It was just after sunset when we spotted these two little bat eared fox pups. Their mother had just left the den, presumably to go catch some dinner. The pups were staying pretty close to the den but were playing around, having a good old time while mom was away.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
This one goes out to all my fellow Cheshire High Rams that I had such a good time with last Saturday night at our 30 year reunion. Cheshire, being in Connecticut, doesn’t have any real bighorn sheep among its residents — Wyoming, on the other hand, where this photo was taken, has plenty to go around. Enjoy, and see you all at the next reunion.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second
Some of you might remember a horizontal photo of horseshoe crabs spawning on the beach that I posted a while back. Here’s another shot from that night I was in Cape May, New Jersey. The horseshoe crabs spawn during the month of May at high tide. Full and new moons bring the greatest number of crabs ashore.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 13 seconds, graduated neutral density filter
Since my trip to Minnesota in late June it seems like I’ve been posting a black bear pic each week. No reason not to keep the streak going. I love the way these two cinnamon colored black bears look almost bald on their faces as their cinnamon coat gives way to the more traditional black fur around their eyes, forehead and cheeks.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/400th of a second
Nice form and hang time for this male impala as he leaped out of a forested area and onto the plains of Laikipia in Kenya.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second
Just a simple portrait of a red-capped cardinal for today. These guys are fairly common in the Pantanal of Brazil where I took this shot. Apologies to the non-bird fans. Back tomorrow with fur.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/640th of a second
Male Bornean orangutans have faces that are more dish-shaped than the females. They also have huge cheek flaps that extend from the face, almost like horse blinders. This guy was the alpha male at Tanjung Puting when I visited there a few years back. He was the only orangutan that even the guides would steer well clear of. Lucky for me, I had the equivalent of 600mm of optics between myself and those lovely cheek flaps.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second
This nine-banded armadillo on Merritt Island in Florida was searching everywhere. For what, I don’t know, but it must have been important because he was quite frantic about his search. He even looked inside this moss-covered log for that thing he wanted so much. I didn’t stick around long enough to see if he ever did find what he was looking for.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 800, f/3.2 at 1/640th of a second
It’s tough to impress a snow monkey, and this guy was having none of it. Instead he was enjoying a soothing dip in the hot waters of Jigokudani near Nagano in the mountains of Japan.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second
A few years back, I was down on the Delaware Bay photographing the curious, yet not entirely surprising mating ritual of the least tern. Male least terns catch a fish and then use that fish as payment for services rendered by the female. I watched while lying face down on the sand and took many low perspective photos of this pair as he returned from the sea and showed her the fish. Satisfied with what she saw, she allowed him to mount her and do his thing — about a 3 minute performance. The whole time, he kept the fish in his mouth, shaking his head back and forth until finished. Then she turned around and he dropped the fish, not in her mouth, but rather unchivalrously to the side, as if not completely satisfied. Both, however, seemed to get what they wanted and flew off in opposite directions. I had been watching several other terns doing the same thing and noticed that sometimes the female was not satisfied with the fish and refused the male, while other times the male checked out the female, fish in his mouth, and decided that she wasn’t worthy and flew off in search of another female. These two were the only ones that allowed me a close enough approach to capture the action.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 200, f/6.3 at 1/1600th of a second