In this image, you can see five bighorn sheep hanging out on the eroded buttes of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The sun had just set in the distance. The Badlands are a surprisingly great wildlife destination. In fact, outside of Yellowstone and the California coast, they’re probably my favorite go-to spot for a variety of animals in an amazing natural habitat.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/640th of a second
As the year comes to an end, time to look back on the highlights of 2017. For the first time in about 15 years, I didn’t do any international shooting (well, with the exception of a few days in St. Barths). But on an otherwise slow year with the camera, I did take advantage of a few work trips and a great week in Alaska in September. Here, in chronological order, are my top ten images that I captured this year, all previously posted in the last twelve months. (I obviously post images from previous years too, but they are not reflected here).
I was a judge at an advertising awards show in Miami in January and took full advantage by staying the weekend and photographing Key deer on Big Pine Key south of the city and then traveling north for burrowing owls in Cape Coral.
In February, the aforementioned trip to St. Barths allowed for some close encounters with rare red-footed tortoises.
I was also able to get a few good looks at the local fiddler crabs.
In May, a work trip took me to Los Angeles. I was able to get out to one of my favorite wildlife hotspots in Anza-Borrego State Park. I didn’t have luck with the usual suspects (jackrabbits, coyote and desert bighorn) but I did capture this macro shot of a thistledown velvet ant.
The Alaska trip was mostly about brown bears and moose. I was able to capture lots of action shots of the bears as they chased fish at low tide in Lake Clark National Park.
In Chugach State Park in Anchorage, I got up close and personal with several bull moose during the fall rut.
The weather was mostly overcast and rainy, but I did have one great morning when the skies opened for this early morning silhouette shot of a coastal brown bear.
No matter how many times I see them, it’s always a treat to photograph red fox. This guy was just bedding down when I was returning to the lodge after a day of photographing bears.
And speaking of bears, here’s another at close range and from my preferred low angle. This mama bear was giving herself a good shake off after a morning of fishing.
Another work trip took me back to Los Angeles in October. This time I headed north to Morro Bay where I spent a few days photographing the local sea otters. Here’s hoping 2018 brings many more creatures (both locally and internationally). Happy New Year everyone.
Merry Christmas everyone. I’ll be back in the new year with more wildlife photos from around the world. In the meantime, here’s a white squirrel, photographed in Olney, Illinois a few years back.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second
On my Alaska trip I had hoped to photograph a few Dall rams by hiking high up into their mountainous range. No luck. I did, however, get to see a few ewes with lambs grazing at lower altitudes along the Seward Highway just south of Anchorage. These guys are Alaska’s version of the bighorn sheep that we have in the lower 48. The look almost identical, except that dall sheep are a bit smaller and have pure white coats.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 250mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second
There’s a reason they call them burrowing owls. Unlike most other owls that exist mostly in trees, these guys live down in the ground. This little guy was hiding amidst the grasses, flowers and weeds of a suburban side yard in Cape Coral, Florida. I’ve posted about these owls before. Cape Coral has a quite a population of burrowing owls and it is almost a matter of civic pride if one decides to burrow in your yard. Being a threatened species in Florida, locals are asked to do all they can to accommodate them.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
This guy was one of the juvenile brown bears that stayed close to our lodge, seeking security from the bigger boys out there. He also had a nice blondish coat, which picked up the backlighting of the afternoon sun. Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/6400th of a second
It’s getting to be that time of the year when I wish I was in Yellowstone. Winter has always been my favorite time of year to visit America’s greatest wildlife park. Bighorn rams are almost guaranteed sightings deep into the Lamar Valley in the north eastern corner of the park.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 500, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
This trumpeter swan was enjoying a late afternoon snack on Tern Lake on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. It’s chick can be seen out of focus in the background. Trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl in the world with a wingspan that can reach ten feet.
Just a simple shot today of a mother bison and her calf in Yellowstone National Park. Young bison are always this orangish color, but they eventually grow into the more dark brown tone of the adults.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/250th of a second
I liked the simple composition of this one. All that soft blue background and a single bear standing in the water, trying to get a better angle on a salmon dinner. Brown bears can be quite tall when standing upright. Just across the water from where I photographed this one is the island of Kodiak, which has the largest of the coastal brown bears — males have been known to stand taller than 10 feet tall. This was a female in Lake Clark National Park on the mainland of Alaska, and considerably shorter than that, but still somewhere in the 7 foot range.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second