Yesterday a polar bear, today a coastal brown bear. This one was taken a few years back at Lake Clark National Park in Alaska. The bears were heading to the shoreline at low tide in hopes of catching a few silver salmon spawning from a nearby river. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second.

One of our neighborhood bobcats was back again last night. Unfortunately, rain droplets were collecting on the glass window of my camera trap housing, but at least the eyes were in the clear. Back in mid February this same bobcat showed up in the trap, but the trigger was a split second too late and his/her face was right on the edge of the frame. It’s always something with camera trapping and certainly a lot of luck is involved. 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 flash units).

Hoary marmots can often be seen wrestling each other up on Mount Rainier in Washington. It’s more of a social interaction than anything else among younger marmots. I took this one quite a few years ago on a trip to several of National Parks in the Pacific Northwest. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.

I filmed this one a few weeks ago in a captive situation at the Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy here in Litchfield, Connecticut. Although this colorful sea duck is known to frequent coastal waters of Connecticut in winter months, its normal range is much further north along the Arctic shores of North America, Europe and Asia. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, 4K at 60fps.

Eastern newts go through a “red eft” phase when they are juveniles and traveling on land from one body of water to another. They are an example of aposematism, which essentially means their bright coloration is an adaptation that serves as a warning to would-be predators that they are carrying dangerous toxins. I photographed this guy years ago in New Jersey using a close up filter screwed to the front of my lens, creating a razor thin depth of field. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm with Canon 500D close up filter) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/50th of a second.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Rocky Mountain tundra for marmots and pikas. This one is from way back in 2007. The pikas were sunning themselves with the last rays before nightfall in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens, ISO 400, f/8 at 1/250th of a second.

I’ve been after a beaver-out-of-water shot where you can clearly see the tail for quite a while now. I kind of got there last Friday when I visited a nearby pond and had a few seconds with this guy as he performed some quick maintenance on the side of his lodge. A tangle of twigs made it difficult, but you can see the characteristic tail falling off to the side. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 5600, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second.

I have so many raccoon shots from my camera trap but rarely post them. Here’s one of the backyard locals from May of 2021 when they were a bit more active. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 500, f/14 at 1/160th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and remote flash units.

Like most people in the northeast, we got dumped on with snow last night. I haven’t been to the woods to check on my camera traps yet, but here’s one from the last time we had snow (and it wasn’t that much). A cottontail stopping by for a self-portrait back in late March. Oddly, I see rabbits in the yard most every night, but they very rarely show up at the traps. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 20mm lens, ISO 500, f/14 at 1/250th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and remote flash units.