I can only imagine all the animals over the years that quietly watched me pass as I hiked trails unaware. Occasionally, I also catch a glimpse of them. Thus was the case with this common brushtail possum that I spotted while hiking in Coles Bay in Tasmania. These guys are strictly nocturnal, but this one obviously woke up from its daytime resting place to take a quick look at what those footsteps on the trail down below were all about. After I passed, I’m sure those eyes closed right back up for a few more hours until the sun went down. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 135mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/100th of a second.
Not great light on this one, but not terrible either. This little guy was feeling a bit adventurous and strayed from his mother and sibling to get a better look at the two humans staring back at him — probably a bit emboldened by the tall grass providing a sense of cover. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/500th of a second.
I love birding in Australia. There’s just so many species around and of all varieties. This is one of the more common birds that I’ve seen in my travels — the new Holland honeyeater. I photographed this one from the open window of the house I was staying at on Maria Island off the coast of Tasmania. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second.
I think this female proboscis monkey just realized what her male counterparts looked like (see this previous post for the male). It was fun to photograph these iconic monkeys from the platform of a small boat while I was floating down a river through Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second.
Few sightings on an African safari bring as much excitement as a leopard. On my last trip to Kenya, we hadn’t seen any until the final two days when we had two separate sightings of two different leopards. This was the final game drive of that trip and I decided to use a slow shutter to capture the movement of the leopard through the grass. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/11 at 1/20th of a second.
This Patagonian gray fox was feasting on a scavenged guanaco carcass (good band name — Guanaco Carcass) and was taking a quick break to lick his chops. He was pretty much ignoring me as I laid in grass snapping away. Photographed in Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.
This prairie dog appears to be stuffing her face with dinner, but she is actually bringing a bit of insulation into her burrow to line the cold dirt corridors. She was busy running back and forth with mouth’s full of dead grass, giving me ample opportunities to grab shots. Photographed years ago in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens, ISO 200, f/11 at 1/320th of a second.
It’s been awhile since I posted a meerkat. This guy was running straight toward me while I was down on the ground. The sun was getting a bit higher in the sky, but still providing nice side light. As with all my meerkat shots, this was photographed in the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
Last week I posted a rockhopper penguin from my trip to the Falkland Islands. Here is a much different member of the order — the Magellanic penguin. Unlike the highly social rockhoppers that live in open colonies, these guys live independently in burrows in the ground. They were much more skittish to my approach. Of course, they don’t have the safety in numbers that the rockhoppers, gentoos and kings do. That yellow patch in the background is from the gorse bush flowers that were blooming all over the hillsides. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of a second.
Here’s another one from Lemur Island in Perinet, Madagascar — the red-fronted brown lemur. These guys were quite friendly at this location (essentially an island for rescued lemurs) and at one point, one even crawled up onto my shoulder. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 22mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/80th of a second.
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