The Thomas’s leaf monkey, also known as the Thomas’s langur, is one of the world’s least studied primates. They live only in Sumatra and their habitat has been getting smaller and smaller due mainly to deforestation for logging, pulp and paper and palm oil cultivation. They are also hunted by locals, so they were understandably skittish every time they saw me raise my camera to take a photo. This monkey pictured above was one of the more relaxed ones I saw, thanks to the protection of a nearby national park. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second.
I always like to include the subject’s environment if I can. Usually that means getting close with a wide angle lens, but sometimes it means using a long lens to compress space. The latter was the case with this prairie dog in Badlands National Park. I used a 600mm lens but from quite a distance to bring the background closer. I also had to stop down to f/22 to record detail in what otherwise would have been a blur of color.Nikon D700 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/22 at 1/80th of a second.
I met this forest lizard on the Malay Peninsula of Thailand at Khlong Saeng. More specifically, it’s an Emma Gray’s forest lizard, named after an English conchologist. What’s a conchologist, you ask? Just as it sounds, of course. One who studies mollusks. It was Emma’s husband, however, who discovered the lizard. I’m still searching for a lizard to name after my wife. Some day Baby, some day. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/100th of a second.
Here’s a species I’ve never posted before — the Malagasy kestrel. As the name suggests, it is native to Madagascar. It’s a small bird of prey that has many other common names, including the Malagasy spotted kestrel, Newton’s kestrel, Madagascar spotted kestrel, katiti and hitsikitsika. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/8 at 1/320th of a second.
We watched this puma as she slowly worked her way through the grasslands of Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile, back to a kill that she had hidden earlier in the day. She would disappear into the landscape, occasionally entering a clearing such as this before vanishing again. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.
The razorbill is the only species in the genus Alca. It’s relative, the great auk, went extinct in the mid 19th century. They are monogamous birds and spend the vast majority of their lives at sea, coming ashore only to breed. This mated pair appears to be doing just that. Photographed on Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/2000th of a second.
Even though they waddle along at their own pace, short-beaked echidnas can be hard to photograph because they rarely lift their snouts from the ground. This one seemed to have hit the mother load of ants somewhere inside that mossy patch. Photographed near Cradle Mountain National Park in Tasmania, Australia. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second.
Hummingbirds are small. The tufted coquette is small for a hummingbird. These guys almost looked like large bees as they buzzed around the flowers at the Asa Wright Nature Center in Trinidad. I didn’t see too many of them but was able to grab a handful of shots nonetheless. The males exhibit brighter colors than the females, characterized by that great tuft of orange on the head and those spotted throat feathers. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/13 at 1/250th of a second.
It was early in the morning when I spotted this coati through some pretty dense foliage in Soberania National Park in Panama. Always a treat to see even though they are pretty widespread and common throughout their range in Central and South America. They even make appearances in the southern United States. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/80th of a second.
It’s been about five years since I posted a shot of my one and only encounter with a Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine. No doubt, one of the great names in zoology, right up there with yellow-bellied marmot, rufous-sided towhee and dusky-footed woodrat. Until I meet another, enjoy this shot from Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/50th of a second.
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The Thomas’s leaf monkey, also known as the Thomas’s langur, is one of the world’s least studied primates. They live only in Sumatra and their habitat has been getting smaller and smaller due mainly to deforestation for logging, pulp and paper and palm oil cultivation. They are also hunted by locals, so they were understandably skittish every time they saw me raise my camera to take a photo. This monkey pictured above was one of the more relaxed ones I saw, thanks to the protection of a nearby national park. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second. 
