Toco Toucan
The toco toucan is the largest toucan in the world. They range from Central America through eastern South America. This one was hanging out in a tree in the front yard of the lodge that I stayed at in the Pantanal of Brazil.
Springbok and Sun
I previously posted another shot like this from Botswana. I just found this one and think I like it better. The antelope is a springbok, which are very common in the Central Kalahari Desert. It was nice each night to capture the huge sun on the horizon with my telephoto lens (which compresses space, making it look even bigger than it actually is).
Lion Cub and Log
This poor little lion cub got pinned against that log when its mother rolled over in her sleep. After a quick struggle, the little guy was able to get free and climb on top of mom to continue playing.
Crested Crane with Chick
This crested crane had about five chicks, but they were all scattered about in the grass. At least you can see one, blurred out in the background. It was raining pretty hard, but it also happened to be a great day for shooting. The location was Laikipia, Kenya.
Striped Hyena
Striped hyenas are much more rare than spotted hyenas and we were lucky to see this one in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. Not only are they endangered, they are also almost strictly nocturnal and rarely seen in the daylight. This was at the end of the day and shot in very low light as two of them were ducking in and out of their den, getting ready for a night of foraging. Our guide said that he had only seen striped hyena a few other times in the reserve.
Two Shots of Olympic National Park Forest
I was going through my files tonight and came across these two shots from Olympic National Park in Washington. In certain areas of the park, the forests can be very lush — everything covered in a coat of moss and dripping with vegetation. In the first photo, I used a 35mm focal length which eliminates any sort of extreme distortion when it comes to straight lines. In the second shot, I used a wide 17mm lens which really distorts the lines of the trees, but also creates a nice effect and sense of scale.
Jackal Sniffing Air
Usually jackals run away if you approach them too closely, but this guy seemed as curious about me as I was about him. I was even able to get out of the safari vehicle and down on the ground for some low angle shooting. He kept on moving closer and closer, sniffing the air every five steps or so. Eventually he passed by me about twenty feet away and headed on his way.
Green Bee Eaters
As the name suggests, bee eaters like to eat bees. They tend to sit on familiar perches for a while, then dart off to attempt mid-air grabs — usually of bees, but also wasps and flying ants. They won’t eat the bee at first, but will smash it against the perch to remove any stingers. These bee eaters were photographed in Bandhavgarh National Park in India.
Banded Mongoose
This is a banded mongoose, photographed in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Unlike other mongoose species that live solitary lives, the banded mongoose lives in colonies. This particular mongoose and the rest of its colony lived in a network of burrows that was right next to a bat eared fox den. The banded mongoose will also live in close proximity to baboons and warthogs — foraging and actually being handled by the former, and picking ticks from the latter.
Leaping Serval
Servals are nocturnal and hunt mostly at night. We were lucky to catch this one in the late afternoon as it was heading out for the night. I previously posted another shot of this serval — more of a portrait. It gave us several different shot opportunities as it slowly got up from its hiding place in the grass when it realized we were onto him/her. It then took a few slow steps, then a few quicker ones, before leaping away. I captured a bit more motion blur than ideal in this photo, but there wasn’t much light and my shutter was pretty slow. Even so, I ended up liking the effect.