Before we got to the beach at Ambergris Caye, we spent three nights in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest in western Belize, close to the Guatemala border. On one of our days, we took an excursion to the Caracol Mayan Ruins for a bit of culture. Of course, I took my long lens just in case — hoping that some wildlife would show up during our tour. Sure enough, just as we were finishing up with our guide, a large troop of howler monkeys stopped by in all their howling glory. If you’ve never heard a howler monkey howl, it’s quite an experience. In fact, some of the more aggressive dinosaur noises from Jurassic Park are actually howler monkey calls dubbed into the mouths of angry dilophosaurus and other prehistoric beasts. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second
Here’s another one from Shark Ray Alley in Belize. We saw quite a few of these southern stingrays and a few spotted eagle rays, as well. I liked that the light was hitting this guy’s eye and you can see the pale green iris. There’s also another nurse shark back there in the distance with the school of horse-eye jacks. Sony RX100V at 8.8mm (24mm equivalent) with wide angle wet lens and Fantasea Underwater Housing, ISO 250, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second
Karen and I are just back from a great week in Belize. As I mentioned before we left, this was more of a relaxing-on-the-beach vacation and not really a wildlife trip (although I always try to sneak off for a few creature shots whenever I can and you’ll see some of those, both in and out of the water, over the next week or so). We stayed for three nights inland in the rainforest, and then four nights at the beach on Ambergris Caye. Just offshore are some of the best snorkeling spots anywhere in the world, including Shark Ray Alley where I photographed this nurse shark. Don’t worry Mom, these sharks are relatively harmless. They don’t have the big teeth of some other sharks, but rather a powerful suction action perfect for capturing smaller fish. Nurse sharks can grow to be about 14 feet long and weigh up to 730 pounds, but most of the ones we saw were smaller than that. In addition to all the sharks, we also saw sea turtles, stingrays, and all manner of fish. By the way, those big fish swimming alongside the shark are called horse-eye jacks. For all my underwater shots on this trip, I used the Sony RX100 V pocket camera in a Fantasea housing, with a wide angle wet lens attached. I was really happy with the results from such a small set up. Sony RX100V at 8.8mm (24mm equivalent) plus wide angle wet lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second, Fantasea Housing
Karen and I head to Belize in the morning so this will be the last post for a week. It’s more of a beach holiday but I’ll try to sneak off now and again in search of wildlife, both on land and at sea. I’ll leave you with this lovely stump-tailed macaque at the beauty parlor. like most primates, grooming is a daily part of social interaction. These two were doing their thing down on the Malay Peninsula, south of Bangkok in Thailand. Note the large food pouches beneath the macaque’s face — a handy place to store the next meal. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/250th of a second
The most personable of all the penguins (at least of the five species that I had the pleasure of meeting) is the rockhopper. Thought I’d post a close up portrait of one of these fun little guys. Nice when you can get sunlight on the subject but with a dark shadowy background. Taken on Saunders Island in the Falklands. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/2500th of a second
Pronghorn and bison often share the same habitat, but they don’t really mingle the way that different hoofed species do in Africa. These two were scoping each other out for a moment before going back to doing what they do. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/200th of a second
Not a great shot technically — more of a snapshot really — but I like the story that this one tells. The lioness was taking her sweet time with that wildebeest kill. She had long since gotten all the meat out of it that she could, but she refused to leave even a scrap behind for that persistent, brave, and I assume, annoying jackal. There were actually two black-backed jackals that kept creeping up behind her, nipping at her tail and trying to get her off the kill. And as always there were a few vultures around (you can see one out of focus in the background), waiting patiently for their turn. Eventually the jackals gave up and moved on. As soon as they were out of sight the lion left too, after which about twenty vultures moved in to grab whatever was left. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/400th of a second
Always nice to get the animals in their environment. In this shot of a bull moose, I liked the splash of yellow from the aspen and the bit of red on the ground beneath the moose. This was from my trip in September to Alaska, just outside of Anchorage in Chugach State Park. If you look close, you can also see that the moose is licking his nose (as he goes after the cow that was just ahead of him in the bushes). Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 105mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second
On Monday I posted a fairly abstract shot of an adult spectral tarsier peering from inside a tree cavity. Here’s what a baby looks like out in the open. Look at those pink lips. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 200, f/10 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
The pangolin is easily one of my best wildlife sightings. They can be very rare to see in Africa. Not only did we see one when in Botswana, we saw one being stalked by a leopard. For protection from predators, pangolins will curl up in a ball. But as soon as the pangolin thought the leopard was asleep, it would uncurl itself and slowly try to sneak away. This is one of those slow uncurl moments. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/320th of a second
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Before we got to the beach at Ambergris Caye, we spent three nights in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest in western Belize, close to the Guatemala border. On one of our days, we took an excursion to the Caracol Mayan Ruins for a bit of culture. Of course, I took my long lens just in case — hoping that some wildlife would show up during our tour. Sure enough, just as we were finishing up with our guide, a large troop of howler monkeys stopped by in all their howling glory. If you’ve never heard a howler monkey howl, it’s quite an experience. In fact, some of the more aggressive dinosaur noises from Jurassic Park are actually howler monkey calls dubbed into the mouths of angry dilophosaurus and other prehistoric beasts.
