The essence of the Galapagos Islands — a Darwin’s finch atop a marine iguana. There are fifteen different species of Darwin’s finches, and they were instrumental in the development of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. This particular bird is called a medium ground finch — not to be confused with the small or the large ground finch. All three ground finches (and for that matter all Darwin’s finches) are roughly the same size. The difference is in the beak — each beak having evolved in a slightly different manner thanks to the different food sources on the different islands. Likewise, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the iguanas are also slightly different depending upon which island they inhabit. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/10 at 1/320th of a second
I figured an animated gif might be the best way to illustrate the changing colors of a short horned chameleon (also known as an elephant eared chameleon). The first shot, when the chameleon was a nice colorful blue and green, was how I first encountered the animal on a night hike in Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park. The next two shots show how the color of the skin quickly turned to brown as the chameleon reacted to my presence and flash. This change happened almost immediately as the shots were all taken within thirty seconds. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 200, f/22 at 1/60th of a second (-0.33 ev)
I was recently going through my California landscapes folder and I came across all these images from Death Valley. The six photos show the geologic variety of Death Valley’s floor. A couple of them I have posted before but I wanted to show them together with the new shots. From the top, it’s the mud-caked ground of Mesquite Flats. Next is the lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin. The third image shows the sand dunes at Mesquite Flats. The fourth is appropriately called Devil’s Golf Course. The Fifth is called The Racetrack and is home to the mysterious moving boulders. And finally, the sixth is another type of dried mud near Stovepipe Wells. Nikon D700 with a Nikkor 17-35mm, Gitzo tripod, ISO 200
I’m a big fan of jackrabbits. Of the three species — the black tailed, the white tailed and the antelope jackrabbit — the black tailed is the most commonly seen. This one was photographed in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California. Although they are called jackrabbits, they are actually hares. The difference between a rabbit and a hare you ask? Other than a list of physical characteristics such as size and strength, the main difference is that rabbits are born blind and hairless while hares are born with fur and sight. As for those awesomely long ears on the jackrabbit — they play a role in regulating body temperature. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second
The western woolly lemur is listed as endangered due to its very limited habitat. It is confined to a small area of dry forest in western Madagascar — and even within this small area, suitable habitat is very fragmented. They mostly live in Ankarafantsika National Park, where I saw this young western woolly on a night hike back in 2007. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
I had been photographing the owls at Boundary Bay in Canada for three overcast days before realizing that this majestic mountain was in the background across the bay in the United States. When the fog finally lifted and a bit of sunlight came through, it was quite a scene to see Mount Baker — located in Bellingham, Washington — slowly emerge in the distance. I was hoping for a flight shot with the mountain in the background, but had to settle for this snowy perched on a fallen tree. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/640th of a second (-0.67 ev)
I took this one a few year back in Colorado. Mount Evans is just about an hour from Denver and is accessed by the highest paved road in North America. More often than not when I go to this location, I see mountain goats. This mother, or nanny, seemed to be calling to her kid, letting the young one know that it was time to stop playing and time to go home before the rain. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 200, f/6.3 at 1/800th of a second
Another bat stars and seagrass photo. This one is from Pacific Grove, just south of Monterey, California. As you can see, they come in many different colors, including green, purple, red, orange, yellow and brown, and can be either mottled or solid. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 800, f/11 at several different shutter speeds (pseudo HDR image)
We came across this American oystercatcher one morning on Fernandina in the Galapagos Islands. Usually oystercatchers will lay two to three eggs, but this mother appeared to only have one. As the name would suggest, they use their large beaks to break open oysters and other mollusks. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/640th of a second
Here’s another shot that I never posted to the blog, although it’s been in my “Madagascar” gallery for a while. This is a mother Coquerel’s sifaka and her baby. Most baby lemurs are born in the fall. These guys are an exception and are born in June and July. This one was about two weeks old. It was very difficult photographing these babies. First of all there weren’t many of them, but also, the mothers were very protective and kept them tucked away and out of sight. Even though I was quite far away with a 600mm lens, if they saw me, they’d shift to hide the baby and retreat into the middle of a large tree. This shot was a finalist last year in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year competition in the endangered species category, but ultimately it didn’t make the show. Nikon D200, Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second
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