The Malagasy kingfisher is a colorful little bird that I saw in a few different locations on my Madagascar trip years ago. They are relatively small as far as kingfishers go. This one was spotted on the island of Nosy Mangabe which is off the east coast of Madagascar. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/4th of a second.
As the name suggests, these guys eat a lot of bamboo. They are a smallish and highly athletic lemur. I photographed this one in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in Madagascar. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 120mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second.
This is a perfectly fine, but rather ordinary shot of a bear. But what I really like about it is that it was taken in my side yard on Friday. We also had three other bear sightings in the yard that day. And at least one sighting a week over the last month or so. True, our house sits on five acres and the neighborhood is fairly wooded, but we also happen to be only fifteen minutes to the state capitol in downtown Hartford. Being quarantined here at home isn’t so bad after all. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm pf lens, ISO 3200, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.
A few of these guys have been hanging around in the woods behind my house. Always nice to see. The largest North American woodpecker (that is, unless the ivory-billed woodpecker isn’t extinct). Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm pf lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second.
Today is my wife’s birthday. It’s a milestone year so I figure I better post something she likes. I know she loves cape buffalo. Their anthropomorphic expressions of disinterest and disdain always made her laugh. This guy was doing his “get off my yard” best as we drove past in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second.
The ratel is more commonly known as the honey badger. My guide knew of a spot where a few of them were visiting every afternoon. So we built a makeshift blind out of old boxes and I crawled inside and waited. About an hour later (after photographing all sorts of birds that stopped by) the honey badger finally arrived. I was able to get quite a few nice low angle shots before he/she moved on. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second.
For many safari goers, the African wild dog is at the top of the wish list. I got lucky with them on my first trip to Botswana. At the end of the day when the sun was low on the horizon and saturating the dry grass of the savanna, we came across a pack of about thirteen dogs. They were resting in the grass, playing and winding down after a day of hunting. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
This masked palm civet (also known as a gem-faced civet) was lurking around my campsite one night in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand. I had seen porcupines the night before and missed the shot. This time I was ready with a remote flash on a tripod to my left. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units.
They are our most common mammals in most parts of the country, but when they strike the right pose, I still like to grab the shot. This eastern gray squirrel seemed to be contemplating his future outside my home office window the other day. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second.
The serow is a goat-antelope and national symbol of Japan. In fact, in the mid 50s it was hunted to near extinction before the Japanese government declared it a “special national monument” to protect it from poachers. Today, the population is thriving. I saw this one while visiting the snow monkeys at Jigokudani Spring in Nagano. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 90mm) ISO 400, f/3.5 at 1/80th of a second.