Getting the camera on the ground, or in this case on the ice, always provides a nice perspective, especially for smaller animals. But with these river otters, I was also getting as low as possible in order to get their inevitable shake of the head (and subsequent water spray) against that nice dark background.
If you’ve been checking out my posts for a while, you know that the black-crested macaques are one of my favorite subjects. They are listed as critically endangered, having lost 80% of their population in the last 40 years. This one seems to be contemplating that fact. The reason for the population decline is mainly due to habitat loss. They live only in Tangkoko National Park on the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
And therein lies the beauty of the capybara — while some dismiss it as a gigantic rat, others can appreciate its refined social etiquette. This one here proving the point by covering it’s mouth before sneezing. For those who weren’t paying attention the last time I posted a capybara, they are the world’s largest rodent, living throughout much of South America. This one was photographed in the Pantanal of Brazil.
This baby spectral tarsier appears to be communicating something to its mother. These tiny primates are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list of endangered species, mainly due to a rapid loss of habitat. This was taken in Tangkoko National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
This is an eastern newt, otherwise known as a red spotted newt. When young, like this one, it is a bright orange color and called a red eft. For most of its 12 to 15 year long life, it lives in the water, but when in the red eft stage it exists on land. I found this one last spring in New Jersey on a trail while hiking in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
I realize that cardinals are a fairly common bird around these parts (New York) but I had never seen more of them than I did down in southern Texas. Here are just a few of the shots that I took. The first and third were taken in Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, while the middle one was taken at Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park. These are all males. Oddly enough, I didn’t see quite as many of the females around.
As we get into March and April, it’s time for red fox pups to be born. They can be called pups, kits or even sometimes cubs. I found this one a couple of years ago in late May down in Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware.
The end of the day comes early on the Arctic tundra, and after a long day of play fighting, this bear lets out a big yawn before taking a nap. It was about 4 PM when I took this picture, but already the sun had dipped below the horizon. Of course, this location in northern Manitoba, Canada is at the southern end of the polar bear’s range. Further north, the days are even shorter.
To regulate their body temperature, elephant seals will toss sand onto their backs. I liked the way this mother was going with a behind the back technique, tossing with her right flipper and keeping a watch on things with her left eye. As with most of my elephant seal shots, this one was taken just north of San Simeon, California.
It’s pretty much impossible to go the Pantanal of Brazil and not see yacaré caiman. They’re everywhere. This one was just a little guy, but they can eventually grow to be about 10 feet in length (still quite small for a crocodilian species). Due to their smaller size, they are a favorite prey of jaguars and anaconda — as opposed to the 14 foot long black caiman.