The other night I was out walking my dog when I spotted a striped skunk in the front yard. I quickly turned around and headed to the back yard. Where I saw another one. It’s been about a year since I’ve seen any skunks, and being among my favorite woodland creatures, I grabbed my long lens and flash set up and quickly captured a few photos at a safe distance. I also adjusted my camera trap before heading in for the night, hoping for a few wide angle shots when I got up the next day. The skunk obliged. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/14 at 1/80th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and two remote flash units.

Things continue to be productive out in the woods behind our house. In the last few weeks, the bear sightings have been supplemented by raccoons, skunks and opossums. The Virginia opossum, also known as the North American opossum is the only marsupial found north of Mexico. When we first moved here last September, we would see lots of these guys around the house but this year they’ve been elusive. Until now. This one appears to be pretty young. They are solitary animals that leave their mothers at the age of four to five months old. Typically at that age they are between seven and nine inches long (excluding the tail). I must say, for an animal that a lot of people question the aesthetics of, this guy is pretty cute. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/14 at 1/80th of an inch, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and flashes.

Here’s another one from the backyard, albeit captured the old fashioned way. I used to see lots of these birds at our previous house in New York and ended up taking them for granted. I don’t see near as many at our place in Connecticut, but lately they’ve been more active. I always thought they were sweet little birds with their soft gray and yellowish coloring and that stylish head tuft. The light in the woods was fading fast so I was testing out the vibration reduction of the new 500mm PF lens. Pretty good at 1/25th of a second handheld. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/25th of a second.

I had another visitor to my camera trap this weekend. An eastern coyote. We often hear coyotes howling at night and I suspect I’ve seen their eyeshine staring back at me from the woods when I have my headlamp on, but I’ve yet to have a verified sighting in the yard. The eastern version of the coyote is supposedly larger than the western variety due to interbreeding with Canadian gray wolves. They call the combo a coywolf and I know there have been efforts to classify it as a separate species altogether. This guy, however, seems quite a bit scrawnier than those I’ve seen and photographed out west. Of course, could be the lack of a thick coat. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 500, f/11 at 1/125th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and flashes.

After four months of trying, one of the local bears finally cooperated and walked past my camera trap last night — taking a few photos of himself while I was getting ready for bed. I’m pretty sure this is the same adult male that I posted a few weeks ago. He looked much bigger in that photo because it was taken with a 500mm lens as opposed to this shot with a 17mm lens. Perspective from focal length can really change the appearance of the subject. My guess is that he was about two feet from the camera in this image.Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 500, f/8 at 1/125th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and flash units.