This is an oldie but I have never uploaded it to the blog. It was early one morning in Delaware at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. This fox was so cooperative that I was able to move in close for some more interesting angles. Seems that whatever the species, a big yawn is always a treat.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4.5 at 1/640th of a second (-0.33 ev)
Time for another look at the Thomas’s leaf monkey from Sumatra. These guys are also called Thomas’s langurs. They live in the subtropical and tropical dry forests of Indonesia. Unfortunately, they are considered a vulnerable species due to the rapid loss of their habitat.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second (-0.33 ev)
Saw whet owls are strictly nocturnal and they sleep for most of the day. I waited a long time for this little guy to wake up… yawn… do anything. After what seemed like a few hours, it finally shuffled around a bit on the branch before giving itself a good scratch. The eyes never opened.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/200th of a second
I was surprised at how many Pacific green sea turtles we saw in the Galapagos Islands. We snorkeled almost every day and almost every time we got in the water we saw a few of these guys. I got plenty of shots at close range of them staring into the camera, but I really liked this one of the turtle surfacing for air amidst the the diffused rays of the sun.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 22mm) ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second, Ikelite underwater housing with 8-inch dome port
Hear’s another shot from that magical morning up at Seal River Lodge in northern Manitoba, Canada. This was a little later in the morning from the photo that is in my “Favorites” gallery. The light wasn’t quite as soft but still pretty great with the backlit mist rising from low tide on the Hudson Bay.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 98mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second (+2 ev)
This Sulawesi dwarf cuscus was a challenge to photograph due to the mixed lighting conditions of the deep shadows caused by the thick foliage and the bright highlights caused by the rising sun. For this particular image, I set my camera to expose for the bright areas and waited for the cuscus to pop its head into the light. These guys are pretty rare and only exist on a few islands in Indonesia. I was lucky to see this one. Cuscus are marsupials and are a type of possum.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/250th of a second
It’s owl Friday again, and this one isn’t technically the best photo in the world, nor is the subject matter going to be appreciated by everyone, but it is very unusual behavior — at least it seems that way from all the research that I did. It was very late in the day and the sun had long since set when I saw this snowy owl attack a male mallard. Even the owl seemed a bit surprised and confused as to what to do next with this unusual catch. It tried several times to fly away with the duck but didn’t seem to have the strength. Twenty minutes later, it remained sitting on top of the duck trying to decide what to do about the situation. Eventually it got too dark for me to even see what was going on anymore so I left the scene and let nature take its course. I usually don’t like to shoot above 1600 ISO but this one was captured at 3200 because of the extreme low light (it was actually much darker than it appears in the photo).
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
Being Valentine’s Day, I figured it only appropriate to post a little animal love. These two Japanese macaques were enjoying a bit of cuddle time while the rest of the monkeys were relaxing in the hot springs up in the mountains near Nagano Japan.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 175mm) ISO 200, f/4.5 at 1/100th of a second
This yellow-crowned night heron was doing its best Navy SEAL impersonation on North Seymour Island in the Galapagos Islands. The heron was slowly stalking its prey in a shallow channel.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second (-0.33 ev)
This baby koala was just hanging with its mom, doing what baby koalas do — which is basically to hang with mom, sleep for about twenty hours and then eat a few eucalyptus leaves before dozing off again.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 165mm) ISO 100, f/2.8 at 1/60th of a second