When I was doing a lot of commercial production in LA, I would always build in a few days to travel up (or down) the California coast in search of all things wild. Sea otters were usually involved. I caught up with this sea otter fairly early in the morning. It was still on land, likely where it slept the night before. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.
A coastal brown bear stands to get a better view of the silver salmon she hopes to catch for breakfast. Nearby, her two cubs wait as she does her thing. Lake Clark National Park in Alaska. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the southern California desert. Last time I was there, I saw a few of these iconic birds of the desert southwest. They can sprint at up to 20 mph and prefer to keep things on the ground, although when in imminent danger from an approaching predator, they will take to the air. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/640th of a second.
We had an infrequent visitor to the camera trap the other night — a southern flying squirrel. There are two types of flying squirrels in Connecticut, the southern and the northern. I’m pretty sure I got the identification on this one correct. I’ve seen them a few times gliding through the air while out walking the dog late at night. That will be the next challenge — to catch one mid glide. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 20mm lens, ISO 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Camtraptions camera box and trail monitor, Nikon SB-900 flash units.
Years ago I made a trip to southern British Columbia in search of snowy owls. I’ve already posted a lot of the flight shots from that trip. Here’s a simple portrait of one of the owls perched on a post at the end of the day. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 500, f/5 at 1/1000th of a second.
Here’s one from the backyard camera trap. Deer are plentiful in the woods behind our house and regularly trip the shutter, often late at night. The time stamp on my camera tells me this was at 2:38 AM. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Cognysis camera box, trail monitor and remote flash units.
After four years of occasional glimpses and near misses, my camera trap finally captured an in-focus shot of a short-tailed weasel. I usually see a blurry butt shot as the weasel chases a chipmunk across the fallen tree. Weasels are carnivores and this one was likely stalking its prey which includes the aforementioned chipmunks, as well as voles, rats, shrews, rabbits, and birds. Also known as a stoat or an ermine, a short-tailed weasel will change the color of its fur from brown to completely white as the winter approaches — all the better camouflage for sneak attacks when the snow starts to fall. I’m still hoping for the weasel and chipmunk shot, but until then this will have to do. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 20mm lens, ISO 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Camtraptions camera box, triggers and trail monitor with two Nikon SB-900 flash units.
It’s been such a busy summer that I haven’t really gotten the camera out in the yard much. The camera traps, of course, are working 24/7 but I haven’t been out there myself very often with the long lens. So this weekend I did a lot of walking around trying to find a few of my wild neighbors. In my garden I encountered this ruby-throated hummingbird flying from zinnia to zinnia. The lack of the ruby throat indicates either an immature male or a female. I’m pretty sure this is the latter. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 1800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.
It’s been relatively slow at the camera trap lately, but I do have a steady stream of these little guys walking through tree saplings in the back woods just about every night. From my surveillance camera, I can see that one of the opossums has been making a habit of crawling up on top of my camera trap itself, and scratching his/her back up against the sharp edges. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 20mm) ISO 500, f/14 at 1/200th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and remote flash units.
I posted a similar image a few years back of this scene — a moose cow (on the left) and her grown bull foraging by a frosty creek. This was in Montana, just outside the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/500th of a second.