Foraging Elephant
This elephant was reaching to the top shelf for a little something to eat. Photo taken in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second
Bighorn Landscape
About a month ago I posted a shot of a single bighorn silhouetted against the late day sky in Badlands National Park. Here’s another from that sequence with several bighorn hanging out on the ridge line.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/400th of a second
Tarsier Tongue
Back by popular demand, a baby tarsier. This little hair ball is about the size of a baseball and hails from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. I’ve posted quite a few pictures of these guys in the past, but always a good way to start the week.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290) ISO 200, f/8 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units
Snake vs. Lizard
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
Pale Billed Woodpecker
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
Cheetah Silhouette
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
Marmot Doing What Marmots Do
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
Cowbirds and Bison
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
Lion Cub
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
High-Fiving Tree Frog
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