Earlier in the week I posted a wide shot of a coastal brown bear hunting silver salmon at Lake Clark National Park in Alaska. Here’s a close up.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second

A coastal brown bear sets out on an early morning stroll. She was heading to a prime fishing spot at low tide, hoping for a breakfast of silver salmon for her and her two cubs. Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/400th of a second

The Rocky Mountain elk has the largest antlers of all the elk subspecies in North America. In springtime and throughout the summer, the antlers continue to grow and are covered in velvet. Eventually, they’ll shed the velvet and then the antlers themselves. This guy had been sleeping in the grass and all I saw were those great big antlers until he woke up.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/200th of a second

This bear has plans. Big plans. But he’s just going to think about them for awhile longer before taking action. Photographed at the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary in Orr, Minnesota.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/200th of a second

Just a common raccoon doing what raccoons do. This one was spotted in Key Biscayne, Florida creeping around a campground at the end of the day in search of scraps.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of as second

The American Marten, also known as the American Pine Marten, ranges throughout most of northern North America. They are in the weasel family of mustelids and about the same size as a mink. I photographed this one just outside of the northeast entrance to Yellowstone. I wish the background wasn’t a cut pile of wood, but I’ll take it as martens can be elusive and hard to spot despite their healthy numbers.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second

This is an old one from my film days. This dalmatian-coated harbor seal was enjoying the weather atop a rock just south of Monterey. I’m not sure of the camera settings as it was pre-digital for me, but most likely I was using my old 600mm manual focus f/5.6 lens and my Nikon F100 camera.

I’ve seen a lot more red foxes in my travels throughout the United States than I have gray foxes — not that the latter are particularly rare. I did have a nice little encounter in Zion National Park in Utah one morning. This gray fox was moving quickly, but staying in one general area, allowing me to grab several shots. In this particular image, you can see the legs of a grazing elk that was suddenly in the background when the fox climbed on top of that fallen tree trunk. Too bad I didn’t have a wider lens to capture both animals. By the time I zoomed out to the wide end of my 200-400mm and backed up, the fox had moved on.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

A Brandt’s cormorant stretches its wings as the sun sets on El Matador State Beach in Malibu, California. These shorebirds are fairly common up and down the Pacific coast.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 160mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/40th of a second

My trip to Chugach State Park in Alaska last fall provided some nice moose-in-landscape opportunities. This guy was a bit late to the party as two other bulls were already making their play for the lone cow in the area.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm (at 70mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second