In early summer, male elk are still in the process of growing their antlers. And those antlers are still covered in velvet. They shed the velvet in the fall and then drop their racks shortly after that. I photographed this elk early evening on a stormy, yet still somewhat sunny day in Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/400th of a second

Prairie dogs are very social animals. They live in closely knit family groups called coteries. Several coteries make up a ward. And several wards make up a town. In this shot, members of a coterie were just emerging from their burrow in the morning and checking in all directions for any possible danger in town. Photographed in Badlands National Park in South Dakota.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens (with 1.4 teleconverter for 800mm) ISO 400, f/11 at 1/125th of a second

I watched this coyote howl for a few minutes before a second coyote came out of the woods and joined in. And I didn’t have to go far to find either one. This was photographed within the city limits of Los Angeles at Griffith Park.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

I got up before the seals to get this shot of a juvenile northern elephant seal just waking up, while a lighthouse shines in the background. This is a little spot just north of San Simeon where mothers return each year to have their babies. A few juveniles like this guy still hang around and spend most of their time back in the dunes away from all the overly protective new moms.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 24mm) ISO 400, f/10 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash unit

There are fifteen different species of marmot that range throughout the world. This is the yellow-bellied marmot that inhabits high alpine regions of the Sierra and Rocky Mountains. September is the time of year that they start to hibernate. They’ll remain in hibernation for eight months, emerging from their burrows ready to fatten up again come April. I photographed this one years ago while searching for mountain goats on Mount Evans in Colorado.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/250th of a second

A barred owl peers from behind the leaves of a tree in Everglades National Park in Florida. A few seconds later, it would make a dive downward and capture an eastern lubber grasshopper. Barred owls are the most commonly seen owls for me, especially in the eastern half of the lower 48 where they range from the far north to the deep south.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second

This yearling cub wondered from his sibling and mother, in search of a watery snack of green grass. Being September, the ordinarily verdant landscape had turned a yellow gold, leaving only patches of green. Once the tide started to rise out on the shoreline, making the capture of silver salmon too difficult, the bears retreated to these fields to fill up on veggies.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 98mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/800th of a second

Just a simple head shot of a bull moose today. I saw three of these guys all competing for a single female during the rut last September in Alaska.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second

Sometimes you search forever and can’t find anything and then other times the wildlife lands right in front of you. That was the case with this young great-horned owl early one morning in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. I had pulled over to the side of the road at about 4:45 because I saw something moving in a tree. Suddenly this owl landed right in front of my car. I was able to capture a couple quick shots using just my headlights, along with a high ISO and low shutter speed.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/30th of a second