Only two primates have blue eyes. The blue-eyed black lemur and us. I don’t usually post captive animals, but this is a rare exception for this very rare animal. Blue-eyed black lemurs are classified as critically endangered. This means that, in all likelihood, they will soon be extinct in the wild. The current estimate is that there are less than a thousand individuals remaining in the forests of Madagascar. Loss of habitat due to slash and burn farming is the main culprit. I photographed this female (males are completely black) in a free range zoo on the east coast of Madagascar.
Nikon D40X with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 46mm) ISO 400, f/5.3 at 1/60th of a second

I was directly under this lemur when it jumped from one tree to another. This species is the rather pedestrian named, common brown lemur. They were very habituated to people at this particular location and were jumping all around me. I used a flash to illuminate the under side of the lemur while still exposing for the much brighter sky in the background.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second

A Madagascar flying fox soars overhead in the early morning, before returning home to roost in a tree for the day. These large bats are very cool looking and do, in fact, have little fox faces. For a look at the face, check out this previous post. As I mentioned in that post, I was in the extreme southern part of Madagascar at a place called Berenty when I took this one.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/4.5 at 1/250th of a second

Here’s another one from Madagascar. Those little green eyes belong to a baby Coquerel’s sifaka lemur, hiding in the lap of its mother. They were pretty high up in a tree in the dry forest of the western part of the country. At the time I was using a manual focus 600mm lens on a cropped sensor camera, getting me out to about 900mm — more than enough distance to focus in on the baby. As the baby gets older, its eyes will turn more yellow in color. The Coquerel’s sifaka, like pretty much all lemurs, is on the endangered species list due to continued habitat loss.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second

The photo above doesn’t look like much. Until you look a little closer. Toward the bottom of the tree on the right side, you can see the head of a mossy leaf-tailed gecko blending into the bark — its hand is visible to the left. Pretty amazing camouflage. This is the way that these geckos spend the day while at rest. They have dermal flaps that can break up their outline, and they can change color to match their surroundings. When awake, they can look somewhat like the giant leaf-tailed gecko below (I posted a close up of this guy about two months ago). This particular gecko is doing quite the opposite — trying its best to stand out and scare off potential danger (me) with its bright red mouth. Note the tail that gives these geckos their name. Leaf-tailed geckos can also jump from tree to tree, and this one had just leaped from a tree that better suited its particular skin color and pattern.

Top photo: Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units.
Bottom photo: Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/4.5 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units.

This odd little creature is called a greater hedgehog tenrec. Despite the descriptor in the name, and the appearance, tenrecs are not related to hedgehogs. I found this guy on an afternoon walk in Maroantsetra, Madagascar.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash

This is a bit of an unusual post for me because there are no animals, and the hand of man is in the landscape. Even so, I always liked this one from my Madagascar trip. The tree in the background is a baobab. In the foreground are young sisal plants, part of a sisal plantation. Unfortunately, many of the original baobabs (and other native forests) were cleared for crops, cattle and other farming. At least a few of the old trees still remain. There are eight species of baobabs in the world — six occur on Madagascar, one on mainland Africa, and the other in Australia. I’ve often said that Madagascar is my favorite exotic location and I vow to get back some day. When I do, I’d like to visit the southwestern coast where most of the baobabs can be found.
Nikon D40x with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 100, f/6.3 at 1/100th of a second

This lemur is called a Verreaux’s sifaka. Of all the different lemur species, I always thought that these guys looked the most like stuffed animals moving through the trees. On the ground, they perform a ballet-like dance as they quickly move from the safety of one tree to the next.
Nikon D40X with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 26mm) ISO 100, f/9 at 1/30th of a second

I came across this fine looking young lady one afternoon in Maroantsetra, Madagascar. She was in a tree just outside my bungalow. Always nice to make such an acquaintance before even heading into the woods. Not only do chameleons change color based on location, state of alertness and other factors, they also exhibit different colors based on sex.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 100, f/22 at 1/60th of a second, 2 Nikon SB-800 flash units

This is an old one from my trip to Madagascar back in 2007. Sometimes you have your best sightings on your way into national parks. Thus was the case with this little tree frog that I saw along the side of the road in the town of Perinet on my way into Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. It’s called an Elena’s tree frog. Not sure who Elena was but she discovered a rather dashing frog.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 145mm) ISO 100, f/22 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units on a Really Right Stuff bracket