There are two species of elephant seal, the southern, which I photographed in the Falkland Islands and the northern, which are common up and down the California coast. This mother and her pup are northern elephant seals. On this particular beach near San Simeon, California, there were about fifty or so mothers, all with a single newborn pup.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/125th of a second

It looked like it would be a difficult day to photograph birds because of all the fog, but it ended up yielding some nice atmospheric shots, like these two cormorants perched near the water’s surface at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel Island, Florida.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 400, f/4.5 at 1/2000th of a second

As I’ve mentioned before, Muscatatuck in Indiana is one of the best places in the country to photograph river otters. They can be found all year round, but I like to go in the winter when they come out on the ice to rest and to eat fish. For this shot, I was laying belly down on the edge of the ice with my camera on the ground. The otter was unusually tolerant of my close approach. Part of that might have had to do with the fact that it was raining and the sound of my shutter was dampened.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/500th of a second

The silver fox is actually just a black variant of the red fox. Back in the day, their pelts were the most highly sought after by nobles in Russia, Western Europe and China. They get the nickname of silver fox because of all the white at the tips of their hair follicles. This particular silver fox was foraging amongst the alpine wildflowers late one rainy afternoon on Mount Rainer in Washington.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second

Being as common as they are, I tend to overlook Canada Geese when I see them about. But when they pose under the Maroon Bells mountain range in Aspen, Colorado in early morning light they can be hard to ignore.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 28mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 1/30th of a second

Florida’s Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge may sound weird, but it is well known as one of the country’s top birding spots. You never know what you’ll find on any given trip. Sometimes spoonbills, sometimes owls, sometimes green herons. The green heron isn’t exactly green as you can see but it does have a bit of green on the feathers. This little guy (and they are little for herons) seemed to have just a face growing out of that maroon chest.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/250th of a second

I went to visit my father this weekend up on Cape Cod and we got out on a boat on Sunday to do a bit of seal watching. It was grey and overcast, which ended up being perfect conditions to photograph the resident population of grey seals. The scientific name for the grey seal is Halichoerus grypus, which means hooked-nosed sea pig. I’ll upload a few profile shots in a future post to show the characteristic hooked nose. For now, I liked the soft grey of the water surrounding the seal in the first shot and the detail of the face in the second. The seal population has really swelled on Cape Cod in recent years. Especially the grey seals, but also harbor seals. And of course, along with that — more sharks.
Top Photo — Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/5000th of a second
Bottom Photo — Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second

Venice Rookery in Florida is one of the best places in the country to photograph wading birds like great egrets, blue herons, night herons and anhingas. The birds spend all day collecting nesting material and flying back to the rookery with branches in their beaks. Flight shots are easily had. That said, I preferred this photo of two egrets back at the nest showing each other a little love. They were in full breeding plumage with their green lores surrounding their eyes.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/1000th of a second

The lighting wasn’t great on this one, but the pose makes up for it. This little prairie dog in the Badlands of South Dakota seemed to be pleading with me not to take his/her picture. As anyone who has observed prairie dogs can attest, they can be amusing little creatures.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 600mm lens with 1.4 teleconverter attached (for 800mm) ISO 200, f/11 at 1/500th of a second

I came across this blue grosbeak in Delaware a few years back. They don’t range much farther north than that in the summertime. The rest of the year they can be found in warmer climates throughout Central America. The blue grosbeak is very similar to the indigo bunting, but is larger, has a more robust beak and has the rust markings on the wings.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/320th of a second