Here’s another one from the Linyanti Concession of Botswana. This time a spotted hyena, spotlit with a flashlight early one morning. There were about five hyenas, playing in a flooded area of the savanna. I didn’t have enough light to capture the action without a flash, but I also wanted to try a few shots with just the flashlight to bring out the ambient light of early morning. I used a very high ISO and a very low shutter speed to get the proper exposure. But at 1/25th of a second, there’s a bit of motion blur, but I think that just adds to the mood. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/25th of a second
It was just past sunset in Botswana when we came upon two cheetahs atop a termite mound, surveying the savanna for prey. After a few minutes, they darted off after a herd (or dazzle) of zebra but were ultimately unsuccessful. Cheetahs have a kill rate of more than 50%, which is highest among the African cats. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
A wood duck drake struts along from one pond to another in Reifel Bird Sanctuary just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/400th of a second
It may be a simple brown lemur, but in my estimation, the white-fronted brown lemur is one of the finest looking of them all. Something elegant about this little guy. This is a male. Females don’t have the light colored head, and are more uniformly brown. I photographed him on the island of Nosy Mangabe, which is off the east coast of the mainland of Madagascar. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second
Here’s another from my sea otter excursion to Morro Bay back in October. This little pup was resting on its mother’s belly as she did a bit of grooming. It can be difficult sometimes to distinguish one otter from the other as their thick, wet fur meshes together. The pup looked like a little brown fur ball with eyes. Sea otters, in fact, have the most dense fur of any animal on the planet — up to one million hairs per square inch. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/640th of a second
Few wildlife moments were as fun for me as swimming with and photographing sea lions in the Galápagos Islands. Their natural curiosity and playful nature was apparent as they’d swim up to my snorkel mask then dive below me, only to circle back around to get another look. They were also constantly playing with each other, synchronized swimming, chasing each another and occasionally giving a muzzle to muzzle tap. These two were photographed just off Rabida Island in the Galápagos. We swam with sea lions almost every afternoon, and this was the only location with this reddish sand on the sea floor. Most everywhere else was green with algae over volcanic rock and coral. That said, Rabida provided an interesting color palette between the red sand and the turquoise water at such a shallow depth. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) Ikelite Underwater housing with 8 inch dome port, ISO 800, f/9 at 1/400th of a second
I rarely post birds two days in a row, but after yesterday’s trogon from Thailand, it got me thinking of all the great birds we have here in the United States. Along with the painted bunting and the western tanager, I consider the green jay to be the finest looking bird in the land (colorwise, at least). They can only be found in southern Texas, but are quite abundant throughout their range — which extends through Mexico and down into northern South America. I photographed this one at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Las Fresnos, Texas. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
A male orange-breasted trogon enjoys a meal of caterpillar in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
This white-footed sportive lemur was resting in a forest of thorn trees. It’s a nocturnal species, but this one took a quick look up before resuming his/her nap. I was in the extreme south of Madagascar at the Berenty Reserve. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 100, f/5.6 at .3 seconds
Bennett’s wallabies are usually brown, but on Bruny Island in Tasmania there is a small population of white ones that live amongst the darker members of the troupe (that’s what you call a group of wallabies, a troupe… or a mob… or a court). In fact a white mother will commonly give birth to a brown joey. In this photo, the joey appears to be looking up at mom, considering all that white fur, wondering if he crawled into the wrong pouch and saying, “wait a minute, you’re my Mom?” Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second
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Here’s another one from the Linyanti Concession of Botswana. This time a spotted hyena, spotlit with a flashlight early one morning. There were about five hyenas, playing in a flooded area of the savanna. I didn’t have enough light to capture the action without a flash, but I also wanted to try a few shots with just the flashlight to bring out the ambient light of early morning. I used a very high ISO and a very low shutter speed to get the proper exposure. But at 1/25th of a second, there’s a bit of motion blur, but I think that just adds to the mood.
