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.
A bull moose takes a suspicious glance over at me while getting up to go enjoy a day of searching for cows. I was in Alaska for the annual rut and on this particular morning I spotted three males (including this very large suitor) all vying for the affection of a single female in the area. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second.
A rockhopper penguin stands above the colony as the sun sets over the south Atlantic Ocean on Saunders Island in the Falklands. It was one of the highlights of my wildlife career to spend a few weeks alone with rockhopper, king, gentoo, Magellanic and macaroni penguins — unconcerned with time or having to be anywhere in particular other than right where I was. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 28mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second.
This serval encounter was pretty amusing — like a little kid holding his hands in front of his face thinking that we couldn’t see him — those blades of grass, not quite enough to hide behind. Eventually, he realized that we could, in fact, see him so he slowly got up from his crouching position, took a few cautious steps, and then ran away into the vast grasslands of the Masai Mara in Kenya. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/80th of a second.
Blue and yellow macaws are big birds. They are almost three feet in length and can weight up to three pounds. Due to their striking colors (mostly blue on top parts and a yellowish/orange on the bottom, with a bit of green on the crown) and their ability to talk, they are popular as pets. I’m glad I got to see them soaring high above the Pantanal in Brail in their natural habitat — usually spotted as a mating pair. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (with 1.4 teleconverter for 550mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/1000th of a second.
When I was in Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica quite a few years back, I discovered an army of red-eyed tree frogs behind the lodge that I was staying at (I’m told that’s what you call a group of frogs — an army). The males would start their mating calls every night just before I headed in for dinner. Needless to say, I was always the last one to eat at that particular lodge. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 270mm with Canon 500D close up filter attached) ISO 100, f/20 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-600 flash units.
There are many species of crocodilian in the world. I find the yacaré caiman to be among the coolest looking. This was a young guy, hanging out by the banks of the Pantanal in Brazil — the world’s largest tropical wetland. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.