With the UConn Huskies winning the national championship last night, I’d be remiss not to post an appropriate canine today. This grey wolf is the closest thing I have to a Siberian husky, so it’ll have to do. Note that this is a captive, not a wild animal. Back to all things wild tomorrow. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 340mm with 2x teleconverter) ISO 800, f/4.8 at 1/1000th of a second.
This young bear stayed close to our lodge at Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska. He was recently out on his own and likely felt a bit more secure sticking close to us humans. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/100th of a second.
Dendropsophus ebraccatus is the proper name, but this guy is more commonly known as the hourglass treefrog due to the pattern on his back (which you can’t quite see in this photo). But as is usually the case, there’s yet another name — the pantless treefrog. Ebraccata means “without trousers” in Latin and it refers to the fact that there are bold patterns on the bottoms of the legs which are absent on the upper legs, ergo, no pants. So now you know. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/14 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units.
These lemurs exhibit behavior that has one of the great names in nature — cathemerality. It means they have no regular pattern of sleep, or daily activity. They are randomly active during every 24 hour cycle. I only saw a few white-fronted brown lemurs in my trip to Madagascar back in 2007, all on the island of Nosy Mangabe. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second.
The anhingas were in breeding plumage on my recent trip to Florida. The top shot is the male. He lacks much of the turquoise around the eye but does have the fluffy grayish/brown feathers on the side of his head that indicate breeding season. Below you can see the female with her turquoise eye ring and similar fluffy feathers on the side and top of the head. Top photo: Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second. Bottom photo: Same camera and lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second. Both with Godox v860iii fill flash.
One of my favorite sightings of all time was this pangolin that Karen and I came across on our honeymoon trip to Botswana. It wasn’t just the pangolin — there was also a young leopard playing with the pangolin as if it was his toy. The pangolin would curl into a ball, using its hard armor for protection. The leopard kept falling asleep and the pangolin would start to sneak away, only to have the leopard wake again and pounce. This went on for a few hours before the pangolin finally outlasted the leopard and made the final escape into the Botswanan night. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/400th of a second.
These tree rats are nocturnal, but this one opened his eyes to get a look at us as we floated past on a tributary of the Amazon River in northern Peru. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
Last night while walking the dog before going to bed I spotted two eyes staring back at me from the bushes in the side yard. I continued walking the dog (he didn’t see what I did) before bringing him back inside. I grabbed my camera and flash and headed back out. Sure enough the bobcat was still there but deep in the bushes. After a few tries, I was able to get this one angle where his/her face wasn’t obscured by twigs. Not the prettiest setting but nice to capture a shot of a bobcat the old fashioned way without my camera trap. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Godox V860iii flash.
Hunting alongside the great blue heron that I posted yesterday was this black-crowned night heron. This is a juvenile who hasn’t yet developed the black crown. The brackish water in a shaded part of the swamp was creating a very reflective surface. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 3200, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
Here’s another one from last weekend in southwest Florida. Great blue herons were competing with night herons, green herons, little blue herons, anhingas, ibises and egrets for the best fishing spots. As the largest of the aforementioned birds, this great blue had no problem getting his fill of catfish. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.