Here’s another for the bird fans. A pretty little bird with a great big name, the violaceous euphonia. These guys were fairly common up in the canopy of the rainforest on my recent Panama trip. I also photographed them in Trinidad last year. This one was eating the fruits of the the cecropia tree (those sausage like things to the right).
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second
The ostrich is the largest bird in the world. Males can grow to more than nine feet tall and weigh in at over 250 pounds. They also have the largest eyes of any land vertebrate with a circumference of two inches. That whole hiding-their-heads-in-the-sand-to-avoid-danger thing is just a myth. I was tracking this large boy as he raced across the flat grasslands of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second
The fanaloka is native to Madagascar. I found this one lurking in the bushes while on a night hike in Ranomafana National Park, which is in the central part of the island nation. Fanalokas are strictly nocturnal, and most scientists think, solitary, although there is also evidence that they may live in pairs. Next to the fossa (which I didn’t see), the fanaloka is the next largest carnivore in Madagascar. That being said, they are pretty small, weighing in at just over four pounds and measuring nineteen inches long, not including the tail which is another seven to eight inches long.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 155mm) ISO 200, f/5 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-600 flash
A koala takes a good yawn in-between bites of eucalyptus leaves on Kangaroo Island in Southern Australia. Eucalyptus is, of course, all that a koala eats, making the species very vulnerable as eucalyptus forests get more and more fragmented across southern and eastern Australia.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 130mm) ISO 100, f/4.5 at 1/40th of a second
I usually don’t post on holidays, but today is my Dad’s birthday. And it’s a big one. But Dad, take heart in knowing that you’re nothing compared to one of these guys — the Gálapagos giant tortoise. The oldest ever, lived in captivity for 176 years. You might not make it that far, but at the rate you’re going you’re sure to give it a good shot. Enjoy the day. And as I always say, no matter how old you get, you’ll always be younger than you’ll ever be.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
Smoky jungle frogs are a common sight when hiking in tropical rainforests at night. They are very large frogs, about 7 inches long and very robust. They are strictly nocturnal and also have a noxious skin secretion. If picked up they make a high pitched scream (not that I recommend picking up a frog with noxious skin, or any frogs for that matter).
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 200, f/9 at 1/160th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units
Photographing penguins in the Falkland Islands was certainly one of the most enjoyable wildlife excursions that I’ve ever been on. My first four nights in the Falklands, I was staying by myself in a cabin at the far end of an island that had a total population of two people (they ran a farm on the other side of the island). I basically had the place to myself. Me and thousands of penguins. If I wanted to stay out late with them as they returned from sea after the sun had set, no problem. For this shot, I used an off camera flash to capture a rockhopper penguin as it headed up a rocky slope and back to the rest of the colony.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 1600, f/8 at 1/800th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash
This photo gives a good look at the body of an African wild dog and you can see why they are nicknamed African painted dogs. They are Africa’s largest canid and are highly social, living and hunting in packs. They are also highly endangered with a current estimated population to be only 6,600 adults and declining due to continued habit loss, fragmentation, human persecution and disease outbreaks. I came across this African wild dog and the rest of its pack late in the afternoon in northern Botswana.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 155mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
There seems to be some confusion surrounding the classification of brockets in Central and South America. They are a species (or several species as the case may be) of rainforest deer that range throughout much of southern Central America and down through the northern half of South America. This subspecies (or not) is the Central American red brocket, photographed in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. They are mostly solitary creatures, preferring dense jungle habitat, and they forage on vegetation and fruits when available.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/50th of a second
This is a crimson-breasted shrike, also known as a crimson-breasted gonolek. They live in southern Africa and the males and females are virtually indistinguishable. I photographed this one in the Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. In Namibia — which back in the day was occupied by the Germans and known as South West Africa — the colors of the crimson-breasted shrike reminded colonialists of their homeland flag so they called the bird Reichsvogel, which translates to Empire bird.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second