In addition to snowy owls, there were also short-eared owls at Boundary Bay, as well as plenty of harrier hawks. The two didn’t like each other very much and they were constantly trying to steal each other’s lunch — in this case, a vole. The harrier attacked the owl in mid air and the battle was on. As you can see in the third picture, the owl came out on top and was able to retain rights to a hard fought meal. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 290mm) ISO 1000, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
Just getting back from a great weekend in search of snowy owls in British Columbia, Canada. I had heard of a place called Boundary Bay, which is just over the US border north of Seattle. Last year was a record year for the owls at Boundary Bay — snowy owls are infrequent visitors to lower Canada and certain northern parts of the lower forty eight. They may only show up every seven years. It all depends on the availability of food on the arctic tundra, where they live most of the year. As it turns out, this year is shaping up to be almost as good as last year. 30 or so owls have been spotted in the area and I was lucky enough to photograph quite a few of them. This lovely lady flew right at me and over my head last night just before I was about to call it a night. Much more on these owls later in the week. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400 lens (at 400) ISO 1600, f/4 at 400th of a second
This is a male pronghorn that I photographed in the spring of 2011 in Yellowstone National Park. The pronghorn is the fastest land mammals in the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered to be the second fastest land mammal in the world — behind only the cheetah. Unlike the cheetah, however, which can only sustain high speeds for short sprint-like bursts, the pronghorn has more endurance and can run at a speed of 55 mph for half a mile or 35 mph for four miles. A cheetah, incidentally, can reach a top speed of 75 mph, but that’s a tale for another post. Enjoy the long holiday weekend (if you get it). I’m currently in the Seattle/Vancouver area searching for snowy owls and other creatures. Hopefully I’ll be back on Tuesday with something to share.
This is a photo that has been in my Costa Rica gallery but has never been posted to the blog. If nothing else, the kinkajou is my favorite animal name. They are also sometimes called honey bears. Strictly nocturnal, they are rarely seen by humans and I was pretty excited when I got this shot. I was out spotlighting on my own, which is very difficult because usually I need someone to shine a light on the animal so that I can acquire focus. I had to position my headlamp in just the right spot on my head so that it was pointing directly at the kinkajou while I was looking through the viewfinder. All came together nicely and I was able to get several exposures while the kinkajou munched on what appears to be some sort of pineapple-like fruit. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 150mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units mounted to a bracket
These elephants were grazing at twilight on the flat lands of the Laikipia Plateau in Kenya. Laikipia was once a cattle ranching area but was later reclaimed for wildlife conservation. As I’ve mentioned before, we were there during the short rains in November for a reason — the incredible skies like the one on this particular evening. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 98mm) with a graduated neutral density filter, ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second (+0.67 ev)
Galápagos penguins are the only penguins that live north of the equator. Not that they cross over into the northern hemisphere by much. The equator goes right through the middle of the archipelago, and it’s only a few of the northern islands that are above it. We didn’t see too many of these guys but we did get a few good looks at them on the rocky shoreline of Isabela Island. We also saw them while snorkeling, but only for an instant as they zipped past. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/1000th of a second (-0.33 ev)
While I was photographing some birds, I looked over and saw this lava lizard peeking at me from behind a rock. There are many different species of lava lizard on the Galápagos Islands, all however, are believed to have evolved from a single ancestral species. The different species are colored a bit differently depending upon the island that they inhabit — in other words, on islands with more black lava rock, the lizards are darker, whereas on light sandy islands, they are much lighter in color. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/1000th of a second (-0.33 ev)
I was going to post a shot from Australia or Madagascar or Costa Rica or some place else in the world besides Ecuador, but than I saw this photo and I said, yeah, I need to post that one tonight. This young sea lion was full of confidence as it confronted the front of my camera, protecting its mother in the background.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/11 at 1/160th of a second
It was mating season for the Galápagos giant tortoises when we were there in November. The males had come down from high in the hills and were gathering at lower elevations in the fields of Santa Cruz Island. I found these four resting and cooling off in a small pond in the heat of mid day. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 32mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/800th, 1/3200th, 1/1600th, 1/400th and 1/200th of a second (HDR)
We spotted this magnificent frigatebird chick on the island of Genovesa in the Galápagos Islands. As you can see, it kind of looked like it was wearing a boa. We saw quite a few of these chicks, but none quite as fluffy as this. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
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