It was a windy day in the Falkland Islands and this king penguin was coping with all the blowing sand. Needless to say, I was thirty feet away in about the same position as the penguin, dealing with the same wind and sand. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/200th of a second.
If there’s one thing meerkats are great at, it’s surveillance. There’s always a group on guard, taking their turn to safeguard the mob (that’s what a group of meerkats is officially called). Usually they’re a bit closer together, but they must have felt a need to spread out to get a better look at any would-be predators. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 110mm) ISO 400, f/22 at 1/160th of a second.
Here’s one from the backyard. This baby raccoon was following Mom across the log when he/she stopped to take a look at the camera box. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 20mm lens, ISO 500, f/11 at 1/60th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and remote flashes.
I posted a wide-angle shot of this frog a few weeks ago. Here’s more of a macro look. The scientific name for this frog is Ranitomeya flavovittata and surprisingly it doesn’t have any common name. The guides simply referred to it as the yellow one. They live inside bromeliad plants where water pools at the center of the leaves. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/60th of a second, Godox V860iii flash with Westcott soft box.
Even with all the colorful birds in the Peruvian Amazon, this guy was one of my favorites — the appropriately named slate-colored hawk. For the first few days, I thought my guide was saying slight-colored hawk, which I found amusing until I realized the actual name. We saw quite a few of them as they like to perch in trees along the river’s edge, always on the look out for frogs, snakes, crabs as well as small mammals to hunt. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/50th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
Of the four species of monkey I photographed on this recent trip to Peru, the red howlers were the only species that I’ve photographed in the past. I saw them in both Bolivia and Brazil. This is a mated pair, the male in the front. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/1600th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
This photo might not look like much because it’s hard to tell perspective. That said, the white witch moth grows to 14 inches wide. This one appeared to be at least that. Photographed early morning in the northern Amazon basin of Loreto, Peru. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second.
The one type of animal more conspicuous than any other in the Peruvian Amazon were the butterflies. They were everywhere in every possible color combination. This is a Doris longwing. They were active around the grounds of our lodge and kept me busy while waiting to go out on my next excursion. Doris longwings are particularly interesting scientifically because they exhibit polymorphism — which means within the same group of the same species living and mating in the same area, the traits of a gene can manifest in two or more different possibilities. In the case of the Doris longwing, they come in several different color combinations. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
Always great to see macaws living free in their natural habitat. In this case, a blue-and-yellow macaw along a tributary of the Amazon River in northern Peru. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
This eye belongs to the giant broad-headed treefrog. He was being quite accommodating so I figured I’d move in for a close up with my macro lens. These guys are a relatively large treefrog. This one was hanging out just outside my cabin last month in the Peruvian Amazon. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/80th of a second, Godox V860iii with Westcott softbox.