

This week we start off in Thailand’s Khao Yai National Park, where Darryl Sweetland explores the amazing co-operative and industrious world of ants.

Then we take to the beautiful underwater world of Sodwana Bay with cameraman Grant Brokensha, where a very large and bold octopus stands almost a foot off the sea floor.

Next Boris von Schoenebeck takes us to the icy top of Sani Pass in Lesotho where he patiently waits for sunrise to film the early morning antics of ice rats.

Finally we join Graeme Springer in the Moremi Game Reserve where flood plains are filled with water and elephants have gathered to indulge.

Wildlife Podcast, week 33 2009

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:08:47 +0200

This week’s podcast starts us off in the Moremi Game Reserve with cameraman Graham Springer, where a skillful scavenger battles to steal a predator’s kill.

We then head east to Kao Yai National Park in Thailand where Darryl Sweetland captures footage of the most vividly coloured butterflies.

Then it’s up to Sani Pass, where Boris von Schoenebeck explores how animals survive in this extremely cold and harsh climate.

And to wrap up, we head back to Botswana to watch crocodiles gathering in the Nxamaseri.

Wildlife Podcast, week 30-31 2009

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:13:47 +0200

This week's podcast takes us to a Buddhist temple in Chacherngsao, Thailand where Lyle's flying foxes have made the temple trees their home.

Next we take a look at estuary life forms in a mangrove swamp in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa

Lastly we dive into the underwater world of Botswana's Okavango Delta to take a closer look at the surreal beauty of the Nxamaseri channels.

Wildlife Podcast, week 28 2009

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:34:53 +0200

Our first story begins with cameraman Paul Myburgh in Sumatra, Indonesia, where he documents the intimacy of the relationship between an orangutan mother and her baby.

Next we move to Nxamaseri, Botswana, where Brad Bestelink gets up close to Delta crocodiles.

We end with Barry Skinstad off South Africa's Eastern Cape coast where he captures some exceptional footage of this year's sardine run.

Wildlife podcast, week 27 2009

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:10:20 +0200

This week’s podcast kicks off in the waters of Port St Johns on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, where excellent visibility sets the scene for a massive gannet assault on a pilot sardine shoal.

Still in South Africa, this time in KwaZulu-Natal, we join cameraman Boris von Schoenebeck in the Ndumo Game Reserve as he examines the amazing insect life found on the flowers of the Euphorbia, a succulent species.

We end off by exploring the underwater caves and channels of the Nxamaseri waterway in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, home to the Nile crocodile.

Wildlife podcast, week 25-26 2009

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:19:19 +0200

Our first story takes us to Nxamaseri in Botswana. Here we go diving with the Earth-Touch crew and find a crocodile in one of the many underwater channels.

Staying in Botswana we join Graham Springer in the Moremi Game Reserve where we witness the sheer strength of a male lion as it suffocates a large buffalo with surprising ease.

We then head down to the Eastern Cape where the sardine run is attracting some of its biggest predators. Cameraman, Barry Skinstad gets almost too close to the action as a Bryde's whale brushes past him.

Wildlife podcast, week 22 2009

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:58:14 +0200

The pick of the crop from our film crews this week features:

* Predators await sardine run – Barry Skinstad, Port St Johns, South Africa.

* Elephant calf learns to use trunk – Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa, by Boris von Schoenebeck.

* A cobra flares its hood – Kanchanaburi, Thailand, filmed by Darryl Sweetland.

* In the Karoo National Park, Paul Myburgh filmed harvester ants preparing for winter.

Wildlife podcast, week 21 2009

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:49:10 +0200

Highlights podcast 21 showcases:

•    Waltzes with whales in the Cape – Graeme Duane
•    The underwater world of the Nile crocodile – Brad Bestelink
•    Clouds of cormorants off Malgas Island – Graeme Duane
•    A hippo pod adjusting to a new calf – Brad Bestelink

Lions of Moremi, 20-21 2009

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:28:53 +0200

Lions of Moremi podcast 20-21 filmed by Brad Bestelink in Botswana’s Okavango Delta features:

* A lion pride creating panic in a buffalo herd
* A dominant male lion returning to the pride
* A pride taking down a buffalo calf
* Lions clashing with another pride

Wildlife podcast, week 20 2009

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:57:41 +0200

This week’s podcast highlights:

•    Male lion calls his pride
•    Face-off with a pitviper
•    Beached dolphins
•    Teeming reef life

Wildlife podcast, week 19 2009

Thu, 21 May 2009 14:04:07 +0200

This week's podcast features:

* Leopard mother and cubs in the Serengeti
* Ragged-tooth sharks on migration off Sodwana Bay
* Colourful caterpillars in KwaZulu-Natal

Wildlife podcast, week 18 2009

Thu, 14 May 2009 12:53:10 +0200

Under a leafy canopy in the Sumatran rainforests of Indonesia an orangutan mother whiles away the time by gently playing and bonding with her baby. Paul Myburgh captures some special moments between the two.

