Snapshot Serengeti Talk

help please

  • lesleylupo by lesleylupo

    I cannot tell what these animals are. They could be buffalo or wildebeests. I cannot get the picture to enlarge and even with a magnifying glass, I cannot see. I guessed wildebeests, but is that at all helpful? Or is it better to say no animals? That I cannot imagine will be a yes, but what is the best way for us to help you in this situation. They could be land rovers for all I can see on my old computer.
    Thanks,
    Lesley

    Posted

  • davidbygott by davidbygott moderator

    If there are animals, always make a guess - don't say "nothing". On the open plains where you can actually see far horizons, your options are limited. Herds will usually be wildebeest, zebra, tommies and grants. Sometimes buffalo and eland. Maybe topi and hartebeest singles or scattered. But if you guess one of the first 3 species you will most often be right.

    I can't be certain what's in this picture, but the tan-colored animals closer than the rest look like tommies. Those on the horizon look bigger than gazelles, and there's a small group that moves together, and my gut instinct says zebras. It does take some experience to make that call, and it doesn't matter if you don't get it right. If its difficult to ID, there will be no consensus by the people who view it, and so such pictures may then be pulled out for closer scrutiny. Hope this helps! 😃

    Posted

  • lesleylupo by lesleylupo

    It does, thanks for your time, but what is a tommie?

    Lesley

    Posted

  • lesleylupo by lesleylupo

    also, I am also assuming when I study all three photos and nothing in the distance is moving, that I am looking at bushes?
    😃

    Posted

  • davidbygott by davidbygott moderator

    Sometimes i use short names...tommy = Thomson's Gazelle, gnu - Wildebeest...i'm a lazy typist. Distant objects that don't move often are, but not always, bushes and trees.

    Posted