Giant river otters certainly live up to their name. They can grow to almost six feet in length. Their size was most apparent when I saw them out of the water, like this one running along a riverbank in the Pantanal of Brazil. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 450mm with 1.4 TC attached) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/4000th of a second.
Here’s another of the pygmy marmosets I photographed while in Peru back in late October. They like to suck the sap out of holes in tree trunks, making the occasional tongue shot possible. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/200th of a second, Godox V860iii fill flash.
These two king penguins were resting together on the beach during a bit of a sandstorm. When they both pointed their beaks into the sand, I thought they were just doing it to help as they stood up — a behavior I had observed earlier in my trip to the Falkland Islands. But instead, they kept their beaks down until the gust of wind and sand subsided. I too, was down on the ground doing my best to shield the sand from my face and gear. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
This northern hawk-owl was the main attraction on my trip last weekend to northern Minnesota. Unlike most owls that are nocturnal, or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk), northern hawk-owls prefer mid-day to do their hunting. This was taken at about four in the afternoon with the moon slowly rising in a cloudless blue sky. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 400, f/32 at 1/60th of a second.
I’ve photographed evening grosbeaks before but was never able to get decent shots. I saw quite a few of them last weekend in Minnesota. This is the male. Females only have a small bit of the yellow and are more uniformly grey. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/4000th of a second.
I only saw one great grey owl last weekend while in northern Minnesota, and it was well after the sun had set. That said, I was able to crank up the ISO and get a few flight shots as the owl hunted for voles. It was so dark I couldn’t really see the owl through the viewfinder but my camera’s auto focus system could. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 6400, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.
I had seen this porcupine earlier in the day but it was curled up in a ball sleeping. I decided to swing back by at the end of the day to see if it was active. Unfortunately still sleeping, but then, for just a moment, it started to nibble on pine needles and twigs as the moon rose in the background. After only a few shots, it went back to sleep. I could have used some fill flash, but I’ll take it. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen a porcupine in the wild in North America. Photographed last Sunday in northern Minnesota.Nikon D500 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.
I booked a last minute trip up to northern Minnesota this past weekend. Perhaps I should have looked at a weather forecast first. It didn’t break 0 degrees the entire weekend and lows were typically between minus 20 and 30. They even issued a windchill advisory of -50. It was cold. And the wildlife seemed to be feeling it too as it was pretty slow from a photographic standpoint. That said, I was able to find a few subjects and get some images that I like. This trumpeter swan was resting on the ice early Sunday morning. I was using the foreground snow to create a nice blurred frame around the head when all of a sudden the swan yawned. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.
Two guanacos traverse a hill beneath the massive face of a mountain in Torres Del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. Torres Del Paine is the land of the puma. Guanacos are their favorite prey and the park is filled with them. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.
This is a male cherrie’s tanager that I photographed in central Costa Rica. The name has nothing to do with the bird’s coloring, but rather is in honor of naturalist — and friend of Teddy Roosevelt — George Cherrie. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/30th of a second, Nikon SB-600 fill flash.