There are four crocodilian species in the Americas. This is the American crocodile and it was photographed in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica (they range from southern Florida to northern Peru). Crocodiles have a much longer snout than alligators. You can see the tip of this guy’s snout, peaking above the water a foot and a half or so in front of the eyes.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/3200th of a second
Here’s another photo of the baby prairie dogs I met while in South Dakota. These two youngsters were in Wind Cave National Park and were giving each other a little kiss while playing around the burrow.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/3200th of a second
This one goes out to my young friend Rourke (rumor has it that Rourke is a big fan of the hippos). This rather rotund specimen was none too happy with my close approach. In Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, it’s possible to explore parts of the park on foot and I was at river’s edge with my guide for a few quick shots before quickly getting back to the relative safety of higher ground. Hippos have a well earned reputation for being among the most dangerous creatures on the continent and the last thing I wanted to do was get their attention.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/640th of a second
Hope everyone had a nice long weekend. Thought I’d start out the work week with a creature that hasn’t been seen on the blog in over four years. This is a fanaloka (also known as the Malagasy civet), and it was photographed in a rain forest in central Madagascar in Ranomafana National Park. Fanalokas are nocturnal and usually very secretive. This one was looking for scraps near a picnic area. These guys are about the size of a house cat, but are a bit more fox like in appearance. They are neither a feline or a canine, however, and are more closely related to the mongoose.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 92mm) ISO 200, f/5 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash unit
People seem to be of mixed minds about the honey badger. I for one, think they are pretty cool animals — true scrappers able to defend themselves against much larger beasts. This guy didn’t quite know what to think about me when he saw me crouched down in the grass just outside of my tent in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second
Back to the Badlands for this one. I’m not quite sure of the exact species of cottontail, but this little rabbit was running around early in the morning at one of the popular pullouts in the park. There were a couple of other rabbits there as well, but this one was easily the smallest and clearly younger than the rest.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/800th of a second
I don’t often take photos in my own backyard. Mainly because I’m a wildlife photographer and I live in New York. That being said, there are some very good places in the city to find nature. One of the best is Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which straddles both Brooklyn and Queens. Jamaica Bay is a bit of an anomaly because it is the only National Wildlife Refuge that is not administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, but rather the National Park Service. It’s a great place to photograph migrating birds, raccoons, and the occasional reeds with blurred cityscape.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/100th of a second
In honor of Costa Rica’s dramatic victory yesterday in the World Cup, here’s a Costa Rican white-faced capuchin monkey who looks like he could have been watching the game…
… and celebrating after the final score.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
Here’s a rare post minus any animals — once again, taken in Badlands National Park a few weeks ago. Those yellow flowers in the foreground were everywhere throughout the park, covering the ground and growing up the sides of the eroded buttes. To hold the detail in the foreground and the sky, I took five exposures and combined them in post as an HDR image.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/20 at 1/3, 1/13, 1/6, .6, and 1.3 seconds
I promise that next week I’ll get back to the rest of the world, but for now I’m going to stick with south west South Dakota. A few days ago I posted a great horned owl. This is the other, much more common species of owl that I saw while in the Badlands. Burrowing owls are very small, and they can be seen early in the morning, living alongside prairie dogs in prairie dog towns.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second