I was only able to get out to the desert for one night while in Los Angeles for business last week. I was hoping for bighorn sheep in Anza-Borrego State Park so I got up very early for a pre-sunrise hike through Palm Canyon. The hike was spectacular, but the animals were nowhere to be found. I saw a few birds, a couple of antelope squirrels and only a single jackrabbit (usually I see lots of jackrabbits at this location). But I did stumble upon this curious little insect. At first I thought it was just a tiny piece of cotton-y plant blowing around in the sand. Upon closer look, however, I realized that it was a hairy insect. I had no idea what kind, but I mounted my macro lens to my camera and got up nice and close. The insect, which I have now identified as a thistledown velvet ant, was moving very quickly so it was difficult to get proper shots with the narrow depth of field afforded by the macro. I was able to get a few keepers, however, including this extreme close up. These guys (or should I say girls — this is the female) are very small. About the size of the average ant, but apparently, despite the name, they aren’t ants at all, but rather wasps. In fact, they are known to deliver quite a painful sting so I was glad that I never handled it and had my lens blocking my hands. From what I’ve read, the white hairs are a camouflage adaptation to look like creosote bush seeds. Certainly fooled me — for a while at least.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/10 at 1/250th of a second

This mountain goat kid was enjoying the view, up above the clouds on Mount Evans near Denver, Colorado.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/20 at 1/160th of a second

Monarch Butterflies take part in one of the longest migrations in the world. They travel up to 2,500 miles. Those east of the Rocky Mountains will winter in Mexico, while those west of the Rockies winter along the central California coast. They return to the same exact trees each year — in fir trees in Mexico and in eucalyptus trees in California — even though different butterflies are doing the migrating each year. These particular monarchs are part of the western migration. I photographed them in Pismo Beach, California a few years back, early in the morning when they were still clustered together on tree branches. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second

This is the time of year that chipmunks seem to come out of nowhere. That nowhere is actually hibernation. Much like bears, they spend the cold winter months bedded down in their burrows. This chipmunk was enjoying the warmer weather in Washington’s Olympic National Park.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second

As I pack my bags for a work trip out to California to shoot a few peanut butter commercials, I was reminded of a similar shot a couple of years back when I had a day off and decided, of course, to go look for wildlife. I was in San Bernardino and I simply looked at the map for green space. This brought me to Box Springs Canyon State Park in Moreno Valley. I didn’t know what I’d find, but was happy to stumble upon the only place in the US where wild burros roam free on anything other than federal land. They were all over the hillsides, as were yellow springtime flowers. For this particular shot, I was hiding (kind of) behind a flowering bush as one of the burros stared back at me.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 280mm) ISO 400, f/7.1 at 1/500th of a second

Here’s another shot from my recent trip down to Florida, and the town of Cape Coral, which has become well known for its rather conspicuous burrowing owl population. That’s mom in the background to the right. There were actually three almost-full-grown chicks but the third was hidden behind these two siblings.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second

Time for the annual bunny post on Easter. This little cottontail was photographed late one afternoon in Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Hope everyone had a great day.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second

The pileated woodpecker may or may not be the largest woodpecker in North America. It all depends on if there are any ivory-billed woodpeckers out there. There have been many sightings, but none verified since the 1940s, which is why the ivory-billed is listed as “critically endangered/possibly extinct.” But this post is about the pileated, a fine creature in its own right. I photographed this cooperative bird several years back in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4.5 at 1/500th of a second

This photo has been one of my best sellers over the years and I just realized that I’ve never actually posted it to the blog. It is in my “North America” gallery but was never a photo of the day. So here it is. A roseate spoonbill from what started as a terrible day at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in Florida. When I first got to the refuge, I couldn’t see ten feet in front of me with the thick fog. I waited it out, however, and when the fog finally cleared, it revealed quite a bit of pink out amongst all that white. It wasn’t the blue skies that I had hoped for, but ended up being the perfect conditions for reflection shots of these beautiful birds.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (with 1.4 teleconverter attached for 550mm) ISO 400, f/9 at 1/640th of a second

It’s tough being a bighorn sheep in Yellowstone in the winter. Finding suitable grass for grazing can be quite a challenge with all the snowfall that the park gets. This ram was opportunistically feeding on whatever shrubbery he could find.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 120mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/3200th of a second