Polar Bears on the Dance Floor
I was just finishing breakfast when I saw these two polar bears through the dining room window of the lodge. I quickly grabbed my equipment and hustled on out to a side patio to record the action. Turns out I could have taken my time as they kept at it for a good 20 minutes or so. They were obviously play fighting on the ice, but at times it really did look like they were out on a giant dance floor.
Oxpeckers Climbing to the Top of Mount Giraffe
Last week I posted a photo of an oxpecker pecking in a zebra’s ear. This week it’s two oxpeckers climbing up the mountainous back of a giraffe. There were actually quite a few more of these small birds on the giraffe, and at one point I saw a flock of about 30 of them on another giraffe. The giraffes don’t seem to mind much (after all, they are getting rid of all their ticks) but a couple of times I saw a giraffe clearly annoyed by the parasitic birds.
Tule Elk Cow
Tule elk are the smallest subspecies of elk in North America. They live only in a few small pockets of California. One of the most reliable places to see them is at Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco. It was getting near the end of the day when I came across a small herd of females, including this young lady who was obviously reacting to a particularly funny joke that I told her.
Grizzly in Snow
Here’s another one from the late spring trip to Yellowstone — this one not looking quite so springlike. I had never seen so many grizzly bears in the park. They seemed to be everywhere, digging through the snow looking for food. I watched this guy as he walked for about 15 minutes along the river and then proceeded to swim across and climb up the mountain on the other side.
Bighorn Lamb
The northwest entrance to Yellowstone National Park is a great place to spot bighorn sheep. The vast majority of Yellowstone is in Wyoming, but Gardiner Canyon where I took this photo is in Montana (the park’s boundaries also spill into a bit of eastern Idaho). I was there this spring and several recently born bighorn lambs were running up and down the steep walls of the canyon. It’s amazing how fearless they are at such a young age.
Green-winged Macaws
When I was in Brazil last year, I spent half a day scaling the side of a cliff, following my guide to the nesting site of green-winged macaws. Not much materialized as we waited patiently on top of the cliff for the birds to return home for the night. Finally, we saw this lone pair flying well below us in the valley. Not exactly the photo opportunity I was expecting but pretty cool to watch as they glided above the tree tops Green-winged macaws — also known as red and green macaws — are the largest of the macaws and they range throughout northern and central South America. Once fairly common, they are now faced with rapidly declining numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture to the parrot trade.