Naomi Lupton Photography

Naomi Lupton Photography Young photographer on a mission to capture the wonders found in the world and people around us. Contact me for your event photoshoot today!

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This is your sign to ask your birding friends about their favourite ducks!Mine? Definitely the African Pygmy Goose, by a...
02/04/2026

This is your sign to ask your birding friends about their favourite ducks!

Mine? Definitely the African Pygmy Goose, by a long way (which, coincidentally, is also the reason why I can never get any close-ups of these birds🙃)! Despite its name, it is, in fact, a duck. It is also Africa's smallest perching duck. They are often found in the Northern Natal Wetlands (like iSimangaliso), but have also been found in the Kruger National Park (Leeupan, in recent years).

Do you have a favourite duck? (Trust me, darling, everyone's got a favourite duck!)

📸: 2025.10.12
📍iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Yellow-Billed Kite with a wee snack! 🍞Al'ight, this one's got a funny story!😁So we decided to venture into the iSimangal...
31/03/2026

Yellow-Billed Kite with a wee snack! 🍞
Al'ight, this one's got a funny story!😁

So we decided to venture into the iSimangaliso Wetland Park last year, and we commented on the costs of entering the reserve (which are pretty steep if you're used to the SANParks pricing system and the Wildcard benefits!😳). We drove along to Cape Vidal, and went to check whether or not the beach would yield some specialties (besides the usual Grey-Headed Gulls, beach-goers, and fishermen, of course🤭).

Standing at the tree line, fully geared - not for the beach - we saw a Yellow-Billed Kite (YBK for short) hovering above us. As the thought to photograph it crossed our minds, it swooped down towards a lady who was relaxing underneath her beach umbrella. This YBK, I kid you not, flew between her head and her hand😳 (which was a little more than a ruler's length away from her face, I might add🫣), snatched a piece of the sandwich in her hand🤯, turned 90 degrees to the right, and then steadily flew back up to what one could call "cruising altitude"!

While we didn't get any shots of it nicking the sandwich (because we were first astonished, and then laughing uncontrollably😆), we did get shots of it flying around and munching as it went on. A South African band, Die Heuwels Fantasties, have a song called 'Wilder as die Wildtuin' (Wilder than the game reserve, directly translated) - and I am convinced they had Northern Natal & Zululand in mind when they wrote that banger!😎

So, for those who love the Northern Natal coast, please keep an eye on your snacks - them aerial pirates are real!

Blame the ol' British sense of humour if you wish, but I'd say that sighting was WELL worth the price of admission. 🤌🤌🤌

📸2025.10.12
📍Cape Vidal, iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Any one who knows me knows that I love the Waterbuck. Now, this isn't a Waterbuck cow, it's one of the youngsters - a yo...
26/03/2026

Any one who knows me knows that I love the Waterbuck. Now, this isn't a Waterbuck cow, it's one of the youngsters - a young bull calf, if I remember correctly - but the Waterbuck cow has, in my opinion, the most feminine facial features of any antelope in Africa. Good luck changing my mind!

As kids we used to giggle whenever we saw the white ring on their behinds - it always looked like they sat on a newly-painted toilet seat. But, laugh all you want, it quickly taught us kids how to successfully ID a Waterbuck in South Africa. On that note, not all Waterbuck have this ring. The Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa), found mostly west of the Gregory Rift, ranging from Ethiopia west to Senegal and south to Zambia, instead of an elliptical ring, just has two white rump patches.

Now you know. As you were🫡

📍Eastern Shores, iSimangaliso Wetland Park
📸 2025.10.15

Me when the waiter comes to ask me, mid-chew, "How's the food?" 🙃🙃Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) (Waterbok)📍iSimangali...
26/03/2026

Me when the waiter comes to ask me, mid-chew, "How's the food?" 🙃🙃

Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) (Waterbok)

📍iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Eastern Shores, KZN
📸 2025.10.15

Brown-Hooded Kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris) (Bruinkopvisvanger)Southern Africa is home to 3 confirmed subspecies' of t...
19/03/2026

Brown-Hooded Kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris) (Bruinkopvisvanger)

Southern Africa is home to 3 confirmed subspecies' of the BHK - H. a. albiventris, H.a. orientalis, and H. a. vociferans. This specimen, photographed in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, likely belongs to the vociferans' subspecies. This is the same subspecies found in Southern Mozambique and the North-Eastern corner of South Africa.

📸Brown-Hooded Kingfisher, 15.10.2025
📍Eastern Shores, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, KZN

Fiery-Necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus pectoralis) (Afrikaanse Naguil)I'm one of those people who gets both excited and inti...
13/03/2026

Fiery-Necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus pectoralis) (Afrikaanse Naguil)

I'm one of those people who gets both excited and intimidated by the prospect of looking for nightjars. Because, let's face it, often finding them is not the issue. That's fairly straight-forward. It's actually getting a photo, and then (as if that's not challenging enough) identifying the critter.

