In this image, you can see five bighorn sheep hanging out on the eroded buttes of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The sun had just set in the distance. The Badlands are a surprisingly great wildlife destination. In fact, outside of Yellowstone and the California coast, they’re probably my favorite go-to spot for a variety of animals in an amazing natural habitat.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/640th of a second
I had a lot of fun with this troop of stump-tailed macaques while I was in Thailand. There must have been forty of them, if not more, surrounding me as they stopped to rest, play, eat and do all the other things that monkeys do. This guy was just taking it easy and hiding out behind the thick jungle foliage.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second
As the year comes to an end, time to look back on the highlights of 2017. For the first time in about 15 years, I didn’t do any international shooting (well, with the exception of a few days in St. Barths). But on an otherwise slow year with the camera, I did take advantage of a few work trips and a great week in Alaska in September. Here, in chronological order, are my top ten images that I captured this year, all previously posted in the last twelve months. (I obviously post images from previous years too, but they are not reflected here).
I was a judge at an advertising awards show in Miami in January and took full advantage by staying the weekend and photographing Key deer on Big Pine Key south of the city and then traveling north for burrowing owls in Cape Coral.
In February, the aforementioned trip to St. Barths allowed for some close encounters with rare red-footed tortoises.
I was also able to get a few good looks at the local fiddler crabs.
In May, a work trip took me to Los Angeles. I was able to get out to one of my favorite wildlife hotspots in Anza-Borrego State Park. I didn’t have luck with the usual suspects (jackrabbits, coyote and desert bighorn) but I did capture this macro shot of a thistledown velvet ant.
The Alaska trip was mostly about brown bears and moose. I was able to capture lots of action shots of the bears as they chased fish at low tide in Lake Clark National Park.
In Chugach State Park in Anchorage, I got up close and personal with several bull moose during the fall rut.
The weather was mostly overcast and rainy, but I did have one great morning when the skies opened for this early morning silhouette shot of a coastal brown bear.
No matter how many times I see them, it’s always a treat to photograph red fox. This guy was just bedding down when I was returning to the lodge after a day of photographing bears.
And speaking of bears, here’s another at close range and from my preferred low angle. This mama bear was giving herself a good shake off after a morning of fishing.
Another work trip took me back to Los Angeles in October. This time I headed north to Morro Bay where I spent a few days photographing the local sea otters. Here’s hoping 2018 brings many more creatures (both locally and internationally). Happy New Year everyone.
Merry Christmas everyone. I’ll be back in the new year with more wildlife photos from around the world. In the meantime, here’s a white squirrel, photographed in Olney, Illinois a few years back.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second
On my Alaska trip I had hoped to photograph a few Dall rams by hiking high up into their mountainous range. No luck. I did, however, get to see a few ewes with lambs grazing at lower altitudes along the Seward Highway just south of Anchorage. These guys are Alaska’s version of the bighorn sheep that we have in the lower 48. The look almost identical, except that dall sheep are a bit smaller and have pure white coats.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 250mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second
I had a good time with this band of coatis, deep inside Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. There were about 20 to 30 total individuals. After a while, they forgot I was even there and at one point, I was surrounded on all sides as they went about their business of foraging, grooming, playing and resting. I was able to use my wide angle lens to capture a series of environmental images, including this one when one of the coatis took a moment to look my way while eating fruits from the forest floor.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 30mm) ISO 1600, f/4.5 at 1/320th of a second
As the weather gets colder, it seemed appropriate to pull an image from my polar bear folder. I saw lots of activity like this while in northern Manitoba, Canada — the bears play fighting while waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze over so that they could get out there and hunt for seals.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second
There’s a reason they call them burrowing owls. Unlike most other owls that exist mostly in trees, these guys live down in the ground. This little guy was hiding amidst the grasses, flowers and weeds of a suburban side yard in Cape Coral, Florida. I’ve posted about these owls before. Cape Coral has a quite a population of burrowing owls and it is almost a matter of civic pride if one decides to burrow in your yard. Being a threatened species in Florida, locals are asked to do all they can to accommodate them.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
I only saw one tiger in Kanha National Park in India and it was rather difficult getting a clear view through the thick vegetation. I was able to get pretty close, however, (with the help of an elephant) and grabbed a few close ups of the face when the tiger turned toward camera.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second
This guy was one of the juvenile brown bears that stayed close to our lodge, seeking security from the bigger boys out there. He also had a nice blondish coat, which picked up the backlighting of the afternoon sun. Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/6400th of a second