A young elephant seal relaxes on a bed of lichen-covered rocks on Carcass Island in the Falklands. These guys are a separate, but very similar species to the northern elephant seals we get along the west coast of the United States. This is a juvenile — but will eventually grow to as much as 20 feet long and weigh in excess of 8,800 pounds — making them the largest seals in the world. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/1600th of a second.
I mentioned in a previous post that we had great luck with aardwolves on our trip to Kenya this past summer. Going through my files again, I came across this image I liked of one running across the savanna in Samburu National Reserve. They are nocturnal, but we kept seeing them first thing in the morning, likely just before heading back to their burrows to rest for the remainder of the day. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 640, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
As much as I love being out on game drives while on safari, I also look forward to the downtime when I’m free to walk around camp searching for birds and other creatures that happen to be passing through. This bronzy sunbird was outside our room on Lake Mutanda in Uganda. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm lens, ISO 10,000, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.
We saw these two lions stalking a group of giraffes (or as a group of giraffes is commonly called, a tower of giraffes). And where there are stalking lions, there are opportunistic carnivores hoping to get in on the action. You can see a black-backed jackal in-between the lions and the giraffes, anticipating the hunt. Nothing came of the encounter and the lions never made a charge, perhaps fearing the lethal hooves of the multiple healthy-looking giraffes. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 450, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
Grey-headed kingfishers are widely disturbed in and around the African continent. This one was spotted on one of our game drives in Kenya, perched amidst the thorns of an acacia tree. We also had a few hanging around our tent in Samburu National Reserve. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 2800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.
I got a few shots of this lion licking his paw, but liked this one best where you can really see the size of that thing with some visual reference (keeping in mind that male lions have enormous heads). Photographed on the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second.
This little guy had something on his mind. At just two years old, like his human cousins, he is still a toddler. We had a great time watching him roll around in the grass and crawl over his older siblings and the adults in the family of ten mountain gorillas. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 140mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second.
Yellow-necked spurfowl can be a relatively common sight while on a Kenyan safari. This one was putting on quite a performance atop a small bush in Samburu National Reserve. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1000, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second.
A lioness takes a late-day snooze, but keeps her eye on any interesting developments out on the savanna. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
These two guanacos (relatives of the llama) were resting on the ground as a light but steady rain fell on the Patagonian landscape. I got as low as I could to capture just their heads popping up over a small hill. Amazing to me how much the one on the right looks like a kangaroo. They are actually in the camel family, and well… they look like camels too. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/640th of a second.