On the icy, stony shore of St Andrew’s Bay, South Georgia, inquisitive elephant seals and king penguins enable Pierre Minnie to capture some wonderful close-ups, including a bedraggled penguin chick.

Darryl Sweetland gets down on the forest floor in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi Province to film a variety of exquisitely beautiful, delicate and colourful fungi.

Wildlife podcast, week 17 2009

Thu, 07 May 2009 17:07:51 +0200

Highlights on this podcast include a rookery of king penguins with their fluffy brown chicks in Fortuna Bay, South Georgia, filmed by Pierre Minnie, a surreal undersea-scape in the Seychelles from Graeme Duane and Brad Bestelink illustrates the challenges faced by a handicapped young elephant in Botswana's Okavango Delta.

Wildlife podcast, week 16 2009

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:31:24 +0200

Our first offering comes from Knysna Heads, South Africa. Here Barry Skinstad has filmed common dolphins in the water and Cape gannets in the sky, this could be signalling the approach of the sardine run.

In the Okavango Delta of Botswana, Brad Bestelink brings us lions hunting buffalo and he follows it with another offering where the lions nearly get a buffalo but its herd quickly rescues it.

Lastly, Graeme Duane takes us to the underwater splendour of Cape Maclear, Malawi where he has captured various species of cichlids.

Wildlife podcast, week 15 2009

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:47:08 +0200

This week's podcast begins in the Karoo, South Africa, where Paul Myburgh lets us in on his encounter with juvenile lesser flamingos.

We then join Graeme Duane in Tanzania, where he filmed wildebeest on the move in the Serengeti.

At Cape Maclear, on the shores of Lake Malawi, Graeme Duane goes underwater to bring us some of the many species of cichlids.

Finally, in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, Brad Bestelink films pregnant African wild dogs.

Wildlife podcast, week 14 2009

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:04:25 +0200

This week's podcast takes us on a journey that starts in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Reserve of South Africa, where Darryl Sweetland brings us stunning footage of a gaping chameleon.

Our next stop is Ndutu in Tanzania where Graeme Duane films the different feeding dynamics of vultures at a kill.

We're then off to the Knysna Heads, South Africa, for a viewing of sharks and octopus moving among the kelp, courtesy of Barry Skinstad.

Back in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Reserve, we join Boris von Schoenebeck who lets us in on lesson time with vervet monkeys.

We conclude this week's footage with an exciting clip of a cheetah chasing and being chased, all in a day's work on the Macao Plains of Tanzania for cameraman Graeme Duane.

Wildlife podcast, week 13 2009

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:14:39 +0200

In this week’s podcast the first story is about encounters with creatures of the smaller kind. Boris von Schoenebeck brings us a moth caught in a spider’s web, as well as the damselfly and its relative the dragonfly, in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Reserve of South Africa.

It’s then off to the Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana, where Graham Springer has filmed wildebeest and zebra feeding together. This behaviour illustrates how these two species aid each other in sensing predators. We also see mock duelling between two zebra stallions.

In Sodwana Bay, South Africa, Grant Brokensha manages to spot some masters of camouflage, the scorpionfish and the paperfish.

Lastly, on an Earth-Touch expedition to Tanzania, Graeme Duane captures spectacular footage of a cheetah killing a lone wildebeest calf in Ndutu.

Wildlife podcast, week 12 2009

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:08:51 +0200

In this week's podcast we join marine cameraman Barry Skinstad in South Africa's Knysna estuary as he shows us octopus and cuttlefish that live in the lagoon.

Then it's off to join Darryl Sweetland in Thailand where he comes upon a nocturnal cat snake out in the bright sunshine!

Next Pierre Minnie shows us the foraging habits of a troop of delightful and dextrous vervet monkeys that live in the Mountain Zebra National Park of South Africa.

In Tanzania Graeme Duane observes how the annual wildebeest migration is not without a down side as many young calves are orphaned when masses of animals move across the Serengeti plains in search of fresh grazing.

Lastly we join Boris von Schoenebeck as he films an old elephant bull taking a leisurely wallow in a muddy pool in the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Reserve in South Africa.

