The day kind of got behind me today without a post. This polar bear photo was the first thing that popped up in my “to send” folder so here it is, better late than never. This guy was out looking for whatever scraps he could find while waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze over so that he could go in search of the real delicacies — seals. Photographed up in northern Manitoba, Canada at Seal River. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 82mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/3200th of a second.
The Makgadikgadi Pans are a fascinating place in north-eastern Botswana. During the dry season, very little wildlife can exist in this dry, harsh, desert environment. But following a good rain, the pans become an important migratory route for several species. In fact, one of the largest populations of zebra can be found in the pans at any given time of the year. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 102mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/4000th of a second.
As Karen and I continue to live in hotels while waiting to close on our house, my camera gear remains in storage. I could have used it this weekend while I was out walking the dog. I spotted black bears wandering through town on consecutive days. So until I can photograph Connecticut’s black bears, here’s a shot of Minnesota’s that I captured a few years back. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/800th of a second.
I do love the toucans. This guy is a bit less flashy of beak than the keel-billed toucan, but impressive nonetheless. And these guys are more commonly seen in Costa Rica, where I photographed this one years ago at the La Selva Biological Station in the north central part of the country. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/40th of a second.
A female leatherback turtle heads home after a night of laying eggs on Grande Riviera Beach in Trinidad. These turtles return to the very beach that they were born, 15 to 25 years later, to lay their eggs. After an incubation period of roughly 60 days, the eggs will hatch and the mad dash for survival will begin for the next generation of leatherbacks. I used a slow shutter speed with the camera mounted on a tripod to selectively blur the flipper and the surf. Nikon D800 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, ISO 50, f/18 at .3 seconds.
Obviously, the first thing you notice about a male proboscis monkey is that rather impressive snout. I love that the Indonesians call them monyet belanda (“Dutch monkey) or orang belanda (“Dutchman”), because they thought the Dutch colonizers had similarly large bellies and noses. I spotted this big boy in a tree at river’s edge on our way into Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second.
I photographed this young barred owl years ago in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was hanging around the campground and was just getting the whole flight thing down. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/30th of a second.
During the colonial era, what is now known as the Ol Pajeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya, was used as an enormous cattle ranching area. As ranching became less and less profitable over the years, elephants took over, subsequently flattening any fences in their way. Since then, the land was purchased by conservation groups and is now a thriving haven for some of Africa’s most endangered species like black rhino. Nice when it’s the animals that do the reclaiming, rather than the other way around. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 130mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/800th of a second.
I’ve photographed the occasional wood duck here and there over the years, but when I visited the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Vancouver a few years back, they were all over the place. This handsome and cooperative drake even waddled toward camera while I was down on the ground, before heading off into a nearby pond. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.
These formidable iguanas were everywhere around the beachfront hotel we were staying at in Belize. They can be very fast. In fact they are known as the world’s fastest lizards. This guy was challenging me to a bit of a stare down.Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/250th of a second.
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