This black bear stuck his head into frame while passing through the backyard a few months ago. I’m assuming the bears are all settling in for the winter at this point, but you never know. They don’t fully hibernate and may wander around a bit on unseasonably warm days. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 500, f/14 at 1/160th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and remote flash units.

I photographed this coyote a few years back while in Yellowstone National Park. Winter is my favorite time to visit Yellowstone. Access to a majority of the park is restricted, but predators are very active due to the slowed metabolism of their prey. And they also happen to be wearing their finest coats in the winter months. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/2000th of a second.

A black-tailed deer walks into a shaft of light along the California coast at Point Lobos State Reserve. The black-tailed deer is a subspecies of the mule deer. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 135mm) ISO 500, f/5 at 1/640th of a second.

It’s been awhile since I posted a puffin. In fact, it’s been a while since I’ve seen one. This photo was taken on my first trip to Machias Seal Island — off the coast of Maine — back in 2008. Not sure what that little eel-like thing in its beak is, but it was nesting season and all the Atlantic puffins were busy flying back and forth from sea to nest, bringing meals to their young. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second.

An encounter with a red fox is always a good thing. This guy looks like he knows something that I don’t. Photographed while on a coastal brown bear trip in Lake Clark National Park in Alaska. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second.

This barred owl had just devoured an eastern lubber grasshopper and was looking back toward the branch he/she had just descended from and would eventually fly back to. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/800th of a second.

A few winters back I captured this bighorn ram working his way down to a patch of exposed grass on an otherwise snow-covered mountain. Photographed in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 210mm) ISO 400, f/11 at 1/500th of a second.

Here’s another of the white squirrels I met out in Olney, Illinois. The town has a healthy population of this white variant of the eastern gray squirrel. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.

Two coastal brown bears look back in unison as they patrol the shoreline of Lake Clark National Park, Alaska. In late summer through fall, the bears come to the beach in search of salmon. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 640, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second.