Wildlife podcast, week 11 2009

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:38:46 +0200

This week’s podcast takes us first to Neko Harbour in Antarctica where Pierre Minnie captured scenic footage of gentoo penguins carving snowy trails from the ocean up the mountainside on a long climb to their stony nests, set against a magnificent backdrop of icebergs.

Then its off to Botswana where Brad Bestelink focuses on the intricate details of zebra and impala herds as they graze and mingle among field flowers that have come into bloom following recent rains in the Okavango Delta.

Grant Brokensha gets really close to a large ragged-tooth shark in South Africa’s Sodwana Bay, highlighting its fearsome teeth and a remora that will accompany the large predator on its oceanic journey.

Podcast 11 comes to an end in the forest canopy of Sumatra, Indonesia as we join a long-tailed macaque troop feeding in the tree tops. Paul Myburgh has captured beautiful footage of a mother and baby shot against a colourful leafy backdrop.

Wildlife podcast, week 10 2009

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:06:52 +0200

In this week’s podcast, we join giraffe at dawn as they absorb the early morning wonder of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Brad Bestelink filmed this offering.

Then it's off to Sumatra in Indonesia, where Paul Myburgh brings us an intimate moment between a mother orangutan and her baby.

South Africa's Cape Point is where our next story unfolds. Here Barry Skinstad captured footage of a pelagic shark giving a group of white-chinned petrels something to worry about.

Lastly, again in the Okavango Delta, Brad brings us beautiful shots of a lion pride doing what they do best – sleeping.

Wildlife podcast, week 08-09 2009

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:47:47 +0200

This week's podcast opens with majestic vultures soaring on thermals over the Drakensberg escarpment, courtesy of Boris von Schoenebeck.

The action moves to the rugged Mountain Zebra Mountain Park in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, where Pierre Minnie has filmed beautiful mountain zebras that were rescued from the brink of extinction not long ago.

Our third segment was shot off the Cape coast near Pyramid Rock by Barry Skinstad, and features a rather primitive sevengill cow shark swimming among kelp stems

Wildlife podcast, week 06-07 2009

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:08:44 +0200

This week’s podcast opens with spectacular close-up footage of a Komodo dragon tasting the air with its long forked tongue. This large carnivorous lizard was filmed on Indonesia’s Rinca Island courtesy of Paul Myburgh.

Leaving behind the heat of Indonesia, we join Pierre Minnie on expedition in icy Antarctica, where he filmed very young Antarctic fur seal pups with furry black coats on the shores of Fortuna Bay in South Georgia.

Lastly we return to Indonesia, this time to the verdant jungles of Sumatra, where an endangered orangutan mother spent time bonding with her baby in the leafy canopy.

Wildlife podcast, week 05 2009

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:06:53 +0200

In this week’s podcast Paul Myburgh brings us expedition footage of macaques in a rainforest on Lombok Island in Indonesia.

Then it's off on another expedition to the Falkland Islands, where Pierre Minnie showcases rockhopper penguins on a steep incline on Saunders Island.

The podcast ends with the return of the hunters to the Okavango Delta, as Brad Bestelink captures on film a resident lion pride getting back to their buffalo-hunting routine.

Wildlife podcast, week 04 2009

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:28:17 +0200

Our first story is about a male lion defending its kill in the Nxai Pan of Botswana, filmed by Boris von Schoenebeck.

Then it's off to Sodwana Bay, South Africa, where Grant Brokensha filmed rare turtle hatchlings emerging from their sandy nest.

As part of the Earth-Touch expedition to Indonesia, Paul Myburgh brings us breathtaking footage of the summit of Mount Rinjani on Lombok Island.

The next clip showcases a herd of springbok caught in a torrential downpour. This is a quintessential African moment filmed in Botswana's Nxai Pan by Boris von Schoenebeck.

Off South Africa's Dassen Island, marine crew member Barry Skinstad brings us amazing footage of a krill shoal.

Lastly, Brad Bestelink captures the essence of the Okavango Delta with stunning shots of a territorial male giraffe in Botswana.

Wildlife podcast, week 03 2009

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:57:30 +0200

In this week's podcast there are two offerings from Botswana's Okavango Delta, both brought to us by Brad Bestelink. The first focuses on elephants and waterbirds, and the second shows a cheetah being mobbed by spur-winged geese.

We also have footage of curious seals filmed on the Cape coast by Barry Skinstad, and Paul Myburgh captured expedition footage of macaques on the barren slopes of Lombok Island in Indonesia.

The final clips were both filmed in the Seychelles by Graeme Duane. One showcases territorial crabs on Praslin Island and the other shows coral reefs growing on the granite rock slabs of Mahé Island.