Just back from a three day weekend down in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. I was hoping to find ocelots and jaguarundis (two of the most elusive cats in the United States — and the world for that matter). I didn’t really expect to see them, but there’s always hope. As with the Florida panther last weekend, I didn’t get any shots. But I did see the jaguarundi. Twice, in fact. Once running across the road in front of my car and the other time while hiking in the woods. I very nearly had a great shot while in the woods but as soon as I saw it, it saw me and was gone. I guess there’s a reason, the jaguarundi is very rarely seen and almost never photographed in the wild. What I did see were birds. Lots of them. Including this green jay. Extreme southern Texas is the only place in the country to see the green jay — although it is quite common throughout its range, which extends south along the Gulf of Mexico and into South America. With its blue head, green back and yellow chest, it’s certainly a beautiful bird. Not quite an ocelot or jaguarundi, but as far as birds go, it’s hard to beat.

This river otter allowed me to get incredibly close. I was laying on the edge of the pond, about 10 to 15 feet away as it dove several times and crawled back out onto the ice to eat its lunch. The place was Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in southern Indiana.

Here’s another look at the bobcat I recently photographed in Irvine, California. It was stalking a few ducks in this photo and I thought I might get an action shot but the ducks eventually flew away. That short, stumpy tail is what gives the bobcat its name. In the sound file below you can hear what one sounds like growling:

Bobcat Growl

This was an all or nothing weekend for me down in Florida. I was in search of the elusive Florida Panther, one of the rarest creatures on the planet, and I spent all my time trying to find one. As you can see from the above photo, I was not successful. Instead, you’ll have to settle for this Florida box turtle. Not quite as elusive. Not quite as spectacular. But a much more patient and accommodating subject. I took this photo in the Big Cypress National Preserve in the southwest corner of the state, where both the turtle and the panther live.

This photo shows just how big polar bears can really be. It was taken in the town of Churchill, about a 30 minute flight south of the lodge that I stayed at (there were no motorized vehicles anywhere near the lodge). We had a few hours to kill before catching our flight back to the States, so me and a couple of the guys rented a car and decided to go out and explore. We found a place where they breed a rare species of dog. The bears would come around to eat the dogs’ food (bears will eat anything while waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze so that they can go out and feast upon their true favorite, ringed seals).

Click the sound file below to hear coyotes howling. This one was taken on last month’s trip to Yellowstone.

Coyote Howl

January is the month that elephant seal pups are being born up and down the California coast. This pup is probably only about a week old. The mom seems quite pleased with the new addition to her family.

This is an atmospheric phenomenon known as sundogs. It’s also known as a phantom sun or mock sun. The technical name is a parhelion, which means “beside the sun.”  During very cold weather (like this zero degree day in Yellowstone) sundogs are formed by ice crystals called diamond dust which are drifting randomly in the air. The ice crystals act as prisms forming two rainbow colored bright spots of light (the sundogs) which anchor a halo around the sun.

This is kind of an unusual one for me but I thought it was interesting. Upper Newport Bay Wildlife Preserve and Ecological Reserve is in the middle of Orange County, southern California. It is a very large area of wilderness in the middle of one of the country’s most extreme examples of suburban sprawl. The area is essentially an estuary (where salt and fresh water mix) that cuts a path through the landscape forming a bit of a canyon. Bike trails, running paths and playing fields line the upper rim of this canyon, but none seem to lead down into it. In fact, it was quite deserted down there when I left the trails above and headed toward the water in search of wildlife. I saw lots of wading birds like egrets and ducks in the estuary, and then came across all these discarded balls. I assume they all got washed down into the canyon from up above, where all the neighborhood kids play, and came to rest in this spot.

This is a Brewer’s blackbird. I always try to get a nice background when photographing birds. This time it just happened to be a female elephant seal.