I only saw one owl while in Tasmania — the southern boobook. It was hiding in an old dilapidated barn on Maria Island when I inadvertently interrupted its daytime sleep.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
It’s always exciting to see a leopard. This mother of a one year old cub kept finding her way in front of my camera. Over a two day period, we saw her lounging in a tree, stalking prey from a termite mound, prowling through the tall grass of the Botswanan savanna, and filling up at a water hole.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second
There are four species of bettong in Australia. The one that occurs in Tasmania is called the eastern bettong (also sometimes called the southern bettong or Tasmanian bettong). As a group, bettongs are often referred to as rat kangaroos, which is a pretty apt description, although they are quite a bit bigger than rats, and I’d say a good deal more attractive. Like many marsupials, they are nocturnal, but I was able to see this one in daylight at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, a rehabilitation center for rescued animals that will eventually be re-released into the wild.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/640th of a second
Here are a couple of photos of purple sea stars to close out Prince week (apologies to the purple honeycreeper who will have to wait until the next purple week). These guys are also called ochre sea stars, and as you can see, they aren’t always purple — some have a bright orange coloring while others are different combinations of the two colors. Like the sea urchins I posted earlier in the week, they were photographed in Olympic National Park in Washington.
Top Photo — Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 25 seconds
Bottom Photo — Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 6 seconds
I don’t post many flowers, but seeing as it’s day four of Prince week, and I photographed these purple harebell flowers in Minnesota, it seemed only appropriate. I was on my way back to Minneapolis after photographing black bears in the northern part of the state, when I stopped for a short hike. I didn’t see any wildlife on that hike, but did see quite a few spring flowers.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second
For day three of Prince week we have the purple gallinule. The purple gallinule is a swamp hen in the rail family. They breed along the southeastern United States and tropical regions of Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. I captured this one on a walk along Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park in Florida.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 320, f/4.5 at 1/400th of a second
For day two of Prince week, we have the purple sea urchin. These guys live near the shoreline in the Pacific Ocean from Ensenada, Mexico up to British Columbia in Canada. This shot was taken in Olympic National Park in Washington. Interesting fact of the day: purple sea urchins are important in biochemical research, because believe it or not, even though they lack a head structure, they share 7,700 genes with humans. Many of those shared genes are involved in sensing the environment. Oddly enough, they also have almost the same life expectancy as humans at just over 70 years.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/400th of a second
In honor of Prince, I’m going to make this an all purple week, starting with this hummingbird — a velvet purple coronet. I took this one in the cloud forest of Ecuador, and the flash really brings out the iridescence in the wings. Without flash, they appear almost black. You can see a nice bit of purple just below the throat.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units
I’ve posted a photo of the much more colorful male black throated trogon before, but the females are pretty cool looking too, if not quite as spectacular. This young lady was hunting for crickets late one afternoon in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/60th of a second
Platypus can be difficult to photograph. First you have to find them. And once you do, they can be very skittish to any movement. What I liked about this shot, is that you can actually see the eyeball, pupil and all. In most shots, it’s hard to make out the actual eye. This was taken on my last full day in Tasmania just outside of the town of Scottsdale in the northeast.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/500th of a second