We set out to look for Swamp Nightjars. We found a Finfoot (always great, photos or not!), Whistling Ducks, and Nightjars. We did not, however, find Swamp Nightjars. But we did find this really accommodating Fiery-Necked Nightjar! (No, I had to rely on the expertise of the experts on iNaturalist to get an ID because I am absolutely useless at identifying the Nightjars. Maybe that's a sign to go looking for more of them?)

📸: Fiery-Necked Nightjar (2025.10.16)
📍: St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal

African Pygmy Kingfisher (Ispidina picta) (Dwergvisvanger)📍 iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Eastern Shores, KZN (15.10.2025)J...
03/02/2026

African Pygmy Kingfisher (Ispidina picta) (Dwergvisvanger)

📍 iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Eastern Shores, KZN (15.10.2025)

Just loved catching up with South Africa's smallest (and, perhaps, most colourful) Kingfisher last year!

Proof that it's a legit photo (as compared to AI slop): the branch that runs smack across the subject🤣

And since when can we only use 5 hashtags in our captions??😐👀 Jammer, .

When I tell you that I was this 🤏🏼🤏🏼 close to bringing this one home with me (had there not been so many witnesses🤣).Aga...
22/01/2026

When I tell you that I was this 🤏🏼🤏🏼 close to bringing this one home with me (had there not been so many witnesses🤣).

Again, jokes aside (I do not, in any way, shape, or form condone theft or trafficking of any kind - animals or people). It has been some time since I last saw such a young leopard cub in the Kruger.

By this time (Sunday, 05.10.2025) we had seen 3 leopards since arriving on the Friday, and had missed one that very morning around Malelane. Talk about a productive weekend! As luck would have it, we were in for a treat this very afternoon when we saw yet another leopard east of the Lower Sabie low water bridge (a poor photographic sighting, but a sighting nonetheless).

I cannot remember the last time I had seen so many leopards in such a short span of time. I don't know how many of my friends experienced this, but I was pleasantly surprised. We had 3 jam-packed days of incredible sightings in what is absolutely my favourite wilderness area in South Africa.

Many people have, afterwards, asked me what the highlight of the trip was... and, funny/strange as this may sound... it wasn't the 5 cheetahs on the Friday, or the Spookvoël or Leopard on the Saturday, it wasn't the Wild Dogs or Leopards on the Sunday. It was sharing a place that I have loved for 27 years with friends who have become very dear to me. It was playing "tour guide" for people who haven't, like I had, practically grown up in Kruger. It was searching for that which others find interesting, amazing, and beautiful. It was being allowed to geek out about everything in Kruger (not just the birds😉). It was marvelling at the Lord's Creation with fellow brothers- and sisters-in-Christ that made this trip stand out.

Leopard cub (Panthera pardus) (Luiperdwelpie)And the award for 'Favourite Kruger Sighting 2025' goes to 🥁🥁🥁Alright alrig...
19/01/2026

Leopard cub (Panthera pardus) (Luiperdwelpie)

And the award for 'Favourite Kruger Sighting 2025' goes to 🥁🥁🥁

Alright alright, jokes aside. Approaching this sighting, I was expecting the 5 cheetahs we saw two days prior, as it was in the same area. Needless to say, I was properly stoked when this lil' one popped out of the grass.

And, frankly, anyone who knows me just knows what a leopard fan I am. (Ask most birders, they'll likely agree with me😅)

📍H3, Kruger National Park (05.10.2025)

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) (Bontvisvanger)📍 Lower Sabie Bridge, Kruger National Park (05.10.2025) ...
15/01/2026

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) (Bontvisvanger)

📍 Lower Sabie Bridge, Kruger National Park (05.10.2025)

Left: Yellow-Billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) (Geelbekrenostervoël)Rest: Red-billed Oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhync...
12/01/2026

Left: Yellow-Billed Oxpecker (Buphagus africanus) (Geelbekrenostervoël)
Rest: Red-billed Oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) (Rooibekrenostervoëls)

Not so common to find both these specimens in the South of Kruger, let alone on the same host!

📍 H4-1, Kruger National Park (05.10.2025)

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) (Bosruiter)One of my favourite spots in the Southern part of Kruger is Sunset Dam, just...
05/01/2026

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) (Bosruiter)

One of my favourite spots in the Southern part of Kruger is Sunset Dam, just outside of the Lower Sabie Rest Camp. Great for a cup of coffee, a brekkie and birdies! Some days, you'd be astounded at the variety that this dam attracts. For us birders (and photographers), this is also were I think we can get some of the best wader shots. The birds are fairly relaxed, though they are still unbelievably quick, and naturally come close, like this Wood Sandpiper here.

(It was time for a bird, let's be honest.)

📍 Sunset Dam, Kruger National Park (04.10.2025)

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