A year ago, Fox61 News in Connecticut aired a story on my camera trapping during the pandemic. Tonight they ran a follow up piece on what I’ve been up to since then.

Here’s another one from the Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Litchfield, Connecticut. They have two red-crowned cranes there, also known as Japanese cranes or Manchurian cranes. As the name would suggest, they live mainly in parts of Japan and China, as well as Russia, Mongolia, Taiwan and Korea. They are one of the rarest cranes in the world and are known as symbols of luck, longevity and fidelity. The red on their crown is actually a patch of bare, wattled skin, which you can see in this image. This is another species that I have not photographed in the wild, but would love to get back to Japan for winter wildlife. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/400th of a second.

A northern elephant seal catches an early-morning shaft of light on a beach in central California. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.

I took a drive out to the Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Litchfield, Connecticut today. The conservancy was founded as a “breeding facility focused on maintaining genetic diversity of rare and endangered species.” I don’t usually post captive animals, but I was really impressed with the mission of the conservancy and hope to do some marketing work with them. They have waterfowl from all across the world, including three species of eider. This is the king eider, which I’ve yet to photograph in the wild. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 500, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second.

It’s been a slow couple of months at the camera traps in my backyard. But I can always count on the deer to make an occasional appearance. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 20mm lens, ISO 500, f/14 at 1/250th of a second, Cognisys camera box, trail monitor and three remote flash units.

This northern hawk-owl was the main attraction on my trip last weekend to northern Minnesota. Unlike most owls that are nocturnal, or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk), northern hawk-owls prefer mid-day to do their hunting. This was taken at about four in the afternoon with the moon slowly rising in a cloudless blue sky. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 400, f/32 at 1/60th of a second.

I’ve photographed evening grosbeaks before but was never able to get decent shots. I saw quite a few of them last weekend in Minnesota. This is the male. Females only have a small bit of the yellow and are more uniformly grey. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/4000th of a second.

I only saw one great grey owl last weekend while in northern Minnesota, and it was well after the sun had set. That said, I was able to crank up the ISO and get a few flight shots as the owl hunted for voles. It was so dark I couldn’t really see the owl through the viewfinder but my camera’s auto focus system could. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 500mm PF lens, ISO 6400, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second.

I had seen this porcupine earlier in the day but it was curled up in a ball sleeping. I decided to swing back by at the end of the day to see if it was active. Unfortunately still sleeping, but then, for just a moment, it started to nibble on pine needles and twigs as the moon rose in the background. After only a few shots, it went back to sleep. I could have used some fill flash, but I’ll take it. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen a porcupine in the wild in North America. Photographed last Sunday in northern Minnesota.Nikon D500 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/1000th of a second.