My trip to the Falkland Islands coincided with the breeding season for the rockhopper penguins. Both parents tend to the eggs (usually two) for the first week or so, after which the males go out to sea to fish, returning two to four weeks later. In this photo, a breeding pair is still in the shared duty phase, which happens in November. Nikon D810 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/1250th of a second.
I’ve posted both of these photos in the past, but happy to announce that they were both included in Nature’s Witness, a photo exhibit at the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in Washington DC, put on by the National Wildlife Federation. The exhibit features fifty images chosen by the NWF from their past photo competitions that have the “power to inspire, teach and ignite action.” The exhibit will run for the next four months and is open to the public if you happen to be in DC. All images will eventually be auctioned off with proceeds going towards NWF’s wildlife conservation efforts. A few snapshots from the event below.
There are quite a few different species of motmot. Most live in neotropical regions of middle America (southern Central and northern South America). And most have a distinctive “racket” like tail. This is the blue-crowned motmot. He/she showed up for a few seconds near our lodge in Soberania National Park in Panama. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.
The saddle-billed stork is a very large wading bird found throughout sub-Sahara Africa. The can grow to almost five feet tall with a wingspan that approaches 9 feet. I photographed this one wading along a road in Botswana. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/160th of a second.
This is one of the many dusky langurs I met while in Thailand. This one photographed in Khlong Saeng, a mostly flooded national park where islands of mountainous land rise out of all the water. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second.
Sea otters spend the vast majority of their time at sea. That said, they often sleep on land. I arrived at this location well before the sun came up and caught this guy just as he was waking up. I used a slow shutter and high ISO to capture what little available light there was. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/20th of a second.
This Patagonian fox was feasting on a guanaco carcass during a soft rain. After getting her fill, she gave a good shake of the fur and continued on her way. Photographed in Torres Del Paine National Park in Patagonian Chile. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.
This crimson-crested woodpecker was hanging around our camp in northeast Brazil. I was in the area looking for maned wolves. Nice to capture a few other creatures as well. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (with 1.4 teleconverter for 550mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/400th of a second.
Few things in the wild are as cute as a koala joey. This guy was old enough to be out of the pouch on his own (although not too far from mom). Photographed at Hanson Bay on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second.
I met this young red fox years ago in Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. There were was a sibling as well and they were both waiting for mom to return with breakfast — which she eventually did — free-range grackle. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/320th of a second.