Most visitors to Etosha are drawn by the abundance of large mammals, including all of the ‘Big 5’ and a whole lot of other African favourites. But South African photographer Johan Greyling had other things in mind during his two week trip to Etosha in 2014.

Greyling spent 35 hours at Kalkheuwel waterhole photographing the gabar goshawk’s formidable hunting techniques.

His patience reaped considerable reward – a valuabe lesson to any aspiring wildlife photographers. The photo featured below won him the prestigious Sunday Times Wildlife Photograph of the Year award and a free trip to the Masai Mara in Kenya worth R120,000.

Greyling says:

“I’ve been doing photography for over 40 years and I think over all the years and experience-gaining and sitting there waiting for this specific shot . . . it just paid off, so for me it was just one of those moments in my life.”

It’s certainly an incredible shot, and one that illustrates that there is so much more to Etosha than just the ‘Big 5’. You just have to look for it.

wildwinner