A nice moment here between a mother Galapagos sea lion and her young pup. Galapagos sea lions are just slightly smaller than their relatives in California. They occur on each of the islands in the Galapagos archipelago. Every place we saw a bit of sandy beach, we also saw sea lions. When there was no sand, they were basking in the sun on the rocks… or in the middle of a trail, or on a boat, or on the park benches and sidewalks of the few larger islands that were inhabited by people. These two were on our favorite island, Fernandina — a beautiful place, devoid of any people but full of all the creatures that the Galapagos are famous for. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/500th of a second (0.33 ev)
In addition to the owls and ducks, bald eagles were also patrolling the coast of Boundary Bay. Most often, I saw them perched in tall trees against bright, unattractive backgrounds — or on the ground but too far away in the middle of a plowed field. Occasionally, however, I caught them in flight with halfway decent light. I still need to do a proper bald eagle trip to Alaska, but in the meantime, it was nice to get a few more pics in my library of our national emblem.
A quick break in the action from all the avian posts of late. These three rhioncerouses — or rhinoceri if you prefer — were photographed late one morning in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy of Kenya. Lewa is home to both white and the black rhinos. These guys are the former, although they aren’t actually white in color. Nor are they the reddish brown that they appear to be in the photo. They are more greyish, but they take on the brown tint from all the mud that they wallow in at Lewa. White rhinos are quite a bit larger than black rhinos and can weigh up to 6,000 pounds (black rhinos top out at just half that). Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/500th of a second
In addition to the owls, I also came across quite a few ducks last weekend while in British Columbia, including wood ducks, mallards, wigeons, pintails, goldeneyes and shovelers. This male wood duck was kind enough to stop and pose for a portrait in front of a nice dark background. You can see why they are generally considered the most beautiful of all North American ducks. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 640, f/4 at 1/1000 of a second
To close out owl week, here’s another snowy owl from Boundary Bay in British Columbia. This adult female was perched on a nearby post for quite a while giving us ample opportunities for portrait shots. What we were all hoping for, however, was a flight shot — and she eventually obliged, flying right past us and out into the marsh. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens attached (at 340mm) ISO 800 at 1/1000th of a second
I figure I might as well make this owl week. This is the third species that I saw last weekend in British Columbia. The saw whet owl is one of the smallest owls in North America. They weigh only about 2.8 ounces and are just 7 inches tall. When perched and sleeping in a tree, their round appearance is about the size of a softball. They are strictly nocturnal and sleep throughout the day, hidden deep within the foliage of trees. I kept going back to visit this one, hoping that it would wake up for just a second. It finally rewarded me with a single eye glance. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/60th of a second.
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
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