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Leopard in Tall Grass

Despite their beautifully colored coats, large cats like leopards, jaguars and tigers all blend in quite nicely with their respective habitats. The alternating dark and light fur provides perfect camouflage amidst the light and shadows of the grasses and shrubs. This particular leopard is the one year old that I posted about a year and a half ago. We came upon a very rare find on safari — a pangolin (see post here for more on that encounter) and I was very excited to get out of the vehicle and down on the ground for some great eye-level action of one of Africa’s most elusive creatures. I couldn’t believe my bad luck when the guide told me that I had to stay in the vehicle — because there was a leopard stalking in the nearby grass. The leopard was right next to our vehicle and I didn’t even see him. How dare he ruin my shot. Of course, I quickly realized that it was actually amazing luck — not only to photograph a pangolin, but one being stalked by a leopard. We stayed there and watched them play their game of cat and mouse (the pangolin, of course, in the unfortunate role of the mouse) until the sun went down.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/250th of a second

Grey Crowned Crane

The grey crowned crane, or crested crane, is certainly one of the more interesting looking creatures to be found in east Africa. It is a large bird standing three and a half feet tall and weighing in at almost eight pounds. It spends the entire day foraging for a variety of both plants and animals, including seeds, grains, worms, frogs, snakes, fish and eggs. This particular crane was winding down its day before heading to a tree to rest and sleep for the night.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 00-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

Bat Eared Fox Pups Snout to Snout

These two bat eared fox pups were getting to know each other a little better. Of course, they should have been quite familiar with each other as they were most likely from the same litter. We came across them late one afternoon in the Masai Mara of Kenya.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/100th of a second

Flight of the Albatross

Of the 22 different species, the black browed albatross is considered medium sized by albatross standards. The largest albatrosses have a wingspan of 11 feet. The black browed variety only gets to about 8 feet. Still, that’s a pretty impressive spread. This particular bird seemed to be at least that as it soared along the cliffs of Saunders Island in the Falkland Islands.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/4000th of a second

Old Man Tortoise

Giant tortoises are the oldest living land animals on earth — which I figured was appropriate as I turn 50 today — not yet halfway there if I was the average tortoise. This Galapagos giant tortoise was photographed in the Santa Cruz Highlands in the Galapagos Islands. Happy birthday to me.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second

Molting Kings

Molting King Penguin, Saunders Island, Falkland Islands

“THE VEST” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second

Molting King Penguin, Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands

“THE BOA” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 250mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/640th of a second

“THE HAIRY BELLY BUTTON” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/500th of a sec

“THE HIRSUTE” — NIkon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/1000th of a second

“THE PASHMINA” — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 210mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/500th of a second

“CHAPS” — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 125mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/100th of a second

King penguins molt after two years of age — basically this means they lose their baby feathers, underneath which they reveal their adult plumage. As you can see, they don’t all progress at the same rate. It was comical to see the half-molted penguins. They looked as if they were partially dressed in varying degrees of clothing, from a furry vest, to a feather boa, to well, that last guy appears to be in chaps.

Rhinos at Sunrise

Using a warm white balance and shooting in the general direction of the sun produced the golden tones in this image. These two white rhinos were grazing early morning in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. Lewa is one of the best places in Kenya to see both white, as well as black rhinos.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second

Chimpanzee

As a kid, I was a big fan of the “Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp” television show. I had the lunchbox and everything. Little did I know the abuse that Hollywood chimps and other show animals suffered in the name of entertainment. I finally got to see chimpanzees in the wild when I went to Uganda in 2009 and it was a great thrill to see them in their natural environment. This guy was photographed in Kibale National Park in southwest Uganda.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400m lens (at 330mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

Female Upland Goose

This one goes out to everyone at the Sierra Club Photography Committee of New York. Thanks for having me as your guest speaker tonight. It was a lot of fun sharing my photos and stories from the field. This species of goose is a common sight in the Falkland Islands. For this exposure, I got the camera on the ground to effectively blur out the foreground and background tones of green and yellow vegetation.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/2500th of a second

Bear Cubs Climbing a Tree

These two cubs (and a couple of others at the base of the tree) were having a good old time climbing up and down and up and down. As I’ve mentioned before, black bears can be either quite dark like these two, or more of a brownish color. Some are even almost blond.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

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