I was in a small boat traveling upriver when we spotted this panther chameleon crawling through the reeds near the town of Maroansetra in Madagascar. Almost half the world’s chameleons live in Madagascar, with many of those species existing nowhere else on earth.
Nikon D40X with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 38mm) ISO 200, f/4.8 at 1/320th of a second
This bear has plans. Big plans. But he’s just going to think about them for awhile longer before taking action. Photographed at the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary in Orr, Minnesota.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/200th of a second
This giant river otter was swimming in a shadowy area along the banks of a tributary in the Pantanal of Brazil, with just hints of the bright sun sneaking through. I was able to close down the aperture a few stops of light to get the face properly exposed while the rest of the image went dark.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
The Cobb’s wren is a fairly plain looking little guy, but it does hold the distinction of being one of only two birds endemic to the Falkland Islands. And despite their uniformly brown appearance and rather small size, they do have lots of personality. On my visit, they would regularly land feet away from me to check out what I was up to. They spend most of their time on the ground which makes them very susceptible to predation by rats and other small carnivores. Luckily, there are no rats or foxes on the islands in the Falklands that Cobb’s wrens inhabit. If this should change, however, and rats were accidentally introduced, the Cobb’s wren would be a sure bet for extinction.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/800th of a second
Just a common raccoon doing what raccoons do. This one was spotted in Key Biscayne, Florida creeping around a campground at the end of the day in search of scraps.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of as second
The grey-cheeked mangabey is an old world monkey that lives in the forests of central Africa. I encountered this one in Kibale National Park in Uganda, the eastern edge of its range. They resemble baboons, but if you look at this guy’s face, you’ll see they also resemble the Grinch.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/200th of a second
This mother cheetah appears to be giving her cub some sage advice. We watched these two — and a second cub — for about an hour as they settled down for the night in the tall grasses of the Masai Mara in Kenya.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second
The marabou stork isn’t going to win any beauty contests. But… they’re still kind of cool looking in a Mad Magazine “Spy Vs Spy” kind of way. Sometimes they are called the undertaker bird because of their black, cloak-like feathers on their backs. They are very large and like to hang out near human habitation, especially where there is plenty of delicious garbage to forage on. They live in much of sub-Sahara Africa. This one was photographed in Uganda at Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second
A mother koala and her joey taking it easy after a hard day of eating eucalyptus. That’s pretty much the life of a koala — sleep, sleep, eat leaves, sleep, sleep, sleep. It was nice to catch both with their eyes open at Hanson Bay on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second
This polar bear seemed to be enjoying the arctic breeze on a beautifully freezing day in northern Manitoba, Canada.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/500th of a second