Always nice to get a few very different creatures in one shot. This prairie dog has to be careful out there with all those bison. Both share the land in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. I used a very small aperture to bring the bison as much into focus as I could.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/20 at 1/40th of a second
Just a simple shot of a zebra making its way across the Makgadikgadi Pan of Botswana. I used a slow shutter speed and panned with the zebra to give the photo a bit of life.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/32 at 1/20th of a second
Sometimes they let you get close. And when they do, why not take advantage. This was a very friendly Bornean white-bearded gibbon that I met in Indonesia. He hung around the welcome center of Tanjung Puting National Park and was obviously very accustomed to people.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/80th of a second
I wish I had a bit more room at the top of this shot, but tough to catch these guys when they suddenly pop out of the water and ride a wave into the shore. It’s like playing wack a mole with the camera. It was, however, one of my favorite penguin behaviors to shoot when on Sea Lion Island in the Falkland Islands. Other penguins also swim in a similar fashion, but it’s the gentoos who really shoot out of the water with such flair.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/1600th of a second
I’ve posted a few shots of these bearded piglets before. Here’s another view. I had been shooting them with a longer lens and intrigued by the sound of the shutter, they came closer to investigate. This gave me an opportunity to pull out my wide angle. We were in Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/640th of a second
I photographed this very small primate in Piaui State, Brazil. They were about the size of squirrels. A troop of five or six of them all of a sudden appeared while I was photographing birds. I snapped off a series of shots before they vanished again into the forest.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
The secretary bird is a fairly common sight in sub-Sahara Africa. I photographed this one in the Masai Mara of Kenya. They are mostly spotted on the ground but also in trees. The secretary bird is quite tall, reaching more than four feet. It has been described as having an eagle like body and head, atop crane like legs. As for the name, I will quote from Wikipedia — “Its common name is popularly thought to derive from the crest of long quill-like feathers, lending the bird the appearance of a secretary with quill pens tucked behind their ear, as was once common practice. A more recent hypothesis is that ‘secretary’ is borrowed from a French corruption of the Arabic saqr-et-tair or ‘hunter-bird.’ The generic name Sagittarius is Latin for “archer,” perhaps likening the secretary bird’s “quills” to a quiver of arrows, and the specific epithet serpentarius recalls the bird’s skill as a hunter of reptiles.”
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/1600th of a second
A male and female pronghorn trot across a grassy field in Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The male has the nice set of horns. Pronghorn are unique in that they shed their horns each year (usually horns are not shed, whereas antlers are). Moose, elk, deer all have antlers whereas pronghorn, bighorn, mountain goats have horns.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
Here’s another one from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. The ratel, also known as the honey badger. These guys can be fierce when confronted. They have extremely tough skin, while at the same time that skin is very loosely attached to the bones. If a predator like a lion gets a hold of one, it has a hard time biting through the skin. While the lion tries to bite, the honey badger can turn itself around in its own skin and start fighting back. This is in large part how they’ve earned their reputation, and why not too many animals will mess with a honey badger.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mmm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
These guys also go by the name of milky eagle owl or giant eagle owl. They are widespread throughout sub-Sahara Africa. I came across these two large chicks just north of the Masai Mara in Kenya. Their mother was off hunting while they slept, groomed each other and engaged in a bit of casual small talk I suppose.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second