It ended up being a good day for the snake and a very bad day for the lizard, but for a moment it looked quite the opposite. The green rat snake was obviously trying to eat the whiptail lizard, but the lizard put up a good fight and at one point actually had a bit of a strangle hold on the snake. Eventually, however, the snake was too much to handle and nature did what nature does. This was taken in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica — not on my recent trip but on a previous trip back in 2007. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
My guide in Costa Rica told me that this was a lineated woodpecker, but further research leads me to believe that it is actually a pale billed woodpecker. The pale bill and almost uniformly red head being the giveaways. Both birds are very large, although the pale billed is even larger, averaging about 15 inches in length. These birds can be found from northern Mexico, south to Panama. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second
You have to work a bit for this one, but there’s a cheetah in there — lower left hand corner, just in front of the termite mound. I captured this image late one afternoon on my first trip to Botswana just over three years ago. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 75mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/200th of a second
This guy is called a hoary marmot. He was lounging on a rock high up a mountainside in Mount Rainier National Park. When the sun is up they like to sprawl out on rocks to soak up the warmth. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/500th of a second
You never know what you might find in a bison’s fur. In this case, a male and female cowbird — the female on the left, male on the right. I found it amusing that they always seemed to be looking in the same direction at the same time. As for the bison, he was just happy to be going about his business of eating grass, oblivious to the new tenants on his back. This is another one from the Badlands trip. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second
It seemed about time for another lion cub post. Here’s one from the Masai Mara in Kenya. This little guy was one of six cubs in the pride and appeared to be the smallest of the bunch. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/320th of a second
When it comes to wildlife, my sister Mo knows what she likes. Frogs. And seeing as today is Mo’s birthday, a frog it is. And not just any old frog — a high fiving tree frog. At least that’s what this hourglass tree frog appears to be doing. I came across the little guy on a nocturnal walk in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. Hourglass tree frogs are also sometimes called pantless tree frogs. What I like most about this trouserless specimen is that if you look close, you can see the reflection of his hand in his eyeball. Happy birthday Mo — from me and the frog. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/14 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units on a bracket
I took this photo late one afternoon down in the Okefenokee Swamp of southern Georgia. The last rays of the sun were illuminating a mixed assortment of shorebirds as they settled into a tree for the night. Amongst the flock were little blue herons, white ibis and snowy egrets. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second
Bison are always great subjects for landscape shots because of their distinctive shape. I photographed this one grazing on a ridge line early one morning on the recent Badlands trip. As with several other of the Badlands shots, I took five exposures and blended them in Photomatix Pro in order to retain the detail in both the foreground and the sky — which is another great thing about bison, they usually don’t move very fast. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 1/100th, 1/400th, 1/200th, 1/50th and 1/25th of a second
I photographed this hummingbird in Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana last year. It’s a female broad tailed hummingbird. The males are much more colorful with a red throat and green head and body. This young lady was among several other species of hummingbird that were fluttering around a feeder in the back yard of the refuge headquarters.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 250mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/4000th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash
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It ended up being a good day for the snake and a very bad day for the lizard, but for a moment it looked quite the opposite. The green rat snake was obviously trying to eat the whiptail lizard, but the lizard put up a good fight and at one point actually had a bit of a strangle hold on the snake. Eventually, however, the snake was too much to handle and nature did what nature does. This was taken in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica — not on my recent trip but on a previous trip back in 2007.
