The southern yellow hornbill lives in southern Africa from Namibia in the west to Mozambique in the east. I photographed this one in Botswana. They are large birds and spend most of their waking hours on the ground, foraging for insects. At night, they find a spot high in a tree to stay away from any would-be predators. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second.
Seemed like a good day for a baby monkey. This one being a hanuman langur, photographed in Kanha National Park in India. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/200th of a second.
Here’s another one from my trip to northern Minnesota back in December. This great gray owl was diving head first into the snow in hopes of catching a vole. I suspect this particular attempt was a miss. It was hard to tell as the owl entered the snow behind a clump of grass and spent some time on the ground before heading back to his/her perch. Karen and I are off to New York for a few days tomorrow. Enjoy the weekend. I’ll be back Monday with my next post. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
This masked weaver was in the early stages of building its nest. That ring of grass will eventually be an intricate orb dangling from the branch. Photographed on my first trip to Uganda when I went to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/800th of a second.
The recent bobcat activity at my camera trap got me doing a bit of research. Thirteen subspecies of bobcat are claimed but only two are officially recognized. Lynx rufus rufus, exists east of the Great Plains — thus the guy that occasionally visits my backyard — and Lynx rufus fasciatus exists west of the Great Plains. The latter, pictured above, was the first of the subspecies that I got good looks at with camera in hand. Photographed in the same place as yesterday’s ruddy duck, but back in 2011, just south of Los Angeles. Still a great memory as I was able to get down on the ground as the bobcat strolled past on its way to stalk ducks in a nearby pond. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second.
Here’s one for the duck fans out there. As far as ducks go, the ruddy duck is one of my favorites, especially males like this one in his summertime breading plumage, which includes the chestnut feathers and sky blue bill. Photographed at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, California. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/5000th of a second.
These two polar bears were passing the time waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze over so they could go hunt for seals. This was nothing more than a playful challenge — who can open his mouth the widest. Or maybe they were just checking each other’s breath? Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second.
Dark-eyed juncos aren’t very flashy, but they make up for it in personality. They’re quite common and we see them around the yard throughout the year. They like to spend a lot of time on the ground, mainly eating insects and seeds. I had my camera trap set up on the edge of the yard during a snowstorm last winter to capture this one. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trigger and remote flash units.
This one is going back aways to my second trip to Costa Rica in 2007 — a northern ghost bat. It was watching over me, roosting daily just outside my bungalow. The species obviously gets its name from the almost pure white color of its fur. They are fairly rare, so a good find, although I think this one was a bit of a celebrity back in the day due to its preferred roosting spot. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 340mm with 1.7 teleconverter) ISO 200, f/4.8 at 1/8th of a second.
It was a spring snowstorm when I photographed this pronghorn in Yellowstone National Park. Likely just chewing on some grass, but I like to think that he was trying to catch snowflakes with his tongue. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.