Late May/early June is a great time to see bighorn lambs in Yellowstone. Although sometimes they’re not quite as easy to spot as you might think. The newborns can be the same exact color as the surrounding landscape. But when you do spot them, they’re a lot of fun to watch as they jump all around the steep mountainsides. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second.
This prairie dog appears to be stuffing her face with dinner, but she is actually bringing a bit of insulation into her burrow to line the cold dirt corridors. She was busy running back and forth with mouth’s full of dead grass, giving me ample opportunities to grab shots. Photographed years ago in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens, ISO 200, f/11 at 1/320th of a second.
A bull moose takes a suspicious glance over at me while getting up to go enjoy a day of searching for cows. I was in Alaska for the annual rut and on this particular morning I spotted three males (including this very large suitor) all vying for the affection of a single female in the area. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second.
The day kind of got behind me today without a post. This polar bear photo was the first thing that popped up in my “to send” folder so here it is, better late than never. This guy was out looking for whatever scraps he could find while waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze over so that he could go in search of the real delicacies — seals. Photographed up in northern Manitoba, Canada at Seal River. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 82mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/3200th of a second.
As Karen and I continue to live in hotels while waiting to close on our house, my camera gear remains in storage. I could have used it this weekend while I was out walking the dog. I spotted black bears wandering through town on consecutive days. So until I can photograph Connecticut’s black bears, here’s a shot of Minnesota’s that I captured a few years back. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/800th of a second.
I photographed this young barred owl years ago in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was hanging around the campground and was just getting the whole flight thing down. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/30th of a second.
I’ve photographed the occasional wood duck here and there over the years, but when I visited the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Vancouver a few years back, they were all over the place. This handsome and cooperative drake even waddled toward camera while I was down on the ground, before heading off into a nearby pond. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.
This one goes out to my frog-loving sister Mo on her birthday today. An American bullfrog photographed years ago in Baxter State Park in Maine. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second.
Here’s another one from my favorite elephant seal spot on the central California coast. This is a young one — too old to be with his mother but too young to be out mixing it up with the big bulls. At this age, they tend to hang back in the dunes away from the action. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 24mm) ISO 1600, f/2.8 at 1/320th of a second.
Here’s one for any entomologists out there. An ebony jewelwing damselfly (also known as the black-winged damselfly). I photographed this guy quite some time ago in Baxter State Park up in Maine. Back in those days, I was using extension tubes with my old 600mm lens to approximate a macro lens. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens, Kenko extension tubes, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/13th of a second.